Hello Folks, I am new to this Mystery Shopping and do seek sound advice or direction in regards to the "legit" mystery shopping companies." I do agree with the initial post however, I do have commentary to this thought which I shall share after reading the initial post/ statement below. I have copied and pasted so you know what I speak of.

Which is;

First of all, many experienced shoppers have spent years researching, tracking and researching some more to compile a list of what they consider the best companies. This list is a valuable resource that they've worked hard to create. If you ask that it be handed to you with no effort on your part, it's the equivalent of you getting out of a taxi at the 25th mile of a marathon and expecting someone who's run the entire race to carry you to the finish.

Second, you must be prepared to work hard and spend a lot of time reading, searching and keeping great records. If you're not prepared to do this, you should know up front that you will not succeed at mystery shopping.

Third, even if a list of the "best" companies was given to you, it wouldn't necessarily be a list of the best companies for you. MSCs can be regional, national or international. They may have no jobs in your area. Shoppers may prefer MSCs with a certain type of client, and you may have no interest in that same client. They may take three months to pay, which some don't mind and others do.

Ok,,, These three reasons listed are indeed valid. Although, I do ask all you "Experienced Mystery Shoppers" a very important question regarding a "New Mystery Shopper", and the listed reasons given above of why one would not lead, guide, and direct a fellow "NEW" mystery shopper. You see, I am a independent contractor and have helped many in my years in service as a Notary Signing Agent. Knowledge is power and what we do with this knowledge is up to each individual. So, it is truly a matter of perspective of how we choose to view this situation. I myself choose to assist a beginner with the do's and don'ts from my experiences of mishaps or successes. If I am asked and can assist a fellow individual from avoiding all the dangers and/or pitfalls that's going to waste their time, money, and energy then, I will. Example~ The companies your aware of that DOES NOT PAY, or their scams etc, etc, etc... I must add, besides the numerous pseudo companies that are out there lying in wait to prey or scam the novice mystery shopper which has no clue, nor warnings of their fraudulent activities.

I am grateful for the many, many, individuals in the beginning of my business in 2004 that were more than willing to share such sound advice and resources for it made a huge impact me and my company. I know there are more than enough companies out there for all of us and tend to disagree with the outlook of not helping, assisting with a list of companies that are legit or valid. I strongly believe in paying it forward and helping others if I can or am asked.

In closing, I have tried this once before and the very dangers I speak of is exactly what had happened to me. I am once again trying this out and sincerely hope that there are folks out there that do concur with my outlook. My best to all , Patti

Patti63,
Perhaps you are not aware that one of the prime motivators for all of us who contribute here is to help other steer clear of companies who will cheat them and of fraudulent ofeers, and scams.

What we do not want to do is to give out lists of our best clients to newcommers. From your description of how you helped to mentor newcomers in your other filed of work, you did not tell them the names of your best clients, either.

Perhaps you will understand more about all the positive things that we do for colleagues, both new and old, here, if you read the many "sticky" topics in the New Mystery Shoppers area, and also read the many, many posts steering shoppers away from scams, alerting them to companies that fail to pay, and/or otherwise cheat shoppers. You will find that you are among those who do think as you do about "paying it forward."

Most contributions to threads have been made in response to a question posed in the opening post. These contributions are donated by those willing to share, and if all of them were deleted the forum would be useless. And short, too.

Patti63 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> Ok,,, These three reasons listed are indeed valid.
> Although, I do ask all you "Experienced Mystery
> Shoppers" a very important question regarding a
> "New Mystery Shopper", and the listed reasons
> given above of why one would not lead, guide, and
> direct a fellow "NEW" mystery shopper. You see, I
> am a independent contractor and have helped many
> in my years in service as a Notary Signing Agent.
> Knowledge is power and what we do with this
> knowledge is up to each individual. So, it is
> truly a matter of perspective of how we choose to
> view this situation. I myself choose to assist a
> beginner with the do's and don'ts from my
> experiences of mishaps or successes. If I am asked
> and can assist a fellow individual from avoiding
> all the dangers and/or pitfalls that's going to
> waste their time, money, and energy then, I will.
> Example~ The companies your aware of that DOES
> NOT PAY, or their scams etc, etc, etc... I must
> add, besides the numerous pseudo companies that
> are out there lying in wait to prey or scam the
> novice mystery shopper which has no clue, nor
> warnings of their fraudulent activities.
>
> In closing, I have tried this once before and the
> very dangers I speak of is exactly what had
> happened to me. I am once again trying this out
> and sincerely hope that there are folks out there
> that do concur with my outlook. My best to all ,
> Patti

Hi, Patti, welcome to the forum. LOVED the first part of your post because it's clear you completely understand the value and the necessity of hard work when you are starting out as a mystery shopper as well as the value of the business that you are building with your hard work.

But the middle and end of your post made me believe that, while you are very savvy about mystery shopping for a new shopper, you have not read very much of the forum.... perhaps you have read no more than this first thread. My advice would be to spend some time reading the rest of the forum. I think you'll find that many posters have spent many unpaid hours helping others. You'll find many, many warnings about no-pay companies. Posters here on the forum were warning shoppers away from Freeman a couple of years before Freeman totally stopped paying shoppers, back when they were only a slow-pay rather than a no-pay. There are many threads warning of scams. There are many responses to calls for help from new shoppers. AND there's New Mystery Shopper section that provides enough information to allow a new mystery shopper to get their mystery shopping business up and running immediately - although with a lot of hard work. I REALLY know about that - I used that information and the forum to get started in 2008 - and I owe a debt of gratitude to all the experienced forum posters who helped me. If I can give back now to repay what they gave me, I will at every opportunity.

After you've really investigated the forum, I'm thinking you may realize some things are not quite as you first perceived them. In that case, I hope you'll come back and revisit your post.

Welcome, and good luck shopping. Lots of information and help - FREE - is available here to you and all new shoppers.


.....edited ..... because ..... longtime shopper ...... and I.STILL.CAN'T.SPELL.............

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/10/2013 01:48AM by AustinMom.

I've been a notary too, in my past, and many of them make their money working for a loan company or mortgage broker. (I never did, but I've known some who did) If you were mentoring a new notary, would you suggest they call the loan company you work for to see if they can take some of your business away? Or would you tell them generically, "Loan companies and mortgage brokers sometimes use our services" and let them use their own fingers to do the walking through the yellow pages looking for potential clients?

This is the line we draw -- we don't lead people to taking our work from us; we point them to the list of companies at the bottom of this page. We DO help them avoid scams and errors that will cost them money.

Welcome to the forum!

So true! I have had many newbies ask me for a list of companies that are the "good" companies to work for, the companies that "pay the best", the "real" mystery shopping companies...and so on and so on. For a while I dodged answering them because I knew the time and effort I put into my job, the years behind building my reputation and frankly, I also knew the answer just wasn't that simple.
We are obligated to our jobs and obviously, we enjoy our work. We wouldn't be employed as shoppers/merchandisers if this wasn't our passion, so to speak. But there are those who think they know about this type of employment and think it is a "breeze of a job", an "easy buck", "free food", "free merchandise", and really, "anyone can do it". Not true at all.
We are professionals in every sense of the word. We follow guidelines. We are educated. We must file reports, keep records, and if necessary, be called to court. We must be honest. When we do a shop, we must be prepared. That entails learning about each shop beforehand, memorizing the details, remembering the details during the shop and then submitting the report accurately. So in my opinion, an excellent shopper goes hand-in-hand with good companies, generally.
Why then, should anyone just hand out a list of companies to someone? To me, it's tantamount to funneling your education into a concise report for free and giving it away after you've done the hard work.
I now give people the link to the mysteryshopforum site. I tell them to read about shopping and all it entails. I tell them there are links at the forum. And I wish them luck in their new endeavor with a smile. This way, they learn that my job isn't as simple as they might have believed, but with the right tools, they too can become successful shoppers. I've dodged the bullet on giving them the quick, easy answer they wanted while educating them about what mystery shopping really is all about.