How are you suppose to get assignments to prove yourself when they are going to experience shoppers....its like a no win situation....I am frustrated..........have anybody experience the same?

We all started there and there are shops that you will be finding if you check the job boards. It may be necessary to start with the bigger companies that pay very little (which is why the shops are still available) while you get experienced. I noticed just a little bit ago that Shop 'N Check (now MarketForce Information) has about a dozen fast food shops in my area that are shops I (and evidently other shoppers in my area) no longer bother with. But they will get you some experience.

I had a few companies that took me without experience. I started with Intellishop, Confero and Second-to-None. They don't all ask you if you have experience, so just plunge in and learn as you go.

I started out with shop'N Chek and received a lot of shops from them. They have a lot of shops every month. Just keep checking the site. The good ones tend to go fast.

Now that I think of it, MOST companies don't ask if you have experience. They may ask on the application, but then they let you take shops anyway without it.
Let us know how you make out, shopaholic4.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/10/2008 02:51AM by sneakers.

...and if you don't want to do the restaurants, etc., there are many, many other jobs, with banks, with retail stores, apartments, feed stores, bait shops (heehee - just kidding, but not kidding about the feed store!), etc.

I learned all I could before I started - do a search on your computer for Mystery Shopper Guidelines, that should bring up many learning opportunities. Oh, another good place would be KathyStucker.com. She is a gal who has made a name for herself in the business.

Then, I did what they said to do... I signed up with about 25 Mystery Shopping Companies. I started getting jobs the next day. I was overwhelmed and had to email a few companies and tell them what I did and they totally understood. I've found that if you are honest with the Schedulers, everything will work out (or not).

I wrote up a little bio paragraph about myself (mainly they want you to be professional & honest). Short and to the point. You will learn how to write these and what the companies want to hear by doing your homework.

When I very first started (it's been 1 year this month) I actually thought I knew everything... heaven help me!! What a joke!!

That's it for me, I now must go look at an apartment and then write a 12 page report about it!

... and remember... practice makes perfect. What seemed like a hassle will become second nature.

Good Luck,

Sue

Thank you all for your suggestions, however, I have completed shops for some of the companies you mentioned. Comapnies such as Intellshop, Confero etc.. has not given me that chance.

It happens. There are companies that I have been signed up with for several years and requested lots of shops and never gotten a single one. Luckily there are a lot of MSPs out there so rather than get unhappy about it, I just don't bother with them any more. Their loss. And then there are the companies that you sign up and you never get a job until they are in a bind and want you to drop everything and run do their shop. They get one bite at that apple. When the shop turned in gets a 10/10 and the subsequent shops you still don't get a crack at them it is 'bye bye' time because I'm not just going to be around to solve their problems. On the other hand there are shops that I will be given as soon as I am eligible by rotation and rotation is sometimes even waived when there has been a problem with another shopper. It all comes as part of the job. And it makes sense to always be adding new companies and rechecking occasionally with ones you haven't worked for or haven't worked for in a while because schedulers change, clients change and shoppers in your area change.

I'm signed up with over 130 companies, and I have a system for keeping score. I keep a bookmark (=Favorites in IE) for each one's login page, so I know whom I registered with. Even if they send me no jobs for awhile, the bookmark tells me I'm already registered with them.

I group the bookmarks into 3 folders, each alphabetized. "Have worked for," "has some jobs this area" and "No jobs nearby." I also put notes in the bookmark like BD( =has a job board,) and EMAIL (=no job board, works only by email.) I check job boards regularly.

Some of these companies are starting to get an X now (=too cheap, don't bother) For those I will discontinue the email. But by keeping the bookmark, I know not to register with them again. With many similar MSP names, you can't rely solely on memory.

Needless to say, I use Roboform to save all my passwords and all my registration info. In fact, I use it all over the internet.

Capisce?

Yes, Capisce. But I still don't understand.

I have a lot of travel problems here in the NYC Metro area: waterways, bridges, traffic, tunnels, safety issue and parking problems. So I'm trying to make up for it by registering with many MSP's. I'm just stating how I keep track of so many companies. If you need it, PM me me.

Got you Sneakers. That was a joke. I am Italiano. I bet Jacob is getting a kick out of these posts.

Sometimes it depends on the shop.

I schedule some shops that involve sending out gift cards that are rewarded to the store staff if they are successful. Naturally since there are items with cash value involved, we don't send them to people that have no shopping history.

There is also an oil change project that I schedule, and one of the perks of the shop is that if a shopper wants it on a quarterly basis, I will give it to them. So many of those go to the person who did it last time. I'd say about half of them are scheduled that way, and the other half are up for grabs.

A lot of it also depends on the area where you shop. Some locations might get thirty applications, and others might get one. It's very frustrating to me to get 29 angry "why didn't I get this shop" emails when I schedule one person for a shop, and the answer is obvious - it was one shop.

However, there are tons of shops out there that new shoppers can pick up - and it thrills us to have new shoppers! I have a bank project in NYC that I am constantly trying to find new people for, because it's to the client's benefit to add new perspectives to the mix.

Sometimes the way to go is to email a scheduler directly with a polite, well worded note that you are just getting started and would love to have a chance at X shop. Just remember that we have an obligation to take care of people who have taken care of us in the past. You might be amazed how picking up an urgent shop and submitting it on time makes your name stand out in a scheduler's mind - and then the next time your application pops up, YOU'LL be that person we want to take care of.

Hang in there!

There are some shops that present special and unusual challenges, and you might be the one to solve them. There are two bank shop near me that goes undone from month to month. The scheduler doesn't realize this, but I know that the banks are near each other in a downtown area, and street parking there is almost nonexistent. All they need is a shopper who has a friend or husband willing to drive her, disappear for 40 minutes, and pick her up. It's a creative solution to a problem. As Judith said, all you need is a few grateful schedulers.

If you keep on getting refused to shop don't give up. At some point they will have to use you when there are no other shoppers that will do the assignments. Where I live it doesn't seem to have a lot of shoppers. So this week I ended up getting 11 shops. Which I was so thrilled. But yet a busy little beaver between the shops, full time job, and taking care of my little brother. But I did make over the amount goal I wanted to make each week this week.

Now back in 2008 when I first started mystery shopping there were never hardly any assignments in my area. And now with a few companies I can get at least a job for two a week.

So just keep trying, and sign up with as many mystery shopping companies because you never know what will pop up in your area, or even by what company.

Good luck. To this day I still try to find companies to sign up with. Good luck to all of you.