Article Archive

For easy reference, here's a listing of all of the mystery shopping articles available on this site by topic. If you're looking for the mystery shopping provider company reviews, try here.

For New Shoppers

• Introduction to Mystery Shopping: What is mystery shopping and how does it work?
  
• Complete Get Started Guide: How to take the first steps towards being a mystery shopper and what you will need to start.
  
• Ten Tips for New Shoppers: A brief overview for shoppers taking on their first assignments.
  
• Mystery Shopping Scams: Avoid putting yourself at risk.
  

Ongoing Mystery Shopping Skills:

• Completing the Shop - Taking Notes: Sometimes you can't remember how tall the waitress was by the time you get home. How to take notes on the sly.
  
• Get More Shops: It's easy to plateau in your mystery shopping after a few months. Here are some steps to get you back in the fast lane.
  
• The Bottom Line: Sure, shop fees vary, but there's more than that to consider to see if a shop is "worth it".
  

For More Information

• Ongoing Reading: Links and e-mail lists outside of this site.
  

Mystery Guest, Inc.

Mystery Guest, Inc.
Overall Rating: B+

• Number of jobs/clients: Below average
  
• Type of jobs: Restaurant
  
• Rate of pay: Reimbursement only
  
• Speed and method of payment: Check, 2-3 weeks
  
• Bonuses offered?: None known
  

Advantages:

Mystery Guest, Inc. exclusively serves restaurant clients. If you enjoy an evening out at a popular chain restaurant, they're a good company for you! They are reliable and speedy in their reimbursement payments. An alcoholic drink is allowed.

I find their forms briefer and simpler to use than many other restaurant shops. The amount of narrative isn't as excessive as some dining shops are. Further, while they don't have a specific feedback system, I have not found them disagreeable about any shop reports as long as guidelines are followed.

While you won't earn an income with Mystery Guest, Inc., a nice dinner out with a short report form is a nice break and an enjoyable experience for you and a guest.

Disadvantages:

Some shoppers complain that the reimbursement amounts are not sufficient in their area; however, in my experience, reimbursement is fair but not excessive. Two guests are typically required and with the advance scheduling (with a specific date and a narrow time range), this may be impractical for some, especially singles.

Mystery Guest, Inc. communicates only by telephone and e-mail, and you'll probably wait awhile before getting a shop offer. Don't call for shops and don't expect to get more than four to six assignments a year; they enforce a rotation for all shops, not just shops for a specific location or client. Still, regardless of the no-frills website and a reimbursement only pay policy, I have to say it's otherwise a good company.

Mystery Shopping Scams

Many people have had their initial exposure to mystery shopping through a scam company, giving the entire industry a bad name. This is bad both for individuals who fall for the scams as well as the entire mystery shopping industry; scams create unrealistic expectations as well as distrust. As a shopper, you must always protect yourself against unscrupulous individuals and companies. Here are some simple steps to protect yourself from scammers.

1. Beware of any unrealistically high rewards. Mystery shopping is a price-competitive industry, and clients are always looking to reduce their bottom line. Why use a $500 purchase when $5 will do? Who would give $1,000 of goods for free to a brand new shopper with no track record?

Generally, new shoppers get the shops that nobody else can or will take. There are exceptions, but keep in mind that there are already many other shoppers out there. Why would a company pay to advertise such huge compensations in print or radio ads? They could easily post free on mystery shopping forums online and get shoppers lining up at their door.

There are some higher reward shops out there (such as high-end restaurants and hotels, or cruise lines) but these are reserved for experienced and high performing shoppers in some areas. As always, if something sounds too good to be true, it probably isn't.

2. Beware of money order scams. Some shoppers have reported e-mails with job offers, claiming to be from mystery shopping providers, that have asked to shop companies that sell money orders. They are asked to receive and cash a large sum money order or (hundreds or thousands of dollars) and then to return most of it, keeping the remainder. In the meantime, the cashed money order will come back as fraudulent, leaving the shopper holding the bag on both their fee and the returned cash. This is just a variation of the classic money order scam that's already prevalent.

3. Beware of identity theft. Because shoppers do have to provide their social security number to many companies, sometimes they are taken by identity thieves. Although this is rare, make sure that any company you apply to and provide personal information to are legitimate. For example, check if they are registered with the MSPA, check if there are existing complaints on mystery shopping forums, and so on. If in doubt, see if you can apply without submitting the social security number first, or consider applying for a tax ID number for your mystery shopping business.

4. Legitimate companies should not ask you for money up front. Typically, most of these companies are simply selling information that you can get yourself (much of it false or misleading). These companies don't provide mystery shopping services; they provide information about mystery shopping. Often, they will bait potential shoppers with claims that if they upgrade a free membership to a "premium" or "gold" membership, that they will provide them with more job offers in your area. Other companies offer expensive certifications; certifications are seldom required, and the only ones I can recommend as being useful are the ones available directly through the MSPA. Many of these companies also overstate the rewards of mystery shopping. You're probably much better off simply applying to mystery shopping companies directly and reading free informational sites like this one.

For more information, check out the Federal Trade Commission's warnings about mystery shopping scams (warning: PDF file).

Business Evaluation Services

Business Evaluation Services
Overall Rating: A-

• Number of jobs/clients: Above average
  
• Type of jobs: Varied, including retail, services, and restauraunt
  
• Rate of pay: Average to above average
  
• Speed and method of payment: Check, 2-8 weeks
  
• Bonuses offered?: Yes
  

Advantages:

Business Evaluation Services has a great website. It's easy to check for shops by state and easily browse by city. You can also view past payments and jobs easily at the touch of a mouse. Shop guidelines are clear, and you can see the pay of the job while searching. BES also offers bonuses when shops aren't immediately taken, often in rural areas, and may offer those difficult to schedule shops at a slightly higher fee right away as well.

Payments times vary widely. My January 2006 payment completed in record time; it was cut two weeks after the shops were completed. However, payments have historically taken up to 2 months. Hopefully this is a sign that BES is trying to improve its payment operations.

Schedulers have a good reputation as being willing to work with shoppers and quick to correct errors. I also found BES to be new shopper friendly in assigning shops.

Disadvantages:

Shops often require physically e-mailing your original business card with no fax or scan option, which I find somewhat of a hassle. The shops are not self-assign, and you might wait several days for a response about if a shop is assigned to you. However, overall, BES is one of the companies I find a joy to work with.

Complete Get Started Guide

So, you've decided to become a mystery shopper. Now, what do you do?

First of all, you'll need a few things to get started.

• A computer with a reliable Internet connection
• An e-mail account you plan to use indefinitely (I prefer Gmail or Yahoo!)
• One e-mail address is important, for several reasons. Certification, if you choose to get it, is linked to your e-mail address and is a pain to move. You also don't really want to try correcting 100 different companies' databases if you switch internet service providers.
  
• A spreadsheet program such as Excel to track your work
• A small amount of startup money (optional but helpful)
• Time, preferably a few hours a day for the first few weeks

Step One: Applications

You should apply to as many companies as you can, as soon as possible. This is of crucial importance. If you apply to only a handful of companies, you are unlikely to be very successful. Most mystery shoppers work for many different companies, and you'll never know which ones have work in your area until you apply.

First, you'll need a list. msfreedom and Volition offer long lists; for more details, try my MSP Alphabetical List and of course the MSP Watch List as well.

SASSIE companies are probably the easiest to apply for. It's not difficult to complete ten applications in one sitting, and many SASSIE companies offer instant access to their job boards upon applying. I'd recommend applying right away to Shop'n Chek, Corporate Research International, and Service Intelligence, which are heavy hitters -- lots of jobs and new shopper friendly (although CoRI pays low).

Make sure you keep a log of which companies that you've applied to. I use a spreadsheet for this with the name, web address, and status of application (applied and which date, accepted, and any declines). This will save you a lot of time later.

Also, I recommend setting up your browser to remember usernames and passwords for you. Internet Explorer and Firefox both have this option. RoboForm is another option to help reduce the application time by automatically filling in fields for you.

You should also save a document with answers to all the essay questions you have to fill out. Many questions are used over and over. For example: "Describe a recent shopping experience", "Why do you want to be a mystery shopper?", "Why do you feel you would be a good mystery shopper?", "Describe a negative shopping experience", "Describe a recent dining experience". There's no reason to write these all out over and over, so give a good and thorough answer, spellcheck it, and use it again and again. I also keep documents with a list of all zip codes I'm willing to shop as well as a list of MSPs I work for, as these are also common questions.

Many MSPs will also require tests about their company's policies. These can be frustratingly picky. Try opening the test in a new window (or tab, for Firefox users) by using right click on your mouse, then selecting "Open Link in a New Window" or "Open Link in a New Tab". That way, you can use their documentation as a reference.

There really is no end to the application process. There are often new companies to try. You should make it a goal for yourself to complete a certain number of applications on an ongoing basis until you have enough work. For me, being a part-time shopper, I made the goal of one application per night.

Step Two: Looking for Work

Once you've been accepted to some mystery shopping companies, you'll need to keep a lookout for jobs. Each company is different in how they communicate.

Many companies will send out bulletins of available shops by e-mail. Make sure you check your e-mail as often as possible. This would be a minimum of once per day, but even this may not be fast enough to grab work. I use Gmail Notifier to alert me with a chime when I have e-mail, which is great for when I'm at home. I stay connected all of the time with broadband, which as a mystery shopper, pays for itself.

Other companies have job boards that will post available jobs. Some will notify you, and some won't, but the general rule is that notifications will tend to come out some time after the shop posts, so the more often you check, the better! As a brand new shopper, make a routine to check all sites that you can access a job board for at least once per day, and sites that have a lot of shops available to you more often than that.

This can be time consuming, so make sure you save usernames and passwords in your browser if you can. Make a folder of bookmarks just of MSP job boards and go down in order. I actually rank my job boards based on how much work I've gotten from them -- the best companies at the top, and I'll go down the list in the time I have. I'll only hit the least useful companies on occasion to see if they have new work.

Other companies may contact you by other ways, such as by phone. If you're still not getting enough work, try looking in Volition.com Forums and the Mystery Shopping Solutions database, and search for companies recruiting shoppers at the MSPA search page. Even if a job is taken by the time that you apply, you've still applied to a company which is likely to have shops in your area.

Remember, the larger the area, the bigger pool of work. If you can't find much work where you live, consider setting up a route. Find an area that you can complete several shops in one trip. It's probably not worth it to drive thirty miles to complete one shop, but it may very well be to complete four shops or even ten shops. You can also try to find shops along the way!

You can find more information in my article, Get More Shops.

Step Three: Document

You need to find a method of organizing your personal records that will work for you. First, I recommend setting up a simple spreadsheet that has the following information:

• Shop date
• Mystery Shopping Provider
• Name of client
• Shop number or ID (from MSP)
• Shop pay (including bonus pay)
• Reimbursement pay
• Receipt submitted to MSP? (Yes or no)
• Paid? (Yes or no)
• Paid amount
• Paid date
• Out of pocket costs
  

You'll also want to file all receipts, business cards, reports, and other paraphernalia for your own records. Typically, it's helpful to write the MSP and shop ID on all documentation for future reference.

You'll also want a calendar to keep track of mystery shopping appointments once you start to get more work. Lastly, you'll want to track your mileage and any business related expenses for tax purposes.


Now you have all of the basic instructions with how to get started in mystery shopping. Good luck and happy shopping!

Certified Marketing Services

Certified Marketing Services
Overall Rating: D

AKA Certified Reports
AKA Certified Marketing Research Services
AKA Certified Merchandising Services

• Number of jobs/clients: Above average
  
• Type of jobs: Retail, theatre evaluations, merchandising
  
• Rate of pay: Below average
  
• Speed and method of payment: Check, 8 weeks
  
• Bonuses offered?: None known
  

Advantages:
Certified is the place to join for movie theatres and has a broad number of different types of shops. Many shops are available on a self-assign basis, and previous shoppers on a particular project are often granted self-assign ability on shops that you would otherwise have to apply for. They are reliable in payouts, and the forms are often short and easy to complete.

Disadvantages:

Certified is broadly criticized for a number of problems. The pay is substandard, and shoppers are deactivated without contact for various reasons such as posting criticism on public message boards and asking for promised payments (though they seldom admit it). Schedulers run the gamut between pleasant and horrible, with several reports (including my own experience) of schedulers acting unprofessionally and impolitely without any cause. Shops are sometimes cancelled without notice. I will say that they do have a pool of very loyal shoppers, too, and even my own experiences have been mixed between good and bad. Be careful, and don't breathe wrong if you want to avoid deactivation, but I left CRI off the Watch List because they do have their good points.

Speedmark

Speedmark
Overall Rating: A

• Number of jobs/clients: Far above average
  
• Type of jobs: Varied, including fast food, casual and fine dining, and grocery
  
• Rate of pay: Average
  
• Speed and method of payment: PayPal, 2-6 weeks
  
• Bonuses offered?: Yes
  
• Software: SASSIE, plus a custom site for certain projects
  

Advantages:
Speedmark is one of the bigger and better mystery shopping providers, and is known for its professional schedulers and organized site and campaigns. (If you don't see them all on the job board, keep in mind some are offered only by e-mail.) They are extremely reliable in paying their shoppers as promised, keeping commitments, and offer a large variety of different shops and clients. They have some very high reimbursement restaurant shops that are assigned to the best shoppers. Speedmark offers a huge variety of shops, including some incredibly simple and easy shops that I'm willing to break my $10 minimum for. This is definitely a company that you should be signed up with.

I've also found Speedmark to be friendly to new shoppers. They've been responsive and helpful when questions are asked, and once you start applying for shops, you're likely to get some.

Disadvantages:
Some shoppers report that editors are too picky, depending on the project and client, though most will say that feedback is constructive and personalized.

Payment is done by project rather than by month, so be patient when you're waiting for those payouts.

Maritz Research

Maritz Research
Overall Rating: C+

• Number of jobs/clients: Average to above average
  
• Type of jobs: Varied, including retail/drugstore and gas
  
• Rate of pay: Average to below average
  
• Speed and method of payment: Check, 3-4 weeks
  
• Bonuses offered?: Yes
  

Advantages:
Maritz has very professional and friendly schedulers. Many shoppers indicate that they have been flexible with emergencies, and speaking to a scheduler over the phone is an option and they are reliable about returning phone calls. They are open to new shoppers as well as experienced shoppers.

Maritz often has waves of many shops in one area; it's as convenient to schedule twenty shops as it is to schedule one. Maritz also doesn't require a barrage of online tests and courses to apply for shops, though on the flip side it's not always clear what the requirements of the shops are before applying.

Disadvantages:
Maritz is one of the mystery shopping providers that has yet to truly harness the new way of doing business on the Internet. Their website is not particularly well designed, and their way of assigning shops is often clunky (after requesting an assignment on a new project, I had to play phone tag with the scheduler to talk to them personally). I find them too dependent on telephone contact, which in turn is limited to business hours. If Maritz was willing to use e-mail and their website more comprehensively, I'd find them a lot easier to work with; e-mails often go without response.

One of their major clients in particular schedules only sub-$10 shops, with a very small reimbursement. To me, this is too low to bother with considering the amount of time that the shop requires. I also find the requirement of submitting invoices unnecessary, especially considering there's no option to do so online.