With so much economic turmoil today, mystery shoppers everywhere are looking for ways to make more money. You may be looking at picking up extra assignments or traveling outside your normal mystery shopping territory to make more money. You may also have thought about getting certified through the Mystery Shopping Providers Association as a way to earn some extra cash. Most mystery shoppers have mixed feelings about mystery shopping certifications, which begs the question – is a certification really going to help you earn more money? The simple answer is – yes and no.
The Bad News. The truth of the matter is that many mystery shopping providers do not take into account whether a mystery shopper is certified or not when they accept new mystery shoppers or when they dole out assignments. So with this group of providers, you unfortunately will not have any special consideration given to you for being certified.
The Good News. There are a number of mystery shopping providers that do take into account a mystery shoppers credentials or certifications, both when accepting new mystery shoppers into their fold as well as when assigning job assignments. With these providers, you will definitely benefit by getting a certification.
The trick, of course, is determining which providers place emphasis on certifications. The best bet is to check the vast amount of information available on the mystery shopping forums. If you can’t find the information you are looking for, feel free to post a question on-line and a get personalized response for the information you need.
And The Extra Bonus. There is more to getting certified than simply paying a fee. When you sign up for the certification, you actually have to take a class. The class is designed to improve your skills as a mystery shopper, as well as develop your strategies and techniques. So whether your provider pays you more for being certified or not, or whether you get more assignments due to your certifications or not, most likely a certification will improve your technique and skill as a mystery shopper. When you do a spectacular job on your assignments, providers will choose you for their cream assignments. You will also be chosen over other mystery shoppers for assignments you request, and you may be offered assignments before they are offered to the general mystery shopping public. So through the improved skills you will get by getting certified, you should see some additional income.
A Warning. Keep your eye out for false certifications. The only certifications that legitimate providers care about are those obtained through the Mystery Shopping Provider’s Association. There’s no doubt you will stumble across dozens of websites offering you a certification, but pass over all certifications from sources other than the MSPA to avoid wasting unnecessary time and money.
Getting certified is relatively inexpensive, and the time commitment is fairly negligible. If you are serious about improving yourself as a mystery shopper, make the effort to get certified and soon enough you will be reaping the financial rewards of your efforts.
I agree with you completely about some of the providers not taking in account that you are certified but more what your rating is. I can pay to be certified but I may have a bad running track of not completing shops on time or not at all, however, having the certification does help at the same time as some providers may view it as you are really serious about being a Shopper.
This retired individual who does select shops for select accounts believes that ‘Certification’ is a total waste of time. An account wants reliability, good communication,writing skills: a piece of paper does not provide them. Common sense tends to be the major factor, followed by basic school taught writing skills. Common sense is lacking in a society which expects a 3000lb car, controlled by an unknown party, to stop on your demand, as you cross the street busy talking on your cell phone. Enough said.
I agree with Shirley and Byron. I am retired also. Introduced to Mystery Shopping in January 2008, I find just being a Bronze member of Shadow Shopper; I get more offers because of that membership. In the beginning, I took some of their free certification tests and read many of the articles they post on their web site. At least twice a month, I receive a call from a new scheduler saying, “I found your information and Shadow Shopper, yada yada yada.” In September 2008, I decided to get the MSPA Silver Certification to see if it really made a difference for me. It did not. I live in a rural area and many of the higher paying and higher end type shops, which may require Certification, is out of my driving region. The Certification was easy for me because I previously learned the info through the Shadow Shopper University articles.
I found getting the Shadow Shopper certification informative and initially helpful. I’ve also enjoyed learning the material for the MSPA Silver and Gold Certifications. I found the opportunity to meet schedulers and personnel from shopping companies at the Gold training really great. I suppose I could have reached the same point without the certifications, but I did get more offers after upgrading to Silver and had the same experience when I posted my Gold crtification.
I hate to say this in a way, but I do not look forward to mystery shopping anymore because they do not want to pay you anything for one thing and then some of them that are far away from you do not pay mileage or gas, whatever they want to call it. When I first started I had a few service stations, and it was really fun I did enjoy it but now they want you to go a very long way for eight dollars or ten dollars which is not worth it to those of us who live in rural areas like, I do you simply cannot afford it so when I get offers now I just delete them because they are a long way to travel and the money is just not worth your time you gain nothing at all. I got some offers today, and they are a very long way from my home, and I simply cannot do it, so I just keep checking everyday to see if anything is in my area which they are not so I have to Delete them. I really liked doing service stations because they are fast, and you can get on your computer as soon as you get home, and you enjoy answering the questions they ask you although some of those questions can be tricky you just have to stay focused when you are doing your shopping and when you get on your computer also. I am certified and it has not done any good what so ever, and I got certified the second day I started, I took the test and passed, but it does not help. I am thinking about joining Shadow Shoppers except, they want you to pay them a certain amount first. Please let me know what you think about this, I am very anxious to know. However, I am looking for other things to do on the Internet if the shopping does not get better. For instance, I joined a Demonstration company where you do demos in-store and the pay is really wonderful I did everything I had to do to get on their list but to no avail it has been almost a year, and I have yet to get work close to my home because most areas are so very far away so now I am disgusted with them, and I check that company’s web site everyday and still nothing so that is why I am looking for something else to do on the Internet to Make more money to meet my obligations. I would like to hear from a few of you who are in the same boat that I am in.
When I first looked up information about Mystery Shopping, I first got silver certification with MSPA. The bronze with Shadow Shopper, I perceived was a stepping stone for them to sell upgrades. I received many emails from them, alluding to the many opportunities in my area if I only upgraded with them. Because of where I live, I knew that this was bogus.
I wholeheartedly agree with Byron, that excellent oral and written skills and common (not so common) sense are prerequisites. Personal development, personal growing and honing one’s skills will go on as long as we’re alive. I take advantage of learning from many sources, online and in life. However with Mystery Shopping, one must start off with an exceptional level of communication. Schooling must take place before doing the work.
I started mystery shopping without paying a cent by simply replying to an email. So far that has been/still are the best assignments I have and I have become known in the company. Then I became a bronze member. Here they dangle the jobs to you so you are tempted to upgrade. I upgraded to Gold on special offer of $2.99 just for a month and somehow I ended up in some companies preferred list and the list of companies keeps on increasing. I had gotten the best value from that. I am trying another $2.99 for one month this time around to get more variety but I am not holding my breath as I have enough assignments to keep me busy.
MSPA certification, I don’t think would help me. Many companies just want your rating and better still, if you have the backing of the top people in that company and they consider you among their top, you won’t go wrong. I had a whole company back me up when a shop went awry because the SA retaliated due to bad report which was proven they deserved. I am not intimidated and just vowed to report on what happened.
An excellent communication skills and attention to detail and commitment I think are the best qualities. Customer service skills and/or interpersonal skills I believe is my best armour in mystery shopping. But honestly, you really have to like what you are doing because many of the assignments are not something anyone should venture into considering the fee involved.