Apply – verb – To indicate to the scheduler that you would like to perform a given shop, for the indicated pay and by the indicated Due Date. This option is used when a shop cannot be self-assigned, or where it could be self-assigned but the shopper does not meet the minimum grade or profile.
Example: His shopper grade was not high enough to self-assign, but he applied for the shop and the scheduler assigned him.
See also: Job Board, Self-Assign
Cancel citation – noun – A note on a shopper’s record that negatively affects the shopper’s overall rating and indicates to other schedulers that the shopper canceled a shop after having it assigned. This citation is typically given only if the cancellation came the day before or the day the shop is due, or if the shop involved setup work beyond simple online assignment (for example, if an item needed to be mailed to the shopper).
Citation – noun – A note on a shopper’s record that affects the shopper’s score either negatively or positively and gives valuable information to other schedulers.
Example: John Doe has several negative citations on his record, which pull his shopper score down to a 6, even though he gets 9s and 10s on most shops he performs.
Synonyms: Cite
See also: Flake citation, Hero citation, Cancel citation
Due date – noun – The date a shopper must perform a given shop by. The shop may be performed before the due date, as long as it is after the start date. The report is due within 12 hours of the shop’s performance.
Example: Even though the due date isn’t until Friday, I’ll perform the shop on Wednesday.
See also: Start date
Flake
Example: That shopper should not be assigned that shop, since the last time he was assigned a shop, he flaked.
Example: One should not count on that shopper; he is a flake.
Flake citation – noun – A note on a shopper’s record that negatively affects the shopper’s overall rating and indicates to other schedulers that the shopper did not perform a shop by its due date or timely notify the scheduler that the shop would not be performed.
Geoverify
-noun – A feature available through JobSlinger's smartphone app that allows you to use your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Android's internal GPS to mark your spot so we can confirm you were at the correct location. It is NOT required, but certainly adds legitimacy to your report! You'll obtain a code through the app that you can enter into the report. This code will tell us exactly where you were, on what date, and at what time.
Example: That shopper used GeoVerify to prove that he visited the correct store location.
-verb – To use JobSlinger’s app to confirm the date and time one is at a location.
Example: I know that shopper was at that store; he GeoVerified it.
Hero citation – noun – A note on a shopper’s record that positively affects the shopper’s overall rating and indicates to other schedulers that the shopper can be counted on.
Job Board – noun – The platform on which a shopper can browse available shops in an area. Shoppers can search for shops by state or zip code, see a map of every location, and learn the details and pay of each shop. From the Job Board, one can either self-assign or apply for a shop.
Example: Nobody emailed me about this shop, but I found it on the Job Board.
See also: Apply, Self-assign
Self-assign – verb – To automatically assign a shop to one’s self. This option is only available for some shops, and should not be exercised unless the shopper is able to complete the shop on or before the due date and for the indicated pay.
See also: Apply, Job Board
Shopper profile – noun – A collection of information provided by the shopper, including demographic information, that helps determine whether a given shopper is a candidate for a given shop.
Start date – noun – The first day on which a shopper may permissibly perform an assigned shop. Shops performed before the start date can not be accepted.
Example: I wanted to perform that shop on Friday, but the start date was not until Saturday.
For every shop you are assigned, you MUST log into your shop log and click on “CONFIRM” to confirm it. This must be done with in 24 hours of being assigned the shop. If the shop is not confirmed, it will be canceled and you would be issued a cancelation citation which will lower your shop grade with us. If you do not confirm your shop, that does not mean your shop will automatically be canceled, you must email your scheduler to inform them that you cannot complete your shop.
For every shop that you are assigned, you will have a due date. This is the date that we need your location shopped by. Your location can be shopped on or before your due date, but make sure you look at your start date. Some shoppers tend to complete their shop ON their assigned due date; however we prefer the shop is done on or before your assigned due date. Your report must be submitted within 12 hours of your due date.
If you receive an email for a shop, but do not see it on the Job Board, the shop has already been assigned to another Mystery Shopper. This happens with high-demand shops. Often times, shops will appear on the Job Board before you receive an email.
If you have accepted a shop assignment and need an extension it is your responsibility to email or call your scheduler as early as possible to explain the situation. In many cases, schedulers are flexible and able to work with you. When you contact your scheduler be sure to include all information including your name, email, shop identification number, shop location, and date you can perform the shop by.
A mystery shop is a shop where the employees of the location do not know that you are visiting, and are not to know you are a mystery shopper during your visit. The point of a mystery shop is to evaluate the location from a normal customer’s perspective. An announced shop is generally an audit of the location. You arrive to the location unannounced, but announce yourself upon your arrival. In general, the point of an announced shop is to make sure that brand standards are being met on a day-to-day basis.
Your shopper profile should always be filled out accurately and kept up to date. This information can qualify or disqualify you from shops. In addition, shops are offered based on zip/area codes so make sure your information is correct.
A citation is a way for schedulers to affect your overall shopper rating either negatively or positively. Each citation will be weighed which can affect your overall shopper rating.
No. If you live in Nevada, you can only perform an announced audit. Current Nevada law states that you MUST be an employee of a Private Investigator if you are going to perform shops in Nevada. It is illegal for you to perform mystery shops as an independent contractor. Mystery Shopping Companies and Shoppers caught shopping illegally face fines of $2500 per instance and more. While we still encourage you to educate yourself by completing the MSPA certifications, we want to make sure you are operating legally, as well.
A shopper’s shop log consists of all shops assigned to the shoppers. Shoppers are able to view their upcoming shops, and past shops with payment details.
Below is an example of a Shop Log. This example points out some specific areas often missed by even the best shoppers and the general steps to take once you are assigned.
*Note: After opening your Mystery Shopping Guidelines, you will have to refresh your browser to see the “View/Submit” link.
**Note: Downloading the Mystery Shopping Guidelines from the e-mail link will not allow you to see the “View/Submit” link. You must also download them from your Shop Log.
You can get a shop assignment by visiting the Job Board. Upon logging into your account, click on the “Job Board” icon at the top of your screen.
There you can search by country, state or zip code.
Once you choose a country, state or zip code and click the gray search link you will be directed to the Job Board for that area.
The Map link on the right side of the screen will show a map of where the shop will take place. You should check this first, to make sure the location is where you think it is.
If your Shopper Rating is high enough, you can click “Self Assign” and you will be taken to a page where you can assign yourself to the shop.
If you choose “Self Assign” you will be automatically assigned to the shop.
If the link says “More Info” the shop cannot be Self Assigned. You will have to apply for the shop. We are more likely to give shops to shoppers with a rating of 8-10, MSPA Certified Shoppers, and shoppers we have worked with in the past.
Once you apply for a shop, check your inbox periodically for the acceptance email.
Intelli-Shop services the entire United States. We are currently focusing on the cities of New York NY, Dallas Tx, Chicago IL, Washington D.C., Los Angeles CA, and Atlanta GA.
You may have noticed a "GeoVerify" section near the top of your recent reports. This is a new feature available through JobSlinger's smartphone app that allows you to use your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Android's internal GPS to mark your spot so we can confirm you were at the correct location.
It is NOT required, but certainly adds legitimacy to your report! You'll obtain a code through the app that you can enter into the report. This code will tell us exactly where you were, on what date, and at what time.
If you have a smartphone and want to make your shop reporting stronger, consider downloading JobSlinger's app. It's free, and is available here (http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/jobslinger-mystery-shop-mate/id390597964?mt=8) for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Android users can get the app here (https://market.android.com/details?id=com.jobslinger&feature=search_result).
In 2002, the MSPA debuted our first ever Gold Certification Workshop. The certification program was very successful and proved to be in high demand from both shoppers and Mystery Shopping companies alike. In 2003, we took the in-person workshop nationwide with an aggressive schedule of visiting 23 cities across the US. In early 2008, we launched the Gold DVD program and cut back on the in-person workshops.
Gold Certification tells MSPA member companies who want to engage you that you have been trained in the essentials of mystery shopping and you have agreed to uphold professional standards and ethics. You can obtain Gold Certification by purchasing a Gold DVD and taking a series of online tests or by completing one of our in-person workshops (these are held only rarely, though). Gold Certification demonstrates you've taken the time and made the effort to study and become an expert mystery shopper.
The content of both the live workshops and the Gold DVD is exactly the same. The Gold DVD costs $99; there will be a $5 charge for shipping and handling for the Gold DVD on top of the base price and, where required, we will collect state sales taxes.
The Gold Certification Workshop costs $125 due to the additional costs of an instructor, travel, hotel room and AV rental, etc. You will experience many opportunities to learn, share and develop your business during your experience with the Gold Certification process. Live workshops give shoppers the opportunity to interact with other shoppers and some company personnel, while Gold DVD expose the viewer to video-shop experiences and give the shopper a chance to review the material presented.
Cancellation POLICY: Any cancellations received fewer than 72 hours before a live workshop starts will receive a refund, less a $25 processing fee.
Late Arrival POLICY: If you arrive at the workshop an hour or more after the scheduled start time you will be considered late and will not be allowed to participate in the workshop, therefore you will be not be allowed to sit for the Gold Certification Exam in order to become Gold Certified.
Social Security information will not be required for viewing or accepting assignments; however, the Social Security number in your profile must be accurate in order for you to be paid for assignments completed after November 1, 2008. This requirement has been included in all of our shop details as of November 1, 2008.
Your Social Security Number will be encrypted and stored in our secured server for your protection. It will be shared only with the IRS for verification and no one else.
Only U.S. residents are required to enter their Social Security or Tax Identification information. All shoppers outside of the United States are not required to provide this information. When logging in to the Current Shoppers portion of In-Site, you will be prompted to update your profile by entering a Tax ID or Social Security number. Simply select the defer option box in the Social Security Number/ Tax ID Information Box when prompted to update your profile and you will have full access to the job board without entering a Social Security or Tax ID number.
In order for the IRS to process your information, your name and Social Security Number must match with IRS records. You must check your most recent tax return and enter your name exactly as it appears on your tax return. That way the IRS will be able to confirm your information quickly and accurately.
Verification of your information will occur three days or less after submission.
You will only be notified if your information is invalid. If your information has been successfully processed you will not receive any messages.
If you have received an invalid message and have re-entered your information, that information will be verified within three days or less. You will receive a message in your e-mail account only if that information again was unsuccessfully verified.
Should you have any further questions please call, 877.894.6349.
Payment for your shops will automatically be sent through PayPal approximately 45-60 days after the last day of the month in which your shops were completed. Selected shops may be sent to PayPal approximately 30 days after the last day of the month your shops were completed.
Please keep in mind that it takes Pay Pal up to 5 business days to process payments once they have been transferred. We ONLY pay via Pay Pal; no checks are ever issued.
For evaluations requiring some form of paperwork (receipts, associate business cards, etc.) we must receive your paperwork by the 1st of the month in which the payment will be made in order to get it processed in time to include your payment in that monthly payment batch. Any paperwork received after the 1st will not be paid until the following monthly payment batch.
If your online submission is incomplete, please update your report with all requested information immediately upon notification.
Many of our reports allow you to scan the paperwork and upload it directly in the report; this is the fastest and best method. If you must fax something to us, send it to Attn: Shopper Payments 419-872-5104. Our mailing address is: Intellishop, Attn: Shopper Payments, 28315 Kensington Lane, Suite a Perrysburg, Ohio, 43551 (when mailing your paperwork, be sure to retain legible copies of your receipts, in case anything gets lost in the mail).
We pay our evaluators only via PayPal, an internet payment service; we do not issue checks. Please note: the e-mail address that you are signed up with on our online system MUST also be your PayPal email address. Payments will only be sent to the e-mail address in your Shopper Profile in our InSite system. For more information on PayPal and setting up an account, go to www.paypal.com, and click on either "Request Money" or "Sign Up For Your Personal Account." There is no cost to you to use this service, and your payment is ready for you to claim within five business day after we post it to PayPal.
No. If you conduct more than one evaluation for IntelliShop during a pay period, we will combine those into one payment to PayPal for you. It is your responsibility to keep detailed records of payments due to you so that you can reconcile what is sent via PayPal with what you are due to be paid. If you believe there is a discrepancy, please review your own records to resolve the issue before contacting IntelliShop, and when contacting us please have as many details as possible ready to communicate.
You will be notified by automated e-mail when we have sent your payment to PayPal.
Log on to your personal shop log at http://insite.intelli-shop.com and look under the Shop Fees column; if we have paid you for your evaluation, it will say "Paid On:" and give the date that we sent it to PayPal, right above the shop fees. If the area above the shop fees is blank, then we haven't received all of your paperwork, or your evaluation is not yet eligible for payment.
Please contact PayPal at 888-221-1161 to see whether they received your payment. If you still have a question after speaking with them, e-mail us at payments@intelli-shop.com, with the details (Client evaluated, evaluation date, payment amount expected).
This usually means your account has not been activated with PayPal, or you have used an incorrect login, password, etc. Contact PayPal at 888-221-1161.
You will have to wait 30 days from the date the payment was originally sent to PayPal. To prevent payment fraud, PayPal will not return those funds to us any sooner. Our policy is that if you change your e-mail address, we do not pay those funds until the funds are returned to our account by PayPal in 30 days. If we have made an error that causes you to not be able to claim your funds, we will re-send the funds immediately.
PayPal returns payments when your Pay Pal account is not setup properly or there is a problem with your account, and also when the payment is left unclaimed for 30 days. If your payment is returned to us, and you are still eligible to receive that payment, we will immediately re-send the payment to PayPal when the funds are returned to our account (30 days after we sent the original payment).
Log on to your shopper profile at http://insite.intelli-shop.com and enter your new PayPal address in the e-mail field. Please note: the e-mail address that you are signed up with on our online system MUST be your PayPal address. Payments will only be sent to the e-mail address in your Shopper Profile in our InSiteTM system.
For security reasons, PayPal does not allow us to access our evaluators' accounts. Please contact them directly at 888-221-1161 for assistance with your account.
For any other questions, please email our Shopper Payments Department at payments@intelli-shop.com.
Our InSite™ reporting system allows us to issue a numerical rating to a shopper following each report they submit to us. This system is based on a “1-10 scale”, where 10 is the best score possible, and 1 is the lowest. Our system may be a little tougher than some other companies you might shop for; we have very high standards. We also sometimes take a shopper’s attitude into account when awarding scores; if you are nice, professional, and cooperative in your dealings with us, we’ll give you the benefit of the doubt when judgment calls are made; if you’re difficult, abusive, or unprofessional, we won’t, and you may not shop for us ever again.
To achieve a perfect score of 10, you must:
The following information will detail for you how our rating system works.
10 – Perfect
All instructions in the shop details were followed. You submitted your report on the same day on which the shop was completed. All comments matched the scores awarded. There were a lot of comments, they described exactly what was observed in factual terms only, from start to finish, and there weren’t any extraneous or inappropriate comments. Employee names and descriptions were complete. You spelled everything correctly, your punctuation was perfect, and you had good-to-great grammar throughout the report. No personal opinions were given, and you didn’t tell the client how to run their business. Our proofreaders did not have to contact you, via either e-mail or telephone, to clarify anything.
9 – Pretty Good
Most things from the “10” category were present, but there were some areas that could have been better. Your report was still submitted the same day as the shop date. You demonstrated a thorough understanding of the shop requirements, and followed them exactly as requested. All comments matched the scores awarded. You may have had a couple of typos, punctuation issues, or grammatical errors. Your comments may not have been as complete or “full”. You may not have given comments in all areas required, such as every question where a “No” answer or less-than-maximum points were awarded.
8 – Good
This report was still acceptable, but we probably had to contact you to clarify some things. You may have had one question with a discrepancy between the score awarded and the comment for it. We may have had to re-word some of your comments to make them clearer and more relevant. The report may have been submitted up to one day past the shop date. You may have had comments that didn’t make sense for the shop requirements. You may have had more than one score that was contradicted by a comment you made. There may have been more than a few spelling, punctuation or grammatical errors.
7-Average
Our proofreaders were able to process your report, but needed your help to do so. You generally followed instructions, but may have missed one or two points that then required clarification. Your report may have been submitted up to two days past the shop date. The comments you gave were probably very “thin”, meaning not enough of them, and/or that you simply restated the question as a comment or gave a one-sentence answer. There may have been two discrepancies between scores awarded and comments to support them. You may have had a fair number of spelling, punctuation, and grammatical errors, but not so many that the report wasn’t usable or easy to understand.
6 – Below Average
This report wasn’t very good at all. It was submitted more than 3 days after the shop date. It had a lot of “gaps” in it, and you probably didn’t follow the shop instructions. You may have submitted it in all capital letters, or using a very high number of capital letters where not appropriate. There were a high number of spelling, punctuation and/or grammatical errors, which made the report tough to read, and/or difficult to understand. You may have been contacted more than once for clarification and additional information. You weren’t prepared properly when you did the shop, and probably didn’t read the shop instructions completely. There were a lot of errors between the scores awarded and the comments to support them, or there just may not have been enough comments at all. Many of the comments that did appear were probably rewritten. You may have given opinions and/or were trying to tell the client how to run their business. You may have demonstrated an obvious bias either for or against this client, thus biasing the entire report.
5 or below
Reports that fall into this range are really poor, and may not be used at all. Your report was more than 3 days past the shop date. You may have gone to the wrong location. You may have used all capital letters. You may have submitted a report for another location of the same client, mixing up the information for both locations. You were not properly prepared at all to do this shop, and it was very obvious upon reading your report. There may have been no comments, or most/all comments given may have been simply restating the question and not adding any insight or value. You were contacted for further assistance, and either didn’t respond, responded very slowly, and/or were uncooperative when you did respond or when we spoke with you. You may have had a friend or relative go do your shop, and that was indicated in the comments. You probably gave a lot of personal opinions and/or told our client how they should run their business. You may have said very negative, opinionated comments about the client and/or something that occurred during the shop.
1 – Excluded
This will indicate that we had to have this location re-shopped because of the way you completed your shop (or didn’t complete it), and that you will probably not be paid for the shop that was originally assigned to you. You may be deactivated from our shopper database.
IntelliShop’s schedulers review each shopper’s rating prior to assigning them any shops. Shoppers with averages between and 8 and a 10 will receive the majority of our shop offers; obviously, the higher the average score, the more (and better!) shop assignments you will receive from us.
We give preference to:
Anything you can to make it easy for us to do business with you is greatly appreciated and always remembered. A relationship that is mutually positive, respectful, and profitable is the best of all worlds
No, but you really do not need to. The legal issues that IC Pro addresses are specific to the U.S.
IC Pro is a way for you, the mystery shopper, to declare yourself as an independent contractor.
At the federal state level, government agencies are challenging independent contractor (IC) status in many industries. The goal of this legislation is to be able to have independent contractors declared employees to be able to collect more taxes and fees from the mystery shopper and the company.
While mystery shopping is not the intended target of this legislation, it is in danger of getting caught up in this unless action is taken from all sides. This is why mystery shopping companies are giving preferential treatment to shoppers who support keeping the mystery shopping industry as free as possible by declaring themselves as mystery shopping professionals running independent businesses.
While being considered an employee might sound attractive, the reality is:
Your W-9 information is securely STORED in accordance with IRS specifications. Authorized representatives of Sassie companies that you work for (and have connected to on JobSlinger) can access this information if they are called upon by the government to produce a W-9 from you.
The databases are operated and secured by SurfMerchants LLC in Boston who has operated in the mystery shopping industry since 1998 as SASSIE and JobSlinger. SurfMerchants LLS has received IRS authorization to collect and verify (only with the individual's explicit permission) SSN and EIN information on behalf of mystery shopping companies who are also IRS authorized.
Nothing. It is 100% free and available to all JobSlinger members!
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2025 Michael Owens Way
Perrysburg, OH 43551
(419) 872-5103
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