Best Mystery Shopping
Companies for Beginners
If you’re new to mystery shopping, it’s important to contact the best mystery shopping companies for beginners. I'll list a couple of them in this article and give you a direct link to their website.
It's important to hook up with good companies that will pay you in two weeks of the assignment. Not all companies do that. That’s where a lot of beginners start to feel stuck. It’s one thing to learn that mystery shopping is real. It’s another thing to figure out which companies seem legitimate, beginner-friendly, and worth your time.
You do not need to know all the names right away. You just need a safer way to judge what you’re looking at.
I have a list of over 150 mystery shopping companies in my book "Take That Job And Mystery Shop It!"
Buy the Kindle eBook (instant download)
Buy the Paperback (best field manual)
Buy the Hardcover (durable reference copy)
What Makes a Mystery Shopping Company Good for Beginners?
There are hundreds of mystery shopping companies, but you don't need to sign up with all of them to get started. In fact, doing that can make the business more confusing than it needs to be.
When I started mystery shopping, I worked primarily with about five companies. They gave me plenty of assignments. As I gained experience, I registered with additional companies and expanded the types of shops I was willing to perform. Even after years in the business, I only work with about 20 companies on a regular or occasional basis.
Other shoppers take a different approach. Someone trying to mystery shop full-time may register with many more companies because assignments come and go. One company may have plenty of work in your city this month and very little the next.
For a beginner, I'd concentrate on finding a few established companies and learning how their systems work.
Every mystery shopping company does things a little differently. One may send frequent emails when assignments become available. Another may expect you to check its job board. Some shops are automatically assigned when you request them, while others require a scheduler to approve your application.
The reports can be different, too. One company may use mostly multiple-choice questions with a few short narratives. Another may expect detailed descriptions of everything that happened during the visit.
That's one reason your first assignment shouldn't be based entirely on which company offers the highest fee.
Look at the shop itself.
If you're offered $15 to visit a store five miles from your house and answer a relatively simple questionnaire, that may be a better first assignment than a $50 shop requiring an hour-long visit, a purchase, photographs, employee names, and 15 narrative questions.
You want to learn the process without making your first shop unnecessarily difficult.
Know Who You're Working For
Before registering with an unfamiliar mystery shopping company, spend a few minutes researching it.
Does it have an established website? Does it explain the types of assignments it conducts? Can you find information about how shoppers register and get paid? Does the company provide contact information if you have a problem?
You can also look for the company through the Mystery Shopping Professionals Association (MSPA) and other industry resources. Search the company's name online and see what other shoppers have said about it. One complaint doesn't necessarily make a company bad, but repeated complaints about nonpayment deserve your attention.
Remember that legitimate mystery shopping companies will need information from you. You're an independent contractor, so companies may eventually request tax and payment information. That's different from receiving an unsolicited text or email asking for sensitive information before you have established who you're dealing with.
Never pay an application or registration fee just to become a mystery shopper.
Be especially suspicious of someone who sends you a large check and instructs you to deposit it, keep part of the money as your fee, and use the rest to buy gift cards or send money somewhere else. That's a well-known scam, not the way legitimate mystery shopping assignments normally operate.
Learn a Few Companies Before Adding More
Once you're registered, spend some time looking around the company's job board before accepting everything you see.
Look at the fees, reimbursements, distances, deadlines, and reporting requirements. You'll quickly discover that certain assignments appeal to you more than others.
I have companies I associate with certain kinds of shops. Some may offer apartments or new homes. Others may have restaurants, automotive assignments, retail stores, telephone shops, or video mystery shopping opportunities.
You'll also begin developing relationships with schedulers. Complete your assignments correctly and submit good reports on time, and a scheduler may contact you when another location needs to be completed. That's when mystery shopping becomes much easier than constantly searching for your next assignment.
The best mystery shopping companies for beginners aren't necessarily the companies with the most shops or the highest advertised fees. They're companies where you can find legitimate assignments, understand what's expected, complete the reports successfully, and get paid as promised.
Start with a few.
Learn how they operate. Complete some easy assignments. Build a good shopper rating and find out which types of shops you enjoy.
You can always add more companies later.
Mystery Shopping Companies to Research Further
Below are three mystery shopping companies I worked with when I first started.
BestMark, Inc.
(800) 514-8378
Services: On-site, telephone, web surveys, and compliance audits among others.
This is a large company that serves various industries in the United States, Canada and Europe. They are licensed in the state of Nevada.
Market
Force Information, Inc.
(303) 402-6920
Services: Mystery shops and audits worldwide.
Industries: Convenience stores, financial, grocery and drug stores, movie theaters, retail, and restaurants.
The Source (formerly Trendsource)
https://www.thesourceagents.com
(619) 718-7467
Services: On-site, telephone, website mystery shopping and audits.
Industries: Business verifications, convenience stores, healthcare, restaurants, and retail stores.
I've done a lot of work for this company over the years. They pay twice a month for on-site visits and once a week for phone assignments. The company was previously called TrendSource.
I have a list of over 150 different mystery shopping companies in my book "Take That Job And Mystery Shop It!"
The mystery shopping business is always looking for new faces to visit different places.
Buy the Kindle eBook (instant download)
Buy the Paperback (best field manual)
Buy the Hardcover (durable reference copy)
