When you are searching for a job that you can do from home and that offers flexible hours, mystery shopping sounds ideal. However, with all the scams that are apparent and reported on in the media every day, how do you know who to trust? One place to start is the Mystery Shopping Providers Association or MSPA. This association lists just about all of the legitimate mystery shopping companies that you can join when you are thinking about earning some extra cash as a mystery shopper. A mystery shopper and a secret shopper are the same thing. Essentially you are going under cover and pretending to be just an ordinary customer at any company. This could be at a retail store, a movie theatre, a bank, or any other business that requires quality control. Head offices usually hire a mystery shoppi...

Companies all over the world require specific types of market research to be performed, in order to understand their customers and clients, as well as to get an inside look into how their staff members perform. Market research jobs encompass various techniques and methods, one of which is mystery shopping, also known as secret shopping. For those who love to shop and who are interested in giving their opinion about certain stores, services, and more, you can become a mystery shopper. When you apply to become a mystery shopper you will get paid for each assignment that you are given. This might be to go to a certain store, purchase a certain product, and pay for it in a certain way. The aim will be to assess the store and staff to see that everything was handled correctly and smoothly. You ...

The desire to work at home and make money from going about your everyday activities can get many people into trouble. A lot of people end up joining a so called mystery shopping company only to find out later that they have just participated in a fraudulent act. Don’t get caught with your proverbial pants down – rather take this advice about secret shopping scams, and learn how to join the legitimate mystery shopping companies to make money. Beware Mystery Shopping Scams Mystery shopping usually involves going to a store to make a purchase, or taking part in some kind of shopping, whether it is internet based, or over the phone. Usually companies will hire mystery shopping companies to help assess their branches performance and staff and give them real life look into the day to...

This is something that most people wonder about. How can you stay at home and still buy food, put your kids through school, and have some extra cash saved away? Well, there is one simple way you can do this and that is to get a mystery shopping shop. You will also be known as a secret shopper. Now this type of work is not as daunting as it sounds, so you should look into this kind of work as a full time career, especially if you are a busy mom. Learn about Becoming a Mystery Shopper Starting out in the mystery shopping job arena, you will notice that you don’t necessarily make a lot of money at the beginning. You have to be dedicated and join with not just one or two mystery shopper companies, but with many. This will ensure that you always have work and that you are constantly earning a...

Today saw about 20 mystery shopping representatives meet in Dallas to oppose the legislation proposed in 2008 regarding the classification of independent contractors by the US Department of Labor, and how they are taxed by the IRS. Mystery shoppers are currently known in the industry as independent contractors and provide a valuable service for small and large businesses by offering customer experience assessments through more than 150 Mystery Shopping Provider’s Association (MSPA) Companies across the country.  The legislation was meant to be passed last year, but due to presidential opposition was stalled. Now, Congress has reinstated the proposal for the Independent Contractor Proper Classification Act, with the intention of reducing the “tax gap” that improper classification is ...

There are many benefits of mystery shopping and one of the major reasons that people start doing mystery shopping is because of the fabulous places they can eat, shop, and visit without having to pay. There is a great versatility to the types of mystery shopping jobs you can get which is the other advantage, and for those that are looking for something fun and always interesting, mystery shopping is perfect. Mystery shoppers are also called secret shoppers and most of the large mystery shopping companies will pay a very tidy sum of money for secret shoppers to rate and provide feedback on their clients’ stores, companies, products, staff members etc. Another advantage of secret shopping is that it is totally international, and you can get assignments from online mystery shopping companie...

The latest trend in mystery shopping is being offered to physicians to ensure that top quality is maintained in medical practices across the United States. A company called The Practice Pros is offering this new mystery shopping idea at the request of physicians and it is a first in the mystery shopping industry. Medical mystery shoppers can help to maintain high standards at doctors’ rooms, dentist practices, and more. Patient satisfaction is analyzed and in this time of economic crisis, The Practice Pros understand the need for keeping patients completely happy when they visit the doctors’ rooms and will give medical practices all the information that they need to implement a better office atmosphere for their patients, including making sure the staff are friendly and efficient, and ...

Mystery shopping is one of those jobs where you can do very well as an independent contractor working for various different companies. The best way to make as much money as you can as a mystery shopper is to get jobs with many mystery shopping companies. This is allowed and encouraged, and you can really start to earn a good salary as you will be working on assignments fairly regularly. The number of secret shopping assignments that you receive will depend on your flexibility when it comes to your schedule, as well as how reliable you are. If you know that you cannot deliver your assignment in the specified time limits, you should not accept it. Any deadlines that are missed will not give a good impression and you might be offered less work. Another way to succeed at mystery shopping is to...

Finding legitimate mystery shopping jobs is on everyone’s mind, because for some reason, people out there are intent on taking advantage of others. Here are some quick and easy ways to tell if the mystery shopper or secret shopper jobs you are interested in are real or fake: If you are looking at mystery shopping opportunities, you should always look for the companies name and be wary of unsolicited emails or flyers. A legitimate company will usually place a classified advert in the newspaper and recruit using professional agencies. You can also find plenty of legitimate mystery shopping jobs or secret shopper jobs on Mystery Shopper Job Finder. Research is the best thing that you can do before joining any mystery shopping company. You can use the Better Business Bureau to find out how l...

If you have a good eye and are very particular when it comes to service and excellence, then a secret shopping job might be the perfect thing for you. And no, it is not as simple as just going shopping. You have to fill out forms, take note of the entire shopping experience and make accurate and pertinent comments about the store and its staff. This includes rating: Cleanliness and neatness of the store Customer service Efficiency How they deal with problems You will be required to ask questions about products as if you were looking for something, mention faults and rate the reaction and how the store managers deal with it, and much more. The value of this information is why mystery shoppers are hired by companies all over the world. Companies want to know what they and their franchises ...