Confessions from a real mystery shopper

 
Shopping undercover full-time isn’t easy, but it comes with lots of fun stories. So, I checked in with one of our secret shoppers at ShopSmart who buys everything from condoms to ice cream to wrinkle creams to find out about the ups and downs of her job. She also coordinates our 50 mystery shoppers who are located throughout the country (that’s a lot of shopping!). By the way, we can’t reveal our shopper’s name, but you might think twice next time the person in front of you at McDonald’s buys 20 boxes of chicken nuggets!

Q: Lots of your friends probably think you have the dream job. Any downsides?
A: Shopping around and buying 30 mascaras at Nordstrom was fun until my credit card was declined at one of the makeup counters. That happens occasionally since I sometimes charge thousands within a few minutes!

Q: What’s your most creative excuse for buying so many of one item?
A: I told the sales associate at the make-up counter that the 20 lip plumpers for one of our tests were gifts for a bridal party. Another time, my shopping cart was overflowing with 50 boxes of cereal and I said I was buying breakfast for the children coming to “Take your child to work day.”

Q: What’s the funniest thing someone has said to you when you were out shopping?
A: I was buying three car seats and people were asking lots of questions (not to mention all the questions my parents’ UPS driver has when he delivers 20 car seats in one week to their house!). Someone asked if I had triplets and I had no choice but to lie and say yes—next thing I know, I’m getting a 10 percent discount!

Do you have any questions for our mystery shopper? Let us know!

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