This is my first month as a mystery shopper. I'm still learning the ropes and have only taken small jobs. I've really enjoyed it so far and would like to start taking on more shops. Would you recommend getting MPSA certification as a next step for me?

No, their customer service is terrible. I believe it is just a money grab.

Hi JLA.
I am Silver Certified, but honestly, I don't know that it's given me an advantage over other shoppers. I work a full-time 9-5 job and shop before and after work. I also generally schedule myself for 2 or 3 jobs on the weekends and recently started shopping high end hotels. My co-worker, who is not MSPA Certified also works full-time and shops on the weekends. We are both shopping Southern California and seem to get the same number of jobs. Since you're a new shopper, I feel that you would learn a lot by becoming certified, but in my opinion, you'll still get jobs without it.

Ignore mistry's remarks. It's not a money grab. It helps separate the serious shoppers from the hobbyists. I got silver certified and started seeing new and higher-paying jobs on some of the boards after I was. It's only $15 for silver, so if it opens up even one more client to you, it's well worth it. I haven't decided on going for gold yet but I probably will eventually just because I'm an over-achiever.

You WILL get jobs without it, but it can be a tie-breaker for getting awarded popular jobs. A lot of new shoppers don't do high quality work at first so if a scheduler has a choice between a newbie who has the certificate and one who doesn't -- who do you think they will take the gamble on?

I'm silver certified and have noticed no difference. I have heard that gold certified shoppers do notice a difference.

itsasecret Wrote:
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> Ignore mistry's remarks.


Thank you!

Sometimes when a new shopper starts mystery shopping and almost immediately (within a couple of months) gets the MSPA certification, it is difficult to tell whether they are seeing an increase in the shops they are offered because of their certification or because they have just applied with a number of MSPs and successfully done a few reports, building their reputation and making them look better to the schedulers. I got my Silver certification in 2008 when I started shopping because I thought it would be required - it isn't - and I've seen no evidence that it helps me tremendously. So far, since 2008, I've seen only one shop that requires a silver- or gold-certified shopper, a real cheapie shop with way more requirements than the shop is worth, a shop I did once and I won't do again. I have two family members shopping and I recommended that they not do the certification. They have not, and they see virtually the same shops I see. I do not see that I have a significant "edge" over them when it comes to getting shops.

I wouldn't say the Silver certification is worthless. It's cheap and easy to get. And it is a stepping stone to Gold Certification if a shopper wants to go that way. So I figure, get it or don't. But don't expect it to help you get lots more and lots better jobs. And I don't think getting a certification that is dead-easy and cheap (Silver) shows that a shopper is a serious shopper.

Gold may show that a shopper is more serious and it may increase the quantity of shops and lead to higher pay, I don't know since I have not pursued it.

You're welcome. Maybe next time try being less libelous in your remarks??

Remember how long it was after I was silver certified before I could enter that on the Sassie sites? Well, immediately after I went through and posted it, I saw shops come up on some of those boards that hadn't been there before I entered the certificate number.

My experience level with those companies hadn't changed overnight; the only thing that changed was I entered that code number successfully.

Cause --> Effect? I think so.

The other thing that makes this "not just a money grab" is that going through the certification process will open a new shopper's eyes to the responsibilities of mystery shopping and gives you a more professional outlook on this. It's not just about free meals.

Shortly after I became Gold Certified, an msc gave me a job that was for Golds only.
It was a high-paying mortgage shop and more than paid for the class. Your results may vary.

mistry offered an opinion and it has been shared by others lately. Any time MSPA certification is brought up, it often results in a rousing discussion. Recent negative opinions are not all undeserved. Many people spent the money yet could not enter their certification on many websites for many months. While glitches are a part of cyber world, it took a long time to be addressed. I've also read of shoppers having issues when ordering Gold DVDs and having difficulty getting any customer service. Those are legitimate concerns and there is no one to blame but the MSPA.

I'm part of the group that is too busy to take the time to find out if it is worthwhile. So far I have been able to distinguish myself as a serious shopper and not a hobbyist without certification.

It is possible a shop will be awarded to a shopper with certification first, but I want to share this story. I was once speaking with a scheduler who was in a panic because she gave a shop to a Gold certified shopper. The shop was late, not performed entirely up to standards and the scheduler was in the midst of rewriting the report while practically begging the shopper to contact her a give her needed information.

I am not certified. I have been doing shop for over 6 years. When I started I read somewhere to never pay a fee to get jobs. Being certified cost money. I am active with only 6 companies and have more work than I want. I refuse shops every monthly.
I only do it part time. My family and I enjoyed travelling a lot, visiting different area. While travelling you need a hotel, food and fast food and gas. I do all those and a few more.

I prefer to deal in facts, not opinions. When it comes to making a sweeping statement about lousy customer service (most online companies are no better) and then saying it's just a money grab, which suggests something of no value for which money has been taken, that is crossing a line while offering no facts whatsoever to back up that opinion.

I noticed an IMMEDIATE increase in job availability, no, not from every company but from a couple of them, the moment I was finally able to enter the code.

I don't know whose fault it was -- blaming MSPA may not be appropriate since it was only SASSIE companies who couldn't take the code, all the others did with no problems. So is this MSPA's fault, or SASSIE's fault?

Yes, I had all the shops I had time to do before I spent that $15 -- but if this is opening the door to more shops, more variety, or better paying shops, for $15 it only takes one shop to pay for itself. The thing it does is it shows a NEW company that you have just signed up with that you take this seriously and are willing to invest time and money to prove you are serious about this. The companies I shopped for before I got certified know what I can do so I don't expect to see better shops from them. Those I was already seeing as my good reports got rated and my shopper rating with each of them went up. But a new company doesn't call up Market Force to ask if I'm a flake before offering me a job, but that certificate code might make them take a chance on me since it at least proves I've been around long enough to know about being certified.

It was companies I had never shopped for yet that suddenly showed a whole new bunch of jobs when I entered that code. And they weren't $5 FF shops. I was able to get a $50 shop from one company as my first shop. So yeah, in my OPINION, it is worth it. And it is not a scam and not a "money grab."

I apologize for being as dismissive with mistry's comment as mistry was with MSPA.

You may prefer facts, but know as well as I that many of our discussion are subjective and we provide opinoins. It is part of the forum. IMO, whether other online companies provide good or bad customer service has no bearing and does not make it acceptable.

As to the issue with Sassie not accepting MSPA certification, I do hold the MSPA accountable. Sassie was not selling the certification and Sassie did not receive the money. It falls to the seller to verify the product they were selling was usable prior to taking the customer's money. What is so special about the MSPA that they deserve to be treated differently and given more consideration than any other seller of services?

MSPA had no ability to program Sassie's platform to accept the numbers. Why are you blaming them? All the other platforms took it.

My college gave me a diploma that I paid dearly for. If I apply for a job to some company that doesn't recognize the diploma, why is that ASU's fault?

Seriously? What is the deal with defending the MSPA? Weren't you one of the people who was frustrated after paying for certification and not being able to enter the numbers for so long? Wasn't it a change the MSPA made that caused the problem?

Whether they can make the program changes at Sassie is irrelevant and does not excuse their failure to perform due diligence by verifying the new codes would work BEFORE selling them. Do you normally provide a seller your money and just wait around until it is convenient for them to send your merchandise or pay the plumber in advance and wait weeks or months for him to show up? My question remains, why are you so bound and determined to give the MSPA a pass that you would not give to anyone else who sold you goods or services?

I became certified (first silver, then quickly gold) when both the MSPA certification program and my tenure as a mystery shopper were relatively new. Did I learn anything from both programs? Yes--but it was mostly because I was a new shopper. Did I get more and better shops because I was certified? Yes. I know that for certain because schedulers and company reps/owners have told me so directly.

However, that was when the certification program was new and there were few certified shoppers in my area. Additionally, whether certification is worth it often depends on your shopping area.

Unless you know being silver certified will give you a competitive edge in your shopping area, my advice for you is to wait. Save your money and time. It will probably be more productive for you to read these forums, ask questions, and sign up for companies than to get silver certified. IMO, your success as a new mystery shopper depends much more on your building good relationships with numerous MSCs and proving to them (through your performance) that you are a good and reliable shopper.

In my opinion, unless a shopper is planning to get gold certified, it is often not worth it to get silver certified. The big exception is if there are few certified shoppers in your shopping area.

Whether to get gold certified is a more difficult question to answer. In my opinion, a new shopper should not get gold certified unless that shopper is (1) sure gold certification would provide a significant competitive advantage and (2) sure he/she would be mystery shopping for long enough to recoup the cost.

As an aside, I am about ready to take a break from these forums or quit altogether. The rudeness and personal attacks from regular forum members lately are getting to me. It's now often nastier here than V, and that's saying a lot.

I'm all for anyone who disagrees with someone else's position to debate on the facts, use humor, snark, sarcasm, or other tools to point out how or why the other person is wrong. However, calling someone Canadian bacon or telling Forum Member A to ignore Forum Member B's remarks? WTH.

I know for a fact that once I received my Silver Certification I started to see more higher valued shops $40-100.00 normally I just saw $5- $25 and the $25 ones were few a far between. I ordered my Gold DVD's received them in two days I have spoken to a few schedulers that say they give the higher pay jobs to a Gold certified if possible they know we are serious and no flake rate or its lowered by a huge percentage. It's something to prove your not just doing this as hobby.

Lisa, I am not "defending" MSPA, but I am not going to watch them be maligned for something that we have no way of knowing was under their control or not. Sassie companies are not the only game in town -- only about 1/3 of the MSCs on my list are Sassie companies. Should I have been denied whatever benefits might accrue to me from the OTHER 2/3 of the companies just because Sassie couldn't take the codes right away?

Whether Sassie accepted the codes or knew I was certified or not does not change the fact that I WAS certified. Just like I have a business degree whether anyone knows it or not. I have been around corporations and computers long enough to know that sometimes glitches just happen. They also can be difficult and costly to correct. Good grief, look at the fiasco there has been with income tax filing this year, and with the full might of the IRS and H&R Block it took over two months to fix the problems. It took MSPA and Sassie about three months to work this out, and it appears from what the Intellishop scheduler revealed that Sassie is in the process of changing their platform, which likely sucked up all their IS resources for awhile.

Maybe I'm a bit more tolerant of the glitch because I've walked the mile in their shoes.

I'm a bit shocked at the venom being directed at MSPA, given that we encourage newbies to only deal with companies who are listed on the MSPA, we direct them to use their job board, and many of us signed up for the "free" (because we are certified) membership they offered. Why all of a sudden are they being hated and maligned when a newbie comes here to ask about one of their services? Can you imagine how OP felt when they asked about it and the first thing they were told is that, essentially, MSPA is a rip-off??

How many times have we climbed all over someone who came here, and with no explanation whatsover, announced that such and such MSP cheats mystery shoppers? Why are you now climbing all over ME for pointing out that mistry did exactly that about MSPA?

My reaction to mistry's remark was because 1. It was the FIRST response to an honest inquiry by a brand-new shoper and 2. There was NO explanation given for the "opinion" offered. I was shocked that someone would just blow off the OP's inquiry like that, with no explanation of why MSPA was being dissed. I haven't heard of anyone except one particular now-absent troll who said they wanted their money back from MSPA due to the codes not working in December. Why has there not been a wholesale demand for everyone to get their money back ... unless it's because most people who paid felt it was worth the $15?

I and many others here felt the Silver Certification was worth the $15, either due to increased opportunities or just due to the increased insight into mystery shopping we gained as a result of going through the process. Those of you who are maligning it so vehemently -- do you know whereof you speak? If you went through it and felt it a waste of money, tell us why. But if you didn't even go through it, why are you being critical of those who did or who are considering it?

JLA,

Yes, I believe it is worthwhile for those MSPs that prefer MSPA certified shoppers to help differentiate between shoppers for those reasons mentioned above.

For you, I would consider the MSPs you want to work for. If you work for companies like Market Force and CoRI that allow self-assignment, then it won't help to get assignments. But if you want to work for others that assign shops from multiple possible applicants or pursue more demanding assignments with significant narratives that include fine dining restaurants and hotels, you will be competing against others that have a proven track record with those companies and/or have certification. Certification will help a new shopper like yourself to stand out a bit more.

Good luck!

You are reading much more into my posts than I have written since not one statement was maligning shoppers who choose to certify. I have not made a habit of maligning the MSPA either, unless you feel me questioning their recent business practices is maligning. They are what they are, an industry trade organization, and that is fine by me. I also don't want shoppers to be misinformed because many think the MSPA is designed to help shoppers when in reality it is designed to help and promote MSCs. I remember the days when Franchise Compliance and then Freeman were still members in good standing, despite an overwhelming number of unpaid shoppers. If it wasn't for Jacob, their memberships may have continued indefinitely.

I decided to share these two quotes because they sum up my opinion of the certification issues several months ago.

This is what you said when Sassie companies would not take your number.

"It is a bit annoying when they're so quick to take your money and then refuse to communicate when there's a problem,"

Here is what the MSPA said about the "glitch" with Sassie and the new numbers. I found the second sentence to be the most enlightening. The MSPA implemented the new system prior to completing the verification portion. In essence they were selling the new certification knowing there would be issues with it's use.

"MSPA Shopper Certification codes obtained on or after December 2012 cannot currently be entered on SASSIE or JobSlinger shopper profiles. The MSPA established a new certification system in December 2012, but the method for companies to verify a certification number is still under development."

JLA, it has been made clear from several posts that newly certified shoppers were not able to enter their certification codes in the Sassie system companies for a period of time. Many shoppers have posted they were disappointed in the customer service provided by MSPA regarding this. There have been no recent reports on this problem, so it is probably resolved.

MSPA is the only organization offering certification. Certification is a choice and not a requirement. Many busy and successful shoppers have chosen not to certify. Many busy and successful shoppers have certified. You will not find a concensus of opinion regarding a clear cut answer.

I suggest the following:

(1) Get the $15 certification, and update all your profiles with your new code.

(2) When communicating with your schedulers, ask them or email them whether the gold certification will help you with their companies.

This will give you some useful feedback from current companies. This will not give you feedback on new companies that may contact you after you are certified gold.

I think it's kind of a weird set-up because in my opinion, the questions are so easy it's ridiculous. I got the silver certificate, studied for like 10 minutes and hadn't been a shopper prior. If companies are actually using that as any sort of guide as to how good/smart/educated shoppers are, it's not a very high level they are striving for. It's all common sense stuff. Sorry, but it cracks me up when I see "silver certified" in people's signature lines, like it's a great accomplishment.

There is no way I would pay for the gold.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/06/2013 04:10PM by rainy.

But, let me just say this:

What GOOD is the certification if so many of the systems (i.e., "Sassie" won't accept the code? How does anyone know if we are certified or not?

I just had a weird comment from a scheduler when I applied for a shop. His comment was "we give preference to people who are MSPA certified and have done previous work for us." Uh....I responded (again) that I WAS certified. The response I got there didn't ask for my certification information or anything...I have also done previous shops for the company but was told that if I were to take on more Casino shops, that would be a way to prove myself.

here's what's weird: the job I applied for was a RESTAURANT shop. I have previously done restaurant shops for them so they can see the work I have done. To be told that "well, if you had picked up some of the left-over Casino shops we had on the board, that would have definitely counted TOWARD your efforts." HMM???

How was I supposed to know that they were "leftover?" And how would a non-dining casino shop better qualify me for their restaurant shops? Sometimes I just don't see the logic behind what we are told. I think it's subjective, too, but I don't lose any sleep over it.

Rainy, I don't see the silver as an educational asset. I consider it more of a registration with MSPA to get yourself on their list of shoppers. They do have a large number of companies who are members of the organization. I saw a bigger difference in what was happening after I did the gold certification.

I fully understand that many shoppers don't want to certify. They are making the right decision for them. If you can't see it, you shouldn't do it.

Taking the test shows you at least have a grasp of the basics and can apply logic. Some of the questions dealt with how to deal with things that go wrong during a shop.

Lisa, yes, I grumbled a bit at first because there was NO EXPLANATION for what was going on. Since I signed up right when they were changing it probably took them several complaints over several days to realize there even was a problem. Once they posted the explanation on their website, I made a joke about it on my signature line and waited PATIENTLY for them to fix the glitch, which they later did. I never even complained to them, because I knew the bridge-dweller who brought the glitch to our attention (thus spawning the discussion that made me decide to get the certification in the first place, so he actually did me a favor) was monitoring the situation so I just read his comments and once he said they had answered him that they were working on it, I just checked every few days to see where I could or couldn't enter the number and reported my results in the same thread. About a week later, I think MSPA had the announcement up on their board of what had happened and that they were working on it.

But you have to realize (as I did, because of my corporate background) that when "ships happen" and you get overwhelmed with messages and complaints, some multiple times from people like the bridge-dweller who was ready to sue them over it instead of just doing a chargeback on his credit card if he wasn't happy, it is impossible to respond to everyone and your resources are better utilized trying to figure out what's wrong, instead of replying to hundreds or thousands of people, "We don't know what the problem is but we're working on it."

Yes, they should have made sure it worked before pulling the trigger to change whatever they changed that caused the problem. But that doesn't make them evil. Some poor fool in the software development department probably got raked over the coals for whatever error contributed to this. I don't need his head on a platter. It got fixed. I entered my codes. I picked up a $50 job I wouldn't otherwise have been offered and am seeing a noticeable increase in the kinds of jobs I can see now. I'm happy with my certification and forgiving of MSPA for the initial screwup.

MSPA may be in it for the money and working to serve the MSCs, but without them, I probably wouldn't be shopping because I would have had no means of sorting the legitimate companies from the scammers. Their job board was the first place I got steered to jobs in my area. I still go back there now and then to see if any new companies are here now. They provide a useful service to mystery shoppers. Why would I hate them over a programming glitch? I have $2000 in my bank account because someone steered me to them FIRST, which got me going in mystery shopping scam-free until I knew what I was doing and could spot scams on my own. The other thing that helped me on the way was the googlebot who put my initial searches on MSPA and a few MSCs I found through them together with the existence of THIS FORUM and popped up an ad on my Facebook page that led me here. Do I get annoyed at Google sometimes? Sure. Do I hate them for that? No. I appreciate what Google does for me, even if it lets me down sometimes.

MSPA isn't perfect, but neither am I.

And my point was I don't hate them or the certification process or shoppers that want to go for the silver or gold either. Now that certification issues are resolved it is business as usual. It is also nice to see they did admit responsibility.

My suggestion for any brand new shopper would be trying some mystery shops before investing ANY money in the business and that would include not just certification, but also new cameras, voice recorders or shops requiring a large outlay of cash. A few shops through self-assign companies like CORI or MF should be enough to test the waters. If a newbie decides this is the business for them, that would be the time to start treating it like a business and adding more tools to their arsenal. And certification is a potential tool, especially if they are in one of the more competitive markets.

I agree with Lisa on that -- don't be out of pocket until you know you have what it takes to do this because not everyone does.

I used an old TAPE recorder (remember those?) until after I had enough net profit from shopping to pay for a digital voice recorder. By then I had done a few shops, realized I wasn't going to die if I worked for $5 an hour, and was willing to stick with it. Later I bought a printer for my laptop, portable scanner, and smartphone, all paid for by actual shopping profits. Oh, and the $15 certification was paid out of shop profits -- after I had been shopping about four months and was wanting to expand my opportunities. At the beginning, there are plenty of easy cheap shops available that you can hone your timing, observation, and memory skills on before stepping up to the ones that are a bit more challenging that pay better.

I have no idea as to whether or not I've missed out on assignment opportunities because I have not yet become silver certified in the almost four years I've been shopping. But I'm always looking to improve my business, and MSPA silver certification seemed like an inexpensive gamble to do so. But I held off because of all of the glitches involved in the process that made getting certified irrelevant.

Now that it seems like the issues have been resolved for at least the silver level, I may be inclined to go ahead with it. But I will most definitely hold off once again until the problems with getting gold certified are resolved.

It's very disappointing that MSPA certification hasn't been handled in a professional manner. Obviously the rollout for certification was poorly planned. The fiascos are of no benefit to the MSPA or to the MSCs belonging to it, regardless of who is ultimately to blame. Hopefully going forward this kind of thing can be avoided.

Many good points have been made on this thread by shoppers that I respect and have learned from throughout my time on this forum. I appreciate that although the discussion became somewhat heated for a time, that we can all come together as a community once again.

Silver is just a stepping stone to Gold. I have no idea if the DVDs are worth anything -- I got my Gold in a live workshop about 6 years ago. I really enjoyed it because I got to network with reps from several companies and was able to talk to other shoppers from the general area. I don't think the Silver helped at all, but the Gold sure did.