Market Force Review: A Mystery Shopping Site Worth Your Time?
How would you like to become a mystery shopper and earn an extra income when it suits you? Well, take a look at this Market Force review to see what it takes to become a mystery shopper and if it’s worthwhile.
Market Force review
A site that eases you into mystery shopping with fairly simple jobs. However, the pay reflects this and it’s a little underwhelming. Still, it could be worthwhile if you’re looking for a cheap meal out.
Pros
- Tasks aren’t too complicated
- Fairly easy to get started
Cons
- The number of jobs you receive depends on where you live
- There are better-paying mystery shopping companies out there
Market Force
I’ve often read on other people’s blogs about how to become a secret shopper, so before I could recommend it I thought I would give it a go with Market Force mystery shopping. I asked my wife for some tips as she had previously tried it. Her reply “I didn’t actually do any, it seemed like too much effort”. That’s the kind of go-getter attitude that made me fall in love with her ladies and gents.
So with that little nugget of advice, I randomly searched for some mystery shopper sites. The first one I stumbled upon was Market Force. After hours of research – or rather “that one will do”, I signed up.
Also worth reading
If you would prefer to make money from your phone, then check out these great mystery shopping apps.
What is Market Force?
Market Force International is a mystery shopping site working on behalf of many large retailers. These companies want to know how well (or poorly) they’re performing regarding customer service and so ask Market Force to find mystery shoppers to test them.
Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to collect specific information on behalf of Market Force and report everything you find out.
Is it legit?
Market Force is an international company with offices in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom France and Spain. Founded back in 2005, they now claim that over 100,000 mystery shops are completed through their site every month.
In the UK, Market Force was established in 2007 and has offices based in Essex.
Is it easy to become a mystery shopper?
You may think becoming a mystery shopper is quite a straightforward process. Not quite. I had to pass a few tests beforehand. The first was spelling. Luckily I’m a really god speeler. I’ve not had to figure out how to spell words for myself since the late 90’s when I started typing everything up on a computer. Luckily, Google is on hand, so that wasn’t too tricky.
Next up is a grammar and punctuation test. This wasn’t as bad as it sounds, but it took a while just to check everything was right. Finally came a comprehension test. This involved paying attention, which is something I am terrible at. However, I managed to get through, so there’s hope for the rest of you!
It also helps when completing mystery shopping jobs, you’re a good communicator. Not only when dealing with staff members so you can let them know what you need, but also when you report back to Market Force.
What next?
After a short lie down, it was time to look to see where my awesome skills were needed. Now I live in the Deep South-East (I have a banjo) and there isn’t much to do. You should have seen the excitement on my face when a Subway came into town (which is now closed). You know you live in the sticks if the closest Ikea is over an hour away.
But to my surprise, there were three possible jobs. The only thing is, they were all more or less the same – to spend £10 or more at a restaurant, buy at least a main course, drink, and starter or dessert and use the toilets. I would also need to report on uniforms and the politeness of the staff. And my reward for this? £3.25 and I could claim back up to £10 of the meal costs. Early retirement here I come! Oh, and I had a window of three days to do it.
Luckily (or perhaps unluckily), the following day was my daughter’s 8th birthday. I’m not allowed to name the restaurant on pain of death, but Cara had been there before and was more than happy to go again, which was just as well for her really.
How did it go?
So, on Cara’s birthday, I put on my false beard and glasses and made our way to the restaurant. To be fair, it was quite a nice meal. The issue is you can’t relax. Because you have a list of things to do, and this was my first assignment, I was constantly trying to pay attention to everything happening in the restaurant and telling my children to stop arguing every five minutes.
I logged on and wrote my report when I got home that evening. This took about 45 minutes but I was very thorough because, again, it was my first time. I took a photo of my receipts and submitted it. Then I retook a photo because I realised you couldn’t see the numbers on the computer. Then I took the photo again because I forgot to write the assignment number on them!
With that all done, I could now sit back and relax. And 12 days later, I had the princely sum of £13.25 in my account.
Does Market Force pay well?
When you sit down and think that you technically earned £3.25 for that effort, you kind of think “pah!” And with the family in tow, the bill came to almost £50. But, as we were going out anyhow, really this gave us over a 20% discount. That isn’t too shabby if you think about it.
Plus, you can sometimes haggle on how much you can earn. Market Force has a limited time in which jobs need to be completed, and if they don’t get people to sign up, they may pay more. If you ever get a phone call from their customer services, see if you can negotiate better pay.
Anything you earn will be paid directly into your bank account.
Also worth reading
If mystery shopping isn’t for you, why not take a look at these genuine work from home jobs?
What other people say
When writing my reviews, I always look online to see what other users think. But checking on Trustpilot, Market Force scores a rather poor 2.6 out of 5. Positive Market Force reviews praise that tasks are easy to complete and payment is quickly received. On the other hand, other users have complained that Market Force will sometimes dispute the work you have completed and refuse to pay.
My Market Force review conclusion
So, would I do a mystery shop with Market Force again? Do you know, I would. It’s not really something to make a living from, but it’s an easy way to get a discount on your meal or maybe some free food.
Next time (in fact, every time), it would probably be preferable to go without the children. The restaurants these assignments are for are generally inexpensive, so the money from this assignment would cover most of the bill for a couple.
However, Market Force mystery shopping isn’t the most generous and there are better-paying sites.
Other mystery shopping sites
If my Market Force review has interested you and you want to find some more mystery shopping sites, why not take a look at my post on how to become a mystery shopper?
