Can't sleep and doing some late night reading, and came across this thread that BarefootBliss started:
[www.mysteryshopforum.com]

"How did you first learn about mystery shopping and how did you get started?"

Unfortunately, the topic has been closed to new replies. I thought it would be nice to keep the topic alive. When I first posted on the forums, I must've missed this thread by about a week. However, reading the forums for four months now, and then reading the topic afterwards, people's experiences and history now make more sense to me. It's like watching some character flashbacks during a movie. I don't know why, but I like these kind of stories. It does humanize everyone. I also have a greater appreciation now for all of you. And holy crap, I did not realize how young and immature I am in comparison.

Anyways, to keep the topic going, I first learned about MS around five years ago. It's cut and dry. It was through the chicken fingers company. The MSC was conducting consumer feedback for the client through surveys and such. The only reason I came across the survey was that it came from the result of the client making a product donation to a non-profit I volunteered with at the time. I signed up with the MSC, and my first shop was a Sonic. All I needed was my smartphone. In that way, I don't think I can ever really understand the full history of MS pre-smartphones. Since then, I did a good number of those kind of shops with that MSC. For years, I only stuck with the big MSCs. Looking back though, I seemed to always make the right move and jump from one big MSC to another MSC for a consistent stream of shops.

When COVID hit, that had me venture into other types of shops, which were some of the most memorable ones to this day. Don't take this the wrong way and literally, but since COVID, I personally benefited in a number of ways. I'll stop there.

I enjoyed reading that thread, and you can find my answer there. Hopefully, some others who didn't respond previously will chime in.

My answer is there, too. People make fun of this type of work, but several times it has been a lifesaver. I've genuinely enjoyed it. I like the people I've met. I've been offered jobs, made connections, and have come away with some fun stories. I hope somewhere my reports have encouraged an employee to improve in areas, and that other employees know their service is appreciated. I hope those who make decisions listen. I focus on my other business now, but I did do some nice web shops the past couple of weeks which will bring in an extra $300 next month. That will be nice.

@drdoggie00 wrote:

I enjoyed reading that thread, and you can find my answer there. Hopefully, some others who didn't respond previously will chime in.

Ok, chiming...

I saw an add on Facebook about a network of cafes with franchises. They were offering back then $10 worth of food and drinks. It was a new idea that I could get something for free, so I offered to visit 2 cafes and fill in the reports.
After a few years the prices doubled, but the reimbursement stayed the same, so I won't go there anymore.
And after visiting the cafes I decided researching about other MSCs.
The cafe chain was also weird. They asked you to go back after a week with a copy of your ID and ask for your reimbursement from the cafe you visited.

It felt a bit frustrating to me that I tried to teach my friends how to do mystery shopping and they couldn't even finish the signing up process.
I thought MS-ing was easy, but it seems it's not for everyone.

I saw a segment on Good Morning America back in the very early 2000's. The person interviewed mentioned Shop N Check (now Market Force) and I did a little digging on the (dial up) internet. That is how it all began. My very first shop was a popular at the time low budget steak house.

I was displeased with my bosses stubbornness to give me a raise and was looked over for a better job opportunity within the organization. Therefore, I looked for other options. I did this "part time" for about a year until I realized I could make as much as money, if not more, by committing to it on a full time basis. When considering the flexibility of working for myself, I left that job to see if it work out doing this exclusively. That decision was made in 2016, and I haven't looked back.

In 2003, the yr. before my retirement, I began searching for work that would permit me to remain as a self-employed contractor; I stumbled upon shopping. After 4 yrs., I had failed to elevate the results to a work:pay level that worked for me. I had two choices: Either move on or modify my game plan. I chose the second option and the results have been quite acceptable.

I am sure I have told this story in a much earlier thread, but it's probably buried in the archives.

The industry I work in suffered a lot of cut backs in the late 90's, and I had gotten used to reimbursed travel and fine dining, which I no longer had access to. To be honest, I cannot remember the exact year, but the story will paint a time frame...

I was in an AOL chat room for travel agents and asked if anyone had information about courier companies that would pay someone to deliver parcels between LA<->NYC. They told me that FEDEX had essentially killed that industry, and someone chimed in that there was a company called Coyle that would pay people to fly to New York and stay in upscale hotels. I will say that I "Googled" it, but in reality, it was probably Alta Vista or Webcrawler that led me to the Coyle site, which in turn led me to Volition.

My original application to Coyle sat for months and I gave up on working for them, but I found all the standard mystery shopping companies through Volition and cut my teeth doing smaller shops. About 6 months later I got a call from Jim Coyle, asking if I was still interested. It was about a year later that I was on my first fully reimbursed flight into JFK for a hotel evaluation. My friends all told me that it was probably a scam and I would be out thousands of dollars, but they surprisingly paid me! It was a very small company back then and had less than a dozen hotel clients, so I was lucky to get in early and grow with the MSC.

Ironically, the situation has now reversed itself more than 20 years later, and I now depend on my career to pay for a lot of the travel expenses to locations where I might get a free hotel night or dinner, but it was a great way to travel the world in my 30's when I did not have the means to do so on my own.

Lol I think I must have read about it in women’s world weekly about 20 years ago. I found this forum and on this forum found volition, and proceeded from there and applied with the different companies that had shops in my area. I did it while my son was a baby, then took a break for a few years. Back then I had to take pictures with a digital camera, and transfer to my hard drive. I remember having to fax some things lol. Went back to shopping a little bit in 2013 , took a break again, and now have been doing it a lot the last couple years as I’m now a part time empty nester.

Yes OP sometimes a "slice of life" story is fun.

My career/business trajectory is backwards in that most people start small, and do better as time goes. I'm 49 now . Was never a good student. (Sister is a top lawyer lol) and I had jobs since age 12. Started in sales at 16 even wore my tie to high school and cut school to go work. Lived at home and at age 24 bought my own company. We turned it around, I sold it at a huge profit and then did the same with company #2. Now----company #3 I failed for a few re. Thasons: I was lazier. I was fat and happy, had good money in bank. Had Wife, kids, I spent too much time doing domestic stuff. 2.)The management team I had was with me 20+ years which was AWESOME but at the end they'd paid off weddings, houses, college tuitions and got so lazy. There was infighting. I was slow to fire everyone and start over and also - it's hard finding people. Some of the very employees I depended on got very out of sorts and I felt it was unfair. Enter Covid: Credit lines dried up and I REFUSED to put more of my money into the business and long story short, I sold company 3 at a loss. *OH* the Corporation that had some authority over me - I owned the business real estate BUT they had "site control" decided to raise my rent 25% to boot....why? I found out they wanted to sell my property to another person.....waive the site control. **** The good employees I personally took care of financially and transitioned them to their next place. The other ones lost their jobs. The *worst* part: I'd have made an embarrassing amount of money had I stuck it out, or done a better job those last few years and to this moment *4 years later* is saddens me so much - I can't even cry.

BUT I remind myself: No college. No good grades. Not good looking and not that smart. I did things how I wanted and lived so well for 20+ years. Full freedom. I was my boss. Vacations, etc. I "retired" years ago at age 46.....and barring a major major nuclear war or huge depression I'm "good" until age 87 and can put kids thru college albeit with some cutting back on expenses. On one hand I'm depressed inside, on the other I know I'm fortunate.

I started asking questions on this board about 1-2 years before I went under. Then a year after selling my company I started doing burger, Mattress ,etc. Why do I do it? I like getting out of the house and feeling like "I'm making money" and my ego is not ready to have a boss yet and if I worked, I'd be in my old industry, working for someone half my age toting an I-phone and tattoos and pronouns. Not happening.

Anyways, started with Five Guys and Mattress 3 years ago. Goal was - and I'm on track to earn pre-tax $200 per month. Best month is $540. I consider this my "lunch money" and or, multiplied by 4,5,6 year it's extra spending money for my kids in college. I also hate that I used to be a bigshot and now my kids don't even know it. So it's nice to say "I'm going to do a retail evaluation" lol. I figure a few more bucks, a few more credit card points, it makes me feel good inside, and hey, it helps buy a few more lunches at the diner so why not . Also I'm already sort of introverted and being at home watching movies every day I don't want to become a total Boo Radley and "out of it".....so simple shops I screw with basic things like taking pics, using the computer (I hate tech lol), talking with people, being observant, etc. Anyhow, that's a sort of long answer to OP's question. *** Oh btw the corporation that waived site control on my property ? The people that bought my location have already submitted for high-rise permits and will liquidate the business eventually.....and someone at corporate I bet gets a "fee" from those proceeds

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/26/2024 08:28PM by BabyBooey19.

Bluenyc wrote:
It felt a bit frustrating to me that I tried to teach my friends how to do mystery shopping and they couldn't even finish the signing up process.
I thought MS-ing was easy, but it seems it's not for everyone.

Your comment resonated with me.
I haven't gotten anyone interested in MS-ing.
It is a lot of work and details to get through signup and completing the first shop.
BUT after you do 100 (or however many) of them, you gain much efficiency (but my friends don't see that far ahead either).

To each his own but I tell *nobody*. Why do I want more shoppers for MSC to choose from? I want to maintain fees....not lower them.

@BabyBooey19 wrote:

To each his own but I tell *nobody*. Why do I want more shoppers for MSC to choose from? I want to maintain fees....not lower them.

I get you.

But I told my friends from other parts of the country. And I told a poor friend about a MSC paying too little for me. But it would have been enough for her, considering her income was very low.

I started after answering an ad in my local paper back around 2003. It that turned out to be a scam. Long story short, I got my money back and found Volition and other sites on my own....1st shop...buying fish food at a store at least 25 miles from home and I didn't even have a fish, for $7...bahaha...I learned the ropes the old fashioned way..reading everything I could and spending hours signing up with new companies.

Whoops ... wrong thread ... disregard!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/27/2024 04:06PM by Okie.

BabaBooey (great name by the way, I miss those radio shows pranks some days).

I really enjoyed your story - you should publish it somewhere...

I relate to what you said....I'd had enough and left a long career just so I could get some peace in my life... my previous career was full of people stress and I'm an introvert.
So, I don't have a job now, but for some reason, I still want to feel engaged somehow, but only on my own terms. I would have to move somewhere else if I wanted my MS activity to be more lucrative, but I don't mind picking up little jobs while out doing other things.
I keep thinking about putting a string of them together, but still thinking about it lol.

My first exposure to mystery shopping was through my mother, possibly 30 years ago? It was shopping Burger King, and they were all done over the phone and by mail. Does anyone remember those?

The first company I discovered was Intellishop, over 20 years ago (maybe through an email), and until a few years ago I wasn't aware of any other companies. The only shops in my area were/are oil change shops, and I would do a couple a year. Unfortunately I no longer have vehicles that qualify; I miss those free oil changes and nice bonuses!

About a year or so before COVID I stumbled across Customer Impact, who at the time had a huge contract for a resort near me. I really got to work for them, but that ended with COVID.

I have only been shopping "seriously" for about 2 years now. It happened gradually, but I think discovering Presto was the impetus. It exposed me to the existence of a bunch of different companies. Then I also found this forum and started doing a lot of reading between the lines and discovered additional opportunities.

Even after signing up for tons of MSC's there isn't a lot in my geographical area. It's a hobby for me, not a job.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/28/2024 12:49PM by bradkcrew.

I believe I first saw something about Bestmark in an article way back...at least 15 years ago when the shops were mainly the big blue electronic store with a similar name to Bestmark. Lol. I joined. They would pay $5 I think and then reimburse $10. So everytime i went, i would buy a $10 gift card. I had a company car at the time with gas included so I would hit them up during the day when i was out and about. I would save up the $10 gift cards. Eventually I was able to buy whichever new Playstation console there was. Then after that, every time I had 4 or 5 more, it would pay for a game for a Christmas present or whatever. Looking back, it was a lot of work but my husband and I had a young kid and extras like that were not possible with daycare costs and everything.
Now my son is 20, my husband and I have been in corporate America for 25 years and don't need the money but I still do mystery shopping.

I think now it is the thrill of bringing extra money in since it is rare when you are a salaried person.

I see people knock the low paying phone shops for example, but I am so fast at them now that last year in about 1.5 months I made $1,200 (which paid our share of the house we rented at Disney plus the car rental and some meals) and I did some over the last couple weeks that will be about $150 or so. Is it worth the time? Maybe not. Could I take myself out to dinner and just pay $150 now? sure. But I feel rewarded when I know we can splurge for drinks, apps etc.

I think I'd feel this way even if I was a millionaire. Lol.

I only do two companies, Bestmark and Marketforce (my husband loves a burger a couple times a month and it ends up being free).

I am interested in branching out into other companies but since these two have always been so easy, I think I am nervous. Lol

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/30/2024 04:47PM by Nicksmom525.

When shoppers mention doing the shops for their kids and families, it makes me feel warm and tingly inside.

Speaking of BestMark, I'm still owed $20 for a shop attempt. The location wasn't that far from me and on my way to run an errand, and I wasn't expecting any payment from the shop attempt. The scheduler sent me an email on their own to let me know a shop attempt payment will be issued. But the "accounting" department is still looking into an "issue" on their side. I'm guessing that's the MSC's favorite de facto and go-to excuse these days. I'm debating whether to even fight this one.

@Nicksmom525 wrote:

I think now it is the thrill of bringing extra money in since it is rare when you are a salaried person.

I believe this even more true if you don't have any skin in the game, and don't have equity tied to performance.

@Nicksmom525 wrote:

Is it worth the time? Maybe not. Could I take myself out to dinner and just pay $150 now? sure. But I feel rewarded when I know we can splurge for drinks, apps etc.

I think I'd feel this way even if I was a millionaire. Lol.

I remember watching a video of Warren Buffet count the exact change after visiting McDonald's. Still owns his childhood home. Gotta love that cackle and chuckle. Also, someone else who's good for the rest of their life, getting a kick out of redeeming a coupon.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/30/2024 05:42PM by Okie.

Back in the dark ages, I got my start in mystery shopping to pay cash for a kitchen remodel. I was donating plasma and someone got me going on compliance shops. When I paid for my kitchen remodel, I also had some crazy amount of cigarettes packs for the contractor

The alcohol reimbursement was $4 or something low but a 6pack of rolling rock was $4.19.

My first regular mystery shop was fast food breakfast. I was so nervous that I parked in a handicap space and didn’t notice until I walked back out to my car.