One mystery shopping company askede was I a member of this. Please advise. I've only shopping for a week. L have done 3 shops.

I doubt they asked about Mystery Shopping Assoc. as I have never heard of such. They may have asked if you were "Certified by the Mystery Shopping Providers Association". That is a whole different kettle of fish! The MSPA is a trade organization of SOME of the companies that shoppers work with. Not all companies in the field choose to be members and that does not make them any better or worse than others to work with. The MSPA sell "certifications" to shoppers. For $15 you can buy a common sense "Silver Certification" that even the MSPA states in their information about the product that "All other things being equal it MIGHT give you an advantage" in being selected for a job. Not even all MSPA member companies want to know if you bought certification or not. For around $100 you can buy a "gold certification" from the MSPA. In private and public conversations with other shoppers over the years I have not heard people I know and trust indicating that their gold certification is making them eligible for shops I am not already seeing and doing without certification.

Suzie1,

I believe what you may be speaking of is an organization called the National Association of Mystery Shoppers. It is associated with one of many companies that I've been researching and is referenced in my article below from Market Research Pros on Facebook and XING.

I noted that "mysteryshoppers.com" was listed in the referral field of a new shopper's profile, so I checked this out. To me, this seems like "shopperselect.com" and "shoppersystems.com" which are all sites that, according to my research, gather postings off the web and sell access to them. As a provider I have been unable to obtain an account in order to guarantee the validity, accuracy and source of the postings. I've had many shoppers contact me regarding postings they've received from these sites that contain our company's information. However, the postings are always outdated and altered, sometimes to the point of being seriously misleading. I've also been receiving on occasion what appears to be applications from shoppers for current assignments, similar to those I receive after posting on Shadow Shopper or Premier Shoppers, which are legitimate resources and support companies. Whenever I see one of these sites listed in the referral field of a profile or receive an email from a shopper or one of these applications for assignments, I respond to the shopper with the information they need and a disclaimer stating that Integrity Consultants has no affiliation with the site. I also include a list of free resources where current and accurate postings from our company and others may be viewed.

The other sites associated with this one in particular are "secretshopping.com" and "secretshoppers.com" which all forward to the same site. They list an offer for membership to an organization called the National Association of Mystery Shoppers (NAMS)-NOT to be confused with the National Association for Retail Marketing Services (NARMS), a legitimate professional organization-and shopper surety bonding, "For Serious Shoppers." My best advice on these are to run the other direction, save your money, and take full advantage of the variety of free resources available. There are countless forums, specialty groups, and resources available where current, accurate original postings can be viewed.

Beware of the Following Sites:

"mysteryshoppers.com"
"secretshopping.com"
"secretshoppers.com"
"shopperselect.com"
"shoppersystems.com"