I want to start up a mystery shopping company - can anyone give me advice on how to do this & things to avoid?
540010
There are two dimensions of starting a mystery shopping company:\n\n- getting corporate accounts who will hire your company to do the mystery shopping\n- recruiting the mystery shoppers who will actually do the mystery shopping for you\n\nLike many new companies, your main problem will be how to get that first corporate account. Companies who engage in mystery shopping in most likelihood already have a company that they work with; some may even have contracts with mystery shopping companies.\n\nYou have to first identify the establishments in your geographic area and categorize them accordingly:\n\n- which ones CURRENTLY USES a mystery shopping company\n- which ones SHOULD USE but are NOT using a mystery shopping company\n- which ones are not but could benefit from a mystery shopping service\n\nThen network with these companies. Learn who their main decision makers are. But you need to develop a solid presentation for your business:\n\n- Why should these companies use your mystery shopping company instead of the one they currently have?\n- What do you have extra to offer to them?\n\nOnce you develop your unique selling proposition, it would be easier to do sales calls and sales presentations.\n\nThe finding the mystery shoppers will not be as challenging considering the number of those looking for part time income. But you have to have a training system in place and teach them the right questions to ask, what to look for, who to talk to, how to evaluate an establishment, etc.\n\nHere are some resources I highly recommend:\n\nBook: How to Start and Run Your Own Mystery Shopping Company by Julie Weis, Lynette Janac http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0970886527/powerhomebizguid\nBook: Mystery Shopper's Manual, 6th Edition (Paperback) \nby Cathy Stucker http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1888983302/powerhomebizguid\nMystery Shopping Providers Association http://www.mysteryshop.org/
935616
Most important thing is dont give up. More competition the better. What you must try to do is make some difference from what you were and what is available in the other shop.\nFirst go through your sales history and examine what is in demand mostly,  ex. 1. what type of items 2. the quality etc. \nMay be books or candles are more in demand. See whether you can sneak a peek into the other shop. I'm sure that other person started his business after giving a careful consideration to you who has been in business for 18 years. \nDepending on your finances see whether you can change the stuff you have been selling, 'cos your stuff might be a little outdated. We cannot say from here 'cos it depends on what you have been selling. You can even put a small sale and get rid of the old stuff for a cheap price. that could attract more customers , but not for long. \nTry to change the look too. As someone else has said you can put lanterna and candles to make the place attractive. Also go out of the town to a posh big gift shop and see what they have done. You dont have to copy or I'm not saying you should, but that will give you an idea as to what the trend is. You might not even be able to do everything they have done too. \nMy experiance with gift shops is that they must change with the seasons of the year as well as retaining some for someone who wants to buy something such as a b'day gift etc. Also if a person can get something inexpensive but looks good and of good quality the better. So dont give up. Do a bit of research as to the needs of your community. \nGood luck!
463279
Most of the mystery shopping companies that hire outside schedulers like to "hire from within." They want people who are experienced mystery shoppers. They want people they know are reliable and will do a good job for them.\n\nThe best route to becoming a scheduler is to approach some of the companies for which you now shop, especially if they use outside or contract schedulers. If you have good relationships with some schedulers, email them and ask if they know of any openings.\n\nIf you are not currently a mystery shopper, start. Although some companies may hire schedulers who have not shopped, most like to hire schedulers who understand the business. \n\nAlthough a lot of shoppers want to be schedulers, be aware that the work is hard. You are responsible for getting 100% of your block of shops assigned and completed every month. That means when someone flakes on a shop at the last minute you will be on the phone to everyone in that area to find someone who will do it. If there is a shop to schedule in a remote area, you will have to find someone willing to go there and do the shop. \n\nIt takes a special person to be a scheduler. \n\nCathy Stucker\nAuthor of "The Mystery Shopper's Manual"\nhttp://www.MysteryShoppersManual.com/
987021
I don't know if the person who contacted you is offering a legitimate opportunity, but mystery shopping is legitimate. Unfortunately, there are also a lot of people out there taking advantage of people who are interested in mystery shopping.\n\nA legitimate mystery shopping company will not charge you to apply. NEVER pay to register with anyone as a mystery shopper.\n\nIf you want to get mystery shopper jobs, you should apply to as many companies as you can. You will work as an independent contractor and one company will probably not have enough work in your area to keep you busy. Apply to 20, 30, 50 or more companies if you want to make a go of being a professional shopper.\n\nAssignments will be offered to you when they have them available in your area. When you are selected to do a mystery shop, you will be told what the client wants you to look for. You visit the business and interact as if you were a "real" customer, then fill out a report describing what happened. This is not about giving your opinion, it is about reporting what happened. Did someone greet you within 30 seconds? What did they say? Was the rest room clean? Did anyone say thank you? These are they kinds of questions you may answer in a mystery shopping report.\n\nMystery shopping is an enjoyable and flexible way to make extra money, but you should not count on getting rich. Most shoppers do this part time for extra income and "free stuff." Try it--you might like it!\n\nCathy Stucker\nAuthor of "The Mystery Shopper's Manual"
623650
http://www.mysteryshopper.net/National Shopping Service Network\nGive a look, headquartered in Denver and has been in the business for twenty years.
836609
I found a company that I am very happy with.  I'm with Stayin Home and Lovin It! and they are the support team that is partnered with a wellness company that is 21 years old and a member of the Better Business Buerau.  They have a lot of products that cover all the basic needs of people and are safer for you and the environment and the prices are reasonable too.  I found many of them to be cheaper than what I was buying before joining this company.  You can do the whole in home party thing if you like but it is not necessary in order to build this business (but I am told ones that do do even better).  You do not do any order taking or delivering of products.  All your customers shop direct and you recieve a commission on everything that person you enroll buys and long as they buy.  They give great support and free tips to succeed and there is no big investment or stocking products.  There is no risk involved in trying to see if it is right for you.  There is so much information, if you are interested in learning more go to http://healthybetterme.com/ and fill in the get more information part.   I hope you find what you are looking for.
1025985
These aren't particularly random websites.  I found that the only way to become a mystery shopper besides signing with the following websites would be to find a market research company that you would like to work for (or several because this is kind of a long shot) and contact them about becoming a mystery shopper.  Otherwise these are some other choices(all the full websites are listed in sources):\n\nFabjob.com has a section on mystery shoppers and how to become one.  I've personally used fabjob before with other job ideas and they're very helpful and informational.\n\nQAMS.com has a place where you can sign up to become a mystery shopper. You fill out your information and sign a release that says you are shopping for their research.  It is an application and they review it and you are contacted if they need you.\n\nsecretshopper.biz is another site where you register and they contact you.\n\nmystiqueshopper.com is another where you can apply to become a shopper.  Their payments are sent through paypal so everything is safe, and you can be sure they they're a real company that will pay you.\n\nBut those are just a few.\n\nI simply went to yahoo.com and searched for "become a mystery shopper" and got a huge list.  you could do the same to search for market research companies in your state who need mystery shoppers.
103
I would recommend starting with something you enjoy, find a wholesale supplier or make the goods/services yourself, and setup a store with eBay.  This is really quick and easy (AKA: cheap) to start.  If you don't know exactly what you want to do it is a good way to see how it will work without a huge investment.  If you are successful in that marketplace you can take it to the next level and expand into a more traditional business model with less risk!  \n\nTry playing around with writing a business plan and see what your risk and financial tolerance is.  The link below is a good tool for planning a new eBay business, I would recommend you check this out first!
992555
I worked as a mystery shopper recruiter (and had nearly 500 people on my books) all over the country. I also PAID my shoppers (per store visited) on a monthly basis via BACS. The company is based in Warrington, although I worked in the London office. They are called CJ Services, and I would give them a try.\nHappy shopping.
102210
It's def legal.  The store that you are sent to subscribes to the mystery shopping service.  It's a tool they use to make sure that their employees are doing the right things.  That's why they make you write a paragraph of detailed experiences or do a survey.  It is kind of wierd, but for everything you do or purchase you are reimbursed for.  If you want to make sure the company is legit, I'd visit the Better Business Bureau's website.
720856
wow...  how to become a store...\n\nstart hanging merchandise on yourself?
848048
hello friend  \nI am very happy we can discuss about business experience .i hope we can told each other  more important experience .i have a website online store, we are pleasure to offer you large selection of fine products .we are a dedicated shoes .clothes . curio computer for many years ,on this website we will introduce our brand ,as Jordan Puma Nike Gucci Monster dunk Turbo tommy polo Adidas Prada Sony ,Panasonic Lenovo Apple Fujitsu an so on, i hope you can wasting a little time to looking for it, the quality is very goods ,and the price is very low,we can offer large numbers of goods for the seller, this is my MSN llpshop@hotmail.com and bjfshop@hotmail.com .my email address is bjfshop@hotmail.com   fengshop@hotmail.com \ni hope you can joins us ,we are happy contact with some overseas friends .make friend with you ,and make a business-ship with you ,we hope you can interest in our website goods and joins us .thank you very much .\nHave a nice day \nllpshop
32914
I've seen a bunch of these before too & have considered looking into them. The rule of thumb that I developed was that if they wanted any money up front, it was a scam & unless I could find good reviews about the ocmpany through the Better Business Bureau, I wouldn't bother. I never went too far into it, however because life intervened & I finally decided that I'd just look elsewhere.\n\nIf you type well, you might find something out there for at-home data entry. There are jobs out there but they can be somewhat hard to come by...
66909
I used to sell Mary Kay and Close To My Heart (scrapbook supplies). There are lots of direct sales companies, but it's hard to make them work because you need a lot of downline to make real money. There are so many direct sales companies out there, it would be good to get in with a "young" company that doesn't have very many consultants in your area. Then you only can go up from there! \n\nI now do mystery shopping and some paid to read things. For mor info on mystery shopping go to www.mysteryshop.org. Just be careful not to pay someone for a list of companies or to work for them. YOU SHOULD NEVER HAVE TO PAY TO WORK!! Those are all scams. \n\nWith the email reading, I do Hits4Pay. You get $ for reading emails. You get someone to sign up under you and you get paid for the emails they read too (up to 2 levels of downline). It costs nothing to start and they even give you $10 in your account when you sign up.\nhttp://hits4pay.com/members/index.cgi?emivanek\n\nI've been doing it for about 2 weeks and already have 6 people under me and have made a few dollars from reading the emails and having the people under me read them. It's not a get rich quick thing as it takes time to build your $, but the person I've signed under has been doing it only a week longer than me and already has enough to get a check ($25).
41343
for someone to get started with very little I would suggest them to first have capital. a freind is on his way by making first a go with  with e-bay by just knowing a few people with items and has blossumed like you would not believe.it can be a money maker for some and some excellent finds for other, whichever you choose.\n\nfor some that may not know how much fun it is to browse and/or shop on e-bay-here are some instructions to a very good spot to start out finding excellant products at very reasonable prices. this fellow starts out at very low starting bid prices on knives, i-pods, all tools, fishing equiptment, computers, printers and changes his items maybe every other day.how I think he makes it so good on there is he guarentees his items, sends to any country, and he keeps a 100 percent feedback which means the customers have all been happy.\nsome folks dont know how to dig in there so here is how to get to his site fairly easy and from there click around to an entire new trend for shoppers and sellers alike and.b.t.w., (2000canary is his i.d.)--just get to e-bay and click "buy" then under "buy" theres 2 boxes (go under them)is a search option--click "e-bay stores" search and put in the "2000canary"(dont worry about filling in the other blanks)then click search again. you will notice that its also known as his "liquidators companys" because he has done so well hefeatures a store spot on ebay as well. then happy hunting!!gradually you will learn to watch on ebay and deal with folks that have lots of great feedback to avoid problems, which is tricky at first until youve learned the ropes. this I know, will at least send you to an awesome spot to start with some great deals daily.\nthe items also display a current picture of the product that is up for sale as well. I have alot of fun in there myself. I love to buy fitness c d's because I get bored so easy and I mostly pay 2-3 bucks for them if you catch them on a good day where theres few bidders on line. thats when you can scoop up on the deals, my freind!! \n\niso it seems to me that perhaps to buy and resell if one is agressive enough could prosper well. ywe all have to start somewhere!!\n\n\n \n\nWhat kind of company (with the minimum investment) would be successful ing some type of capital backup.
188289
You can make money on line by going to the search engine and looking up mystery shopping.  This is fun, and a great way to meet new people.  And you would be surprised how much you can earn doing mystery shopping for fun or making it a part or full time job.
1071509
If you are not good with websites and you don't want to or find it difficult to learn, you should find someone who can sit down and either do it for you or walk you through. Any kid can do this these days, but you should find someone who is online on a regular basis, preferrably someone who already sells on eBay. If you don't have anyone in mind who would do it as a favor, you should find someone who will help for a fee.\n\nIf you only make a few purses/ponchos per week or month, all you need is create an ebay account and list your items as an auction or with a buy-it-now flat price. If you have many items to sell, you could open up an "eBay Store." There's a monthly fee, but you'll be able to customize it, create different categories, cross-advertise your items, etc. The store makes it easier for potential clients to view everything you are offering.\n\nIf you don't want to deal with any of this online stuff, you should be prepared to share the profits. There are companies that run brick and mortar stores -- you take your merchandise to them, they'll create an ebay auction. If and when it sells, they take a fee and pay you the rest. One of such companies is called Net2Auction (link 1 below). They may not have a location in your area.\n\nAnother good place is on eBay itself -- they have a service called Trading Assistant (link 2 below). It is basically the same thing -- you find someone in your area (make sure they have good feedback on eBay and their auction listings look professional), take your item to them, and they'll sell it for a fee.\n\nThe biggest problem with the above is that these places may not want to sell your items because if the prices of your items are too low (oversaturated marketplace, not enough interested buyers, etc), it won't make sense for them to help you because their fees will eat up all the profits.\n\nBut those would be good places to start. If business goes well, then I'd go back to my first suggestion -- learn the ropes and start listing the auctions yourself and/or open an eBay Store..\n\nGood luck.