I've been with mystery shop now for about a year and I've yet to complete a shop. I would appreciate it if I could get some help getting started....

Have you assigned to any shops?

A year and no shops? Are you getting offers from companies and just not taking them? Or, are you NOT getting any shop offers?

In the first case, just take the ones that are at places you are already somewhat familiar with (comfort level) until you are more experienced and comfortable with the common things to look for.

In the second case, remember the mystery shopper mantra...apply, apply, apply. Apparently, the MSCs you signed with don't commonly have shops in your area. Keep registering with "new" companies until you find the ones that HAVE shops in your area (there's a list here, at volition.com, walletboosters.com, other shopper forums, etc.). The best thing is, they're ALL FREE! There are about 500, or so, mystery shopping companies, so you won't run out of companies to register with soon. It seems like an "insurmountable" task, but just register with 3-5 companies a day until you are as busy as you want to be. It is NOT uncommon for some mystery shoppers to be registered with 100-200 companies, but "regularly" work with 20-30 that seem to have the most shops in their area.

Good Luck and Happy Shopping.

Are you signed w/ companies??

Here is a list of good companies that I like:

Service Intelligence... [www.experienceexchange.com]

[www.shopnchek.com] SHOP N CHEK..........cell phone, restaurant, retail, fast food

[www.second-to-none.com] SECOND TO NONE...mostly coffee shops but also a few retail

[www.serviceevaluation.com] SERVICE EVALUATION CONCEPTS....retail, oil change, new car shops

[www.bestmark.com] BESTMARK....quite a variety of shops including sit down restaurants

[www.trendsource.com] TRENDSOURCE........one of my favorites........large variety of shops.

[www.cybershoppersonline.com] GFK....gas shops plus variety of ff shops

[www.rcmysteryshopper.com] REALITY CHECK...quite a variety of shops...

I dont understand how to get a job in my location (Tyler Tx.). I need
some help all I get is some surveys and offer to buy things but checks
please help me.

P.S. Jacob Jans I would appreciate it.





Katrina Newman

KATRINA -

To help you find jobs in your area, read the two posts above yours. These will give you the names of some companies to register yourself with (let them know that you are available to do mystery shops). You should register with those above and those listed on the free lists as mentioned above. You should also read my last post about getting started under "Introduce Yourself" on this forum (Pg. 7) for some of things you should do to get going.

Good Luck and Happy Shopping.

thar, you have to sign up with the companies, then check their websites. Some you put in your zip code and enter how many miles you are willing to travel to a job. Some companies will e mail you with jobs, but not all. Your best bet is to check their websites, some have job boards. They are not going to seek you out, you gotta go and get it.

I was looking for some restaurant and casino shops. Can anyone help me?

Have you tried:

Coyle Hospitaltiy

Restaurant Evaluators (although their reports require quite a bit of narrative)

Orilio & Associates

Sensus Research

Intellishop

Mystery Guest Inc.

I know that there are others, but I can't think of them right now. Anybody?

Thanks for your post. Good to see that I'm not alone. I'll get started someday after I get self-confidence and some time to do it.

JC & Associates
NWLCP
BESTMARK
Shop n chek

You might want to go to Volition.com, there are business from A to Z in their shop get paid section.

Never pay a company to be come a MS, that is a rip off. I have job from MS to doing Audits in different convience stores, doing reset jobs in different business like LOWES, Winn Dixie, etc, to just making phone calls that I get paid for doing. I have been a MS for the last 30 yrs. I enjoy the work. I have even done a MS in a medical office get reimburse for my medical cost plus their payment. I have got paid for the cost of medical exams,eye exams,dental exams, eyeglasses,even chiropatic services, not just on myself but on all my family. It pays all expenses. It also pays for going out eat to shopping for the children clothes and gifts. By using my phone for business calls it can be a tax write off. When I have my vehicles serviced at certain places, I get reimbursed for the service cost plus their pay. I get paid to go car dealerships to evaluate them. I even got paid when I went on a boat cruise trip last year and this summer.

I keep accurate record as far a gas mileage, and all my other expenses when I sho. My tax preparer knows what I do on the side, matter of factor I got him and his family into MS also. There are more than enough job out there. I look to other cites and states when I know I will be traveling thru and get jobs at some of these locations. When I plan jobs around vactions or any other business trips I count it alot as a business expense.

I have family and friends all around the USA, CANADA, that are MS do to my showing them how it pays. Some of these jobs you can only once every 60 to 90 days, is one of the reason my husband or one of my older children (16 or older) are MS also.

I tell all my friends about MSing.

If you use Jacob's advice, you should know by now how to "get started"!
First, it is my advice to set up a separate email account for all your MS business. Use a free service, like Yahoo, Hotmail or my favotite Inbox.com. I love this service! They have the best Web Security Guard af all. I can have as many as 80-90 emails waiting for me when I get up. I clear them all out, and by 5-6 PM I have another 50-60. Throught the day I've amassed between 150-200 pieces of Spam and not one single piece has gotten into my mailbox! They are fabulous! (If you're reading this Inbox, I deserve to be paid for the free advertising)!
Now:
Go to volition.com, walletboosters.com or mymommybiz.com (not mommys). All three have extensive lists of MS companies that you can apply to.
Next: Apply, apply, apply, apply. If you apply to 3 or so companies every day for 1 month, you'll have applied to 100 or more companies. Good START! Keep applying!
Don't ever stop. I've applied to well over 250 companies and I still keep applying. Why? Out of those companies, I've heard back from about 150. Out of the 150, I've been offered jobs, (or found jobs on their website), from about 125, but alot of those jobs were nowhere near where I live. I've probably done jobs for about 75 of those companies, but on a consistant basis, I've chosen 20-25 companies that I really like to work with. If you have applied to enough companies YOU get to choose who YOU want to work for. You don't have to take just any job, because you need the money.
Next: You'll get return emails from the companies that are interested and soon the offers will follow. Don't get discouraged! I waited over 6 months before I heard from one company, but it is now one of my favorites. And don't be disappointed when you apply for jobs and you don't get them. Companies have to keep there present shoppers happy, so newcomers will be the last to be chosen. But you'll get there and if you do a good job for them, you'll quickly climb the ladder.
This "starting" thing is SO-O-O-O EASY folks. Just get busy and do it.
If you run across a company that asks about MSPA certification - if you're not certified, you're not, no big deal! Most companies don't care or ask. I get email offers all the time that say "We prefer MPSA Certified Shoppers, but this job does not require it".
Print every page of every application BEFORE you go to the next page, (the pages have a way of disappearing when you try to go back) and print the last page before you submit it. If they ask you to provide a User ID or a Password make sure you write it on the front. Companies require different kinds of passwords, so one size does not fit all. Print out their reply to you, when it comes in. It usually contains very valuable information, such as a User ID and Password they supply to you or contact info.
Now, armed with this step by step program - hop to it!
If I forgot something you need to know, write back!
Mother Hen

You can never apply to too many Companies. I still keep applying everytime I get a chance. I am probably registered with a couple hundred and just last week alone applied for about 6 or 7 more. You never know when you will find a Company that has a lot of shops in your area. I can always use more shops also when I am doing routes to make my routes pay. Sometimes when I get an offer for a bonus shop by telephone I can just start checking several of the companies that I am registered with to see if I can find something else going in the same direction. Those I usually look for on the self-assign shops so I will know right away and not have to wait to see if I am accepted. It is very seldom I cannot find several more to add to my route for the day. Even if you are just starting, or like some of us who have been doing it a long time, we never quite applying.

go to jobslinger.com its free to join and have alot of jobs.

I have done one mystery shop with another company which involved a restaurant in a casino. It went very well. Since there are other types of shops available and pay better what would be a wise recommendation? I listen to a audio seminar with a person who has been doing this type of work for many years and I was told that as a new shopper I should get certified with the silver certification before searching for assignments. This would let companies know that I am serious and reliable. More assignments would eventually come my way as a result. Let me know if this is good advice or should get some work first and worry about the certification at a later date?

There are many many mystery shopping companies out there. You need to get yourself signed up with those that do shops in your area. The best way to find those is by using Jobslinger.com. Once you have registered with the companies, check their job boards on a regular basis. If you are an a major metropolitan area that is saturated with shoppers there may be some advantage to getting the silver certification. For those of us who are in smaller cities and towns, the certification is neither necessary nor beneficial because you will build your shopper reputation based on the jobs you accept and how well you perform them. Like anything else, this takes some time and diligence on your part to find, accept and perform jobs well for a number of mystery shopping companies.

Apply to as many companies as you can. This is the same that you would do if looking for any other job. Once you apply, be persistant to check their job boards daily. Once you do 1 or 2 shops and do a good job, schedulers will want you to do more. You must be persistant and do not give up.