If you have already had success as a mystery shopper and want to take your efforts to the next level, consider attending the MSPA’s annual ShopperFest. The next edition will be held in May 2025 aboard the Carnival Conquest cruise ship—a special “ShopperFest at Sea!” that begins at the Port of Miami on May 16 and features a stop in Nassau (Bahamas).
I attended ShopperFest 2023—which took place at the Hyatt Regency at Pittsburgh International Airport—and it was well worth my time and money. Here’s why:
Independent contractors who attend ShopperFest have the chance to network with industry leaders, including the CEOs of some the most prominent mystery shopping companies in the country. In my case, I had the opportunity to meet executives at several companies I was already working with on an ongoing basis.
More notably, I met the president of a prominent mystery shopping company, who happened to have an unfilled need for a shopper in my city—with ongoing monthly assignments that perfectly complemented work I was already doing.
Long story short, I currently earn $400-$900 a month (circa $8,000 a year) doing video and non-video shops for this company, an opportunity that I would never have known about had I not attended ShopperFest. That’s why I consider my trip to Pittsburgh a nifty return on investment, considering that it cost me little more than $800 to attend the conference, including the registration fee and all travel costs.
But, of course, meeting mystery shopping executives is not the only benefit that I realized from ShopperFest, which is a production of the MSPA (Mystery Shoppers Providers Association).
I also learned about the importance and value of platforms like gigspot, which I consider a “mystery shopping job aggregator.” According to my count, there are upwards of a hundred mystery shopping companies in the United States. It’s simply not practical to monitor the job boards of dozens upon dozens of individual mystery shopping company websites. Tools like gigspot, PrestoShopper and I Secret Shop aggregate opportunities that can be searched by geographic location, making it a lot easier to find opportunities in your area.
Beyond that, at ShopperFest I also had the chance to network with other motivated, sophisticated mystery shoppers, exchanging tips on everything from mileage tracking (I now use MileIQ) to record keeping and accounting.
Finally, I also had the opportunity to attend breakout sessions like those that focused on video shopping and casino mystery shopping. I also took one of the MSPA’s certification courses, as ShopperFest attendees are afforded the chance to take one certification course free while on site.
Core courses include “Introduction to Mystery Shopping,” “Professional Report Writing” and “Professional Responsibility and Ethics.” Mystery Shoppers who have already completed the core courses, can move on to more advanced offerings like “QSR (Quick Service Restaurants),” “Luxury Mystery Shopping,” “Video Shopping I & II,” “Telephone & Online Mystery Shopping,” among many others.
How to Sign Up for ShopperFest 2025
If you’d like to attend ShopperFest 2025 (May 16-19 on the Carnival Conquest, leaving from the Port of Miami), I recommend first signing up to become a member of the Mystery Shoppers Providers Association. The MSPA is open to “field talent” (independent contractors and those that work full- or part-tie as mystery shoppers, merchandisers, evaluators and samplers) at a cost of $35 per year.
MSPA America’s members get special pricing on registration for ShopperFest ($25 off the basic registration cost), as well as access to the MSPA’s opportunity board, MSPA Webinars, and special members only deals.
Click here to sign up for membership in the MSPA. Then register for ShopperFest 2025. According to the MSPA America’s Web site, you can reserve risk-free with refunds guaranteed if you cancel before March 1, 2025.
Or read on to learn more about the MSPA, a trade association founded in 1998 that now covers three regions of the world: the Americas, Europe/Africa and Asia/Pacific.
Keep in mind that MSPA Europe/Africa and MSPA Asia/Pacific have their own annual events. For example, MSPA’s EA 2025 Conference will be held May 20-22, in Tallinn, Estonia.
About the Mystery Shoppers Providers Association (MSPA)
From a mystery shopper’s perspective, the MSPA serves a couple different functions. For one, it works to maintain a membership of legitimate, trustworthy mystery shopping companies. In other words, if a mystery shopping company—or a closely related business like a field audit firm or marketing research or merchandising company—is a member of MSPA, you can rest assured you are working with a legit organization.
The MSPA also provides exposure to member companies, and offers educational opportunities to its individual members. And, if you are one of the 60,000-plus independent contractors in its database, you can find new jobs on the MSPA’s Opportunity Board. You can also take online certification courses that help qualify you for opportunities with member companies.
Last but not least, MSPA members can post information about themselves in the organization’s online Talent Hub. I can tell you from personal experience that talent evaluators from mystery shopping companies do use the Talent Hub to help them find shoppers for ongoing, long-term projects, not to mention the most lucrative evaluation opportunities.
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