I'm not asking for the name of a mystery shopping company or even the name of the shop. There's a wide range of businesses that are mystery shopped. It's hard to know where to start. Does anyone have any advice about what kind of shops are good for a beginner? Thanks!

I think that bank teller shops are a very good place to start. They are not too complicated and seldom require split second timing or elaborate scenarios.

I started with MarketForce and they work very well with beginners.

Read all the sticky posts in the New Mystery Shoppers area and then pick up some of their fast food shops at the place with the car hops. It doesn't get much easier than that and you'll quickly learn how this thing works.

If you want a lot of detailed feedback on your shops, try a few with Intellishop. Their editors LOVE giving feedback.

Welcome!

Okay, everyone's different, so you'll have to find your own comfort level. Don't try to start with anything where you'd be financially inconvenienced by losing the amount of the reimbursement, because if something goes wrong, it'll come out of your pocket.

I recommend that, sooner or later, you try everything. I'm new enough at this that I haven't, but I've already discovered types of shops that I like a lot more than I would have expected.

Okay, what's your personality type? If you're not shy, then try a bank or a cell phone shop. Advantage: You won't have to put up any of your own money. Disadvantage: you have to deal with a salesperson, and you may have to tell lies. Think of it as acting.

If you don't feel comfortable dealing with salespeople, try a fast food shop. (That is, assuming that you ever eat fast food.) Advantage: Although you're having to observe a lot of things that you might not have noticed before, you're relating to the sales clerk in a perfectly normal manner--no lies to tell! Disadvantage: you're paying for the meal with your own money, and you won't get it back for a month or so.

Stay away from anything that has long complicated narratives until you're able to do the reports on your own computer. Likewise, don't commit to anything that involves a lot of photo-taking, (revealed photo-audits), until you can do the reports on your own computer.

P.S. I swear I posted this without reading the posts above. But, you can see the outline of a consensus, can't you?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/06/2014 07:12PM by Ishmael.

I vote for Market Force (MF), too. The shops are a good training ground for developing some valuable basic skills and their reports are nice and easy, perfect-for-a-beginner, to complete. Please know that if you ever get a call from Market Force, asking you to do a shop, always inquire about the bonus being offered.

I think another good beginner Mystery Shopping Company (MSC) is Intouch Insight for all of the same reasons I cited for MF.

Good luck and have fun!

(heart)

Thanks for the good advice everyone!

I think a great shop to cut your teeth on is pretzel shops; they're one of the easiest shops I have done and that's how I started.

My first shop was a car dealership, but then again, I love cars and everything about them, so that was good for me.

My first shop was one of those cash advance shops (one of them that says that they pay $50). I'm not sure how much it paid back then as it was in 2006. It had what I thought was a decent amount of narrative (several paragraphs) but I was in college at that time so I thought of it as like school. I wouldn't say that would be great for everyone to start with but I like being thrown to the fire.

I won't do these shops because the company (at least the one that has them in Ohio) takes an insanely long time to pay.

lbw1000 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> My first shop was one of those cash advance shops
> (one of them that says that they pay $50). I'm
> not sure how much it paid back then as it was in
> 2006. It had what I thought was a decent amount
> of narrative (several paragraphs) but I was in
> college at that time so I thought of it as like
> school. I wouldn't say that would be great for
> everyone to start with but I like being thrown to
> the fire.

Thanks DanteInOh I was thinking that I'd like to do one of the pretzel shops. And I found the company that does them. Now it's just finding one that's available.

Canuck, there seems to be a lot of available car dealership shops in my area, but that's one kind that would definitely be out of my comfort zone. I don't even want to go through that to buy myself a car.

There are a lot of cash advance shops available here too. I wasn't real comfortable bringing in my social security card but maybe I'll rethink that.

Hi! My question is: Which companies have mystery shopping that you can do over the phone only? The reason that I am asking is because we only have one vehicle, and my husband needs it to go to and from work. Any information is appreciated! Thanks!

I don't know that I know of any that do phone shops only. Phone shops are generally scattered among the various companies along with their in person shops.

I started out with the gas station shops. If you mess up with that one you still need the gas. I think they were pretty good to cut the teeth on.

I like Second to None and MarketForce. Second to None is forgiving (to me anyway) and their gas stations shops are the bomb. MarketForce is great to get your feet wet.