Hi everyone! I am a newbie and still learning, thank you so much for your feedback, and advise! I would love to hear what are your Top 5 favorite companies and why do you love shopping for them.

The Source - easy grocery store shops. Pay weekly
Market Force - no narrative
Sinclair Metrics - very easy shops
DJC - easy shops. Pay quickly
Ipsos - gas station audits. Pay weekly
Intellishop - no narrative

Sorry that is 6. I don't do it full time and not as my main income so I am fine with the shops that don't have high pay. I like the reimbursement.

The Source - on site inspections, fast pay.
IPSOS - gas stations, shipping, banking; really fast pay.
Intellishop - nice mix of shops. I do mostly fast food. Reports simple.
Market Force - yeppers, on the top of my list, too.
BARE
Customer Impact
Survey.com (but this is merchandising, not straight MSing)

I don't know Sinclair Metrics.
I don't even know what DJC stands for.

I'll add something else: my 10 foot pole list

l. Any shop scheduled by a certain scheduler, who must go unnamed.
2. Presto Insta Shops -- the ones on the map with the blue pins on the shops. They have never figured out how to pay me, ask me to do more shops, and I just say I'm not interested in working and not getting paid.

Or how about my 5 most lucrative types of shops? (Other shoppers will have different ones; video shoppers will probably put video shopping at the top of the list.)

1. Banking
2. On site inspections
3. In the springtime, tax prep shops (unfortunately, limited to filing only once, or I'd make a fortune, LOL)
4. Merchandising. Steady income, Survey.com pays a week after work completed. I have a route with them next week, about $500 over 4 days, about 20 stores, that I will work in shipping shops, fast food, and maybe a gas station audit or two, to make the driving actually pay well.

Or the shops I do most often?

1. Fast food (bonused) (16 to 20 a month -- and no, I don't eat it all.)
2. Gas station audits (bonused)
3. Merchandising

1. ACL for nice recruiters and editors and free mid-upscale opportunities
2. Coyle for upscale opportunities
3. Reality Based Group for easy reports and responsive staff
4. ACE Mystery Shopping for fast editing, super-nice staff and reports that can be completed on my phone.
5. I Secret Shop App for the same reasons as #4

My all time top MSC experience was being a badged airport shopper for LRA/Deloitte. Recently a different MSC has started taking applications to shop the same airport, so I'm not sure if that program will even return.

In general I'm always happy with MarketForce (easy, really good pay in my area), Intel360 on the ISS platform (lots of great restaurant shops, good communication the few times I need to reach a scheduler, and never an editor hassle), and Data Quest (great team). Recently Data Quest recruited me to be a court researcher. I can work as many or few hours as I want, and while the pay isn't stratospheric, the fact that the court I go to is 10 minutes away means I can gross a lot more than I can with most mystery shopping work in this market. QACi is a nice regional MSC here in New England. The owner/editor gives really helpful feedback.

Has any of you worked for Intouch Insight? Their shops are on ISecretShop.

I complete shops for InTouch every month. The ones I do are fast and easy.

@aachailler wrote:

Has any of you worked for Intouch Insight? Their shops are on ISecretShop.

Just wanted to add Reality Check and HS Brands..both of these msc tend to get overlooked in these type of questions and definitely deserve to be in the top 5

Can you tell me more about data quest?

Data Quest has some interesting jobs, and I found the pay fair. Just sign up with them!

@aachailler wrote:

Has any of you worked for Intouch Insight? Their shops are on ISecretShop.

I do their shops. Very easy.

@aachailler wrote:

Has any of you worked for Intouch Insight? Their shops are on ISecretShop.

I do their shops. Very easy.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/07/2021 01:04AM by pegleg2000.

What types of jobs do they have? I didn't find anything in my area.

@ceasesmith wrote:

Data Quest has some interesting jobs, and I found the pay fair. Just sign up with them!

@mjt9598 wrote:

What types of jobs do they have? I didn't find anything in my area.

@ceasesmith wrote:

Data Quest has some interesting jobs, and I found the pay fair. Just sign up with them!

Shops will depend on location and Client. I just checked their website and in the search area I put in 999 miles from my zip code (in SC). There were jobs showing up in Boston, MA, and Newport, RI, so none near me! But you never know when that can change!

In my experience, everyone on isecretshop.com has been super easy to work with. Regardless of the company, shops are usually approved, without hassel, within 2 days at most. I highly recommend, but they don't have the bonuses and all that other marketing stuff that the other sites have. A lot of shoppers are keen for the "bonuses" and, IMO, certain companies use to their advantage.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/08/2021 01:34AM by rothers27.

I was also an LRA/Deloitte shopper and was devastated when we turned our badges in! I'd love to be a part of that again even with a different MSC. Wish I could ask who was taking applications(insert crying emoji).

Top 5 of the moment are MarketForce, Ipsos, Ath, anything on iSecretShop or GigSpot.

I shop full time and find presto (ipsos gas stations) keep me busy all month. They pay twice a week. Customer impact bonuses quickly. Marketforce has a lot of shops but they pay the 20th of the following month after completing the shop.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/12/2021 04:29AM by Lstockwell.

In general, what do you do as a court researcher?

Favorites:
1. Bare
2. IPSOS
3. Intellishop
4. Confero
5. Sinclair
6. Second to None

I know it is 6 not five. I had a hard time deciding. These are the bulk of my income. I have worked with others, I just don't do enough to say they are my go to companies. Amusement Advantage has great schedulers and are very nice and always pay on time. They just don't pay a lot and those surveys are a lot of work. Best Mark, Coyle, Ath, A Closer Look, and Sentry all are on the nice list. Pay is the biggest issue for most of these. They just don't pay what I am willing to accept, but all have lovely responsive schedulers and pay on time.

10 Foot Pole List:
1. KSS Scheduling (Although not a MSP, I wont schedule through them because of one bad scheduler and you all know who she is. Sorry Pete/Mackenzie, I still love you guys.)

As I shop for three entirely different reasons, an MSC in category three might not be in my top 20 for #1. Without knowing what is important to you, I am unable to be of assistance.

@shopperbob wrote:

As I shop for three entirely different reasons, an MSC in category three might not be in my top 20 for #1. Without knowing what is important to you, I am unable to be of assistance.

1.) Pay quickly and at the least pay on time.
2.) Pay well or offer bonuses when appropriate.
3.) Have schedulers who know their business and have shopped before.
4.) Understand Texas is a big state. Ex: Houston and Fort Worth are not close. From west Fort Worth to East Dallas can take 2 hours in traffic.

sorry you had a bad experience with KSS. They dont have many shops in my area now but I used to do a big bulk of my shopping with them and no complaints from me. Ive probably shopped more than 100 shops with them and I think we had a misunderstanding once on one shop.

mmdsckett,

My category 1 is predicated upon the best work:pay ratios. One point, though, I am both
able and willing to sit unless my fee requirements are met. In alphabetical order:

1-Informa
2-Intelli-shop
3-Ipsos
4-Mintel
5-Primo

My highest fees, from the above MSCs, were $140 to $180. Those are, unfortunately, rare, with four of the five being paid due to the client seeking a particular credit score.

My greatest earning day of the year is New Years Eve, but only if it is a weekday AND there is a company in need. On 12/31/2012, I earned a gross of $917 from Maritz.

I do not mean to be rude, but what sort of money do you make doing this full time? I have done it on and off since 2001 but never thought of it as a full time gig. Thanks!

Bigol,

Definitely research your area before considering to do it full time. I work full time not shopping. I used to shop on my weekends when I lived in Washington. I could generally do anywhere between 1 to 8 shops so on average in one weekend.. I was making anywhere between 25 to about 500 in one weekend. As far as Im aware thats on the low end if you have an abundance of shops in your area and dont mind a bit of travel could be alot more In my new state. Im hitting maybe 250 in 1 year



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/01/2021 03:00AM by dawnhu.

I get this question a lot and I’m proud of my work. This is a business for me. I am incorporated. I make six figures. I work about 10-12 days per month on the road, have a small office down the street from my house and work for 10-15 MSPs. I also have my own local contracts consulting. I have two part time employees who do bookkeeping and help with route planning. I left corporate America because I hated my @#$%& boss. I left right at the beginning of the pandemic. I made more that year than I did in my old job by 25%. I adapted. I worked when no one else would. COVID pushed me to leave a job I hated and do what I love. I’m now adapting again and going to learn video shopping. I try to keep learning to make my self relevant and network to keep my name in front of schedulers and MSPs.

I have shared this story in the past, but now is a good occasion to repeat.

Back 10 years ago or so, a gal posted on the Volition board how she had grossed 100K in a year by shopping. She was on the road four weeks a month and had a partner, with whom she split the fees, submit the reports. When she was unable to locate gas, lodging and eatery assignments, that affected her net. She claimed to have netted approximately 40K. As for me, there is no 40K in the world that would be worth sleeping in motels and eating restaurant food for a year. I do understand, though, the old adage of one person's meat being another's poison.

Wow! Y'all are some real go-getters!

I do a ton of real estate based contract work (BPOs) and mystery shopping often fits in well with it. You gotta eat, so I will try to find restaurant shops that will be in my area of operations that day.

But I always saw it as a sideline and not a main gig and seeing this got me curious.

And I agree about corporate America. It was not for me. I say what I think and that seems to be rarely rewarded. I bought a farm in the boonies and love my life now! That being said, I would but putting some real miles on the truck since there are only 1-2 shopper locations I have ever found closer than about 25 miles.

@Bigolpossum wrote:

That being said, I would but putting some real miles on the truck since there are only 1-2 shopper locations I have ever found closer than about 25 miles.

That would be a real problem for you to do this full time, unless you became a road warrior.

[www.sassieshop.com]

Thank you, here is the link to sign up as a shopper with Data Quest!