Mystery shopping is a fairly straightforward job most of the time. The assignment requirements are clear and concise, and you set yourself into action to complete the requirements. Yet there are times when questions or problems arise. In a normal office environment, you would have co-workers to talk to and get feedback from. You would have a whole support system behind you to bounce ideas off of and make sure you are on the right track. With mystery shopping, you can feel fairly isolated without any co-workers to talk to. The good news, however, is that there are many other mystery shoppers just like you who regularly “meet” to discuss their issues, problems, and even their major accomplishments. The internet allows for mystery shoppers to gather online, and the many mystery shopping forums on the web provide you with mystery shopping communities where you can go and thrive as a mystery shopper.
It’s A Two-Way Street. One of the best things about the mystery shopping forums is that such a wide variety of helpful information can be shared. You can share your own personal experiences or post questions. You can also read about other mystery shopper’s successes, issues, and questions. This two-way street of communication provides an excellent and efficient way for mystery shoppers to communicate about almost any subject, and even to unite together as a group very quickly.
A perfect example of this is the recent boycott of assignments paying under $5. Mystery shoppers banned together to boycott the insultingly low pay for assignments, and providers have responded with comments and in many cases higher paying assignments.
Get the Down-Low On Scams. The internet is great because it serves as an almost immediate method of getting the word out. If you post a comment or question on the mystery shopping forums, the post is shown immediately for other mystery shoppers to see and comment on. In the event you need more information about a possible scam, your question can be answered by any number of knowledgeable and experienced mystery shoppers – sometimes within just minutes of you posting your question. If you’ve become a victim of a scam yourself, you can use the mystery shopping forums to spread the word around the mystery shopping community like wildfire and make other mystery shoppers aware of your experience.
Who’s The Best? Of course, the “best” mystery shopping provider for one mystery shopper may not be the best for you. All mystery shoppers use their own criteria for determining who they do and don’t want to work with. You may choose not to work with a provide for slow payment, whereas another mystery shopper may be OK with slow payment as long as the assignments are easy and the schedulers are nice to work with.
With mystery shopping forums, mystery shoppers are free to exchange experiences and feedback about various providers. More than just exchanging names, however, the mystery shoppers can also explain why they do and don’t like certain providers. Just keep in mind that because on mystery shopper had a bad experience doesn’t mean every mystery shopper will. However, if you notice that several mystery shoppers have had a bad experience with a provider, it may be a good idea to steer clear of that provider.
Learn From History. We’ve all heard the old adage about those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. This holds true with mystery shopping as well. The good news is that you don’t have to “live” history with mystery shopping. Regardless of if you are just starting out as a mystery shopper or you’ve been mystery shopping for years, you can learn from the experiences of other mystery shoppers by reading their posts on forums. Store up the knowledge you gather from others’ past experiences and learn from them to help you complete your own assignments.
With so much information shared and knowledge conveyed on mystery shopping forums, you can certainly become a better mystery shopper, and possibly even earn more money, by regularly visiting the mystery shopping forums.
Recommended forum: www.MysteryShopForum.com
This is so true. The forums that I have visited are about helping each other. So it was very helpful to me when I started mystery shopping and is still valuable, because of that I always try to give to the forum when possible.
I know I’ve stopped taking the really low-paying jobs just because I couldn’t afford to take them any more. I did notice, however, that one of the companies I worked for called for us to recruit new shoppers, and they gave us a small bonus for incentive. There has been such a barrage of new shoppers in my area that there are hardly any shops left for me!
I’ll just work with some other companies until people get tired of it, and I’m sure I’ll get my usual jobs back again.
I don’t seem to know where the forums are anymore.
Can’t find the forum
Gail, Louise,
go to:
http://www.mysteryshopforum.com
Maven