How to shop around the firms

THE Mystery Shopping Providers Association offers details on a number of mystery shopping companies, including GBW, GfK and Market Force Information.

Anyone contemplating being a mystery shopper should only deal with firms signed up to this trade body.

It has a code of conduct that members must obey – for example, members are not allowed to make deductions from a shopper’s pay for failing to carry out a task they were not explicitly told about.

The association also warns against shoppers sending money to a company before they start mystery shopping because it will probably be a scam.