What is mystery shopping? How much can I earn? What are the requirements? How much do assignments pay?
All of these questions and more are answered in our Mystery Shopping 101 article. Click here to find out more about mystery shopping in general.

I can't remember my password. What do I do?
Simply click on the "forget password?" link at the top of any page on the website. A small popup window will appear. Type in your email address and hit submit and your password will be emailed to you immediately.

I can't log in to the site. Help!
First of all, make sure that you have typed in your email address and password correctly. It's important that you enter your password exactly the same as when you registered. Passwords are case sensitive so 'PASSWORD' is not the same as 'PassWord' or 'password.' If in doubt, use the "Forgot password" link located on the top right of every page to have it emailed to you.
    Also, the ShadowShopper site uses "cookies" to make the site easier to use. You MUST enable "cookies" on your web browser in order to use the site. You'll know you're logged in by looking at the upper right corner of the screen. If you see "You are logged in as "YOUR NAME" you're all set.

How do I apply for jobs?
You can either click on the link at the bottom of the email notifications we send you, or you can go to the search for jobs page. The search for jobs page will bring up a list of assignments in your area. You then can click on the job and a job details page will pop up (Silver and Gold members only). At the bottom of the job details page is an apply button (again for Silver and Gold members only). Click this and write your message to the job scheduler and hit submit. That's all there is to it!

I'm no longer receiving job notifications in my email. What happened?
If we send you 3 or more emails that are returned as undeliverable, we are required to turn your job notification preference to 'off'. Returned emails can be caused by either having a full mailbox (over your disk space limit) or by mis-indentifying the job notification emails as spam with some spam-blocking software. To turn the notification feature back on, simply log into the site and go to the "My Preferences page." From there, click 'Yes' on the option that says 'Send automatic job notification emails to my inbox' and click the button that says 'Click Here to Update.'

I applied for a job but never heard back from you. Why?
Remember, we are NOT a mystery shopping company. We are a mystery shopping matching company. We DO NOT hire shoppers, our members (mystery shopping companies, merchandising companies, etc.) do. We send you the job opportunities and give you information about how to win assignments. Make sure to take our tour and read our article on how to win assignments.

Will ShadowShopper.com ever send a job to me via regular mail?
Never. We will always contact you via email. If you do receive a letter in the mail claiming to be from ShadowShopper (with a realistic looking logo) and asking you to mystery shop by cashing a large check THROW THAT OFFER AWAY. It is a Nigerian check scam ring pretending to be Shadowshopper. The scam is run out of Canada and the UK, and the check will bounce. Remember, ShadowShopper provides you with hundreds of job opportunities, and for your protection, we do it only via email and our website.

Does ShadowShopper operate in Canada, UK, Australia, Mexico or other countries?
We do operate in Canada and have many job opportunties for our friends up north. We do not, however, have any opportunities in the UK, Australia, Mexico or anywhere else outside of the US and Canada.

I see a term or abbreviation I don't understand. What does it mean?
Check out our definitions article in the shopper university by clicking here. Most common abbreviations and confusing terms are defined there.

What is your phone number so I can call you with my questions?
We do not offer phone support. Instead, we handle all support requests and questions via email only. We do this to keep our costs down and so we have a record of members questions and comments.

I want to join but I don't want to enter my credit card information online. Can I pay another way?
Yes you can. We currently have two alternate payment options. Both require that you sign up for our free Bronze membership first so that all your information will be in our system. Then, when we have receipt of funds, we'll upgrade your account and notify you.

Paying via PayPal
Send your payment to paypal@shadowshopper.com. In the notes section please include the email address you used when you signed up on ShadowShopper so we know which account to update. Click here to go directly to the PayPal website.

NOTE FOR CANADIAN MEMBERS: Unfortunately we CANNOT accept Canadian checks or money orders. Credit cards or PayPal only. Sorry!

Paying by Check or Money Order
Mail your payment to the following address and include your name and email address. We process all checks and money orders the day we receive them and notify you immediately. Please don't email asking if we've received your check until you've allowed 15 days for us to receive payment. Thank you!

IMPORTANT! Remember to signup for a free membership before mailing us so that you're in our system.

ShadowShopper
1894 US Highway 50 East, #4-215
Carson City, NV 89701-3202

Do Gold members really get opportunities to get paid to mystery shop a cruise?
YES! ShadowShopper exclusively offers mystery shopping cruise jobs regularly to our Gold and Lifetime members. We do this through partnerships we've established with several major luxury cruise lines to help them improve their customer's experience onboard. Additionally, our members may be chosen to mystery shop the services and shops onboard during the cruise. Click here to learn more about these exciting opportunities.

We're currently investigating additional job opportunities for our Gold and Lifetime members to mystery shop casinos, vacation packages, sporting events and much more. We'll notify all our members as these new partnerships take effect.

Do I have to be a private investigator if I want to shop in Nevada?
It is NOT necessary for mystery shoppers to become a private investigator in order to receive assignments. If a shopper wants to complete assignments in Nevada, it is necessary to register with a firm that is associated with the Private Investigative Licensing Board. Any mystery shopper who conducts assignments in Nevada must be an employee of a private investigator. Fees can range from $100 - $120, depending on the company. Nevada is strictly regulated and mystery shopping companies that do not follow correct procedure can be fined thousands of dollars.

A friend of mine told me that I shouldn't have to pay to mystery shop. Why should I pay to join?
We agree that you shouldn't have to pay to mystery shop; and that's not why we charge a membership fee. What we do is bring the mystery shopping opportunities to you and that is what we charge you for. Our hundreds of job schedulers post thousands of jobs to our site each month. We search for the jobs you want, in your area, and deliver those jobs straight to your email inbox. That's why thousand of shoppers are using us to do the hard work of finding the best mystery shopping jobs nationwide. You concentrate on enjoying the opportunities to get paid to eat and shop, and leave the searching to us. You can spend a large amount of your free time searching for jobs or, for the monthly equivalent of a meal at McDonald's, you can pay ShadowShopper to do all the time-consuming work for you.

Aren't all of the jobs on your site posted on various free job boards?
NO! In fact, we have dozens and dozens of individual job schedulers that exclusively post thousands of mystery shopping jobs on ShadowShopper and nowhere else. This includes our exclusive cruise line mystery shopping jobs right now; and in the months to come we expect to add casino, vacation, sporting event and many more premium mystery shopping jobs. We're constantly adding more and more job schedulers each month. Many of whom are choosing to only post at ShadowShopper. Some of our job schedulers do post their jobs outside of ShadowShopper on free job boards. But don't you have better things to do with your time than to spend an hour or more every night searching for jobs you want? Instead, why not leave it up to us to email these very same jobs directly to you.

You've sent me jobs that aren't what I thought were mystery shopping jobs. What gives?
Our job schedulers have jobs that aren't just mystery shopping but also include product demonstrations, evaluations, testing and more. Sometimes the jobs won't have much to do with shopping. But that's the type of variety we get at ShadowShopper. With hundreds of job schedulers nationwide, the jobs change constantly, and can vary from the type that you're seeing to restaurant evaluations, testers, shopping assignments, video shops, and many others. Give the site a little time and you'll be pleasantly surprised at the variety of opportunities we can provide to you. Keep in mind that you can easily change your shopping preferences so that you'll only get the exact type of jobs you want.

Why should I do non-mystery shopping jobs?
One thing to consider is that while non-mystery shopping jobs don't sound as glamorous, taking a few of them, doing a great job, and getting known for your quality of performance is a great way to ensure that when those plum jobs come up, the job scheduler will recognize your name and say "that's the shopper we need!" Still, it's up to you, and it's your valuable time, so do what you think is best.

I'm a Bronze member. Why can't I see job details or apply?
We allow you to see partial views of jobs in your area as a way of showing you that the ShadowShopper system really works. When you upgrade to Gold or Silver membership you'll see the complete view and you can act on the individual jobs. We have to charge for memberships in order to be able to provide this valuable service to you. Bronze members cannot apply for these jobs using our system. Bronze members can, however, be directly contacted by job schedulers by having their profile in our system.

I received a job posting from ShadowShopper but when I tried to view the Job Details, it said there were no details to view. What happened to the assignment?
This means that the assignment is no longer available. This could be for several reasons, the job scheduler made a mistake in the posting and deleted it, the job may have already been filled or they may have suspended the job after receiving a certain number of email responses from interested shoppers.

What is my Silver or Gold certification number?
We do not issue certification numbers for our memberships but we do for our CertiShop certifications. Many times people confuse our memberships and certification with the MSPA's Silver and Gold Shopper Certification (note: we have Silver and Gold membership levels - not certifications). We are not affiliated with the MSPA and do not know if you have certification with the MSPA. Our CertiShop certification tests are free for our members. The MSPA charges $15 on up for it's certification tests. In addition, our Certishop certification have been endorsed by The National Center for Professional Mystery Shoppers & Merchandisers.

How long are the jobs posted on the site?
Job schedulers are responsible for their own job postings. The postings can only stay on our site for a maximum of 90 days. Most schedulers have a time frame that they leave the jobs open. For example: A job may be posted on the 10th of the month with a closing date of the 30th of that month. They will set the job up to automatically expire on the 30th. Some schedulers may delete the job on 20th if they fill it, or simply let the job expire on the 30th allowing them to continue to receive notification of interested shoppers in case the original shopper fails to perform the shop.

Will my membership renew automatically?
Yes, all our memberships are set to automatically renew when your membership expires, for your convenience. You may request NOT to have your credit card automatically charged anytime before the renewal occurs, by either changing your account preferences yourself or by emailing us a notification of your intent to prevent automatic renewal. To change your renewal preference yourself, simply go to your Account Information page located here (NOTE: you must be logged in for this link to work). Select "I'll do it myself. Don't automatically renew" and click the 'update' button and your request will be immediately processed. You will also receive a dated email confirmation for your records.

How do I cancel my membership?
You can cancel your membership by either going to the Account Information page located at https://www.shadowshopper.com/myshadowshopper_shopper_account_information.cfm (NOTE: you must be logged in to get to this page) under Membership Cancellation, or by emailing us a request to cancel your membership and we will do it for you. In either event our system will send you a dated email confirmation for your records.

What is ShadowShopper's Privacy Policy?
ShadowShopper takes your privacy seriously. The following information covers how ShadowShopper treats personal information that ShadowShopper collects and receives. Personal information is information about you that is personally identifiable like your name, address, email address, or phone number, and that is not otherwise publicly available.

General
ShadowShopper collects personal information when you register with ShadowShopper and when you visit ShadowShopper pages. When you register we ask for information such as your name, email address, birth year, gender and zip code. Once you register with ShadowShopper and sign in to our services, you are not anonymous to us.

What is your mailing address?
ShadowShopper
1894 US Highway 50 East, #4-215
Carson City, NV 89701-3202

ShadowShopper collects information about your transactions with us. ShadowShopper automatically receives and records information on our server logs from your browser, including your IP address, ShadowShopper cookie information, and the page you request.ShadowShopper uses information for the following general purposes: to customize the content you see, fulfill your requests for services, improve our services, contact you and conduct research.

If you choose to 'opt-in' (by explicitly selecting a box to receive more information and then confirming via email) then we may send you offers from other companies who offer quality services or merchandise. If you change your mind and do not want to receive these mailings, you can change your preference to 'No' on the 'Send me emails with news and special offers' option in the My Information page or by clicking the optout link provided. Please note that selecting 'No' will also disable Schedulers from sending you direct requests for assignments.

ShadowShopper does not rent, sell, or share personal information about you except in the following circumstances:

• We respond to subpoenas, court orders, or legal process, or to establish or exercise our legal rights or defend against legal claims;
• We believe it is necessary to share information in order to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding illegal activities, suspected fraud, situations involving potential threats to the physical safety of any person, violations of ShadowShopper's terms of use, or as otherwise required by law.
• We transfer information about you if ShadowShopper is acquired by or merged with another company. In this event, ShadowShopper will notify you before information about you is transferred and becomes subject to a different privacy policy.
• Shadowshopper works with business partners who may perform functions on our behalf, such as sending e-mail, managing data, or processing credit card payments. They have access to your Personally Identifiable Information only to the extent necessary to perform their functions and may not use it for any other purpose.

Confidentiality and Security
We limit access to personal information about you to job schedulers who we believe reasonably need to come into contact with that information to provide services to you or in order to do their jobs. We have physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards that comply with federal regulations to protect personal information about you.

Changes to this Privacy Policy
ShadowShopper may update this policy. We will notify you about significant changes in the way we treat personal information by sending a notice to the primary email address specified in your ShadowShopper account or by placing a prominent notice on our site.

This privacy policy was last updated on 10 Aug 2007.