I've basically spent all day today filling out mystery shopping applications. Whenever I finish the form, I go to the job board and they don't have anything in my state, and sometimes even my COUNTRY! What a waste of time! Why can't there be a way to look at the locations that a company offers BEFORE a person spends their time filling out the silly application!

I understand your frustration. They may not have something today, but they might next week or next month. Have you tried the biggies? CORI, Trendsource, Market Force, Bestmark? They seem to be pretty wide spread in what they cover.

pixie_dust_711 Wrote:
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> I've basically spent all day today filling out
> mystery shopping applications. Whenever I finish
> the form, I go to the job board and they don't
> have anything in my state, and sometimes even my
> COUNTRY! What a waste of time! Why can't there be
> a way to look at the locations that a company
> offers BEFORE a person spends their time filling
> out the silly application!


It is hard when you sign up and then don't see jobs right away. Sometimes companies have jobs in your area but they are just not posted right then. Sometimes not. Many times you may have to wait a couple of months. Many companies I signed up with I did not see jobs for a few months. And sometimes it is not a waste to sign up with no jobs available - I got a great big money job from a company I signed up with TWO YEARS AGO - for 2 years no jobs, suddenly they got a client .... and I was signed up and ready.... and grabbed an easy shop for high pay. And then some you sign up with will never have jobs...... I suspect they don't want to discourage anyone from signing up, whether they have jobs or not, because they want to build their shopper base (some are pretty proud of how many shoppers they have available, whether they need them or not) .... and they never know when they might get a new client in a market and need shoppers there.....

Sure it can be annoying, but that is really part of the job. I have signed up with a couple MSPs, and over half of those have never had anything in my state. Like AustinMom said though, at some point they may get a client close to you and you will already be ready.

I can think of a few companies that rarely have jobs posted on their job board, but will email potential assignments to the shopper database and hand assign from the responses.

Just because a job board appears empty does not mean there are no assignments. It depends on how the MSC uses the software...

Steve is right. There are many MSCs whose websites you won't see shops appear on, even if you're using the search function correctly. Then, voila! Five minutes later, an email comes with a specific link to a shop offer.

That said, it IS frustrating in general. I've signed up for many companies who don't have shops in my area. We all go through that. The only way I've circumvented this is by occasionally calling a company and asking if they have shops in my area. While most say they're national (sometimes international), there ARE some that only work regionally, and will tell you that.

And it is precisely why the general recommendation for new shoppers is that they sign up with the basic companies: Market Force, CORI, Maritz, Bestmark, Trendsource, Service Intelligence. These companies are likely to have work most anywhere in the country because of the size of the chains they service. If you have a McDonalds, an Office Depot, a Home Depot or a Staples in your area, you will likely find work with these companies. We all know that these companies do not pay the best in the business, but they are accustomed to working with new shoppers, generally offer decent training/instructions and give a new shopper the opportunity to see if the basic notion of mystery shopping works for them.

If it works, then use Jobslinger to find companies that have recently shopped in your area because at least you know they have a client near you!

To sit down and start registering with every single company on whatever list you are using before you have received your first payment is an act of quiet desperation. There are companies out there that will not give you the time of day until you have shopped for a significant amount of time and done a variety of shops. To sign up with them too early is a kiss of death because you only get to register once. Your only salvation with them is to go back later, once you have some experience under your belt and update your registration in hopes they will look at you again.

And even with those companies in your area there will be variation. As Steve points out, not every one posts work to their job board. In fact some of them don't even have a job board. During the past year or so the majority of jobs for the month get posted the last week of the previous month or the first week of the current month. If you sign up today you are not likely to see the jobs because they have already been taken and likely performed and reported already. Then there is the qualitative screening. Prophet4 companies seem to need to specifically allow you to see work and self assign rather than letting you see it all but not be able to self assign as with SASSIE companies. But I have seen emails from SASSIE companies that the jobs were not on the board but available through the link sent. Go figure.

I am signed up with about 200 companies. In any given year I work with 30-40 of them. Whenever I see a new-to-me company that appears to be legitimate I sign up, though often these are such niche players that they only have work in their neighborhood. It takes a fair amount of money to tackle a large client and most companies do not have the wherewithal to tackle a Burger King, Wendy's, Bank of America, Ford or Exxon on a nationwide basis.

You have received some great advice. And Flash is right, that this particular time of the month is kind of between major assignments. You will get some, don't worry. I'm just six months into this, and have offers for far more jobs than I could ever complete.


Carol

First off, I would like to make it clear that I am by no means a new mystery shopper. I've probably done 30 or so shops in the past 60 days alone. The only reason I'm signing up for so many MSCs all of a sudden is because I recently quit my real job, and haven't been able to find work as quickly as I thought I would. I'm trying to sign up for a bunch of shops because I would like to start doing routes--as in doing 5-10 shops in a day. The companies I'm signed up with now basically only offer just enough shops to do one or two a day, which generally limits the distance I can travel (read: I'm not going to travel more than 10-15 miles for only one assignment because I'd lose money on gas).

That being said, I know I should just be more patient, but yesterday I signed up for basically every known sassie shop, and a good 3/4 of them didn't have anything. And I did a search for all shops in the US, and not a one! I mean, it's basically still the beginning of the month--it's not likely that all the shops would have been snatched up, or anything. I do still agree with all of you guys--I just have to give it more time.

If I want a lot of shops, I should stick with the big companies, but it's been my experience that the big companies are more inclined to reject my shops. The smaller sassie shops almost always give me 10's, and I've definitely never gotten anything lower than an 8.

And 57 Carol--thanks for the company names! I am signed up with marketforce, but the others I haven't heard of. And by CORI, did you mean CRI, or is there actually one called CORI, because I've come to despise CRI.

I can think of 3 Sassie companies I like that don't post their shops on the job board.

One in particular shows nothing available in the US yet I scheduled a hotel shop with them this month. Be patient!

That point aside, generating a livable income from MSing requires a whole different strategy and familiarity with all MSCs, not just the Sassie ones. I tried it many years ago and found that it wasn't for me. There are many posts and thoughts about making that work if you look through the forums, though.

I'm not necessarily looking for a livable income--just MORE income. So far my mystery shopping has been mostly pocket cash, which is fine, but I'd like a little more pocket cash. Thanks for letting me know about the posts--I'm sure they'd definitely be worth checking in to.

Before you sign up with smaller, out of your area ms companies, ask them first if they shop your area or not. Of Course they could end up doing so later on if they expand. But I don't bother signing up with those that they they do not shop my area...

Well, at least with the sassie companies, the applications are all basically the same. My auto-fill fills in for me so it only takes a few minutes per application.

I get emails from several sassie companies several times aweek, but now matter how quickly I reply I always end up getting an email saying it's full.
I used to love working for a certain non-sassie MSC. I often did lots of restaurant shops even though the allotted time had not passed between them. I guess no one else signed up. In any case, that ended with a Cici's pizza shop. They kept saying they couldn't read the receipt, so my rating was lowered.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/12/2010 04:09AM by sydneys.

Yeah, I've had that problem before, too. If the resolution is bad, then that can definitely be a problem. Do you scan your receipts or take a picture of them? Because if you take a pic of them, it may be time to upgrade your camera--worked for me.

Either scanning or taking photos can work, but for that really faint stuff you need to use photo editing software to drastically increase the contrast. Some are so faint coming out of the register than I can hardly read them at all, yet playing with the contrast I can get them dark enough to be easily read.

I signed up with an MSP late 2007, during a sign-up spree. They've never had anything here. Today, I got an email from them offering shops in my area!

Just goes to show. . .

I bought a better printer/scanner. I had to anyway. I upgraded my camera to a 10 mp a few months ago, but due to my sudden desire to go photograph birds, etc. I'm going to upgrade again

If you are needing more pocket cash then keep on signing up and realize that eventually it may or may not pay off. I get in signing sprees wanting to up my business and sign up for everything new I can find too. I know one company I have no idea when I signed up for - probably years ago - anyway they had a slew of shops in my area a couple of months ago and I made an easy 300.00. Haven't seen a thing in my area since but that was well worth the time.

Liz

Liz, you being signed with the MSP helped you land lucrative shops, even if only once in a blue moon. You never know, if you're not signed up!

Mert Wrote:
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> Liz, you being signed with the MSP helped you land
> lucrative shops, even if only once in a blue moon.
> You never know, if you're not signed up!


Exactly! You never know when the one big shop is going to happen for you. I got to thinking about another company that happened for me also this past summer. Going to work on signing up with more later this week. Seems like I am always finding new ones!

Liz