Enter your name and email to get a free email course on mystery shopping. Your email address will not be shared with anyone. Ever.
Get an email whenever new articles are added to the site.
Cathy Stucker has been a mystery shopper since 1995. She is the author of The Mystery Shopper's Manual.
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed or email updates. ----> Thanks for visiting!
The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) is asking transit riders to be their eyes and ears as part of a mystery shopping program. Although CTA employees have been conducting these undercover evaluations since last summer, the public is now being invited to participate.
Riders must register, and they are given a card with information about what they are to look for during their ride. Afterward, they complete a survey online or via mail.
For more information about CTA’s mystery shopping program, see the CTA web site.
The first 1000 participants to turn in completed surveys will receive a CTA transit card with one prepaid fare (a $2 value). And we thought we were paid badly.
Photo of a Chicago subway train by Seth Anderson. Used under a Creative Commons license.
No, mystery shopper rotation does not refer to when you find yourself running around in circles. Some clients do not want the same shoppers performing their secret shops each time. They require that a period of time elapse before the shopper evaluates the same location again, or sometimes before the shopper can shop any of the client’s other locations.
There are several reasons for rotation requirements, including: …continue reading Mystery Shopper Rotation
One way to get more mystery shopping assignments is to apply to more companies. Schedule an hour or two every week, or a few minutes every day, to get your information in the shopper data bases of more mystery shopping companies. The company to which you apply today may be the source of a great mystery shop tomorrow.
This can be true even if the company does not have assignments available in your area today. You never know when they will get a new client with locations near you, and if you are already in their data base you will be among the first to know about them.
I have added a list of nearly 200 mystery shopping and scheduling companies to this site. Visit my list of legitimate mystery shopping companies that do not charge application fees to find more places to apply.
There are hundreds of companies looking for mystery shoppers, but how can you find the companies looking for shoppers where you live, work and shop? Here are some tips to find mystery shopper jobs close to you. …continue reading Find Companies Looking for Secret Shoppers in Your Town
I often hear from people who want to become mystery shoppers, but do not know how to begin. It is actually simple, especially with all of the resources available through the Internet that enable you to easily find mystery shopping companies, complete applications and locate assignments.
The problem for many of these potential secret shoppers is that they are having trouble finding legitimate companies that do not charge shoppers to apply. Even many of the sites that claim that they will protect you from the scams are themselves scams. How do you know which companies and sites can be trusted? …continue reading Find Legitimate Secret Shopping Companies
Lots of shoppers ask me what the secret is to getting high-paying, high-end shops—the fine dining, hotels, spas and resorts, and other shops that can bring you great pay, reimbursements for luxury items, and more.
If you have been applying without success for these shops, or do not even see notices for them, you may think that it is impossible to get high-paying mystery shops. It is not impossible, and there are ways you can increase your chances of landing the shops of your dreams.
The secret is . . . …continue reading Secret Shopping Success Secrets
Would you like to be able to search job postings from hundreds of mystery shopping companies, all in one place? For free?
There is no reason to pay for access to mystery shopper job listings, and that is the idea behind Jobslinger.com. Jobslinger is sponsored and maintained by SurfMerchants, the folks who bring you SASSIE. John Hsu of SurfMerchants (pictured here) is the diabolical genius behind Jobslinger, and partners in Jobslinger include the Mystery Shopping Providers Association (MSPA), Volition, SASSIE and Demozilla. John and his team gave a presentation demonstrating the awesome power of this new mystery shopper job board at the MSPA Shopper Educational Conference last month. Here is what you need to know about putting Jobslinger to work for you.
…continue reading Free Mystery Shopper Job Opportunities at Jobslinger
One way to get more mystery shopper jobs is to work with independent scheduling companies. These services often make assignments for many mystery shopping providers, and can be a great source of shopping opportunities. Here are some common questions about mystery shopping scheduling companies. …continue reading Get Mystery Shopping Jobs through Mystery Shopper Scheduling Companies
The question I hear most often from mystery shoppers is, “How can I get a cruise shop?” There are very few cruise shops available–I have talked to mystery shopping executives who have never seen one. But there are many very desirable high-end shops, including resorts and spas, that offer “free” travel, accommodations and other benefits, and sometimes even a significant fee. …continue reading How Do You Get Cruise and Resort Mystery Shopper Jobs?
