Mystery Shopper Magazine

Company Overview: One of the interesting aspects of the Mystery Shopping Forum is that the shopper doing a little background research on MSCs is bound to find volumes and more volumes of information on companies that have mixed reviews by forum members. However, this is not the case for Shoppers Critique.

Although opinions about this company are at complete opposite ends of the spectrum, at current writing, discussions have only amounted to 5 pages of links. This is only meaningful when one compares this to other MSCs that likewise have extreme fans and detractors. Examples would be Sentry Marketing with a whopping 31 pages of discussion links. Confero and Secret Shopping Services likewise have 16 and 18 respectively, half that of Sentry but still three times that of Shoppers Critique. Even after extensive research, it’s difficult to understand the lack of conversation about this MSC when so many opinions differ so vastly.

Shoppers Critique has been in business spanning decades. It started up in 1972, and is based in Longwood, FL. The company states that it has hundreds of clients all over the U.S. and around the world.

This MSC openly publicizes its clients on its website. The types of assignment opportunities it has to offer vary widely, which is part of its appeal to shoppers. Those include apartments, salons, casual dining, cellular phones, banking, and automotive.

For those that are into the video shopping game, Shoppers Critique also has clients that need visits to be digitally recorded.

The company payment policy is to compensate shoppers via PayPal or check within three to four weeks from receipt of a completed assignment.

To get signed up with Shoppers Critique, go to their website at https://www.shopperscritique.com. Unlike the majority of MSCs, this one lets you see if there are any available shops in your area before going through the effort of signing up. We can only hope that more MSCs will adopt this policy.

Once you’ve determined that it’s worthwhile to get signed up, click on “Register To Become A Shopper”. Complete the registration questionnaire. The application process also requires a writing sample. Sign off on the ICA, and create your user ID and password.

Some jobs are awarded by schedulers. Others can be self-assigned. This MSC, like so many others, state that established shoppers with a proven history will be given priority. Shoppers Critique also sends out a weekly assignment announcement via email to shoppers on Wednesday mornings. It is recommended that shoppers wanting an edge up in getting assignments check the job board the evening prior to the announcement email going out.

It’s hard to synopsize the discussions on www.mysteryshopforum.com about this MSC. For every positive comment, there’s a negative one. Some shoppers feel that the reports are easy. Others feel that they are tedious, and cite instances of 30 questions in a report for a $3 phone call assignment. Some forum members have stated that Shoppers Critique has lots of interesting assignments. Others say that the assignments are not worth the pay.

A big complaint was that the company is slow to award assignments, and that many shoppers simply never do get assignments.

One point of agreement shared by all is that none have had payment issues.

Personal Experience: I was curious enough about this MSC while doing research for this article to sign up with them. Because of the disparate viewpoints of forum members, it was a plus to not have a history with this company to skew my perspective. I still don’t know what to think. Only time will tell after I get my first assignments from them.