First of all, this is a job. You can learn to be observant, but you must be of a dependable nature. Don't take assignments that you might be unable to do when scheduled...people are counting on you.
You should be good at role-playing. The MSC will send you the details of the "scenario" that they want you to present after you have been assigned to the job (they will also give a brief description of the scenario, the job and how much it pays up front).
Pays vary widely by company and by job complication. I've seen fees as low as a measly $4 and as high as $250. The "average" fee is, probably, more in the $10-$20 range.
You can take as many or as few of the jobs you're offered as you want and can reasonably do.
NEVER PAY ANYBODY TO DO MYSTERY SHOPPING. “Real” companies will pay YOU to do shops for them.
If you change “home” areas or want to shop in a different area than you normally cover, sign in to all of the MSC’s websites that you want to shop for and change the info on your profile (if you’re moving for more than a month or so) to reflect your “new” address and area OR, go to their “Job Board” area and enter the town or zip code that you are willing to travel from and the distance that you are willing to travel (most sites will allow you to “search” for jobs up to 200 miles away or in the entire state).
You can find FREE lists of Mystery Shopping Companies in several places. I suggest that you start with those listed in this forum (above) or at volition.com, walletboosters.com or mommybiz.com as they list companies that are ALL free to register with.
You should also join at least one mystery shopping forum. I think the most helpful and friendly one is MSFreedom (www.msfreedom.org). They also have a list of MS Companies that shoppers have "graded" from A-F based on their collective experience with them. I recommend that you don't register with ANY company graded below a "C".
There are, supposedly, some 500 or so mystery shopping companies. Register with as many of them as you need to until you are as busy as you want to be. This may seem like a daunting task, but if you'll just start by registering with 3-5 companies a day for the first month, you'll soon be registered with more companies than most new shoppers.
Other than that, you need at least daily access to the internet (most companies will notify you of available shops via email but SOME companies require you to check their website for available jobs and 99%+ of your reports will be online), you must be able to scan and know how to upload receipts and photos, you should have good grammar and know how to spell properly (or be able to type all narratives into Word, use the Grammar and Spell Check features, then cut and paste the corrected narrative into the report) and you must be able to read, understand and follow directions.
Oh, and you must have a PayPal account (also free) set up before you can register with many companies as this is how most of them will pay you.
Oops, I almost forgot, before you register with anybody, set up a SEPARATE email account that you will use only for MS'ing and use THAT email on any registrations and for PayPal. That way, your MS emails and job offerings will not get mixed up with your personal emails.
HELPFUL HINT: When registering with companies, type all of your writing samples, cities you will shop, zip codes you will shop, experience stories or any information that you might have to use over and over again into a Word document, Grammar and Spell Check it (making any needed changes) and “save” it so that instead of having to type stuff over and over again, you can just copy (editing if necessary) and paste it into your registration forms as needed.
If you have any questions, the members here and at MSFreedom are VERY helpful and have LOTS of experience. You can also reach me directly with mystery shopping questions at
nwazshop@yahoo.com and I'll be happy to try and help.
Good Luck and Have fun!