It always pays to be the best in anything that you do. Most people that start out on something simply do a mediocre job in order to just get by. People do this whenever they are mystery shopping as well, only doing enough to be able to get the ratings that are necessary to move up in the company. If you are an exceptional mystery shopper, however, you can get on the list of those who are called on to do specific jobs. Not only will you get some interesting jobs that are not available to anybody else, they will typically be jobs that pay well or compensate you in a nice way. Here are some of the reasons why my wife and I work so hard to stay on the A-list in our mystery shopping jobs.

Whenever we first started mystery shopping, we soon got tired of doing all of the little doughnut shops and gas stations. Sure, these gave us the opportunity to be able to eat some free meals and put some gas in our car but it all seemed rather boring in the long run. We did keep up on the jobs, however, as they did help us to be able to stick within our budget that we kept because of our regular jobs. As we moved our way up to the company, however, we begin to recognize that more and more nice mystery shopping jobs started to come our way. These not only included additional jobs that were available online as a result of our increased status, it also included some jobs that we were singled out for specifically and contacted about on the telephone.

Our first special project was available early on in our mystery shopping career. Our representative from our favorite mystery shopping network called us on a Friday afternoon and asked if we would be willing to take a restaurant job that evening. It ended up being at one of the best restaurants in town, and they were willing to compensate us enough that it would almost cover the cost of our meal. Sure, we weren't able to put any money in our pocket as result of this job but it to give us a nice night out on the town for a very low price. Since that time, we have had several of these jobs become available to us, almost on a monthly basis. Even though we are unable to take all of them, they do provide us the opportunity to be able to have a nice evening out.

Another great reason to be on the A-list with your mystery shopping is that you can ask your representative for an increased price on a regular mystery shop job. The mystery shopping networks will allow themselves quite a cushion whenever a job first becomes available. As the deadline approaches, the commission for that particular job will increase quite a bit. You can often talk your personal representative into increasing your commission before it becomes publicly available to others within the network. These are just a few of the reasons why it is good to be only a list in your mystery shopping network.