Mystery shoppers first stop here

[razz]

You can get a GREAT list of companies without paying, lol

[annie0500]

I am so glad I found this information. Very helpful and good advice. I have worked for a few companies, but many of them I got from a site I paid for. The jobs themselves don't take much time, however the prep work, the tests you need to take awhile and the compensation is not all that great. My time is worth more that a $6 fee.

Thanks

[poobear]

Would like to know of all the people that does the shopping how many company do you do for. I have been looking at the list on here and there is alot. and was wondering if you apply to let say 3 what happen if 2 of them have yo to do the same shop. any info would be greatful Thanks poobear

[PartyGalGoddess]

One of the biggest pains about mystery shopping is you don't know what companies have what shops in your area and just because Shopper A has a lot of Client B in her area, that doesn't mean the MS company handles the client in your area.
Fact is, most MS companies only have one or two clients (or often none) in your area. The only way to find out is to trudge through the huge list, applying to a few each time. A huge tip would be to save a copy of why you'd be a good shopper, what experience (if any) you have, what areas you're willing to shop, your worst and best experience, etc. to a Word document. You might have to edit it some to fit their word limit, but it sure beats rewriting the same paragraph over 30 times. And save your user IDs and passwords somewhere easy to find them again.

Good luck!

[davidruth3]

Have any of you ever been shopped? And if so did you do good?

[Mandi]

I have a question for any and all. Have you ever shopped while on vacation? For example: I live in East Texas and some time in July I'm planning on going to the coast for about a week. Is it possible to apply for shops down there for the time that I am there? Or is something like that frowned on? Or maybe even impossible.

[DanMiller]

I used to work loss prevention for a security company many years ago. My job was to pretend I was shopping and watch for shoplifters. Is mystery shopping the same thing? I guess I am not familiar with this.

[Mom2]

Originally Posted by Mandi

I have a question for any and all. Have you ever shopped while on vacation? For example: I live in East Texas and some time in July I'm planning on going to the coast for about a week. Is it possible to apply for shops down there for the time that I am there? Or is something like that frowned on? Or maybe even impossible.

You can shop on vacation, but I wouldnt really recommend it. Many times, shops require submission within a specific amount of time, including submitting the receipts, invoice or business cards. Even if you have a laptop and internet access, you may need a printer, scanner or fax to complete you shop submission. I really dont believe that it is frowned upon, just difficult to obtain.

[Mom2]

Originally Posted by DanMiller

I used to work loss prevention for a security company many years ago. My job was to pretend I was shopping and watch for shoplifters. Is mystery shopping the same thing? I guess I am not familiar with this.

Mystery shopping is not the same as the position you described. You were acting as a security officer. Mystery shopping is evaluating customer service, cleanliness, reporting on service times, product availability, etc. It provides the business owner with detailed information on the employees and the service they are providing.

[Mom2]

Originally Posted by PartyGalGoddess

No offense to SPSystem, but they normally want $20 for a list of companies that can be found all over the 'Net for free, so I do NOT trust them or their site just because they're offering the info for free fora limited time. Why would they charge to begin with?


You can go to www.msfreedom.org or http://p216.ezboard.com/bmysteryshopresources and get the info for free without the need to download anything. And it's ALWAYS free.

Thank you PartyGalGoddess. I had not been back to this thread for a while and I am glad that you mentioned not to pay for a list of companies. It just cannot be said enough. There are so many people that just dont know how mystery shopping works. Information on companies can be found by visiting MSPA and Voltion as well.

NEVER PAY FOR INFORMATION ON MYSTERY SHOPPING.