I am starting out Mystery shopping but I am uncertain where to start.
My first interest is places of entertainment. Therefore I found the site Amusement advantage, which seems to fit my needs, but I read many posters saying they have long papers to complete and are picky when determining whether the shopper meets all the task requirements before giving any pay out or reimbursement. Whichwould be awful if one have done all that work and paid so much money only to get payouts or reimbursements denied. Also I heard they are often pretty slow to payout as well often taking up to a month or more.
Therefore I would like to find out in addition to Amusement advantage are there other similar firms, preferably one that requires less paper work but more clear cut in instructions and prompt in payout?

A month is fairly standard in this industry. We are vendors, not employees, and most companies have their vendors on 30 to 60 day terms. There are a few exceptions to the rule.

What is not an exception is the expectation all requirements will be completed to specifications or the assignment will not be payable. If you contract to perform a shop requiring A, B & C be done correctly, no MSC is going to pay you for simply getting A & B done.

Good reply though I bet there are still differences between companies in terms of reasonableness and clarity of assignments, the amount of paperwork required, as well as timing of payout.
If assignment requirements are vague and ambiguous than the likelihood of a payout denial would be great.

You are right, to proceed with any but the most clear of instructions could result in non-payment. As an independent contractor you have two choices when feeling guidelines are vague and ambiguous. You can request clarification of any points in writing or refuse the job.

As a beginner you would be better served looking at some of the companies doing other types of shops. There are many simple assignments requiring little to no cash out of a shopper's pocket. Once you feel comfortable with the level of detail various assignments require, it will be easier to move into shops with high reimbursements.

Only 30 days to pay? That's not bad at all. I'd say that they are in the upper 25% of timeliness based on my experience with other MSCs. But if that's an issue, Lisa is right: stick with shops that won't cost you out of pocket until you build up enough of a stash where it doesn't matter if they pay 30 days or in 90 days.

Good advice, probably I should find one a venue that is cheaper i.e a science museum rather than expensive like an amusement park or movie studio tour which I risk a much larger amount of money which I might not get back for doing my assignment.

Actually the advice was to start with non-event shops to gain general experience without risking more than your time or a few bucks at most. I think you will find event shops to be competitive with the companies looking for experienced shoppers.

Lisa was referring perhaps bank shops where you inquire about opening an account, cell phone shops where you act like you are interesting in getting a new cell phone, etc.

I'm getting a few shops under my belt now after a few months of shopping. I've been pretty aggressive and logged quite a number. No way I'm ready for an amusement park or other entertainment shop. Someday, yes, but starting out with one is really a bad idea. You'll end up spending a lot of money and the very high possibility of getting your shop rejected. Cell phones shops are awesome. Non-reveal gas station shops are very good for beginners. Please, please don't try one of these shops just because it looks like a free day at the park. It won't be that way. Try on a oil change for starters.

Years ago when I was still fairly new (I'd been shopping for maybe three years) I did a amusement park shop. I took my husband and the kids. We got free tickets to get in but hubby still spent money on the kids, of course. They got to have fun and I worked for a couple of hours. I joined up with them after I completed all of my observations and we stayed about another hour or so. It kind of sucked for me, really. Glad they had fun but I never did another one.

One problem you might run into with Amusement Advantage is that a lot of their shops are reimbursement only or payment in the form of free admission to the amusement park on another day (after your visit). If you are looking for a free visit, it might be worth it to you. If you are looking for additional income, they might not be the best option.

Jcs, I suggest Marketforce as a good beginner company (I actually still shop for them). The fees are not high but they have a lot of easy shops and they have some cell phone shops that do not require a purchase. It's a great way to get started.

I've never known AA to refuse payment to anyone. They're unique in that the owner or scheduler will pick up the phone when you call late at night or on the weekend during an assignment. You get immediate clarification for a situation that doesn't fit the norm. They are NOT money-makers, though, and often you'll go over what they allow for reimbursement.

As for just starting out, try signing up with a scheduling company. That gives you access to a lot of different MSPs at once. Same with platforms like iSecretShop.

ETA: Typo



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/26/2017 10:52PM by iShop123.

I've seen some reimbursement only for things like comedy clubs and sports facilities across several different MSC's. Many of those type require long reports and 10 different scenarios (or more) during your visit. Almost like doing 10 shops in one day, and then having to write a report on each. By midnight... No thanks.

After being signed up with them for years, I finally took a few shops for Amusement Advantage this last summer. They were honestly a dream to work for. There are lots of shop elements, but each individual one isn't complicated. I think of it like completing a dozen smaller shops inside an amusement park. The scheduler I worked with walked me through everything on the phone before I went. There was also someone available via phone to answer my question when I ran into a strange situation onsite. The scheduler warned me that virtually no one gets a 100% score on their first shop. I did. Same with my second one. All of that said, if I was a brand new shopper, I would have found this overwhelming. The shop was only simple compared to a high-end resort audit. They aren't simple compared to a fast food restaurant

Mystery Shopping isn't for everyone. Some people have the misconception that you just get free stuff. Not true. You are a contractor and have to perform a JOB. Some jobs are easier than others and have less requirements nonetheless you have to make a compromise in some area. Either there will be little to no reimbursement or you'll have a lengthy report.

Or little to no reimbursement and a lengthy report.

I love Amusement Advantage, though my kids have aged out of some of their shops. They are NOT the type of shop to begin with, however! They are VERY helpful and availoable when you call them on the phone with questions! When you've got some experience under your belt, then consider them. I've had many expensive experiences with my kids I could not have afforded otherwise!

BARE Intl had some amusement themed shops when I was MSing more frequently. One was (ahem) animal related in town and the other I liked was a space themed park on the outskirts that I really missed.

Now that this thread came up, I looked and the space park came up! They are kinda wordy, but not overly, because fewer sites are open to evaluate at off-peak tourist times, so less to report on. I hope the one listed drags out to the weekend, because the 8-6 job won't let me drop in during the weekday. May get reacquainted with a nearby oil change, to boot, but I'd have to buy a new truck to meet the mileage cut.

On another note, I did jump head first on a college football game for Service Scouts back in '15. Seemed cool enough, but the home team was down about 35 points by halftime, workers weren't in place to evaluate, vendors closed early, the place was a ghost town right after the clock hit 00:00 and the mood was sour from the crowd. Coughed up "all the facts", but the editors pressed for more and I wasn't fluffing things up and the late night emails they sent weren't getting answered because I get up at 6:00am. We parted ways because I got bumped to full-time that morning I sent in the report and my time was now taken up. So, if you do a sporting event, you probably have less fuss finding your eval targets if the home team is worth hanging around for and you can actually evaluate gate and parking staff!

I agree....starting out with the one you mentioned is not a good plan...it is REALLY expensive, and it takes a long time to complete the shop, then do the entry...you will be reimbursed, but I guarantee you will pay more than you get back...did that one twice with grandson & his gf...(he was 13/14)...they like playing the games, THEN you gotta feed em....lol...I ended up paying a lot...but oh well, they had fun....(we raised grandson so I had lots of fun shops with him)....but that one isn't good for starting out...just sayin'

Since I have been posting a number of inquiries on other companies, I thought I would try the vice-versa.

Amusement Advantage has pretty detailed shops I think. They would be tough for a beginner shopper. The requirements are well-documented, but take some careful work to do right. While I agree with most that they tend to be very close to reimbursement, they have tried to put some space for payment and if they can't get jobs done, they do bonus (and post on this forum those special ones very often).

I think the best part of their company is how they have rolling electronic payment based on a certain amount of time after your job is completed. This is very helpful and a much better situation than others.

I am a newer shopper (started in Dec. 2017) and started doing the simpler shops for Marketforce (great company), second to none (another great company) and have moved into bank shops (great pay and good experience for me) but recently was asked to do gasoline shops. All I can say is Yuk, to much work, to little pay.
Does anyone like gas shops? Just curious.

@BlueSkye wrote:

I am a newer shopper (started in Dec. 2017) and started doing the simpler shops for Marketforce (great company), second to none (another great company) and have moved into bank shops (great pay and good experience for me) but recently was asked to do gasoline shops. All I can say is Yuk, to much work, to little pay.
Does anyone like gas shops? Just curious.

That's my same initial impression, so thanks for asking about the gas shops and audits.

I agree with everyone else...take other shops to get your feet wet and eventually tackle the more complicated shops like AA and others.

I tackled airport circuit shops a couple years ago...yes the first couple times it was nuts but I developed a system which worked well for me and after awhile I had no problems with them. Then I tried Service Scouts for sporting events and found them to be a challenge but again with my previous experiences they were doable. I do want to try AA shops (there's one in May I'm tempted to take my mom on that I know she would really like) and hope to be able to have one under my belt soon.

Small goals (baby steps) will lead you to the bigger shops. Don't bite off more than you can chew right now.

Amusement Advantage is a great company to work for. Just bear in mind, although they promise $95 or $100 to complete an assignment, you will spend most of that in completing the assignment. They pay through PayPal and pay promptly according to the time stated. The schedulers and editors will work with you in getting the correct data needed for the reports. Remember, if you don't get paid, they can't bill for the job themselves.

Just remember any money you pay out to complete a shop, with good records and receipts are an expense on your taxes at the end of the year. Keep good records.