I want to know more about mystery shopping.

Well make sure you never pay money to start doing it..

They will either pay you for doing a specific job , or reimburse you for eating out or buying something, or both..

I think it's great! I got some reimbursement for my dh's pizza this month, and 10$ to shop at one of my favorite clothing stores..

In the past i've gotten reimbursed to have dinner, or paid 9$ to go to the bank (which happened to be IN the store we were already going to..so it took less than 30 seconds to do the shop)

I am signed up with other places..but have turned down each one..they just don't have the same format i'm used to ..but I could make extra if I did them..sometimes they seem too complicated for what they pay and the time it would take..

How do I get more info.... and sign up? Or whatever you do to start. What are some resources?

Sherry, one of the best resources is www.volition.com. They have a message board where mystery shopping companies sometimes list jobs available.

Some direct companies are:

www.intelli-shop.com
www.mysteryshops.com
www.mystiqueshopper.com
www.conferoinc.com
www.acemysteryshopping.com
www.nssmysteryshoppers.com
www.checkmarkinc.com

This is just a few that I had contact with when I was checking it out. I did a few, mostly grocery stores and it's pretty straight forward. I had 3 little ones and it made it tough. Also, some companies have jobs that take a few hours if someone watched Tyler for you. I don't remember which company it was though.

Some companies are regional, and some are for nationwide places. Did you know the US Post Office, McDonald's, and gas stations are mystery shopped?

Most online companies have a very simple form to fill out and they will either post their listing online or call you.

Good luck and if you come up with a good company, let us know so every one can benefit. I think most of us are far enough apart not to be in the same competitive area.

I just signed up with http://www.customerperspectives.com/
I hope I did the right thing. They seem like a larger company. I don't know... I just searched Yahoo. LOL
I'll check the ones you suggested. :)

Oh...and Tyler loves to shop more than I do!! :)

Does it hurt to sign up for many mystery shop companies? What happens if I do?

Sherry, from my limited experience, as long as you are available and do the work, it doesn't matter. I had one scheduler tell me as long as I was available for them (sometimes short notice, but I rarely had to say NO) and did the work, there was no concern from competition as they had individual contracts with different chains.

I would think being in a big city, you could have all the work you could handle.

Btw, it can take weeks before you hear from anyone for your first job. Try to find some that allow you to schedule online.

Thanks Jenlee... I hope this works out. It sounds fun more than anything! I need ways to get out and kill time while having fun. :)

Sherry,

About 1 month ago I signed up to be a mystery shopper.
Since then, I have picked up an extra day at my regular job
(I commute quite a distance therefore only work part-time)
so I have not followed through w/ the mystery shopping.

The company I signed up with has some "major clients"
however I have found some of the paperwork to be quite
excessive therefore I have not taken on any jobs.

Hope it works out w/ the company(s) you sign up with!

I just read Aylasmommy's full comment & I agree.

For the amount of time it takes to do some of the paperwork,
the $ may not be enough to compensate you for your effort.

I signed up with about 50 companies :yikes: and got accepted to maybe half of that. I work regularly for about 10 of them. Sometimes they call short notice For some of them, I'm able to choose my jobs online, but you have to check back regularly, sometimes twice a day. When the new jobs come up, usually the end of the month or the beginning of the next month, snatch em up!

Sherry, I think with the area you are in, you could sign up for an infinite number of companies and pick and choose the jobs you would want. Even if you chose to shop the stores you would normally be in anyway, it's probably alot.

There's no rule that says you have to take everything they offer you, but I know of some people who were not called after they said "no" repeatedly.

My thought was "If I'm going to go there anyway, what's the harm in checking out what they want, filling out the form and getting my $$$".

I am in a city of 25,000 or so and would not go anywhere else as the next biggest city is a 30 minute drive and I rarely go there.

I live in St. Paul with Minneapolis 10 minutes away. So I shouldn't have trouble. :)
Maybe I'll sign up with a couple more today. :)
Thanks everyone for your help.

Is there anything I should be watching for. Any kind of scam?

I have been mystery shopping for about 3 years now, and do between 10-15 shops per month. Basically, you perform the shop, and fill out the survey on-line, or mail or fax it in.

Your best bet is to sign up for as many companies as possible.

http://www.pocket-change.com/mystery.htm

Pocket change has a list of companies that mystery shop. Just fill out applications for all of them! I keep a seperate e-mail addy for mystery shopping. I also belong to 3 or 4 mystery shopping groups on yahoo, where people list jobs available.

PM me if you want more info. Good luck!

I normaly shop 2-3 times a week with the exception of the beginning of the month, then I am completly booked.

I signed up for a couple. A few wanted my SS#. I wouldn't just give that out unless I was sure I was going to get work from them. One wanted my height and weight!:eek: My goodness, I wouldn't give that to anyone!!! LOL!:D

Chelle, there's some good info here! :bump: