I know the answers will be subjective and that's kind of my goal- to hear from other mystery shoppers about what your favorite type of shops are and why.

There are several shops I like to do. The movie reaction shops ( it's kinda cool to watch people's reactions), the movie trailer check shops (it's nice to know before my friends and families what movies are coming out) and I like the fast food shop (it's free food...enough said...unless the food is nasty! Lol)

I really like the shops that have me in a place I want/need to be anyway. Restaurant shops, grocery shops, movie shops where we are to sit back and enjoy the movie of our choice after making the observations, and shops about things I am currently researching for personal consumption (cell phone when I'm ready to change and looking for the best deal, flooring when I'm about to make changes in my home, window coverings when it is time to change those, furniture when I am actually looking for replacement pieces, etc.)

My very favorite is any nicely bonused shop!

Overall, my favorites are fee shops (apartments, banks, etc.) and shops with useful reimbursements. Useful reimbursements to me are groceries, oil changes and the like that are essential, and as such, save me money.

Saving money is also a very big one for me, but in a kind of quirky way. Prior to coming back to shopping my significant other wanted to take me out to dinner once or twice a week and he always whipped out his credit card and refused to let me pay. I didn't like to take him to the grocery store because he would insist on buying the groceries. It bothered me because I was earning many times more than he was so reasonably and logically should be at least sharing those expenses. Shopping means that I 'have' to pay for a couple of dinners out per week and he pays only if he wants to go to some place that isn't shopped. The same holds true for groceries. So the savings actually works out for both of us (we keep our finances separate).

I like the dining shops. If I can save a little money by doing a report and I get to eat at a restaurant I like and want to eat at anyway, then that's all good.

My favorites are the not-so-terribly-fine dining restaurant shops, as well as movie cinemas and fun stuff that gets me out of my routine. I also love doing the apartment visits, if only the set-up and reporting wasn't so stressful for me. I also really enjoy retail shops with reimbursement that take me into a store or a part of my city where I wouldn't normally shop (I'm not much of a shopper on my own time so this isn't hard to do). I always learn something on those. I don't even care if the reimbursement is high, I just like interacting with the associate and then making a purchase that I won't have to return.

I haven't tried an apartment shop yet. I was wondering if they would be worth the time. Although- It might be interesting to see inside other apartment buildings in my area, so I will probably try one out sometime soon when I have a free Saturday.

So far I have tried:
Cell phone shops- Super easy, quick ones where you don't have to be a customer there or sign up for anything- I liked those even though they were low-ish paying because I can just stop on my way home, or while I am out doing another shop.

Grocery shops- I feel medium about this- It's helpful to do something that would get groceries reimbursed but the report took a lot of time. And in one I felt like I was chasing employees around the store just to get my required number of interactions. I live in a fairly dense urban area with lots of stores between home and work so I think I will pick up maybe one a week for those trips that I do on the way home anyway to pick up last minute things.

Phone and online shops requiring just a few minutes of research- I liked these even though the pay was low, it only took like ten minutes total including report.

One restaurant shop: This was really fun. I felt like being on a shop might ruin the experience but I'm a naturally analytical person anyway and ever since I worked in restaurants years ago, I have been in tune with the goings-on in a restaurant, watching what the employees are doing etc. It's hard to turn off. There was still time to relax and enjoy my meal and my hubby got a kick out of it too. So that's my favorite so far. The only downside to this is they require an expenditure up front that I am not going to get reimbursed for like over a month so I can't really just sign up for them willy nilly haha. ;D

@CeciliaM wrote:

One restaurant shop: This was really fun. I felt like being on a shop might ruin the experience but I'm a naturally analytical person anyway and ever since I worked in restaurants years ago, I have been in tune with the goings-on in a restaurant, watching what the employees are doing etc. It's hard to turn off. There was still time to relax and enjoy my meal and my hubby got a kick out of it too. So that's my favorite so far. The only downside to this is they require an expenditure up front that I am not going to get reimbursed for like over a month so I can't really just sign up for them willy nilly haha. ;D

That is why you start a 'shop kitty', build it up a bit and then dump reimbursements back into it. If I see a dozen nice shops in a month, the kitty can cover the credit card without wrecking the rest of the budget.

@Flash wrote:

That is why you start a 'shop kitty', build it up a bit and then dump reimbursements back into it. If I see a dozen nice shops in a month, the kitty can cover the credit card without wrecking the rest of the budget.

Yeah. That's my plan. I'm doing cell phone shops, grocery shops etc to help with that. On grocery shops, yes you do spend money but it's money I would be spending buying groceries anyway.

Bank shops are my favorite. Probably because I'm an accountant. :-)

New Car shops were fun for a while, but I kinda got burned out on them early. I'm giving it a break until after the holidays.

I've done apartment and child care shops. These are quite fun. The apartment shops I don't get very often because I can't take a "targeted contact" shop. I have a day job and can't be on the phone all day trying to reach a specific person. The child care ones have been fun because they pay well, the reports are pretty simple and well... I'm a mom of three so it's a natural fit.

I do the grocery shops for the free groceries and have gotten my routine down on them, so it's worth my time and effort.

I just did my first retail clothing shop. It was easier than the specs made it seem, so I'll add more of them to the repertoire.

I try not to do reimbursed shops unless they are for practical things like oil changes or items I need at the time. MSing is my path out of debt, so I'll throw in an occasional lifestyle shop for the experience but that's it.

****edited because of poor word choice, and sounding like a jerk***



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/16/2015 06:12PM by KimRod.

My favorites are the gas station audits/mystery shops. I like the minimal narrative involved with those... let the photos do the talking. I also find that I prefer to do a series of smaller shops with smaller reports than long shops with long narratives. I'm much happier doing 5-6 $15-$20 shops in a day than one giant $100 shop that requires me to write a book.

@KimRod wrote:

I try not to do reimbursed shops unless they are for practical things like oil changes or items I need at the time. MSing is my path out of debt, so I'll throw in an occasional lifestyle shop for the experience but that's it.

I am kind of on the same path although I do want to do reimbursed lifestyle shops like restaurants because my husband and I love to eat out, but I'm trying to cut the budget in that area.

New home shops, hotel shops with room service and breakfast and concierge club, bonus bank shops.

@walesmaven, what MSC do you do new home shops for, if you don't mind me asking?

I haven't found my favorite shop -- still looking. I'm searching for auto-reassignable ice cream routes. I would be willing to evaluate ice cream in multiple locations on a day to day basis. I am in a position to provide thorough, articulate narratives on the taste, texture, presentation and joys of ice cream. I am willing to work at this four days a week with three days off for fasting and gym work.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/17/2015 07:31PM by MDavisnowell.

Alter ego,
You name the video msc that has shops east if the Mississippi, and I have done their shops.

Walesmaven, I'm west of the Mississippi and don't have video equipment yet, so your leads probably wouldn't help me much anyway. I have yet to see a company with new home shops out here but maybe it's because my profiles indicate that I'm not equipped for video.

Alterego,
How many MSCs are you signed up with?