Newbie here looking for any and all advice on where to look for jobs, which MSCs to sign up with, what to look out for, etc.

I appreciate any information or little tips you may want to share.

Happy shopping! (I hope)

Hi, cassady, welcome to the forum. There's plenty of good information here. Plan to spend a lot of time reading in the beginning when you set up your mystery shopping business. The startup is very time-consuming. See the blue link below, Official List of Mystery Shopping Companies, for plenty of legitimate mystery shopping companies to sign up with. Be sure to sign up on each company's website. You will fill out an application and provide your personal information and SS# and sign a confidentiality agreement. Some ask for a writing sample and some have tests. After you are accepted as a mystery shopper by a company, you will be able to search their job board to see if they have jobs in your area. Most will also send e-mails when jobs in your area are available.

Yes what AM said. This is a very good and informative explanation of how it goes. If you want info about how to get started with minimal $ feel free to PM me.

I started with Market Force and Best Mark. They are small, simple jobs that seem to be designed for inexperienced shoppers. The pay is also small, but it will get you a taste of the work and get some money coming your way. The problem with the huge list of companies is that you don't know if they work in your area until you go through the sign up process. You can use jobslinger to identify some of the companies that are confirmed to have work in your area.

Good advice.

Thanks for your tips.

I work full-time in an office and am having trouble finding jobs located on my commute. I'll keep looking.

Would someone be able to fill me in on what an audit-with-photos shop is like? I can't find any details on the MSC's website.... just brief instructions. It was for a Verizon store. Do you generally have to ask the manager questions too or just take pictures of products?

I sympathize with you all if I am asking really uninformed questions.

Acutally they are merchandising audits and you are given a questionnaire which I assume is the questionnaire you complete for them. I suppose I should just try one and see what it's like. If you have done one, would love any info. Thanks.

cassady123 Wrote:
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> Thanks for your tips.
>
> I work full-time in an office and am having
> trouble finding jobs located on my commute. I'll
> keep looking.
>
> Would someone be able to fill me in on what an
> audit-with-photos shop is like? I can't find any
> details on the MSC's website.... just brief
> instructions. It was for a Verizon store. Do you
> generally have to ask the manager questions too or
> just take pictures of products?
>
> I sympathize with you all if I am asking really
> uninformed questions.


Hi there,

I have done many, many of these shops. They require an appointment in advance, and maybe the manager will be available for your audit, and maybe not if a customer comes in. Plan on an hour in the store in addition to your travel time. Inputting the information also takes times to upload the pics... about 25 of them for each audit.

All this for $10. Of course, I don't do these shops for $10. I will sit and wait until they pay at least $20. I saw on this recent round, that failure to submit the work, or declining the shop after completing it (and seeing how long it takes to upload 25 pics)... will result in being terminated. There's a risk involved here that if you don't do the pics according to the specs, you will be terminated.

And, as I said... all for $10.

I think they are good shops at $20. I've done them for years, and many times when I walk into the offices, they remember me from the last audit. Everyone seems glad to see me return, so I guess my honesty in these reports isn't questioned when I have given negative responses to certain questions.

Hi Cassady,

I've done these, and except for the low pay, they are not bad places to learn a photo audit. All the managers I've dealt with have been cooperative, although in one case I did have to reschedule the audit for the manager's convenience.

If you are not 100% comfortable taking, resizing and uploading digital photos go to the help menu on that MSC's website. One of the topics is digital photo guidelines and it will tell you everything you need to know.

Resizing and uploading can be time consuming. I usually go through my pictures, pick which ones I want, resize them and then go to uploading. It can take 2 or 3 minutes to upload on my equipment, but that's okay with me. I can go stir my dinner, slice the vegetables, mash the potatoes, whatever, as long as I come back and send the next one.

Before you start uploading, run down the list of photos and write down the order. Then start with the one listed last. As new photos upload they will go in at the top of the list. This will save you time playing the match game at the end.

Good luck and enjoy it!

The Verizon photo audits are duck soup, but still take time. My first one took nearly an hour, but the others went much more quickly, like in the 30-45 minute range. To me, uploading the photos is easy. Again, a bit tedious, but nothing that bothers me in the least. So... although exceptionally easy once you've got your first one done and are familiar with them, they do take time. I would not do one for $10. I've only done them for $20, and a couple for $30.

Oh yeah ~ and take the photos in order of the questions. Makes it faster to match it all up at the end. Depending on your photo software, re-sizing can be easy. But yes, you have to be thoroughly familiar with your camera & software for it to be easy.

The employees on the ones I've done have always been friendly, accommodating, and even helpful. I've had fun chatting with them often times as I go down my list, particularly at one location where a real goof-ball worked. Not a bad kind of goof-ball, mind you, but a fun one. hee!

dorseyp Wrote:
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>
>
>
> Resizing and uploading can be time consuming. I
> usually go through my pictures, pick which ones I
> want, resize them and then go to uploading. It
> can take 2 or 3 minutes to upload on my equipment,
> but that's okay with me.

That's a fast internet that can upload 25-30 high resolution pics in 2-3 minutes. I take two pics of each requirement, pick the best, delete the rest, crop if necessary, and rename the pics with job assignment location and date. Then upload. I use 3M settings on my camera, sharp images. It works for me, but it desn't upload in 2-3 minutes.

Sounds like your photos are too large. If you don't want to resize the originals, copy and then size. You will have the clearer shot if necessary and the upload will take no time at all.

I always see people commenting on "cropping" and "resizing." I take all photos using the resolution I want when they are uploaded. Also, I thought I remember instructions saying that cropping is not allowed. I never crop.

I know this won't apply to everyone, but I've found that if I use my phone camera to take pictures (Samsung Galaxy 2) then e-mail them to myself from my phone, when I attach the photo to the e-mail, the phone gives me the opportunity to pick a size. I e-mail the pictures to myself at 30% size and they are fine for uploading without further changes.

Great tips! Thanks. I agree $10 is not enough. Will hold out.