If you have already had success as a mystery shopper and want to take your efforts to the next level, consider attending ShopperFest 2026, a production of the Mystery Shoppers Providers Association (MSPA). The next edition will be held June 26-28, 2026 in Las Vegas.
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.
Three years on, I still earn hundreds of dollars per month 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.
Of course, meeting mystery shopping executives is not the only benefit that I realized from ShopperFest.
I also learned about the importance and value of platforms like gigspot, 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 sites. Tools like gigspot, PrestoShopper and I Secret Shop aggregate opportunities that can be searched by geographic location, making it a lot easier to find mystery shopping jobs 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 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 2026
If you’d like to attend ShopperFest 2026, I recommend first signing up to become a member of the Mystery Shoppers Providers Association, a trade association founded in 1998 that now covers three regions of the world: the Americas, Europe/Africa and Asia/Pacific.
The MSPA is open to “field talent” (independent contractors and those that work full- or part-time 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 2026 at a cost of $200 (or $225 if you are not a member of the MSPA). According to the signup page, you can reserve risk-free, with full refund of registration fees through six months after registration or May 1, 2026, whichever is sooner.
Keep in mind that MSPA Europe/Africa and MSPA Asia/Pacific have their own annual events. For example, MSPA’s Europe Africa 2026 Conference will be held May 19-21, 2026 in Alicante, Spain.
About the Mystery Shoppers Providers Association (MSPA)
From a mystery shopper’s perspective, the MSPA serves several 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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