Hi all! Mom2 gave some great advice. I definitely agree with NEVER paying to shop and being careful to whom you give your Social Security Number (hint: on Prophet sites, it's not required so you can skip that spot). I just had to add onto the info from Mom2 and give my twodollars here. LOL Yes, that means this will be long, but I've been shopping for many years and learned much of it the hard way. I've got suggestions below for you to ponder to hopefully save some hassles by learning it the hard way. The most important thing is to do what works for you.
Two fantastic forums:
First, my two favorite shopping forums are Mystery Shop Resources (
http://p216.ezboard.com/bmysteryshopresources) and Mystery Shoppers Freedom (
http://www.msfreedom.org). Both sites have an extensive list of mystery shopping and merchandising companies as well as their websites or emails if you have to apply that way.
For MSF, you'll need to register in order to view the forums. Unfortunately a very unethical person on the MSP (mystery shopping providers) side of the business would log on as hidden to spy and post under aliases. It became such a problem that no one can use hidden status or see the forum unless you're logged in, but it's FOR the shoppers' protection against unethical behavior.
To Certify or Not to Certify:
It is most definitely not required to be certified to shop. I don't what it costs for the NCMPS certification, but it's $115 to get both MSPA silver and gold certified. Unfortunately, most jobs are very low in pay and often cost shoppers more in expenses than they receive in pay and/or reimbursmentsso it's important to weigh the benefits of certification against the fees. Very few companies recognize the NCPMS certification andmaybe a forth of all companiesbelong to the MSPA, which is a requirement to use the MSPA certifications.Most shoppers aren't certified and the training is basic stuff that will be learned with a little experience or reading up on the boards. The silver certification test is overly simplistic but required to become gold certified, which is the basics. I would never tell anyone not to get certified, but I don't want people going thinking that they'll learn a world of new information, especially if they've been shopping for a few months. It's mostly useful for networking with other shoppers and sometimes with company owners and/or schedulers. As someone who's worked on the MSP side of the business, I can promise you the biggest influence on your reputation as a shopper is whether you get the jobs done on time, done correctly, and have decent writing skills. Sadly, many shoppers are lacking so a strong shopper, certified or not, is a valuable asset.
Finding Jobs:
The number one rule for successful mystery shopping is to apply, apply, apply! There are literally hundreds of companies out there. One company might have one or two clients in your area while another might have five and yet another none. You'll find out who shops who by applying.
RoboForm is a fantastic tool to have. It's an online form fillerand it's tax deductible. It's good for any online forms and not just mystery shopping related. I use it for personal, MSing/merchandising, and my Party Gals accounts. I'll tell ya right now I LOVE my RoboForm and couldn't live without it. I do not want to have to look up 200 user IDs and passwords every time I want to log into a MSP's website. Plus, it doesn't have spyware the way the Gator form filler does.
Also, whenever you're asked about your experience, to write about your best/worst restaurant/hotel/shopping experience, zip codes you'll shop, cities you'll shop, or whatever it may be, it's best to save a copy to Word. Always check for typos, spelling errors, awkward syntax, and such. Some companies don't offer automatic approval (some do) and will use your application to decide whether you have the basic skills to complete assignments for them. By saving it to Word, it will alsoprevent you from having to type the same writing sample over and over and over and...well, you get the point.
Shops, Fees, and Payments:
You'll need something to keep track of your shops, fees,and payments received or those you're waiting on still. I'd suggest using the MS Bible (
http://www.mysteryshoppingbible.com/) or emailing Gary for a Shop Sheet (
shopsheet@juno.comI believe is the email address). You can go to the MSF forum and find Gary there. The MSB costs $10 last I knew while the Shop Sheet is free. The main difference between the two is that the MSB has more formulas andabout 200 MS companies listed in it, though there are about twice that. It's been awhile since I've seen the Shop Sheet, so Gary could have made even more upgrades to it. Either way, you can't go wrong.
More Record Keeping:
You will want to keep copies of acceptance emails, especially if a bonus is promised, until after you've been paid. It happens that bonuses get left out or fees/reimbursement amounts change, so it's good to have proof to fight it. I have a folder for assignments in my email and I put all correspondence in that folder and leave any assignment I haven't done marked as unread so I can see at a glance that something needs to be completed. I also enter it into my MSB, which highlights the dates of assignments that are upcoming.
In My Documents, I have a folder labeled MS Companies and then in that a folder for each company. Inside each company's folder, I keep my shop comments, confirmation numbers to prove I've submitted the repots, instructions, and blank reports for each job. I don't print out the instructions because that would cost too much in printing supplies,but I do print up the reports using the two pages per sheet of paper option. When I'm done with the shop, I staple the receipt or business card and anything else needed for the shop to the report so it's all together and also file those away.
It's important to keep good records because many times companies will need clarification on an assignment or want more detail.If you can't answer the questions, your reports could be rejected. Since it's impossible to remember all the details about a particular assignment,having a copy to refer to is a great way to refresh your memory. Plus, if the report doesn't submit, then you've got a copy to redo it, too. Plus you'll need proof for taxes. Don't forget to count mileage, printing supplies,pens,DVRs, et cetera thatyou use for MSing on your taxes, too.
Ok, it's way late and I'm actually exhausted (I'm a terrible night owl) so I think I'm gonna mosey on to bed now. Hopefully, the info helped. Just be choosy when taking jobs. There's no need to take a $5 job where you're expected to evaluate 10 employees in order to "prove" yourself. There are better jobs out there that you can use to establish yourself. Good luck!