I saw that, and thought the shopper was totally using the system, and then trying to get more $$...he didn't have a clue.

As to the number of shoppers, in 2009, Mike Bare, one of the founders and an early president of MSPA, stated that "like many other companies, we have over one million shoppers on our books." He was, btw, using that to make the point that shoppers were a dime a dozen. The other 10 past presidents of MSPA who were on the panel with him were nodding their heads in a greement.

My hunch is that shoppers who leave the industry stay on many MSC's "books" for a really long time. The half-life of a rookie shopper is probably less than a month.

Does anyone have a best guess on the percentage of shoppers who are actively shopping at the end of their first year? It seems to me there is a lot of turnover on the forum from year to year, and I think maybe the forum posters are the most stable shoppers in the business. Comments?

WE (on the forum) have a support group to get us over the rough spots.

WE are a teeny tiny percentage of the total number of shoppers in this country/the world.

When I tried MSing about 10 years ago I was on my own, had no clue what I was doing, made two unsuccessful attempts, and gave it up. This time I was steered to MSPA, was able to complete my first shop, and my second, and my third through about 12th, and then found this place. I did 8 shops my first month on the job and about 30 every month since. I made less than $100 my first month, and $450+ every month since (except January which was $322).

I seriously can't say if I would still be doing this and I KNOW I wouldn't be knocking down $450 a month if I hadn't found this forum. Why? Because it never would have occurred to me to ASK for bonus money to do a remote shop until I read here about doing that. THAT is what enabled me to route shop. There aren't a dozen shops a month in this small town. I HAVE TO travel to shop, and bonus money makes that feasible.

So if I were to guess? I'd bet that 90% of the people who attempt this don't make it three months without a support system. But they're probably still on the MSC's database. Based on the number of shops I see offered and the number I personally take, I would bet the number of active REGULAR shoppers is nowhere near a million, and is probably more like 100,000-200,000 in the USA, with maybe an equal number of casual, one or two shop a month, shoppers grabbing an occasional meal out.

Interesting that this topic about the tenure of new shoppers came up right now. Was just having a discussion about this very thing with my friends and fam last night. I was guessing that maybe 1 in 10 make it past three months. Well, the friends and fam don't shop, but they know how hard I work at what I do, and they were sure that the fallout rate had to be a lot higher than my estimation.

They might be right. Judging by many of the first-time posters here on the forum, it seems like a lot of people out there have totally the wrong idea about what mystery shopping really is.

Unlike ItsASecret, I had already been mystery shopping on my own for a couple of years before I found this forum. There were plenty of lonely, confusing, and frustrating times. I wish I'd discovered it sooner. The only thing that kept me going was that I was determined not to go back to the corporate world and had to make this endeavor work financially well enough to avoid that option.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/07/2013 10:42PM by shopgal.

I'm glad I watched the clip. To listen to some of you talk about it, you would think that the MSC explicitly said the only requirement was "breathing." That was NOT AT ALL the case. I watched the segment, and in the context of what was being said, the HOST said it and she simply smiled (because she knew it was humor) and said, "basically, yes."

For those of you that are upset by the breathing comment, either your panties are too tight, or you haven't actually watched the clip!

::waving excitedly at Joytron::

Hey! You're back! =D

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/08/2013 02:52AM by BusyBeeBuzzBuzzBuzz.

MDavisnowell Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Does anyone have a best guess on the percentage of
> shoppers who are actively shopping at the end of
> their first year? It seems to me there is a lot
> of turnover on the forum from year to year, and I
> think maybe the forum posters are the most stable
> shoppers in the business. Comments?

My guesses:

If the pool includes all those who heard about mystery shopping and considered becoming a shopper--less than 0.00001%

If the pool includes all who applied to at least one MSC--less than 0.001%

If the pool includes all who performed at least one shop--less than 0.01%

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/08/2013 03:04AM by BusyBeeBuzzBuzzBuzz.

MDavisnowell Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Does anyone have a best guess on the percentage of
> shoppers who are actively shopping at the end of
> their first year? It seems to me there is a lot
> of turnover on the forum from year to year, and I
> think maybe the forum posters are the most stable
> shoppers in the business. Comments?


Y'all might be stable, but I have never been accused of such a thing.

Given my weight, I am highly stable. Just try to move me. I double dog dare ya!

The MSC saying shoppers are on the "stupid" side, gets what she pays for, a shopper on the "stupid" side.....
She does not know how to promote her own company or industry, and that made her look non- professional, that was offending. This does give hope to bringing dead beat companies to court.

My theory is that 600,000 is the number of people registered and a lot of those people took one look at the website and decided it wasn't for them.

Actually, that's how I got started.....I registered with one company, accepted a shop but didn't really understand what I was supposed to be doing, and never logged in again. Then two years later I tried to register with the same company, only to discover I already had an account with a citation for the no-show shop two years prior. Was able to get scheduled for a couple shops since my citation was so old, completed them, and have been hooked ever since :-)