They are on the right track knowing that they should not pay to sign up with a company. Legitimate mystery shopping companies do not charge you to register.

The companies that charge may be providing a service (which you do not need) or they may just be out-and-out scams. In either case, you should never pay a fee to any company claiming to offer mystery shopper jobs.

So how can you find the legitimate mystery shopper companies that do not charge?

There are several ways. The easy way is to click on this link to my free list of 200 legitimate mystery shopper companies.

Another source of legitimate companies is the Mystery Shopping Providers Association. Companies must meet eligibility criteria, provide references and be approved by the MSPA board of directors in order to join. Companies must sign an ethics agreement which states, among other things, that member companies may not, “charge individuals to become shoppers or to gain access to shopping opportunities.”

There are legitimate companies that are not on my list or members of the MSPA. To find even more mystery shopper companies, you can do a search using your favorite search engine, such as Google, Yahoo or Bing. A few cautions when searching for companies:

Search for terms such as “mystery shopping company” or “mystery shopping companies.” Use the quotation marks in your search term to narrow the search. (With quotation marks, results will include pages that have the entire phrase contained within the quotation marks, giving you better results.)

Some of the listings that will be returned in your search are paid listings. That means the company paid to have their ad shown when someone searched for a particular term, such as “mystery shopping” or “secret shopper jobs.” Some of the ads are from legitimate mystery shopping companies, but many are not.

Beware of any ad or listing that says they are a “mystery shopper review site,” or similar language. They want to refer you to a program that charges so they can get a commission. Do not pay to join any site or company.

Legitimate mystery shopping companies ask for a lot of information on their applications, but they will not charge you and they will not ask for your credit card number. Never pay to shop.

I am interested in becoming a mystery shopper, but it seems like mystery shopping is for women only. Can I be a mystery shopper even though I am a man?

Sure! In my non-scientific observation, it appears that nearly 90% of mystery shoppers are female, but both men and women can be mystery shoppers. In fact, at times you may have an edge as a male shopper.

Although many mystery shops can be done by almost any shopper, in some cases the client will ask for shoppers that meet a certain demographic profile. For example, they might want shoppers to be between the ages of 25 – 40, have a family income within a specified range, have a child under the age of six, or some other qualification. This is so the shopper matches up with the profile of the client’s typical customer.

Most of the time, it does not matter if the mystery shopper is male or female; however, there are some shop assignments where a male shopper is required or preferred (for example, a men’s clothing store). Because there are relatively few male shoppers, when the shop guidelines call for a male shopper, there is less competition.

A related question I sometimes get is this: Most schedulers are women, so do they prefer to work with shoppers who are also women?

In my experience, schedulers prefer to work with the secret shoppers on whom they can depend. The mystery shoppers who are professional, reliable and do good work are the ones who will be favored by schedulers.

So, guys, come on in—you can be mystery shoppers, too!

Question from a mystery shopper:

My husband and I are retired, and we think mystery shopping would be fun. I would love to be a mystery shopper, but I am concerned they might think we are too old.

Is there an age limit for mystery shoppers?

Although age can be a factor in selecting mystery shoppers for specific assignments, there is no maximum age for mystery shoppers. The only age limit that applies generally to mystery shoppers is on the low end: You must be old enough to legally enter into the independent contractor relationship. (Younger mystery shoppers are sometimes needed. In those cases, the parent may be contracted.)

Clients want to match the demographics of their typical customers, so for some mystery shops they may want shoppers who are under 30, or over 50, or whatever ages they serve. Clothing stores or clubs that cater to a young crowd will want shoppers who look like their customers.

Businesses that serve seniors want mystery shoppers who are like their customers. That means that some investment advisors, assisted living facilities and others will prefer seniors as their mystery shoppers.

There may also be legal reasons for choosing shoppers of specific ages. For example, there are age verification shops where secret shoppers between the ages of 21 and 28 buy tobacco to see if they are carded, as required by law.

Of course, for many mystery shops, the age of the secret shopper is not a factor. That means that you would be eligible to perform a wide variety of shop assignments, including restaurants, retail stores and many more.

Do not let your age hold you back. Many retirees are successful mystery shoppers—you can be, too!

According to the companies surveyed, a mystery shopper must be:

Reliable.
This is a business, and companies depend on you to complete your shop as assigned. The biggest complaint of mystery shopping companies is that shoppers take assignments, don’t do them and don’t communicate with the company. In fact, approximately 25% of assignments accepted aren’t completed by the shoppers and must be reassigned. It happens often enough that there is a term for it: It is called “flaking” on a shop. Do your shops on time, as you agreed, and you will be off to a good start.

Organized.
You may have to juggle multiple assignments with different requirements and deadlines from more than one company. Keeping track of what is due and when is a critical part of being a secret shopper, and it requires organization.

Able to Read and Follow Written Guidelines.
Clients have specific requirements about when and how shops are to be completed. You must follow those guidelines in order to complete a valid shop. The guidelines may include things like the days and times during which the shop should be completed, scenarios and questions to use, required purchases and more.

Observant.
During a shop you will have to obtain employee names, descriptions, and other details. Being able to spot things such as missing name tags, unpriced items and other issues is important.

Able to Remember Details.
The more information you can retain, the easier it will be to complete quality reports. Your memory does not have to be perfect, but the better your memory, the better your reports will be.

Objective.
Mystery shopping is not opinion research, and you are not writing a review. Most questions on a mystery shopping report form are yes/no. Either something happened or it didn’t. Something was true or it was not. Simply state the facts. Do not offer your opinions unless they are requested.

Flexible.
A shop may have to be done within a short time frame, or the client may require that it be done at a certain time or on a certain day. The more flexible you are about when and where you can shop, the more valuable you are to the mystery shopping company.

Honest.
Clients depend on the information in mystery shopping reports to make important business decisions. Don’t try to fake a report or answers on the report. First of all, you should have the integrity to do the shop right. If that’s not enough motivation for you, you should know that you will probably be caught. There are ways to verify the information in your report.

Thorough.
It is important that you carefully prepare for the shop and know exactly what is expected of you. When doing the shop, do everything you were asked to do and get all of the required information. Completely answer all questions on the form, including appropriate comments and narratives. Check your report for accuracy and completeness before submitting it. Submit all required documentation, such as receipts.

A Good Writer.
The comments and narratives you write should make the reader feel as if they are sharing your experience, seeing what you saw, and hearing what you heard. You don’t need to be a brilliant writer, but you must be able to paint a vivid picture in words. Proper grammar, spelling and punctuation are important.

These requirements are simple and straightforward. If you do not possess all of these skills, most can be acquired with a little effort or practice.

Can you spot the flaws in this theory?

First of all, it is possible that the local business will not know what company does their mystery shopping. It is likely that the contract is handled out of the corporate office. Individual locations probably know that they get mystery shopped, but they may not know or remember the name of the mystery shopping company.

And this is even more important: NEVER WALK INTO A BUSINESS AND ANNOUNCE THAT YOU ARE A MYSTERY SHOPPER. Whew. Sorry for the shouting, but I get a little excited sometimes. I’m calmer now, so let’s imagine this scenario:

“Hi, Mr. Restaurant Manager. I would like to be a secret shopper and evaluate your establishment. Do you have a mystery shopping program? What company hires your secret shoppers? Great! Thank you. I will go apply to them right away. See you soon.”

Uh, do you think the manager might remember you after you walked in and announced that you would like to mystery shop his location and he has directed you on how to get hired? Do you think, maybe, he might recall this conversation when you arrive to do a shop?

Of course, you also should not go to an online forum and ask, “Does anyone know who shops (name of favorite place)?” Discussing clients with anyone, one-on-one or in a public forum, is a violation of confidentiality agreements. Mystery shopping companies do not look favorably upon shoppers who do this.

If you are absolutely determined to find out who has the mystery shopping contract for a business you are dying to shop, you could try this: Call the corporate headquarters or regional office. The mystery shopping program may be administered by the marketing department or human resources or operations. Try asking the operator if she knows who handles their mystery shopping and she may be able to direct you to the right department.

When you reach the person who may have the information, tell them that you are a mystery shopper and you would be interested in mystery shopping their locations. If you really want to pile it on, you can say that you assumed they have a mystery shopping program because their service is always so good. Ask if they can tell you which mystery shopping provider handles their program, and any information they have about the company, such as where they are located.

Once you have the company name, do an online search to find their web site. Because many mystery shopping companies have similar names, having an extra bit of information, such as where they are located, can help you to verify that you have the right company.

Then, do a great application. Do not expect that you will immediately get your dream shop. There may be a lot of other shoppers, who have been with that company much longer than you, who also want that shop. Be willing to do some entry-level shops (e.g., fast food or simple retail) to work your way up to the place you want. Once you have done a few shops, let your scheduler know that you are interested in shopping that client, and ask if there is anything you can do to qualify for an upcoming assignment.

There are no guarantees even after all of this that you will get to shop the client you targeted. You may, but even if you do not, in the process you may find some other worthwhile assignments.

The question of whether or not you should help them is one only you can answer. Some shoppers are willing to provide information and advice to anyone who asks, others provide a couple of leads and leave the research up to the potential mystery shopper, some refuse to say anything at all and others actively discourage anyone who asks by making mystery shopping sound even more difficult than it is. Let’s look at some of the issues you should consider when dealing with this question.

If the person asking lives in your area, you may be hesitant to help them get started because you dread having even more competition. In some places, assignments are plentiful; however, in others there may not be a lot of mystery shops (or at least a lot of really good mystery shops) to go around. Not wanting to train your own assassin (figuratively speaking) is not selfish, just an act of self-preservation.

Even if you want to help, there are limits on what you may say without violating your confidentiality agreements with secret shopping companies. For example, it is perfectly acceptable to refer someone to a few of your favorite mystery shopping companies. However, you may not say, “Be sure to sign up with Mystery Shopping Company X because they have mystery shopper jobs at <name of their favorite restaurant>.” You may give general information, such as, “I enjoy secret shopping for Mystery Shopping Company X because they have a lot of restaurant assignments.”

Never give any information about clients. That includes any information you have about which clients get mystery shopped, what mystery shopping companies have which clients, examples of blank report forms or completed reports, assignment guidelines, etc. You should also never disclose the fees paid by mystery shopping providers.

You may want to give the questioner a few resources. If they are truly interested, they can follow up and learn about mystery shopping on their own. Someone who is not motivated enough to do that is not going to last as a mystery shopper anyway. You can refer them to the free list of companies looking for secret shoppers at this site, and to the Mystery Shopping Providers Association, as well as to a few of your favorite mystery shopping companies.

Many of the people who love the idea of getting paid to shop do not understand what is involved in mystery shopping. They think it is all about going to the mall and eating out, and the thought of time spent on the computer getting assignments and writing reports does not even cross their minds. Or they may not be very reliable, or not have good writing skills, or for some other reason just would not make good mystery shoppers. Fortunately, most of those people will not get past the stage of going to a few web sites and maybe filling out an application or two. You do not have an obligation to tell anyone that he or she would not be a good mystery shopper. Saying that could damage your relationship. Either give them the URLs to a few web sites, or tell them you can not reveal anything due to confidentiality.

Of course, this will never become an issue if you keep your secret shopping a secret.

I have been presenting this class since 1995, and I have trained thousands of mystery shoppers. This is your chance to learn what you need to know to get started quickly and become a successful professional shopper. You will learn how to locate and apply to legitimate mystery shopping companies, what secret shopping companies want from shoppers, tips for doing mystery shops and writing reports, and much, much more.

This fun, fast-paced class will jump start your shopping career. To register or get more information, contact Leisure Learning Unlimited at 713-529-4414 and ask for class 9202. Or visit the LLU web site.

Class info:

Date: Thursday, November 15, 2007
Time: 6:45 – 9:45 p.m.
Place: Westheimer/Chimney Rock area, Houston, Texas
Cost: $29 + $25 for required text

You need a plan to get you started fast, without wasting time or money. So here it is . . .

Set up an email address for your mystery shopping email. You will get lots of job notices and other email, so you might want to have an email account you use exclusively for shopper email. One good option is to set up a free account with Gmail.

One you have your email address, add it to your PayPal account. If you don’t have a PayPal account, sign up with PayPal now. If you are not familiar with PayPal, read about PayPal here.

If you would like to get MSPA Certified, this is a good time to do so. Certification is not required by any mystery shopping company, but it can give you an edge. Not sure about certification? You can do it at any time. The main advantage to getting certified before you start applying is that you can put your certification code in when you apply, and you will not have to go back to all of the company web sites to add certification to your profiles.

Prepare the information you will need for your applications. Many applications will ask for the same kind of information as traditional job applications, such as education and work experience. List your employers for the last five to ten years, the dates you worked there, and your job titles.

They may also ask for writing samples, so prepare those now. The most common writing samples asked for are an example of good customer service, an example of poor customer service, and why you think you would make a good mystery shopper. Prepare a sample for each of these of about 75 – 100 words. Make sure your spelling, grammar and punctuation are flawless, then save the samples in a text editor, such as Notepad. Be careful about saving them in Microsoft Word or other word processors. You may find that when you copy text from Word to a web form, odd codes and formatting show up.

Choose the companies to which you will apply. Never pay a fee to apply. There are links to nearly 200 legitimate mystery shopping companies here. Make your applications accurate and complete.

Watch for available assignments and apply for the ones you want. When you get an assignment, do a great job. That will help you get your next assignments.

This is a simplified version of the Quick Start Plan detailed in The Mystery Shopper’s Manual. Get your copy here.

Copyright Cathy Stucker. All rights reserved.