I was thinking in terms of the types of places where two people going out to dinner would likely spend well over $200 without purchasing alcohol.....

Egypt: I would not expect many of these companies to be particularly active there, so, yes, I would expect it be be normal to not see any shops in Egypt....

@Richard: That all depends on where you are located and how large your search area is....

A little bit of knowledge can go a long way when requesting bonuses (including for travel)....

First, recognize that every MSC is trying to make a profit. As a part of that, they are going to pay shoppers as little as needed in order to get a job done. So, they would rather pay somebody who is next door to a shop than to pay you $50 to travel 30 miles to it. MSC's will not give out bonuses unless they fill they need to in order to get the job done correctly.

Second, MSC's have contracts with their clients that have all sorts of rules to which we, as shoppers, are not privy. Sometimes they must have every location for a client shopped. Sometimes they might only need to visit as few as 80%. Some of their contracts are for monthly visits. Others quarterly, semi-annually or annually. The closer to a deadline an MSC is, the more likely they are to award a bonus - especially in a location that *must* get shopped.

So, if you are hoping to be granted a bonus to make visits...

* Watch the job board and see which shops do not get picked up at all. Especially watch rural locations that might not have many shoppers nearby.

* Ask towards the end of the month and quarter - especially if the MSC has already posted a modest bonus online.

* Make sure you have a fantastic reputation as a shopper - both for being extremely reliable and doing great work.

* If you are called or specifically emailed by a scheduler, there is a good chance that they are willing to offer some level of incentive pay. Find out what they are offering and make a counter offer that fits your needs.

How much of a bonus should you request? This is different for everybody. If you live in an area where the minimum wage is $8 an hour and the average new home is $250,000, your "needs" will be very different than somebody who lives in an area with a $16 minimum wage and new home costs closer to $1,000,000.... Ask for the amount that would make you "happy" to do the shop. If you are countered with a lesser amount, decide if it is acceptable to *you.*

Deborah -

It could, depending on the actual shop and guidelines. I would email the scheduler with this question.

Do the courses on the iSS platform. As a new shopper, they will give you an overview as to how this all works. On this platform, they'll also give you your first few "points" which will give you a little boost when hoping pick up your first few assignments.

In fine dining establishments, it's reasonably common for a happy guest to ask for the manager so as to give him compliments about the meal and/or staff. If s/he does not automatically introduce him/herself, introduce yourself and ask the manager for his/her name.

No. There is no reason to pay for any training for mystery shopping as you are starting out.

If you decide to take shopping seriously, it might be worthwhile to attend a a mystery shopping conference at some point as doing so, can help you to develop quality contacts with mystery shopping companies.

If a company rejects your shop, they cannot sell it to the client and must find somebody else to perform it. In other words, they don't make money with rejected shops.

Have you responded to the editor with a more directed question, such as: "What types of details do you need? I'm happy to add them in, but don't know what you are asking for." If you truly believe that your shop is complete and correct, you can generally go up the chain with the MSC and get to the project manager. S/he will have the authority to override the editor - or be able to provide you with the clarity you need.

Those emails advertising shops go out to thousands upon thousands of shoppers. It is very likely that the shops were picked up by another shopper before you had a chance to look for them online. Moreover, they were likely posted/updated online before the email was sent out, so anybody searching for jobs could easily have found them before you even received the email.

As for changing your email address on your profile, if you changes aren't saving properly, you can create a ticket for the iSS staff.

If you did not earn over $600 from any one company, you will not receive any 1099's. You can just write-in the total you earned based off your records.