15 Best Mystery Shopping Companies UK

This post lists the best mystery shopping companies. Mystery shopping is a good way to receive free products, gift cards, or make money. However, finding a good market research company is challenging.

1. Market Force

• 🥳 Founded: 2004
• ⭐ Trustpilot score: 1.7/5.0
• 📱 Platform: Web, IOS and Android app
• 🏆 Reward: Cash, freebies

Market Force is one of the leading market research companies. Founded in 2004, the company offers mystery shopping across the EU. Advantages of Market Force include the number of jobs and reimbursements in cash.

You get free products in addition to monetary compensation. Market Force pays out biweekly, so you should not wait long for your money. Signing up to Market Force is straightforward. After completing a sign-up form, Market Force usually approves your account within a week. You can then search for assignments and filter by location, deadline, etc.

Looking around, you will find positive and negative reviews of Market Force. However, it is still the most reliable market research company.

✅ Pros	❌ Cons
✔ Well-established company ✔ Pays in cash ✔ Biweekly pay ✔ Easy sign-up	✗ Poor reviews on Trustpilot

2. Mystery Shoppers Ltd.

• 🥳 Founded: 1991
• ⭐ Trustpilot score: 2.6/5.0
• 📱 Platform: Web, IOS and Android app
• 🏆 Reward: Cash, freebies

Mystery Shoppers was established in 1991 and has offices around the world. The company is a big player in mystery shopping but still gets mixed reviews. Their Trustpilot score reflects this.

There is no absolute stellar market research company. The negative reviews stem from people having the wrong expectations from mystery shopping. As a mystery shopper, you must follow the instructions, or you will not get paid. You also won’t earn much.

✅ Pros	❌ Cons
✔ Well-established company ✔ Pays in cash ✔ Easy sign-up	✗ Poor reviews on Trustpilot

3. Redwigwam Mystery Shopping

• 🥳 Founded: 2014
• ⭐ Trustpilot score: 4.1/5.0
• 📱 Platform: Web, IOS and Android app
• 🏆 Reward: Cash, freebies

Redwigwam is a new mystery shopping company that aims to revolutionise temp working. They are not limited to mystery shopping and offer temporary work, such as short-term bar work.

The advantage of Redwigwam is that they send out alerts for jobs matching your criteria. This notification means you do not have to check the website.

Red Wigwam also has one of the better pay rates for mystery shopping. As with the other market research companies, you are reimbursed for your purchases and paid for your time. Best of all, you usually get paid within a week.

✅ Pros	❌ Cons
✔ Good reviews on Trustpilot ✔ Pays in cash ✔ High pay ✔ Quick payments	✗ Relatively new site

4. BeMyEye

• 🥳 Founded: 2011
• ⭐ Trustpilot score: 2.9/5.0
• 📱 Platform: IOS and Android app
• 🏆 Reward: Cash, freebies

BeMyEye does not pay as much as the other mystery shopping companies. In return, the jobs also do not take much time. You can also make money right from the get-go. There is no need to undergo tests or complete unnecessary verifications with BeMyEye. This makes the site ideal for beginners.

✅ Pros	❌ Cons
✔ Pays in cash ✔ Easy sign-up ✔ Quick jobs	✗ Low pay ✗ Low Trustpilot score

5. Ipsos

• 🥳 Founded: 1975
• ⭐ Trustpilot score: 1.4/5.0
• 📱 Platform: Web, IOS and Android app
• 🏆 Reward: Cash, freebies

Ipsos pays around £8 per hour, which is better than BeMyEye. It is also great for getting bonus payments. On the downside, you may also have to complete unpaid jobs.

✅ Pros	❌ Cons
✔ Pays in cash ✔ Good pay ✔ Well-established company	✗ Low Trustpilot score

6. Streetbees

• 🥳 Founded: 2015
• ⭐ Trustpilot score: 2.6/5.0
• 📱 Platform: IOS and Android app
• 🏆 Reward: Cash, freebies

Streetbees aims to take a different approach to mystery shopping. Instead of getting a task assigned, you communicate with Streetbees via a chat. This makes mystery shopping more informal and fun. Streetbees calls its jobs “stories”.

7. MCE Secret Shopping

• 🥳 Founded: 1997
• ⭐ Trustpilot score: 2.8/5.0
• 📱 Platform: Web
• 🏆 Reward: Cash, freebies

MCE Secret Shopping was formerly known as Retail Maxim. Although you may not recognise the name, they are one of the biggest mystery shopping companies.

8. Grass Roots

• 🥳 Founded: –
• ⭐ Trustpilot score: –
• 📱 Platform: Web
• 🏆 Reward: Cash, freebies

With Grass Roots, payouts may take several weeks to arrive. You can also only get paid through bank transfer. However, finding jobs on the platform is easy, and they pay well.

9. esa retail

• 🥳 Founded: 1979
• ⭐ Trustpilot score: 4.0/5.0
• 📱 Platform: Web, IOS and Android app
• 🏆 Reward: Cash, freebies

esa retail is one of the smaller mystery shopping companies in the UK. They do not have a lot of jobs. However, if you get one, they are well paid (up to £40).

10. Assosia

• 🥳 Founded: 2003
• ⭐ Trustpilot score: 2.2/5.0
• 📱 Platform: Web, IOS and Android app
• 🏆 Reward: Cash, freebies

Assosia calls their mystery shoppers “Field Marketing Associates”. While this may sound like a proper job, it works like other mystery shopping companies. Jobs are ad hoc, and you can choose which ones you do.

11. Tern

Tern describes itself as “the leading mystery shopping company in the UK”. While there are many great mystery shopping companies, you can find plenty of jobs with Tern. Some of these pay £40 or more.

12. ISC-CX

ISC-CX is a mystery shopping company specialising in fashion. Signing up with them is worth it if you like buying new clothes. They will email you when jobs suitable for you are available.

13. Proinsight

Proinsight is another great mystery shopping company. As a starter, you may not see that many jobs available. As you complete mystery shopping tasks, you will level up and get more and more job opportunities.

14. Clickworker

Clickworker offers many money-making opportunities, including mystery shopping. Other popular tasks on the website include online surveys and data entry.

15. Mystery Dining by HGEM

Mystery Dining is a great mystery shopping company worth checking if you want free food. HGEM will not pay you, but you get free food with mystery dining.

What Is Mystery Shopping?

Mystery shopping is a way for market research companies to collect data for brands. These data involve information about products or staff at a specific store.

Mystery shoppers are consumers tasked to buy items for the market research company. It’s like being an undercover agent so companies can better understand how to improve.

Mystery shopping tasks can involve:

• Buying a specific product
• Interacting with a store’s staff
• Taking pictures of products in a shop
• Counting items on supermarket shelves
• Phoning a store and asking questions

Mystery shoppers used to get paid in cash and make a respectable income. Today, you are more likely to get paid with the items you bought or an allowance to spend in-store.

How to Avoid Mystery Shopping Scams

Mystery shoppers are prone to scams. Scammers exploit vulnerable people looking to make an income from mystery shopping. Always be cautious when mystery shopping. If you believe you have been scammed, contact your local police department.

Common scam scenarios to look out for include:

• You receive a cheque before you have completed the task. The supposed market research company then contacts you to inform you that you got paid too much. They’ll ask you to return some of the money. The cheque will fall through after you have made the transfer, leaving you out of pocket.
• The supposed market research company asks you to transfer money for verification. They will keep your money, and you will never hear from them again.
• Your first task is to evaluate a money transfer service. After you transfer money to the scammer, they vanish.
• You receive gift cards to spend as you like in a specific store. After spending money on these, the gift cards turn out to be fake.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Much Money Can You Make with Mystery Shopping?

The first question everybody usually has is how much money mystery shoppers earn. There is no clear-cut answer. Some mystery shopping tasks pay no money. Instead, you receive the product for free. Others pay small sums of money ranging from £5 to £30. Lucrative assignments pay as much as £150.

How Can You Become a Mystery Shopper?

Becoming a mystery shopper is easy. Mystery shopping is unlike a traditional job, so you do not need to go through interviews and tests. Usually, signing up involves completing a short form. When the company has approved you, you can choose tasks from the app or website.

Do You Need Any Special Equipment for Mystery Shopping?

Starting your mystery shopping side hustle is simple because you do not need much. An internet connection and a computer, laptop, or smartphone are enough.

When you go mystery shopping, you may need to take pictures. Thus, you need a camera. It doesn’t have to be a high-end device. A smartphone camera is fine.

Do Mystery Shoppers Keep What They Buy?

Typically, a mystery shopping task requires you to buy a product. The product is part of the reimbursement for your time and effort. The monetary compensation will be lower if you receive a product as a reward. Sometimes, you may not receive money, meaning the product is the only reimbursement.

Best Mystery Shopping Companies UK Summary

Entering the mystery shopping industry can be difficult. Scams are common, and finding a good company is a challenge. In mystery shopping, there is no perfect company, but some are better than others. The best mystery shopping companies include:

• Market Force
• Mystery Shoppers Ltd.
• Redwigwam Mystery Shopping
• BeMyEye
• Ipsos
• Streetbees
• MCE Secret Shopping
• Grass Roots
• esa retail
• Assosia
• Tern
• ISC-CX
• Proinsight
• Clickworker
• Mystery Dining by HGEM

When applying for a mystery shopping role, always be careful. Do your research, and if you are unsure, it is better not to sign up.

If you are looking for other ways to save money when shopping, cashback may be for you.

If you like this post, please help My Money Yard grow by sharing it with your friends.