Hey I'm Alyssa,go by Noelle. I have worked in every type of customer service there is and really enjoy it . I currently work full-time as an assistant manager at a tanning salon but I don't make enough money to support my soon to be growing family. I know alot about customer service and what I look for when hiring or when training employees in customer service /experience, plus Im super opinionated and straight forward so I thought this would be perfect for me! But I'm having a hard time finding real job post..alot of these apps for your phone are BS!! Any tips on finding the good ones? Another question, should I get the silver certification? Does it really make a difference? Or should I go for the gold? I don't know an abundance of information about how to make money in this industry, but I'm eager, I'm a hard worker and I love learning from others. You never stop learning and there is nothing like learning from someone who has been there and done that.
Thanks for reading my post and to anyone who responses

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/29/2017 06:13AM by Noelle-WHFTM01.

Welcome, Noell. I don't think the silver certification helps at all. I am gold certified, but don't think it makes any difference. Building a reputation is a much better way to get better jobs.

Check out the New Mystery Shoppers section for lots of good advice. Also the Official List of Mystery Shopping Companies is a great place to start.

I wouldn't call mystery shopping an 'honest living' though. More like a 'dishonest living' with all the scenarios and shopper profiles we have to use. ;-)

Welcome, Noelle. As TeriW said above, read all the posts in the New Mystery Shoppers area. There's a link at the bottom of every page. Sign up with as many MSCs as possible, a few each day, so that you see the widest breadth of shops available.

There are job aggregator sites: jobslinger, msjobboards, prestomaps, isecretshop, and others. With these sites, you enter your location and nearby shops are shown. Each platform services different MSCs, so check them all to get the biggest picture. It will also help you determine which MSCs have shops in your area.

Just a friendly heads-up. It's great to have an opinion, but that isn't what mystery shopping is about. None of the companies want our opinion. In fact, if your report contains your personal opinion, it will be rejected and you won't get paid. Mystery shopping requires us to be objective--go to the location and observe. The reports should just state facts. For example, you shouldn't say, "The hostess was rude and unfriendly" because that's your opinion. You need to state what she was doing that made her seem rude and unfriendly, "The hostess was texting on her phone when we arrived. She did not acknowledge us for 45 seconds. When she looked up, she made eye contact, but did not smile."

I don't have any certifications and don't have problems getting assignments. I would suggest taking a few assignments to get a feel for the job and then reevaluate if you want certification.

Best of luck and congrats on your growing family!

I too am both MSPA silver and gold certified, but I don't think either really affects getting jobs too much anymore. I think at one time being gold was worth it because it did seem like I received preferential treatment from a few MSCs, but I haven't noticed anything different in the past four years or so. Plus, getting gold certified back when I got my certification in 2003 meant going to a workshop and networking with MSC reps and other shoppers. Well worth the $99. Now it's all done online and it's just not as meaningful in my opinion. And again, though you don't really need silver, either, I don't think it's a waste of $15 to do that particular training because if you have no experience in mystery shopping it will give you a good idea of the basics. It's all stuff you can learn on your own as well. This forum did not exist when I became a shopper back in 2001. It is a HUGE resource of information. The new shoppers section and the official list of companies below are great places to start. As far as making a living, it took me about five years or so to build up a business. Making a living doing this will depend on how populated your area is, your willingness to travel if you are in a remote area, and how many other shoppers are competing for the same jobs. I advise starting with Marketforce. They are a great beginner company as the reports are not too hard and they generally have shops all over the country. I still shop for them, actually. Good luck!

Marketforce is a great starter for mystery shopping. Although, my very first mystery shop was a mattress shop. Plus it was a bonused shop.

I am just closing in on a year doing this part time. I wouldn't say it's easy, especially at first when you are getting your feet wet. I work two days a week on average, bring in enough for some fun/travel money, (and to pay for a massively large dental bill.) I need to drive outside my local area to make that happen. I also do other contract work and I set aside 25% for taxes before spending a dime. You absolutely have to leave your opinion at the door and learn to write in terms of what occurred, not what you think someone should have done. I did a shop the other day and the salesperson admitted up front that he was 2-weeks new and didn't know much, but he'd do the best he could, so in checking off the boxes I had to check "no" more times than I would have liked. In the narrative I was able to state what he said to me. It's up to the company to realize the poor guy needs more training.

I am in year number four of mystery shopping and have yet to get any certifications. I did, however, get certified for on-site inspections with a few companies and pay for background checks with the ones that other forum members said were worth it. Those are my only real costs and $7-$15 for an annual background check that helps me get $500 extra work each year is worth it to me.

I started out doing drive thru and fast food shops. Those were pretty easy peasy and even at $5-$20 a shop, were worth it at the time coming out of my second trip to college (I was 2 classes shy of a major after graduating with a degree and a minor).

After fast food shops, I started picking up $5-$10 grocery store shops. A little more narrative, but worth it to me to get $10 in free food and stuff because I was broke after a new car and buying a little place. Dunno why I thought two for one was a good idea but I did it and suffered through.

After food+grocery, I started looking for other work and found this forum -- this place is pure gold. Ignore any negativity, accept constructive criticism, and keep your eyes open for sound advice. Everyone has a different experience, but you can certainly make a living. When I first started here, I was making in real money -- $50-$250 a month, TOPS. I was laid off for a few months and for 7 months, shopping was my only source of income. It's harder with a family because you don't necessarily want to travel long hours and be gone too terribly much but the key is balancing high dollar shops with low dollar short shops. If I can do a $150 bank shop that will cost me 2 hours of time but meet my days goal, that's awesome. If I can pick up two bonus food shops at $25 each or even $50 and net free food I can pack home plus easy reports -- that might be what I end up doing on the way to or from work or even both.

Writing was the hardest part for me. I learned how to write papers that involved statistics and a bit of business lingo. I did not learn sentence structure or grammar. That sounds silly, but is very true. I am from WV and living in Kentucky. Sometimes... I type like I talk and it can get me in trouble -- bwahaha. But, I would never put "watsatnow" on a report I would likely say something like, "The associate asked ' what was that, now?' and finished taking my order." Even if they did say watsatnow Still, grammar and sentence structure will bite you in the arse on intensive reports. I like getting those 9's and 10's back on reports

Yes, you can make an honest living of it so long as you remain honest and do the work. If ya goof, accept it, and always be polite even if you're right and they are wrong. I'm not saying get ran over, but always be nice and smile on the phone. Seriously, you get more work. I had a shop I tried to get for $35 with a scheduler and it was a no go. Another scheduler called a week later and I was layin' on the thick accent and sweetness and got myself $84.50 a shop. Why such a weird number? I dunno. Must have been the max out or close to it. Anyway, good luck and sign up with a bunch of companies. Get yourself a pen and paper and an excell sheet ready and begin record keeping. I log all my stuff by hand in a daily planner and on a computer digitally with a back up. I write things down such as my miles, my cost, my shops, the times, and I take photos of every location even if not required. Ya never know.

Start small -- even if you need big money -- it's better not to be so stressed out you're ready to cry. And ya still might cry now and again

Take on 1-2 a day, then work your way up to those routes of 5-6, or 10-12 depending on your life, car, and family.

And if it helps, while I was depending on this for 7 months -- there were a few months I brought home close to 5k. That was not typical and more often than not, it was closer to $2k-$3k. Those were tough months but I wanted the money and wanted to be sound while being laid off. Shopping in general, though, is easy enough with some work to net $500-$1200 and not work outside of Monday through Friday 10am to 4pm. It will take a while, though. If you're up for it and not working anywhere right now, try to schedule yourself a shop a day for a week straight and see how it feels. Or do 1 shop a day on Monday and Tuesday, and 2 a day Wednesday thru Friday. The next week, try out 3 a day and see how you feel. Feel it out and remember not t take every single job and not to travel more than you're getting back out of a shop. IRS tax deduction is around $0.51 a mile but I try to make sure when I take a shop or a route of them, it's averaging out to AT LEAST $0.25 a mile for me. That's my happy number. And, of course, if I'm just bored -- I might do a shop that isn't usually worth the money but I'm off work and antsy. Good luck and get your groove! Keep records!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/02/2017 04:00PM by MountainCacher88.

Very few shoppers can do this for a living. If you live in a large city and can shop... you can make money. If you have to route shop... meaning driving 100-200 miles a day... you probably will not make money..... and will depend on good reimbursements to justify the time spent and expenses of traveling. Most shops pay an average of less than $20. When you deduct your expenses, you will find you will be lucky to be making $10 off a shop.

Silver certified is worth the time/effort/cost. Gold is not.

Go for the best paying shops you can find... shop late in the month to get the bonuses, and know from the start, if there is a problem, it is always the shoppers fault.

Good luck....

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/02/2017 10:28PM by Ms.Baker.

@Ms.Baker wrote:

If you have to route shop... meaning driving 100-200 miles a day... you probably will not make money..... and will depend on good reimbursements to justify the time spent and expenses of traveling.

i make good $$ route shopping. i group multiple days or weeks together for max benefit. id never drive 100-200 miles back & forth to same areas daily. xtra $$ covers gas hotels foord & drink or msc or client does. u negotiate before u step foot in you car.

@Ms.Baker wrote:

and know from the start, if there is a problem, it is always the shoppers fault.

not true at all. in rare cases where report was denied i always got paid. ive been temporarily banned from certain location or client for various reason but never fully banned from any client.