One of the most common questions I get is: What mystery shopping companies should I apply to? Which ones can I make the most money with. To be honest, the answer is different for everyone. Depending on where you live, there could be a plethora of jobs available from a multitude of companies, or their could be just a few jobs available from just a few companies.
Fortunately — if you want to mystery shop some large chains, there are companies that serve nearly every corner of the country, and the world!
- Gapbuster will allow you to mystery shop companies such as RadioShack and McDonalds.
- BestMark has a wide array of clients, including restaurants, banks, hotels, and shopping malls.
- Customer Perspectives includes department stores, specialty stores, banks, banks and more.
Those are just three companies. But if you apply to each one, and each gives you an assignment a week — you’re well on your way to becoming a busy mystery shopper!
But remember — whatever company you apply to, you should never need to pay them. If selling ‘lists of mystery shopping companies’, don’t sign up with them!
But there are plenty of free and legitimate companies to apply to! In answer to the question, what mystery shopping companies should I apply to, the best answer is: As many as you can(As long as they’re free). One of the fundamentals of mystery shopping is the more companies you apply to, the more assignments you will get. So, remember: Apply, apply, apply.
I would never join Shadow Shoppers because they seem sooo despart for you to join. I get emails from them all the time. A good mystery shopping company don’t have to do that. I did join Corland Mystery Shopping and I have had steady work with more than twelve different companies. All of them are not bad.
Well, I joined Shadow Shoppers and they want me to pay for certification to shop for them. I have not done one of their shops yet although they send me a weekly e-mail saying that they are desperate. I was responding and telling them that I don’t have to pay them to shop when I am shopping for free. They obviously blocked my address and my e-mails are no longer deliverable.
I joined Shadow Shopper and I have applied for several of the jobs. When I checked back with those companies, the did not have me listed as having an application. What is up with that? I have also seen jobs listed on their site that aren’t on those companies job boards. I would apply and never hear anything about it. I am really starting to think that I wasted my money. I did receive two cruise offers, but neither one of them were at a time when I could do anything about them. If I had the money to cover the expenses of a cruise on a short notice, I would not be working on the side.
I joined Shadow Shopper last week, and I have been recieving e-mails from them every few hours with only half of the information about the job. They want you to pay a fee to get the entire scoop on a job. Thank goodness I did not pay a fee, because you do not need to, There are many companies out there that will give you all you need to know about a job for free.
I joined Shadow Shopper as a “Bronze Member” which means free. I refuse to upgrade to the silver and gold membership, because I won’t pay. I have been getting about 20 E-mails from them a day with partial job listings. I just delete them.
What is the deal with this certification nonsense. Are we supposed to believe that being certified to shop will get us more work?
I receive e-mails from ShadowShopper constantly. They want you to pay for certification and that is unfair. I mystery shop for quite a few companies and never have I been certified or have paid to be a mystery shopper for anyone. I wish they would stop sending me e-mails.
I paid the $10 for the 30-day shadowshopper trial, and have had more jobs than I could do! I love using ShadowShopper. I got as many jobs from ShadowShopper in 2 weeks as I had from a private company in 3 months! It is SO worth the $10 because the jobs come to me, rather than me having to scour the net for jobs. Granted, I get offered a lot of jobs that I turn down, for whatever reason, but overall, this is the best $10 I EVER spent.
I like being a shadowshopper. I upgrated to a silver certification and didn’t have to pay anything. And, I am getting more jobs in a week than I can handle. I work full time, and work shadow shopping around my job. The people that I deal with are so nice about helping you. I may quit my job and go into shadowshopping full time.
With all this discussion of ShadowShopper — here is a link to them for people who want to learn more:
ShadowShopper
I also joined Shadowshopper. I don’t take all the shops that they offer me. Just a couple here and there. I would rather not pay for it but you have to start somewhere.
How do I find out who the scheduling companies are?
I have joined a number of Mystery Shopping Co. but so far I haven’t been given very many assignments that would work for me. I am going to stay with them because you never know when one will give you a try. I have tryed Shadow Shopper but feel it’s not fair to pay to shop so I am only in the Bronze portion of it. But I am anxious to try being a mystery shoppeer for all the companys I have signed up for.
Shadow Shopper is great.
I paid to join Shadow Shoppers at the silver level and feel that I got a great start in the business. They taught me the ins and outs of shadow shopping that would have been even more frustrating had I not gone through their hoops. Now my membership is over and I’m signed up for so many companies that I don’t need their help anymore. It was worth the money to me.
I too joined shadow shoppers,and finally fell for the silver memembership, got alot of emails, but only one job, then when they wanted more $$$ i refused and my emails disappeared. I too am frustrated in getting a company that will actually supply jobs.
I was a paying member of Shadow shopper for about nine months.At first they gave me the info to all of the shops for free for a month that I was with them.I made a lot of money so I made the decision to join.It’s been a real good thing and I’ve made a bunch of money with them.I made the decision to get out of SHADOW SHOPPING because I’ve gotten to know all of the people that SS sent to my e-mail and on March 9 this year I told them to stop sending me info and stop charging me credit card the quarterly fees of $39.00.I know that a lot of people say they don’t have to pay to do the shopping,but I got shops almost everyday and it was good for me.I now don’t mystery shop much these days.I now get social security and a retirement.I don’t do many shops.I’m doing my best to let people know that Shadow Shopper was good for me and I just got tired of the charges every four months.That’s not bad when you get paid more than what they charge.I understand what people are saying and that’s why I stop them from taking my money.When I got what I needed I got out and I’m doing the shops that I like doing like wachovia banks for informa.com.They pay $20.oo for each bank that you do and it’s easy and I do shops for them once a month and as many as six or seven at a time all in one day.Thanks for letting me share what shadow shopper had done for me.They do know how to get you but they do give good leads and a lot almost daily.Happy shopping .
I to have had problems with shadow Shopper. I have applied for a lot of jobs and paid the $10.so far only one reply and interview that was 2 weeks ago and I have college and 40years Corporate management experience.I am sure its my age sorry I will more then likely give up I don’t need the aggravation or discrimination.I have never in my life gone through this or had to.Please fell free to E-mail your comments.
What’s stopping someone from Shadow Shopper posting positive comments here under assumed names ? Like Jim’s ” shadow shopper is great ” how do we know he’s not with shadow shopper ?
I have been mystery shopping/merchandising for 12 years. I paid $99 to Shadow Shopper for a year, and have been lucky enough to do many more jobs than I knew about previously. I am very satisfied with them; I have received the $99 back ten times over with all the work i’ve gotten thru their engine. It paid for itself to join. I am not someone who is a paid employee of Shadow Shopper posting this message; I am a regular mystery shopper.
I have just joined Shadow Shopper, but not with my credit card. I sent them a check about one week ago. Have not heard from them yet. They have been sending me job notifications for three months now, as I was a bronze member only. My thinking is you sonetimes have to pay to get information in an easier manner. I’m hopeful that they will have jobs in my area, as it is rather rural. They do post many in my E-mail. I am anxious to see what will be for real and local enough for travel. I do shop for a few companies now, but could use more leads.
I am a shadowShopper member and I have been given many, many assignments. I work full time and also am able to take about 15 assignments per month. This is a great way to have a part time job without having a part time job. The extra money supplied by these jobs has come in handy.
i am a bronze member which is free. i keep getting a bunch of jobs but they only tell half of the job description. once i applied for one someone got back to me and said they desperately wanted me to take this job having to do with dunkin donuts in my town and when i responded and said i would do it they wrote me back saying i didnt qualify cause im not a silver member. whats up with that. they beg me to do a job and then tell my i dont qualify!!
I started out with shadow shoppers. I paid 5.00 for a 90 trail. I am no longer with shadow shoppers. I got several different companies that I still work for through them. 2 years later I do this full time with over 200 jobs a month. It was worth the 5.00 to get me started because at the time I did not know anything about any of this. I thought well I have wasted 5.00 before so what is one more time. It really paid off.
I got notified by ShadowShoppers of a job in Candiac, SK… it’s a GHOST TOWN has been for years – I say it’s a total scam…
I joined shop til you drop for 29.99 and they were to put me in touch with all the shops and all i have seen is sites that want there money to get shops. Along with part e-mails of jobs asking for gold or silver members only. So is this real or not?????? I’m trying to make money not give it away!!!!!! HELP
I joined Shadowshopper for a 30 day period for 4.95, after a couple weeks of the free trial. I got several jobs that way and learned the names of many companies that I applied to and now shop for. Many of the companies that I shop for I learned about through Shodowshopper, so I have no reason to complain. Hoever, it is true that I went on my own after a month, I wouldn’t think that you would have to stay longer with Shadowshopper once you learn how to look for companies on your own. But it was a good way for me to start. None of the shops that I applied to through Shadowshopper ever restricted themselves to gold or silver members. I have also learned that living in a rural area is not all bad for mystery shopping because there is less competition for jobs. I usually visit the websites of the companies that I work for every day or two and see what’s new, if anything. I seem to have gotten lucky with the companies that I shop for because they seem to have plenty of jobs in my rural area. Even if the town is pretty close, I schedule more that one job in that town so that the cost of gas is split between jobs. In the couple months I have been doing this, I am noticing that I am getting more and more jobs. Sometimes the companies call on the phone with special deals if I can do a shop for them by a deadline. I sometimes take a single job, because if you do your schedulers a favor, they remember you and you get more and higher paying jobs. I think mystery shopping is fun, but it is also a job you have to work at just like any other.
i haven’t been shopping very long, i really enjoy doing this type of work. shadow shopper has been sending me e-mails all along, but, like some of you all, only parts of them. so todat they offered me a free week trial. so i’m trying that,but thanks to jacob jans,i now know i don’t have to pay to shop. ireally appreciate all the help people like them and others to explain the plan. thanks again
I just wanted to say. That i worked for a mystery shopper company. They was good. They always had posted jobs for me to do. I made alot of money with them. But now that i made the money, they stop sending me email for jobs. I don’t know why. I tryed fulling out more applications for other jobs. But they didn’t get back to me.Ask yourself why.
Shadow Is a rip off that is one of those toss ups some people get lucky and it works for others it does not you guys can sit here all day bashing the companie and it does no good just ignore it add it to junkmail learn your lesson and stay away I have seen it tried the free one and yes all there info is outdated and usualy not on the companie websites and also look closely at the free ones they send you the idiots dont edit it very well and you can search and find the companies on your own there is no easy way out there other than checking your emails daily and companie boards daily also stay clear of one called Corporate Research International they are big time rip offs a doller pay back for shops and very low shop pay and other problems just dont be lazy do your own work and scour the web for the jobs if they say they will come to you well something wrong there most companies send emails about current jobs but the rest you have to do and if you dont have the time well sorry to be mean but why you in this then??
I have been with ShadowShopper for A long time and
I have really made A good living from this company ,
You can not just do Mystery Shopping and expect to make A living I do what ever they offer and it is great, and to be certified, yes, you will get A lot of jobs I can’t do them all, but the company feels that you took the time to get certified you are serious about working, So give them a break, I am certified in mystery shopping, interviewing, and merchandising, and I get all the work I want and A
lot that I can not handle, I refuse to work for some of these companies that only pay 5 to 8 dollars plus you have to make A purchase and most of the time you do not get reimbursed so what have you made and what about the gas that you use, you are not going to profit.Shadow Shopper is the best that I have come across.(DAN, You can not even spell so no one is going to hire you, you don’t even need to bash anyone.)
I am new to mystery shopping and have signed up with alot of free sites that I am getting shops from. I am willing to give Shadow Shoppers a chance but I am not willing to pay for a shop site when I get shops from companies who offer it for free.
Thanks so much to you Jacob Jans for sending forth all of the excellent tips on Mystery Shopping. I am just about to attempt to get my feet wet on this new adventure and appreciate all of the help & tips I can get. I especially like the comments on Shadow Shoppers as I have been very skeptical of them in that they dangle part of an interesting looking job in front of you, but refuse to go further until you join the next level, which I so far have been reluctant to do.
During my free trail period of Shadow Shopper I received several jobs after my free period I did join at the Gold level. I recieve several emails a day with complete job information. For me it’s been worth the fee paid, I made three times the fee in my first 2 weeks.
Most of the people who try to go to work for companies, should never have to pay anything to work, if you need to pay my advice is to stay away, for thjis reason I have done it “my way”.
I use ShadowShoppers. When you pay into ShadowShoppers, you are paying for a service. The service is that you are notified by ShadowShoppers when there is a company out there that need shoppers or merchandisers in your area. ShadowShoppers might direct you to apply directly to the company needing a shopper/merchandiser for that particular shop or job. You are not paying to do shops. ShadowShoppers has been great for me. When I get enough information, I can stop using ShadowShoppers.
Jacob,
Just wanted to say thanks for all the information that you send out in your emails. It has been so very helpful. I have been mytery shopping for almost a year now and enjoy every bit of it. Thanks for all the companies names that you sent out. I have joined several of them. I belong to dozens of companies now and have steady work all the time. Thanks again.
I have not paid for a single membership to any site, and I am currently working for at least a dozen sites. I would not pay for Shadow Shopper, Corland, or any of the others that require “membership” to find jobs. You can find them without their help; you just have to search for them.
Hi
I mystery shop and do get assignments but never for more than $10-15. I really don’t care as I enjoy mystery shopping. I don’t even mind doing the reports. Thanks.
Barb Mann
I joined shadow shoppers free level. I was under the impression that I would get cheaper shops at this level. I got none. They keep trying to get me to pay them for up grade member levels. I checked them out @ the B.B.B. They had a lots of negative unsettled issues. I have requested they stop sending me mail. It keeps coming. I WILL NOT pay to shop. I am shopping for 2 shoppers and they are great. I would like to see more money per shop and I am still looking for better shops and money. I was laid off 2 weeks ago I can use the money.
thanks, Tony
I joined shadow shopper 1 month 1/2 ago and had few jobs,but i live in small cities area,so trying to find other mystery shopper companies.Please email me any companies you know,thank you.
I am retired and was just looking for something to do I decided to try mystery shopping..I also joined Shadow Shoppers for one month @ $10.00 . I started receiving jobs over the interenet. After my month was I joined there gold program and have not been dissapointed yet. I do have offeres from compays that I did not pay for. But I felt that it was a small investment to get started. I turn down about 90%of the jobs. I do not work for SS just a member
Robert P
iwould like to be a mystery shopper i live in the allentown pa. area
I cannot believe I am actually commenting on the comments about Shadow Shopper and other places in this column. I am more of a lurcher than a participant in these places. No wonder most of these people do not get shops to do. After seeing their writing skills, I would not give them jobs either. I am fairly new to mystery shopping. I make an extra effort to always be professional in my shopping and in my reports. After one year, I am doing resort shops, fine restaurants, banks, new homes, apartments, and car dealerships. The thing that worked for me was to spend hours and hours studying what I found on the internet. If you dig enough, you will find lists of the best companies, and tons of information on how to be a great mystery shopper. The Idea Lady’s website is great. I bought the book by that lady you see all over the place. I came across it the other day. I purchased the book after I was about 6 months into mystery shopping. If I would have purchased the book sooner, I would have saved alot of time. And, it is a good value for the money. You get a long list of the best companies to shop for included with the book. I was determined to do it on my own and not spend money, but time IS money. I started with Bestmark, Satisfaction Services, Beyond Hellow and other companies. I also found About Face on my own by using the internet. I was happy to find they are just about the #1 company out there. I began by shopping for a free cup of coffee and doing fast-food restaurants and gas stations. I acutally took pictures of commodes in places like Toy R Us and the Waffle house. I do not do those any more. My advise to anyone wanting to get started in mystery shopping is to, firstly, learn punctuation, spelling and, and then start out small. I did pay $10.00, I think it was to Satisfaction Services to get on their “best list”. I believe it was worth it. I am sure I got my $10.00 back. I do other work about 20 hours a week and do mystery shoping on the side. I strive to make at least $100.00 per month after my expenses. I usually am able to do that. I have more shopping than I can find time to do because I follow the advice I find on mystery shopping sites. I have studied the Shadow Shopper site, but I do not like having to pay a company over and over for something I can do on my own. When I first decided to do mystery shopping, I signed up with about four companies. Most companies want to see your writing skills up front, so that is the key, along with the information in your application. I got shops the same day or the second day I signed on with them. I hope this information is useful.
To all the people who had problem with shadow shopper you can check with the better busniess bureau to file a complaint.
I love Shadow Shopper because they find ligitimate companies for you right a way and you get jobs offers immediately.
Thank you SHADOW SHOPPERS
I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I did not pay Shadow Shopper at first. I was a bronze member and was not receiving full information on the jobs offered. One day I got a call from a desperate scheduler who needed four fast food jobs done the next day. Since they were paying a bonus for such short notice, I did the jobs and figured out this Shadow Shopper is legit. I decided to join the silver level and opted to go for a free week of the gold level. I signed up and the next thing I know they charged my credit card for an extension of the gold level. I complained, but it didn’t do any good. I did not renew and I told all the companies who they referred me to to contact me directly. After you do the jobs you usually don’t get to do them again. Because you have already done that location. So, the first two months are pretty good. It has slowed down but I am always on the lookout for new companies.
I joined Shaddow Shoppers myself after the emails kept coming with only partial information. Just remember knowledge is power and time is money. Knowledge is not free. You can either pay time or money. I chose to pay the 10 dollars first and have not renewed after the first month as I got more jobs and companies than there is time for now. I may rejoin later if needed but I do not think it will be the case. It doesn’t hurt because you can get the $10 back in one bad shop! Just think if you spent the 10 bucks and had the info from the get go you could be making money in all those hours you spend researching. You will spend some time when you first join Shadow Shoppers, maybe hours or days, but you get the leads. You have to start somewhere and I am sure most poeple have wasted 10 dollars on worse! If you are not getting jobs you need to expand your radius and schedule as many in the same area or along the way as possible so the gas doesn’t hurt. If you are serious about this get an economy car to do it in with really good gas mileage so there is more profit. If you still do not get repeat jobs or offers from the companies you are working for give yourself an honest performance evaluation. Maybe your reports lack enough information or have other errors in spelling, puncuation and so forth. Nonetheless it is important to have the leads and proper equipment needed (economical/reliable car, digital camera, and good computer that doesn’t give you problems). It is work and can be rewarding at any level.
tanck you for the offer
I started with Shadow Shopper. They helped me get connected with my first companies. The training materials they have also helped me build a good foundation. Then I found the MSPA. They are a major resource and have no fees for us. If you haven’t been to the site, run don’t walk. I will not renew with Shadow Shopper. I do feel their services are well worth the trial subscrition cost. I went for a full year at the end of the trial subscription. I will not renew. I don’t like the ads I have started receiving.
Shadow Shopper uses cruise shop opportunities to entice shoppers to join. I was a Bronze member for a month and gained a few company names from them, but as others stated above, they don’t give you the details about the shops so that you can actually make a decision about performing the shop. I upgraded to Silver for one month just to see what would happen. They tease you with one cruise shop a month that gets posted to thousands of shoppers, and I’m not convinced that it actually gets assigned even if they say it does. They leave blanks in their information, and I found them to be shady. It was an unnecessary waste of money. Jacob Jans is an excellent reliable source for lists of reputable companies. I just wish I could find a company that really offers legitimate cruise shops.
I have been secret shopping for about 5 months now. I did my own research and have not spent any money to obtain information about companies to shop for. I am now completing over 25 shops per month. I do not take any assignments that pay less than $10. I don’t think it’s worth it when you consider that the companies that pay $4-$8 are the ones that one pictures uploaded in addition to completing reports. As a shopper, my time, gas, mileage, etc. is worth more than a low fee. The articles from Jacob Jans have excellent information for those that are looking for companies to work for. Follow that advice and commit to doing some research on your own and you will find the assignments. Also, grammar and punctuation are crucial and key elements for success.Best of luck to all!
My opinion is there is no one putting a gun to your head to deal shadow shopping, as for me, I made over 15,000.00 last year from the companies that was referred to me from shadow shopping.
Shadow Shopper is great, the first two weeks with them especially, that is where you sign up with as many companies as you can and weed out the ones you don’t like. I get a lot of Shadow Shopper E mails, most which I delete, but in the past two weeks I have hooked up with some really good high paying companies to do Casino’s, apartment shops, and employment physicals which I evaluate drug testing procededures. I wish I had more time to do more shops. So yes, I would say that the quarterly fee is well worth it. It takes money to make money.
ATT: Jacob Jans, 3/21/2007 Wednesday
President of online Business,
Jacob please Call me oe Email me your Phone number
So we can discuss Itims of Importants.
HAVE A GREAT WEEK,
Willard Bowser
Email Address lonedriver04@yahoo.com
Phone No: 231-775-6411 home
” ” 231-878-2796 Cel
First, Shadow Shopper is NOT a mystery shopping company. They provide LEADS to companies with available shops, merchanising assignments, promotional events, etc.
Second, you don’t have to pay them to shop. You pay them to provide leads. Hey, they’re trying to make a buck. I don’t blame them.
Third, SS gathers a ton of information and makes it available to their membership. They also give their membership a place to fill out a ton of information that they will pass along to the companies who are looking for shopper when you apply for a shop.
Fourth, they do not charge for certification. Their certification is free, but not recognized by most shopper companies. MSPA certifications are NOT free, but they are recognized by many shopper companies.
Finally, if you have never joined SS, please don’t bad mouth them. If you have, and had a good or bad experience, share it.
I did the 30 day Silver for $4.95 and decided to extend it for another 90 days for $39.95. I haven’t decided if I will renew at the end of this period, but, I have gotten so many leads through SS, that I am no longer looking for a full-time job. I made almost $2000 in February.
I have recieved your email. I have some questions to ask you and hope that you can answer them for me. First question is: how long does it take to get a mystery shoppping job? Second question is: do you know if they have mystery shopping jobs in Waterloo,Iowa? And if they do what are the names of the companies? Please reply back. Thanks again for your help.
Shadow shoppers also keeps sending me desperate emails. They have offered me the Gold Membership Free for a week and then after that they’ll start charging me. I have refused to join them so far because I don’t feel that I should have to pay to shop. I might just unsubscribe from them cause I see it as a waste of my time. I won’t get jobs from them as a Bronze member that’s very apparent. The only way they will give you jobs is if you pay. That doesn’t sound quite right to me, regardless of how many jobs they offer. You should be allowed to do a few jobs for FREE before having to commit to buying anything.
Thanks Jacob and mystery shop online for all the info and helpful tips
I have been mystery shopping for about 3 weeks now and I did not have to pay for membership. I also signed up for the free level on SS and keep receiving e-mails. I asked them to stop but it still keeps coming. I don’t want to pay for someone to give me companies to apply to. I can do that on my own for free.
Go to Volition.com and you will find a whole list of Mystery shopping companies. A lot of them want you to write a sample and you NEED to have proper grammar, punctuation AND spelling to be accepted. Some of the posts above are lacking in those requirements. Be more careful of how you write, and you will get high scores on your shops, and get offered more jobs.
Thanks so much for all the info you provide to us. I have been mystery shopping for about 3 months and am trying not to get discouraged. The jobs I have been getting either don’t pay (may get a free pizza), or they end up costing me more money than I am making. For $10 and a gallon of gas, I am spending a couple hours on the road. 1 1/2 hours on the job site, then another hour when I get back home filling out the paper work and resizing and sending pics. This isn’t counting the time I spend reading the “manuals” that I am mailed and then the added updates you download. So far I have done 3 pizza shops, 2 fast food shops and 4 gas stations. PLEASE tell me it will get better. I have read everyones comments and see a few more leads here I am going to try. I am still working a full time job with retirement coming next year. I really like mystery shopping but can’t afford to keep going in the hole on jobs. Thanks for listening to me whine, lol. Have a great day! Linda
Shadow Shopper helped me get started. I did the tutorials to help educate myself. I did the trial silver and within the first week I was recieving calls from companies looking for shoppers in my area. I extended my membership for this year as it sure saved me alot of time trying to figure out which companies to apply to. I made back my membership fees with one good interview job that I was contacted for because I was registered there. I did $500 worth of shops in my first 6 weeks. I thank shadow shopper for helping me get my foot in the door and get started.
I agree with the lady that said that she was trying to make money, not give it away. I am currently with another mystery shopping company, but all the jobs are too far away. I live in a big city, but they want me to use too much gas to drive outside of Baltimore. I don’t think it is worth the hassle.
Thanks your info has been very helpfu
I do not work for Shadow Shopper, but I did sign up for the trail membership. Then up graded to the next level. I myself did not want to pay for any jobs, but to me this was for information. By using them I was able to get in touch with alot of good companies. I now average doing over 30 shops a month. I do the small ones as well as some very large ones. Right now I am working on one that pays $250.00. So, I must thank Shadow Shopper for giving me some direction in the mystery shopping business.
Any program, whether free of paid has to give you assignments, timely pay and be worth you doing them. I have joined free and paid progams and I’m successful in both arenas. I have a recruiting and training background. I thank everyone for their comments and feel that everyone can learn from the good and bad aspects of mystery shopping. I am an Independent Contractor and will never work for Corporate America again. I get paid well, have my time to do whatever assignments I want to, get paid the way I want to be paid and feel that doing “one’s due diligence” is the way to go! I say that everyone is a Professional, whether doing Mystery Shops, Having Your Own Business or A Career in the Corporate World! Keep searching for True Jobs and Assignments!!
There is no way I’d pay a company to send me information about Mystery Shopping when Google is available.
I average 40-50 jobs a month, I don’t want to do any more than that, and I found them all myself. IMHO people who use companies like Shadow Shopper are just too lazy to do some simple searching for themselves.
If you are a good shopper the companies will find you, a reputation for completing your work on time and up to a high standard as well as accepting work at short notice is all you need. That costs nothing.
I think the Shadow Shopper issue is pretty much worn out. I don’t care for ShadowShopper myself. My issues have already been expressed by the people.
I have a question…What are the tax advantages of being a mystery shopper? i.e. tax write-offs, etc and how would I file?
I joined Shadow Shoppers. They have no phone where they can be contacted. That should tell you something. I clicked off the 30 day trial and that I would notify them prior to any additional billing to my card. They billed the card $99.99 after the 30 days and I will have to pay it as I was stupid enough not to read the fine print. Jonathon at Shadow shoppers in Tomball, Texas is running a scam of the first order. I encourage any shopper not, repeat NOT, to get involved with Shadow Shoppers. .I will do all possible to discredit them and encourage all of you to join by advising their customers. They continually send me jobs for $10 where the gas I would have to spend would be more than that . You can make no money with them. Better to listen to Jacob Jans.
Jacob: I too, work a full time job. Most of the mystery shops I’m offered are for small pay, too far away, or can’t be done in my time frame. I tried shadow shopper for 30 days(bronze) with no complete details offered, then was upgraded free for a month and still did not receive anything good. I am now waiting to see if I receive reimbursement for the dining shops I did. thanks for the heads up and the info on your site.
I, too, am not a big believer of the ShadowShopper “automatic renewal” thing.
However, I DO think that their free bronze level membership can be an invaluable resource to a new shopper if used right.
I have found that the best way to use them is as another “resource”. Their training material through the ShadowShopper University is very helpful…and free! And, while most mystery shopping companies do not require that a shopper be MSPA certified, you can get at least SOME type of certification for free through ShadowShopper. I don’t know about you, but, I have found, in my “vast” three months of shopping, that all else being equal, a Scheduler will generally choose the certified one.
I agree that Volition.com has a good list of MSP companies, but I have used the lists provided here also. The “Sassie” list is a good one and most of the companies listed have short and “easy” applications. You can also access a list of companies for free as a free member of ShadowShopper. Just visit their “MYSHADOWSHOPPER” page (the same one as for Certifications and their “New Member Welcome Package”).
I have also found that once in a while, a smart MSP company will give their company name in the first part of the email that you get. I’ll just search the name and register directly with the company. I’ve also gotten a couple of jobs because a Scheduler saw my information on ShadowShopper, needed someone in my area, sent me an email with the basic details and invited me to register with them.
I hope this helps “new” shoppers who register with ShadowShopper. Other good resources that I have found are “Jobslinger”, were you can search for available job posts by area from at least four companies all in one place,and “MSfreedom” which is very “newbie” friendly and has several “experienced” shoppers who can and do offer helpful suggestions about MSing.
Whatever your opinion of pay sites (I’ve never subscribed) don’t forget that it’s a tax deductible business expense.
I decided to try shadow shopper I went ahead, and paid the trial. I did get some jobs, and it paid for itself, but to actually work as an independent contractor for a company, you don’t have to pay. So far the companies I am doing jobs for I found at another website. I know there is websites that have huge list of companies you can work for, but with the area I live in I have to travel to really get the jobs.
i will do this only if i dont get scamed
MY FRIEND AND I LIVE IN AN AREA THAT HAS GREAT SHOPPING DEPARTMENT TORES AS DEADELAND, THE FALLS, COAL GABLES AND WE WOULD LOVE TO BE MYSTERY SHOPPERS, AS WE ARE AVID SHOPPERS AT ALL THE BETTER DEPARTMENT STORES. PLEASE EMAIL ME AND LET US DO MYSTERY SHOPPING FOR ANY DEPARTMENT STORE. WE ARE 59 YEARS OF AGE AND WE ARE SELFEMPLOYED AND CAN WORK WHENEVER WE ARE NEEDED FRO YOU, THANK YOU
I signed up for Shadowshopper a long time ago, as a Bronze member, for free. I read those partial postings from time to time. Occationally, a company will put a reference to their company name or a name and contact phone number in the first sentence. So, I will look up that company website and sign up with them, thus by-passing Shadowshopper
Jacob,
If I join a site that did not charge for joining, but they want so much money to join silver or gold is it wise to pay that & join or just stay with what I 1st signed up at?
Thanks Florence riley
HELLO,MY NAME IS KATHY AND I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW HOW TO APPLY FOR A REAL SHOPPING SITE. I KNOW OF ALOT OF SCAMMERS OUT THERE, AND I WANT TO GET SOME WORK FOR AN HONEST COMPANY. PLEASE LET ME KNOW THE BEST SITES. THANK-YOU, AND I HOPE TO HEAR SOME GOOD NEWS FROM YOU SOON.
KATHY RININGER
Think about it… Sometimes I can’t help but give free reign to my testy reader I have a fresh joke for you) What did God say when Joan of Arc showed up at the Pearly Gates? Well done.
If a mystery shopping company asks for money up front, it is most likely not a legitimate company. If these companies want you to work for them, they should pay you for your services, not the other way around.