Hey Everyone. I want to become a mystery shopper, but don't know what companies are legit.Plus, didn't know if there were mystery shopping jobs online from home. Any advice would be great.



Thanx,

Tim

There's a great list of mystery shopping companies on the forum you can apply with. Most companies require that you sign up and provide your personal info and SS# and sign a confidentiality agreement before you can view their job board to see what is available. Signing up with a lot of companies can be time-consuming but it pays off.

Thanks for all the info! How do i find companies in my local area(indiana)??? Or do i just search the job boards??? And, is this flexible, or on a specific time schedule??? Can you do this online??? And, how much can you expect to make from this?? Sorry for all the questions, just new to this, and don't really know anything about it. Thanks again for your reply.

Tim

Tim - You will have to sign up with the companies first and then check their job boards to see who has work in your area. Corporate Research, Maritz, and Market Force are national companies. You will get your jobs on line and you will report on line. The jobs will have performance date ranges or specific dates. Some will have a time window, and others can be done any time the business is open. How much money you make will depend on what type of shopping you do and how much you work. I work part time and made over $9,000 last year. Some shoppers who work full time have reported making over $30,000.

Thank you so much for all your replies, and replying so quickly.I really appreciate it! I know i'm going to be working full time at the tech job from home, and am' trying to weigh all the pros and cons of something like this. How much time is required per job??? Or, perhaps a better way of putting it, how much time can i expect to put in to each job?? Like i said, i'll be working this around another full time job. Thanks again for all the info.


Tim

Once again that is really hard to say because it depends on what jobs you accept. Some jobs take only 10 to 15 minutes on site and about the same to do the report. Those jobs generally pay very little. Other jobs may take about the same time or a little longer, have more observations you need to make and a much more complex report that may take an hour to do. Those jobs generally pay better. A lot of time is often spent looking for jobs and depending on where you are, you may spend more time driving to and from the work than anything else. And of course a whole lot depends on you--how quickly you get the hang of report writing to be able to knock them out.

Thanks for all the information and quick replies. You've all been so helpful, and given me a lot to think about,and read. I'll definetly think about all these things, and proceed cautiously. Thank you again for all your time and expertise.


Tim

I am also a newbie, and trying to get jobs in El Paso, TX. I would like to do mystery shops for stores and fast food like Jack in the Box, Taco Bell, Long John Silver, Pizza Hut can anyone point me to to company that executes those type of places? I would really appreciated all the help I can get!

Thank you for having me here!!

Hi Liz. It would be a violation of our ICA to name the MSCs' for these clients...:p

Hi all,

I'm a newbie too. I have signed up with quite a few companies via the MSPA website as well as reading through the threads here and learning which companies posters seem to recommend. So far I've had pretty good luck with ACE, Ritter, A-Closer-Look, Second-to-None, to name a few. My part of the state or country (?) seems pretty busy with shops.

Today I did 6 shops each for $12.50. So $75 in 2 hours and an extra hour of data input. So $75 for 3 hours total is not bad considering I'm also getting vacation pay from my day job. hehehe! I probably could have hurried it up a little more too and shortened my day, but I was meandering today and enjoying the day.

Some good advice I learned from some posters here on the forum: If you sign up with a lot of companies (and that's a great idea too for many opportunities) keep a spreadsheet of company name, user ID, password, and the shops you do for them so you can track the money you are owed. Also, keep a file of your receipts and documentation from the shops.

:-)

Tim -

(and other newbies to shopping)

I posted this last night on the "Member Introductions" Forum. Here's a repost for you and other new shoppers.

Hi Tim,

Welcome to the forum; and congrats on the Tech-From-Home job! I'm an IC from home for the past 12 years and love it. I work on our company websites and in our Elevated X data base. Now, I don't do the "techie" stuff, I get this glazed look in my eyes - but I do all of our video auditing, descriptive writing, tagging, etc.

Here is a copy of what I've been posting to other new shoppers who are asking about getting started! Hopefully this helps you out a bit. Have fun shopping!

~~~~~~~~~~~

You are probably feeling somewhat overwhelmed, wondering where to begin. Here are some facts and tips:

1. Mystery Shopping is NOT "quick money" or a "way to make a living". (True, few people do, but they are gone on over-the-road video trips for several weeks at a time, and they BUILT their Reputation by starting at the beginning.) Mystery Shopping is work - hard work. You are self-employed. You pay taxes on ALL of your income (YES, EVEN on that single $7.00 Shop Pay you got from one company you did work with). You need to keep a track of ALL of your expenses. You should have an office with a good computer, internet, printer, paper, ink, a good camera (if you decide to get into auditing), or a good cell phone with a camera.

2. You get paid (starting usually) $4.00 to $10.00 AFTER you complete a job, submit a survey free of errors, have your survey accepted, and hopefully had no deductions!

3. You get paid - 95% of the time - 45-60-90 days AFTER your survey is accepted. (There are a few companies that may pay in 30 days, just don't count on it, and it really helps to learn how to balance/budget your future earnings.) Most of the time, you will need to lay out money first. Example - that Fast Food shop? You need to pay in Cash - *UpFront*. You'll get reimbursed - and also a "fee" - but that will come later (See #2 above)

4. You should/need to have proper Grammar, Spelling, Capitalization, and Punctuation. Yes, this will include the forum. We like to consider ourselves professionals, even on a forum.

5. READ - pull up a chair and Read. Tired of reading? Don't like to read? Well, you are not going to learn anything unless you start reading. Grab a soda, coffee, tea, whatever your preference and start going through all of the threads - at least on the first page of EACH thread - on all of the forums mentioned below at the bottom of every page page.

When you get to "New Mystery Shoppers" Forum: [www.mysteryshopforum.com] forum - there are "Sticky Threads" at the top of this forum. READ through ALL of the information that a long time shopper/member (Flash) wrote for new shoppers. Then, go back and read it again. Some people have been known to print out the information that Flash has written (not all of the follow up threads, just her first post).

6. Get yourself set up with a spreadsheet to keep track of your future jobs. Search here on the forum "spreadsheets" - and you should pull up ideas on how others set them up. You NEED to keep track of your expenses - you will need those for tax time!

7. Get yourself set up with a PayPal account. I would also suggest that you set up an email ONLY to be used for Mystery Shopping - and use that email to connect with your Paypal account and the one you use signing up with MSC's.

8. I'd also recommend that you start a new checking account - *Only* to be used for Mystery Shopping. At tax time - especially if you stay interested in shopping - you will be SO glad that you had separate accounts! Someone recommended it to me when I first started - and I am definitely glad that I did get one!

Have fun shopping - but you do have to do the work yourself. It's the only way you are going to learn, and find out what type of company works best for you.