That's a great point Tara! And Jon, you can always send an email to the MSP and ask their editors for feedback on your grammar, to ask if the reports are satisfactory, etc.

Thank you both for mentioning this!

Hello Joanne,

Many shops can be self-assigned (basically just taken without having to request them), and the total number of self-assigned shops you can have at any one time will increase as you reach higher shopper levels.

As for getting your requests approved, that will depend on many factors - how many shoppers requested the same shop(s), for which date did you and others request the shop(s), your experience in a certain category of shops, and various others.

Thanks for asking!

Yeah, that's a good point too. But be careful, if the shop does require you a follow-up, make sure to leave the right info (or if it's stated that you must leave the right info) :)

Hi Edith,

I don't think I've ever seen Coyle shops...are they in the iSecretShop system? Most MSPs on iSS only have the restriction of you not being fully employed as a scheduler or editor by their or another MSP company, but I guess different clients/MSPs have different requirements.

Hi Debby,

Oh I absolutely agree about providing RELEVANT information like you said - being detailed and objective and providing useful info is great and encouraged. But in that part about writing too much, I was referring more to situations where shoppers lace their answers with their stories, personal thoughts, attitudes and opinions, previous experiences, mentioning other locations or events, going into way to much detail trying to put things into context.

I'll give you a brief example of what I'm talking about:

"The associate had straight brown, shoulder length hair with blond highlights" - is good (and more detailed than "She had brown hair."), BUT,

"The associate had wonderful straight brown hair that was shoulder length but she also had blond highlights which I think were a bit too bright and possibly distasteful and certainly not seen in the store across the street where me and my partner regularly shop..." - that's too much. :)

As one MSP put it when correcting me once - a shop report should be like a police report in a way: precise, detailed, objective, and to the point.

As for editors returning shops all the time, that's really not in their interest. In a best case scenario, an editor wants to open a shop report, see that everying is answered, well-written and is where it's supposed to be, verify the validity of the shop, approve it and move on to the next one.

What I do is always read the question again after I've answered, to make sure it gives the info requested, in the right way. I found that this helps reduce the number of returns to a minimum.

Thanks for your input!

Hi Nicole - sure, you can reply to(or call) whoever has been contacting you and let them know what your real address is.

Good luck!

Hi Kendra, and welcome to the Forum, and the awesome world of secret shopping!

The best advice I can give you is to explore the iSecretShop system as much as you want first, and to always ask whenever you have questions. If you want to know something about the system itself and how stuff works in general, open a support ticket for iSecretShop. If you have questions about a specific shop, email the Mystery Shopping Provider company that posted it - they will tell you all about it.

You can also go to iSSprep.com and complete a couple of courses there - they give provide you with more knowledge about the system, and also with shopper points, to boost your score :)

Also, here is a thread with a bunch of tips and tricks when it comes to secret shopping, I hope it helps :) https://www.secretshopforum.com/thread/1/2/94/pro-tips-for-those-who-want-to-be-the-best-shoppers

Good luck!

Hi Kathleen & David,

You are both right in some regard. At level 1, the self-assign limit is indeed 2 shops, increasing to 3 on level 2, and rising steadily as your levels get higher. The exact numbers per level (and the score requirements for each level) are susceptible to change, so they are considered proprietary company info and not publicly shared, but what I CAN tell you is that after level 5, the self-assigned limit rises exponentially, enabling you to take on a very large number of shops without having to request them.

If you see a self-assigned limit number that's lower (or higher) than you think it should be, here's what you can do, depending on the type of device you are using:

For Android: Log out of the app, then tap the Overview button and drag the app off the screen to close it. Then open the app, and re-login.

For iPhone: Log out of the app, then double tap Home, and swipe up on the app icon to close it. Then open, and re-login.

This should take care of the problem, as it's most likely a cashing issue.

Now, as David said, some shops are setup in such a way that allow a virtually unlimited number of self-assigns, and some can't be self-assigned at all and need to be requested first - it all depends on the way the MSP has set them up when creating the project. Most are set up in such a way that they can be self-assigned if you have not reached your self-assign limit at that moment, and otherwise have to be requested.

I hope this helps!

That's so great to hear Tara! We all enjoy a bit of positive feedback/encouragement from time to time, and I wish more people did that! :)

Hi Jeremy,

You should always read the instruction,s guidelines (and scenario, if there is one), and then ask the MSP that posted the shop if you still have any questions about it - they will tell you exactly what is expected of you so that your shop is well done and approved.

Thanks!