Mailbag: How do I get a list of companies to mystery shop?

“How do I get a list of companies who are mystery shopped and looking to pay to do so?” — Charles P.

Charles, thank you for your question. Before I answer, I first need to explain how the mystery shopping world works.

Mystery shopping assignments are not usually given out by the business you are shopping. They are usually scheduled by a ‘mystery shopping company.’ A mystery shopping company will run the mystery shopping program for regular businesses. This means that if you want a mystery shopping assignment then you need to find mystery shopping companies, and then apply to be a ‘shopper’ with them.

Most mystery shopping companies work with lots of businesses. Very often they will have assignments all over the country, or even the world. So, when you’re applying to companies, don’t worry about where they are located.

If you want to get paid to shop, applying to a huge list of mystery shopping companies is not necessarily your best option either.

What you want to do is find companies that have assignments in your area. There are literally hundreds of companies out there, and applying to all of them takes a lot of time. The shortcut that I recommend is to search for assignments on job boards, such as Jobslinger.com. Search in a wide radius around your zipcode. And apply to every company that has an assignment within 50 or 100 miles of you. If they have an assignment 50 miles from you, odds are that they might have an assignment closer to you. Especially if they are servicing a large chain store in your area.

There are, of course, lots of lists of mystery shopping companies that you can find. Here are some resources:

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3 Responses to Mailbag: How do I get a list of companies to mystery shop?

  1. Tammy Jones says:

    I am looking for legitimate Secret Shopper Assignments. I have paid money up-front to a couple of “suposed” secret shopping assingments and never heard another word from them. I still am trying to get my money back that I sent to them at their request to get started. I am disabled and this kind of work would really help supplement my income. I live on a very limited income right now and would love to get back into the mainstream of working again. Any valid info on this kind of work would be very helpful. Thank you in advance for your help.

  2. Jacob says:

    Tammy,

    What you want to do is apply to mystery shopping companies. If they are charging you a fee, then they are NOT what you’re looking for.

    There is a big list of companies that you can apply to right here:

    http://mysteryshoponline.com/blog/sassie-list/

    Jacob

  3. Barbara Masias says:

    I am trying to find out if Front Row Event is a legitimate company. They are asking for my social security and I want to be sure I’m not putting myself in jeopardy. Barbara

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