I'm jumping back in to mystery shopping after being gone for a few years. In the past I more or less dabbled, but now I'm looking to get really busy. I live in retail heaven now, in every direction, which also means restaurants galore. This month as I was getting back in I was able to complete quite a few different shops, but I am hoping to find more companies with work in my area. The only thing I know to do is just keep registering and then look at their job boards once I'm in. What I'm finding is I'm registering myself to death!

Tonight I registered with one company which does shops for a VERY major fast-food chain. Once I completed my profile and was approved, I tried to see their job board, but I had to complete their Orientation first. Then I tried to see the board, but I had to complete the company-specific training and certification first. Once I completed it and passed with a mandatory 100% score, I had to submit my SSN and was told it would take 24 hours or so to process. THEN I was able to see the job board, but it appears that they only have jobs in 1 state in my entire region.

I'm wondering why that couldn't have been weeded out, oh, maybe an hour ago?

:: sigh ::

The profiles, extended profiles, profile pictures, ID photos, etc. is bad enough only to find there are no jobs within 30 miles. I don't suppose there's a way to short-circuit this process? Am I doing it right?

When this is over I'm going to be registered with ten trillion companies but actually working for about six.

(Incidentally, I do know that some of the companies that don't have jobs nearby "right now" may very well have jobs in my area later on, but after 4 weeks, a lot of the companies have never had anything in my area. I suspect that will be the case with a lot of the ones I'm continuing to register with. I'm just wondering if there's any way to find out who does business in my state, which btw, is Georgia)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/22/2014 05:57AM by ccbutterfly.

We can all sympathize with the frustration of spending hours signing up for companies with no work for us.

If you go to the MSPA job board, and jobslinger, you can search for jobs on your zip code and chosen radius. This will lead you to some of the companies who have work in your area. Even though the specific jobs you see on those boards might be taken before you can get to them, you will know some of the companies with work in your area. After September 1 a lot of shop will become available and you'll be signed up and ready to pounce on them.

So maybe focus on the job boards and scheduling companies. It will help you find companies a little faster than random chance.

Also go to the Mystery Shopping Job Board on this forum (see link near the bottom of this page) and do a search on that board for your state, using "all dates" as a selection criteria. You will see posts from schedulers looking for shoppers in your area. Sign up with them, or reach out to those schedulers directly.

Good luck!

That's very helpful - THANKS!!

I look at it as a rite of passage. All of us experienced and busy shoppers have done just that. I took a week and just registered with every single company listed at the bottom of this page. It was tiresome but I'm glad I did it because I have received some very profitable jobs from companies that never usually have work in my area.

Hi all, I have the same problem and concerns. 50+ agencies with all my vital info floating around in cyberspace. Not to mention all the shops I do that require vital information handle by regular workers, is very worrisome to me.
I had an incident years ago that an employee from a vet office stole my info and got debt collectors calling me for 3 years.

Anywho, I'm looking for the highest paying shops in the Tampa Bay area so if anyone knows of any please PM me. I do mostly car shops and some banks since they pay better. Don't care for any shops under $20 so I started eliminating many agencies that doesn't have much to offer.

I wish this forum would categorize all the agencies by area instead of alphabetically. It be much easier for us to only register with the right companies.

towncountry... I am on the East Coast, and have registered with companies all over. Some of my best-paying jobs were from West Coast-only MSCs who temporarily took on clients out here, or signed clients out here after I'd registered with them.

MSCs are constantly changing clients and gaining new clients. IMO, it's better to register with as many as possible, so that you are one of the first people to know when an MSC has gained a new client in your area. First to know, first to act.

Ha ha, many companies I'm registered with only have shops on the East coast of Florida. Maybe we should exchange some of them. Can you PM me the higher paying ones?

Thanks.

I certainly don't think anyone in your area is going to want to just hand over a list of higher paying shops. In general, registering is part of the sweat equity we put into building our businesses.

When asked recently about high paying MSCs it hit me I don't know of any who are particularly high paying across the board. I have had my highest paying, non-bonus shops from companies who pay peanuts for other types of jobs.

If I do half your work for you, can I have half your pay?

I can so relate although I'm only registered with about 25 companies. I estimate actively shopping for about 12. The others do not have jobs in my area or offer jobs I do not want to perform.

BBird0701 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> If I do half your work for you, can I have half
> your pay?

You wrote about shops on the west coast of FL and you live on the East coast so how is it handing over your shops?

Well, you can always earn referral fees if you see good shops that I might like and visa versa.

I'm in the Tampa Bay area (Clearwater, Palm Harbor, New Port Richey).

What area are you shopping? Fort-Lauderdale or West Palm Beach?

towncountry Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Well, you can always earn referral fees if you see
> good shops that I might like and visa versa.
>
> I'm in the Tampa Bay area (Clearwater, Palm
> Harbor, New Port Richey).
>
> What area are you shopping? Fort-Lauderdale or
> West Palm Beach?

I actually don't think most referral fees are "good money" ..... but maybe there are some I haven't seen that pay good money. Regardless of the referral fees, I am very, very careful about referring other shoppers because I feel the performance of those I refer directly reflects on me. I would be hesitant to refer someone because of a couple of posts on an internet forum. I would be inclined to want to refer "the best" - and most of "the best" currently have all the shops they can handle.

"You wrote about shops on the west coast of FL and you live on the East coast so how is it handing over your shops?"

Do you realize how many successful shoppers work well beyond their limited home area? Many of us regularly travel 100, 150, 200 miles or more. If I was BBird, your area would be my area.

towncountry, everyone on this board is your competitor, one way or another, because everyone's territory overlaps someone else's. You're asking someone to tell you what the high paying jobs are and who has them. If they tell you, and you take them, you have just taken money out of someone else's pocket. What did you give them in return? Your gratitude doesn't pay my bills. This is a tough, competitive business, with too many shoppers and not nearly enough "high paying" shops to go around.

The other thing is, what is a high paying job for one person is not going to be available in many cases to an inexperienced newbie. And if you're having to ask for help finding your jobs, you do not have enough experience to qualify for the high paying jobs.

Start at the bottom like the rest of us, find your own jobs like the rest of us, and don't expect to have your new career as a mystery shopper handed to you in a box with a bow on it.

towncountry Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> BBird0701 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > If I do half your work for you, can I have half
> > your pay?
>
> You wrote about shops on the west coast of FL and
> you live on the East coast so how is it handing
> over your shops?we
>
> Well, you can always earn referral fees if you see
> good shops that I might like and visa versa.
>
> I'm in the Tampa Bay area (Clearwater, Palm
> Harbor, New Port Richey).
>
> What area are you shopping? Fort-Lauderdale or
> West Palm Beach?


I wrote that I live on the East Coast (of the United States) and that some of my best jobs have been from West Coast-based MSCs, who took on clients in this area. West Coast as in, West Coast of the United States. I don't live in Florida. I was trying to encourage you to sign up with as many MSCs as you can find.

I do shops anywhere from NYC to FL, though mostly in SC, NC and VA. I travel a fair amount for work and schedule shops around work destinations. I shop a LOT in FL because a lot of my clients are there. I wouldn't hand you a list, no. There's a list on this site that has about 1/2 of the MSCs out there, that's a good start.

The $1 referral fees aren't going to put my kids through college, and that's why I continue to MS. I'm sorry if that seems mean, but competition for shops is already rough as it is.

@ towncountry ~ This is a business. YOUR business. You need to do the research and put in the effort that is needed in starting your own business. All successful shoppers have done just that. This forum is a great tool. Use the list at the bottom of the page and read, read, read the past threads/posts on this forum.

No one in their right mind is going to hand over their best contacts and clients. And like some other posters mentioned, many shoppers travel. So shoppers and coverage areas are always rotating and intertwined.

If this makes you feel better: I signed up for over 250 companies, but at least 75 companies never seemed to have ANY work!

There are some companies which have no shops near me. I registered with them way last year. One day though, I might hit jackpot.

I just had a reason to sign up with a new company. They actually had one of the more tedious registration processes I have run across lately. It took me ten minutes or less.

I registered with a UK-based company four, maybe five years ago, and I never heard a word from them. No emails, nothing.

Last year I got a phone call to perform a shop. I had to order a product from a company in the UK, have it shipped to me, keep it for fourteen days, then call and try to return the product. Record exactly how everything went down, how many attempts, how many times transferred, the whole process. Basically, how the company handled it.

The process took about six weeks total, from placing that first order, to receiving the refund back on my card, but.... for a phone shop, $60 wasn't bad. I did two more after that, Google Voice number, friend's address, husband's phone, husband's work address.... And now, back to nothing from that company. No phone calls, no emails.

But... $180 for three phone shops isn't that bad, even if it took four years to get those.

I had a company on my list marked "don't bother" for almost two years because they were a "don't call us, we'll call you" company with nothing in my area. A few months ago they called and I got a nice shop from them.

You just never know when that oyster might grow a pearl for you.

I have created a spreadsheet with the most common MSC's and color flagged them with the following pay cryterias:

green - quick pay
blue - following month
red - wait is 30 days plus

It looks like this:

MSC - ABC Comp
When do they Pay - the 20th
How do they Pay - PayPal
Signed up with them - X
Notes - Shoppers report picky editors and some are rude.


I have only signed up with some green ones and two blue on my list. I found this to be the fastest way to identifying the good, bad and ugly. The MSC's that have internal problems I will try out once or twice, however if I experience the same problem as other shoppers I will move away from them. I have also thought of adding an additional column with their average pay-rate.

Not sure this helps but it has helped me so far.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/28/2014 01:11AM by BayLee.

dspeakes and Shop2LiveinFL, I whole-heartedly agree with your comments about the sweat equity and building and working on your own business! We can offer each other advice, share ideas, empathize, but now way am I going to "forward" a competitor my list of MSCs and do their leg work for them on the shops! I spend hours each week, pulling up the different websites. It's time consuming and hard work. There are some other things that I could do for fun during that time instead, but this is my job!

Just a word of caution when registering with hundreds of companies. Do not give out your Social Security number at application time. I always tell them I will give my SS# or Tax ID# once I have successfully completed a shop and needs to be paid. Most MSC's respect that. There is a risk of identity theft. Some listed MSC's may not be legit.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/02/2014 10:15PM by BetteL.

BetteL Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Just a word of caution when registering with
> hundreds of companies. Do not give out your
> Social Security number at application time. I
> always tell tem I will give my SS# or Tax ID# once
> I have successfully completed a shop and needs to
> be paid. Most MSC's respect that. There is a
> risk of identity theft. Some listed MSC's may not
> be legit.

BetteL, are you referring to the list provided here on the forum, the Official List of Mystery Shopping Companies? Which of the companies on the list do you suspect of not being legit?

I am signed up with 158 companies and only about 12 of them actually have shops in my area. I have currently exhausted my latest list of companies to sign up with. It's like finding a needle in a haystack. I check msjobboard, jobslinger and sometimes do random Google searches just trying to find companies but I think I have run out of companies. Even when I do find companies that have jobs in my area, I don't qualify as a new shopper to even see the jobs. They say they have jobs but then don't even let me see them. There are enough shoppers in my area in their system I can never get my foot in the door. I once took a job in a bad neighborhood far from home that no one else signed up for just to get that "first" shop. Now more of them came up and I will see if they let me have a better one.

If you are at 158, you have not run out of companies. Three out of my top ten, I found through scheduling services...they don't optimize through Google, don't have a place to apply as a shopper on their site, don't have a job board, and reports are submitted via email.

You can ask before you waste time. I am sure they have a contact e-mail or phone. I want to know if they are regional national or cover the earth.