Hi I am a mystery shopper in Syracuse New York. I am always looking for new shops. If you know of anything, let me know. I hope that I will be able you as well.

HI! My name is Leslie Marcantonio, and I am a shop scheduler for Creative Image Associates. We focus on mystery shopping for financial institutions. I have been scheduling for over 5 years and have several banking shops available in Florida and Mississippi. (please see my posting on the job thread for more details) Please contact me (via email only please) if you are intersted in shops in these areas. Thank you!

Leslie Marcantonio
ciashopstoo@aol.com

Hi,

I've been doing mystery shopping for almost a year now. I am from Tulsa, Oklahoma and am a retired special education teacher of 30 years. I'm really just getting into the mystery shopping and am looking for good companies to work for. I would appreciate any help. I do have a question? Do you always have to make a purchase when mystery shopping?

Thanks so much

I have been mystery shopping for two years. I live in western New York and I am always looking for more companies that I can shop for. I currently shop with about 30 companies, but I'm sure that I have not found then all.

HELLO, My name is Nancy and I have been mystery shopping since Oct.,08. and I have been fairly busy. I think I am in an area where there are not a lot of shoppers. I really enjoy what I am doing.

Hi, not new to the secret shopper net work, looking for more shops. I have alot of fun doing them, hope that your site will help me to make a lot of new additions to my job list.

Thank you,

Dewayne

Hi I have been mystery shopping for 3 months and I really like it. I keep trying to get fine dining shops but it is not happening for me. I continue to submit applications on a daily basis. I also was interested in surveys but every one seems to require that I put something on my credit card. Can anyone tell me more about how to make money doing surveys. I hate giving my credit card number out so freely.

cmcdonald Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hi,
>
> I've been doing mystery shopping for almost a
> year now. I am from Tulsa, Oklahoma and am a
> retired special education teacher of 30 years.
> I'm really just getting into the mystery shopping
> and am looking for good companies to work for. I
> would appreciate any help. I do have a question?
> Do you always have to make a purchase when mystery
> shopping?
>
> Thanks so much


There are many shops that have no purchase requirement. These include bank shops, debrandings and others. There is some discussion about this in the forum. If what you are needing is to pay the mortgage and keep the lights on, these shops are for you. Generally reimbursement shops tend to be more rewarding because while fees for shopping are taxable, reimbursements are not. I try to get shops that will reimburse me for things I would buy anyway--such as gas, oil changes, groceries, dinner out and the occasional trip to the movies. And yes, on my own I could get these services cheaper and yes, it sometimes takes a while to get reimbursed. But given the choice of changing my own oil in the driveway for $11, spending about $20 to get it changed with a coupon somewhere or laying out $35 that is reimbursed in 60 days, I'll chose the reimbursement Look for a mix in your work that works for you.

bikergirl1 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hi I have been mystery shopping for 3 months and I
> really like it. I keep trying to get fine dining
> shops but it is not happening for me. I continue
> to submit applications on a daily basis. I also
> was interested in surveys but every one seems to
> require that I put something on my credit card.
> Can anyone tell me more about how to make money
> doing surveys. I hate giving my credit card number
> out so freely.


Most frequently fine dining opportunities come after you have performed a number of successful shops for a company and made them feel comfortable that you can handle the observations and reporting required. Keep trying, but also do other shops for the companies that aren't awarding you the fine dining to start building your reputation with them.

As for surveys, I would not sign up for any 'special offers' with survey companies, especially not ones that wanted my credit card number. The rewards of the survey will rarely be equivalent or exceed the outlay so you are just inviting a hassle getting those 'special offers' cancelled.

Thanks so much for the information it really is helpful to hear from others that have been doing this for awhile. I have been doing many other types of shops and always submitting my reports on time to try to develope a rapport with these companies. thanks again.

hi,my name is lisa and am new to mystery shopping but would like to find something in tooele, ut.

Flash said: "Keep trying, but also do other shops for the companies that aren't awarding you the fine dining to start building your reputation with them."

There's this company I've been trying to break into for almost two years. They have restaurants that I would love to shop. However, that's all they have in my area and they've been a tough nut to crack, presumably assigning their shops to the tried and true. I persevere, but is there any advice that could give me, an outsider, an edge?

I am Patricia , I live in Charleston, Sc. I never mystery shopped. I need to know if anyone out there knows of a company with work in Charleston of any part of South Carolina?

I live in Southern Calif. and have been doing the mystery shopper thing for only
2 months now. What I am wondering is do you have to get more experience before the better paying shops are available? Obvioulsy to a point, but there are business verifications that are quite simple and even when applying right on the money soon as they are on the web. Seems that someone all the time gets them. I'm really not in a position to have to be out of pocket first and then reimbursed for a shop. I mean thats why I am working in the first place is to get money.

uuu888: Try GfK, cybershoppersonline.com, and for more MSPs in your area, check out JobSlinger.

Hi - I'm a new Mystery Shopper located in Colorado. I have several skills to offer including being very adept on the computer (own my own), have a fax machine, answering service, etc. I also have years of sales experience and customer service.
Thanks,
Sara Luttes
970-461-2929

Hi Happy New Year to all. I am a mystery shopper of about 4 months now. And loving it. It's such a good way to meet people and ensure that the quality of shopping as a real customer is being kept up to standards. Its reassuring to know that the business owners are on the ball and keeping the bar level raised for expert shopping quality for consumers .Have a great shop all

where do you live?

Marlene

Hello my name is Pamela and i've just signed up and i could use some pointers on how to get started and if you can help please email me. THANKS ALOT

Hi,Deb from Michigan I used to Shop but have been out of it for a few years except one lunch place I do on and off. SO much has changed. The companies are gone or merged or renamed. The Forums I used to visit are gone. I just found this one and looks like a lot of good info I dont evne know where to start.

My nickname is "Doc" and that is because I am a retired marketing psychologist. It is easy to become a good mystery shopper if you quickly learn from forums just who is good and who is not so good. Just stay away from $5.00 shops as they are only taken by very needy or the unknowing shopper. If you want a few good ones, try
the following. Bare International, Goodwin Associates, ATH, Beyond Hello, About Face and Spies in Disguise. You will not go wrong with those as a start. There are many others but I recommend these as they are fair with you.

Hi I am Eva, I have been doing mystery shopping for about 1 1/2 years now. Does anyone know of a shopping company that does the Game Stop. I was in there one day and they were commenting that they have to follow the rules because they get mystery shoppers in there often. I would really love to check them out.

Barbara,

About half the shopping companies I work for raise their commissions if you wait or ask, the other half I don't shop for much any more.

I can always tell when a new shopper has joined in my area because all the shops get taken up quickly at low levels, but soon they must tire since the fees go up again after a month or so.

Also, don't be afraid to ask for more. I have raised all my pizza shop commissions from the offer price of $6 per shop to around $30 each + reimbursment. My gas shops are at $18 plus $1/$1 reimbursement... and I only do those if they are on my way. My strategy is to wait until the shop is due in the next few days and then make them an offer. Works every time!

Also, see if there is "Mystery Shoppers Union" where you live. We have one here and we share stories and have all agreed NOT to accept any shops that pay $0 fees. (i.e. some shops want to just give you a reimbursement only. That is a MAJOR no, no for tax reasons... why? because now you have to count your reimbursements as part of your income instead of just a reimpbursed expense).




hoodink Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hi, my name is Barbara and I'm relatively new as a
> shopper. I have done several apartment shops and
> banking shops. Reading the above experiences has
> answered some of my questions, but still I'm
> curious, isn't $7 to $15 awfully low to travel to
> a location (especially considering the price of
> gas), complete the shop, then spend sometimes as
> much as an hour to complete the report? That
> averages out (at best)to less than $5 an hour (not
> even counting the cost of gas). My question is how
> do you find the better (higher paying) shops?

Barbara thanks for the info. I do tend to wait on some job before taking them, like Gapbuster and McDonalds shops. Lots of times I have waited till closer to the end of the month and they raise the pay. Though I never though of waiting and asking for more. I will have to give it a try.
Eva

Hi

My name Is Tracey

I have been Mystery Shopping for about 2 months now in the West Metro Phoenix area.

I like it so far, but it really takes a while to get all the reimbursements in.

For the pros, have you gotten Silver/Gold certification and has it made a difference?

Thanx in Advance for any/all responses.

faceit, search this forum for the thread on certification; posts on this subject have also been discussed in many other threads. Lots of opinions to read and think about. Good luck!

Hi, I'm Maureen and I've been shopping about two months now. I have been doing mainly ff shops. I'm not in a 'city' area, so a lot of shops aren't available here, but have been doing decently. I'm always reading and learning, this forum has loads of info. Thanks to all!

Hi,

I have been shopping for about 5 years. I live in the Northeast.

Hey Emma33,

What companies do you shop for? Can you recommend any to me? I've been shopping maybe a year. I'm from Tulsa, Oklahoma. Any suggestion would be appreciated.

Thanks

I am very excited about the prospect of mystery shopping. I looked on line, found a bank that wanted shoppers in my area (St. Petersburg/Clearwater/Palm Harbor) and when I tried to access more information I was denied. Why?