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Hi Everyone!

April 20, 2019 04:25AM
Hi all! I just recently began my mystery shopping journey in the last 2 months and so far I'm really enjoying it! I was excited to come across this community to meet fellow shoppers and learn about the world of mystery shopping. I'm just curious as to whether anyone has registered to be a member of the MSPA or completed their certification courses. If so, was it worth the investment? Did it add any benefit to your shop opportunities? I was looking at their site and it interested me, but I wasn't sure what others had experienced so I wanted to get some opinions before I moved forward with registration. smiling smiley

Appreciate all of the help! I look forward to meeting some new friends on here.
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April 20, 2019 01:04PM
Welcome to the forum. You can search for posts regarding the certification and there are threads on it, as well as many other topics. In a nutshell, the certification probably doesn't help. Mystery Shop Companies value reliable shoppers who follow shop instructions and write correct reports.

Read the various forum topics and join as many companies as you can from the list on the bottom the home page.
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April 20, 2019 01:30PM
Remember, MSPA's main mission is lobbying on behalf of the MSCs, not supporting shoppers. And, bills for which they lobby do not always reflect shoppers' interests. Also, many very good MSCs do not belong to MSPA. So, do not assume that it is the only place to find reliable MSCs. In fact, some of their member companies have long histories, documented here, of failure to pay shoppers and/or other issues that cause many forum members to steer clear of them. I am not saying that MSPA is evil; I am saying that their main mission is not supporting shoppers.

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.
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April 20, 2019 02:18PM
@ccc_89
Hello and Welcome!

If you have not done so yet, check out the "New Shoppers" area on this forum. It has a tremendous amount of information that will really open up the mystery shopping world to you. As you look for companies, check out the list linked at the bottom of this forum - there are over 200 of them.

You will find that this forum has the most free information available to mystery shoppers anywhere. Many of us have it to thank for our successes as shoppers. Some of us stick around and are happy to answer questions from folks new to the business.

Hard work builds character and homework is good for your soul.
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April 21, 2019 05:18PM
Hello and welcome! If you would have asked me 10 years ago if I thought MSPA certification was worth obtaining, I would have said yes. Now, I say don't bother. I got gold certified back in 2003 at a networking workshop, which was great. Nowadays they do it online. I used to see a difference in the number of shops I was assigned due to my certification, but I haven't noticed any difference in a long time. Also, don't confuse membership with certification. The membership is totally worthless. At least you can learn something with the certification, but if you've been shopping awhile it's probably nothing you don't already know.

Edited for typing on my phone.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/21/2019 05:19PM by JASFLALMT.
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April 21, 2019 05:20PM
@7star Thank you for the information! I will definitely take a look through the various forums. Appreciate it!
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April 21, 2019 05:22PM
@MFJohnston Thank you for the warm welcome! I appreciate the information and will look around the site. I love that this community is so open and offers opportunities to help new and existing shoppers with their experiences.
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April 21, 2019 05:25PM
@JASFLALMT Thank you for the advice! I will keep this in mind. smiling smiley
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April 21, 2019 05:29PM
@walesmaven Thank you for the insight that you provided me into the MSPA. That's unfortunate that they don't lobby for the shoppers as much as they should given the work and effort that we put into helping these companies with their initiatives.
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