Avoid Getting Scammed: The Mystery Shoppers Providers Association

For all those interested in mystery shopping, the MSPA is an internationally known mystery shopping association. They offer membership to mystery shopping companies as well as to individuals seeking mystery shopping certification. If you have begun to browse the forums where mystery shoppers gather with other mystery shoppers, you will have seen that people sometimes have something along the lines of Silver Certified or Gold Certified, with or without their MSPA # following it, in their signatures.

To be silver certified, you just take an online test. Silver Certification costs $15. The test isn't too hard, but will definitely show a mystery shopping company that you are taking steps to show that you are a serious mystery shopper.

In order to become Gold Certified, you must first have silver certification, then you must attend a day long Gold Certification Workshop, which are held in various cities during the course of the year. In addition to becoming certified and learning more about the industry and how to be a better shopper, the workshops are great for networking with other mystery shoppers and with company representatives. The workshop itself costs $99 (as of 2006 workshop prices) and includes 7 classroom hours, and lunch.

Both certifications are connected with the email address you use to sign up at MSPA, and if you change the email address you use with MSPA member companies, you'll have to change it at the MSPA site as well. If you don't, the companies' systems will not accept your certification #, because it will not match your email address in MSPA records.

Some say that having either silver or gold certification has increased their amount of jobs they are offered and/or accepted for. Others will wholeheartedly disagree with that, but say that getting certified does show something about one's dedication. I say that of course it is unnecessary, but it does help to convey to mystery shopping companies (the ones who are a part of the MSPA) that you are serious about what you do as a mystery shopper. I suggest that you do not pursue either certification unless you know you for sure that you will be mystery shopping in the future & you are serious about it, and/or you have already ventured into the industry, have done a few assignments, and feel that you would like to pursue certification.

In some cases, some member companies of the MSPA seem to give preferential treatment to certified shoppers. People don't realize it, but legitimate mystery shopping companies get crap from dishonest, unreliable mystery shopper wannabes all the time, and that of course hurts their businesses, and so it is understandable that some would want to take extra measures in their screening process of the potential shoppers.

As far as I know, mystery shopper certification from the MSPA is really the only certification program that carries any weight in the mystery shopping world. Companies that aren't members of the MSPA obviously won't care either way if you have this certification, but most of the bigger, more established mystery shopping companies are members.

*Just a note- do not pay for "directories" or "information packets" about mystery shopping. Do not pay any companies any money just to be listed in their directory.