shopperpro

So I’ve found mystery shopping companies - now what? Check their home pages - you will see a link that says something like ’shoppers’, ’shopper sign up’, or something to that effect. The best motto here is apply, apply, apply. The applications themselves are simple enough. You will be required to fill out a form giving your contact information, perhaps your demographics, and whatever special equipment you possess such as a digital camera. You will more than likely be asked to sign your ICA at this time as well. ICA stands for Independent Contractor Agreement. Although ICA’s are different for every company they do tend to have a few things in common. This document states that you agree that you are not going to be an employee for the company, but rather understand that you will receive work on contracting basis. It also states that you agree to keep ALL of you assignment information confidential. Your shopper forms, clients they service, and any paperwork you receive will be confidential information. Read through the ICA before you sign it. If you don’t agree with what it states don’t sign it and move on to another company. It’s as simple as that.

There are also some freeware programs that offer some form of ‘form filler’ applications. Please be cautious before choosing to use one. Just because it’s free, doesn’t mean it’s good. More than one has been discovered to contain a second program to blast you with annoying pop-ups, or capture all of your password information and other shady applications. You can read about one such as this here:
http://www.traffick.com/article.asp?aID=84.

At this time you will probably also be requested to submit a writing sample. The majority of shopping assignments do require that you write a few sentences describing your experience. Depending on the assignment you might just be required to write a LOT about the experience. The writing sample is usually 50-100 words and asks you to describe a recent/best/worst shopping experience. Take the time now to write out a few samples so when it comes time to submit them you can just copy and paste. I have mine saved in a Word file. What are the companies looking for? These samples are checked not so much for content in most cases, but rather to make sure that you write using complete sentences, know how to use a spellchecker, and use proper English and grammar. This is not the time to practice your new texting abbreviations and emoticons. Fragment sentences, misspelled words, and grammar are all things that would have to be fixed in the editing process. The less editing they have to do on your reports, the less time it takes them, and the happier they are with you as a shopper.

One note here - I know I keep using a lot of usually, most of the time, and often’s. I apologize for that, but really, every shopping company is different and has it’s own application processes and standards.

Most companies will send you an email with your login information after you have completed your application. If they offer self-assign shopping assignments you can start accepting them now. With other companies you won’t receive your welcome email until your application and writing sample has been reviewed. Just remember patience is a virtue.

Another small note - the majority of companies now pay by Paypal, or at least offer the option. If you don’t have one already, you can get a jump on this one and get your account now at www.paypal.com. I’ll have more to say on this later when I get more into shopping fees.

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