I saw the list on this website would it be good to sign up with all or just the ones mostly talked about? I was going to do all of them which would take a bit of time because I figured it would give me more options... Please give me your advice.

All of them. That's what I meant when I wrote in your other thread that it takes time to get established...signing up with companies and building rapport with schedulers.

Some companies seem to ignore registrations by shoppers who have shopped for less than six months or so. I would suggest you look at Jobslinger.com (the free version) for companies who have recently posted jobs in your area. The jobs you see will be taken already, but at least you know those companies have work in your area. Do your research on the forum whether the overall reaction seems positive or negative. Realize that many irate shoppers register on the forum only to blast a company they felt 'done them wrong'. They are the 'one post wonders' and should not bear a lot of weight as to whether the company is good to work with or not.

Then over time if shopping is working for you, register with other companies.

I would recommend beginning with those companies that have kudos from several members. There are other companies that I suggest you avoid. Spend a few weeks going through the posts here. If many members have had success or difficulties with a particular company, it's a good bet you'll have a similar experience.

ETA: Here's a link to the Kudos board: [www.mysteryshopforum.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/23/2016 11:24PM by PasswordNotFound.

It seems like every time I ask a question I'm told it's somewhere else..... I will look at the Kudos board thank you....... I have been just working with one company so far Stericycle and I am trying to broaden my horizons to better paying shops... Thanks for your comments

Keep reading and discussing and you will find a lot of information here. We all have our favourite ways of doing things and you will find yours. I signed up with every company on the list. I live in a rural area and most companies might have only one client where I live. To be busy I need to be signed up with many companies.

There is a saying I'm sure you're heard. Give a man a fish, feed him for a day, teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime. I think you are getting the wrong impression of both what this board is about and what we are trying to tell you. I'm going to point you in some directions.

I am a full time mystery shopper and I make a decent living. I could make about the same with an 8-5 M-F job and work less hours but I like this and it gives me flexibility. Plus I don't have to work for "the man." I say that to give you background for what I'm about to tell you.

If you were a painter, and there was a message board for painting, would you pop onto that message board and ask the other painters how to do their job and where to apply for painter jobs? No. That would be rude. If you went on a painter board and asked many of the similar questions you would get crickets, or worse. You have come on here and asked questions. In each instance a friendly (and from what I can tell mostly successful full time shoppers) have been nice enough to point you to where the answers to your questions are. Instead of reading the material that has been pointed out to you, you have said you're not going to ask anymore questions and complained that no one is answering your questions and instead tell you to go look somewhere else.

So, here's some free advice. Read everything in the new mystery shopping area, especially the sticky threads. For one, the questions you are asking show that you don't even know enough about mystery shopping yet to ask the intelligent questions. Once you have read all of that, feel free to ask questions, heck, continue to ask questions, just be thankful when someone points you in the direction of the answer instead of getting pissy they didn't just give it to you. I started just under 3 years ago and I read and read and read for at least two weeks before I even made a post. I received a ton of help, from many of the same people who have replied to you.

After you have done reading, or while you're reading, sign up for every company you can find either from this list or elsewhere. Yes it takes time. I, 3 years later, STILL find companies I need to sign up with. It is an investment in my business. I realize it will take time. And sometimes you think you are signing up with a company that has nothing and then you find out they have a world of projects they just don't advertise. So maybe it's not a waste.

Okay I get it no one wants to reveal their good companies or their secrets

@leicholtz wrote:

It seems like every time I ask a question I'm told it's somewhere else..... I will look at the Kudos board thank you....... I have been just working with one company so far Stericycle and I am trying to broaden my horizons to better paying shops... Thanks for your comments

leicholtz, I think what people are trying to tell you is that dozens of new forum members come in every day. They all have the same questions. The questions you are asking are not unique. They have all been discussed and documented. We are all mystery shoppers here who are not getting paid for participation - we help each other because we want to. But we don't want to repetitiously post over and over what we have already said. If you will take some time and read through the forum, you will find a lot of great information free for the taking. All the questions you have asked are available already. After you read what's here, you could ask specific questions.

Gee thanks..... Everyone has repeated that I thought you didn't have time

leicholtz, also keep in mind that telling you our favorite companies could be futile, because what's good for a shopper in one part of the country is not necessarily good for a shopper in another part of the country. My favorite MSCs might not have any shops at all in your area.

Okay

Also, clients have specific profiles they look for in a shopper. I've "aged out" of a few shops, and since then, those companies have not had any opportunities for me. There are local opportunities on the same company boards for my wife, however...

Keep in mind that like many careers out there, experience and your reputation will open more doors as well. This takes time and effort. Give it time and you will be where you want to be. It isn't simply signing up for only the best and wham, you get the money makers right off the bat.

I understand

leicholtz, you are lucky...I had been shopping for about 10 years before I found this board. If that list looks overwhelming, just sign up with 4 or 5 companies a day. I signed up with as many as I could find when I first started and still find more MSCs each year to sign up with, but I didn't know about this board and the list provided when I started so I had to do my own research. Some of the MSCs I am signed up with I have never done work for because they don't have anything in my region. Others I work for regularly. Still others did not have any work for me for several years, and then suddenly did. There are companies for which I only do a shop or two per year. The only way to find out which ones have work in your area is to apply with as many of them as you can--and of course as others have suggested, research them and find the ones that get a lot of positive reviews. But even a few of them that get some gripy negative reviews still have good shops from time to time. Just be wary of any that have a frequent history of non-payment, of course.

I understand thank you

Hi leicholtz. Just be patient. MSing takes a lot of time. We can't tell you our favorite MSC companies because one company may not work for another person. It just like the saying, not everyone can be a software engineer or whatever job and earn big bucks. There are other ways to go about it. Start off slow. Don't jump in and take all the MS jobs that you think you can do. There are a variety of MS jobs available. See what kind of MS jobs that will suite you. Some of us like to do only bank shops. Others like to do the fast food or fine dining. Try out one or two different types first. See if you can follow the guidelines. Can you remember what was required to complete the report fully at 100%? Would you be able to add the additional corrections/required comments if your report came back from the proofreader/editor? Can you take directions/instructions from an editor/proofreader without getting pissy? I don't mean to offend but there are alot of requirements to do MSing successfully. I've done banks, groceries, cable, cell phones, home speakers, fast foods/casual/fine dining restaurants car dealerships, drug tests, blood tests and phone call shops so I have my preferred types. And please, do not take it personally if no one responded back to any of your posts.

OP:
1st of all my favorite msp today may not be my favorite msp tomorrow.
I would suggest you sign up with the top 15 discussed and then start signing up with every one going down the list on the forum here. Use jobslinger, MSjobboard.com, presto as they cover serveral of the msps. Sign up with kern scheduling known as KSS. Isecretshop.com has a collection of msps in one place with jobs. Read those stickys for new members. Read the different threads on the forum under mystery shopping discussions and msp discussions. Take everything in and start slow. As you gain experience you can build and do more and more. You may find mystery shopping to be your favorite thing ever or hate it completly and decide its not for you. Anyone can mysteryshop but only some can do it and make it profitable.

I would sign up with them all except read the discussions on the forum about each one. One I know of is slow paying (Cirrus takes at least 4 months to pay!). Also, some are for more advanced shoppers due to the narratives involved so I would hold off on those for a while (anything fine dining and fine hotels and resorts you will want to wait on) as when starting out, most people do not have a lot of money to invest in case something goes wrong. I myself will do a fine dining as a special occasion but have yet to do a fine hotel or resort and I have been shopping part-time since 2006.

I, too, was hesitant for the same reasons you mentioned. However, I wanted to challenge myself. I revisited MSCs that I had bypassed for reasons similar to yours and found the experience enriching and lucrative to the point where one such MSC has now become a favorite.

I've been doing this for several years, part time. I found it was easier for me to start with posted jobs on the free job listing sites. My signature line has links to the sites I identified, through the forum and on my own.

I have also signed up for random companies, that has not been very fruitful for me but has helped me develop a method of checking every company for assignments. Believe it or not, many companies do not announce opportunities by email and many opportunities are not advertised outside their internal job boards.

I suggest you slowly add new companies based on your ability to manage monitoring them. Personally, I started with the most popular if I hadn't already identified them through the free job listing services.

thanks to all for your opinions and suggestions.

Greatly insightful article. Top suggestions not only for new evaluators, but to seasoned ones as well! Thank you.

Hi all...
Looks like most of u in d forum are from US..I m from India...Any mystery shoppers from India. Been mystery shopping in India since 2007...