I first joined BDS Marketing in 2011. This mystery shopping company had a unique reporting system, different than anything I had ever used before. It was called the “Kars System.” It was a little challenging to get used to but eventually it became easier for me over time. The shop pay for BDS assignments was fair. The pay range was from $12-15 per assignment.
Signing up: For shoppers interested in assignments with BDS, the site address is: http://www.bdsmktg.com/
To sign up, you visit the site and create your own personal profile. If you have any questions, you send an email and someone will contact you from the company. They are good at getting back to you in a timely manner.
Getting Assignments: Assignments vary each month depending on the client’s needs. You will be notified via email as to when “Invitation Emails” will be sent. Invitation Emails alert you that there are jobs. You go into your profile to accept them. They do not have an open Job Board from which to pick, or have self-assignments like many other companies. Just “invitations” that assignments are now available.
Payments: To view your assignments that have been paid and a list of all your shops with pay status, you have to access the ADP iPay site, to get your payment information. You sign up for ADP to view your history. The sign up for ADP is right on the front page next to registration.
My Assignments
Assignment #1. This was for a famous high-tech “red fruit” store. I had to go into the store and look for a Portable Fitness Tracking Device and to get an associate to explain to me what it was all about. Think: “Fit-Bit health tracking devices” but it was not that brand. It was very busy in the Red Fruit store because all the associates had customers they were waiting on and it took a while to find someone to help me. Most of the customers were there to look at tablets and phones but I was there to look at the fitness gadgets. It was in the mall and that particular location was notorious for being swamped with customers. I was helped eventually and the associate was able to explain the fitness product in great detail. I left the store knowing a great deal more about the health tracking device.
Assignment #2. This was for a portable wireless Bluetooth speaker. The assignment was at a popular cell phone store. It was a smaller speaker, but it was well over $200. I had to go in and ask for a demo of the portable wireless blue tooth speaker and get the salesman to talk more about it to me. Once again, I had to wait some because as is the case, most cell phone stores have more customers than they do associates. The sales associate was able to explain in great detail about the wireless Bluetooth speaker and I left the store wanting to purchase one.
Assignment #3. This was a three-department mystery shop inside a popular membership-only wholesale club. Thankfully, I was a member there so getting into the warehouse store was easy, but doing the shop was not. It was hard to locate the associates in the store.
*On the warehouse, one assignment was at the cell phone kiosk, asking about a popular cell phone. The store was “crazy-busy” so I had to wait my turn. I finally received help but I made a mental note to myself to never shop on a Saturday inside a warehouse store, looking for cell phones.
The next department was the TV department. I was to ask about a certain HDTV and this segment of the shop took the least amount of time to find someone. The associate was friendly and he genuinely tried to explain the new HDTV. He explained the features quite well and I left with a great understanding of what High Definition Television really meant.
The next department I visited the Digital Photo Department where they did photo development. I had to ask questions about photo developing and prices. The associate was friendly and pleasant during the interaction. This was the quickest time in a department in this store.
I would say these assignments were fun and easy but sometimes you had to wait for help but this was to be expected in the large, big box stores. I found the assignments were unique, in that they were not like every other retail assignments I had done. These assignments took me into stores, such as the red fruit store, that I might not have ever entered. There was a small amount of narrative and it mostly focused on customer service and if you were attended to, in a reasonable amount of time.
I found the editors and schedulers to be very fair. I never heard any negative feedback about my reports and I was paid within two weeks. This is considered “fast” in the industry. The assignments seem sparse right now but just contact your scheduler to see what may be coming up in the future.
You had to be patient and wait for the emails that tell you there are new assignments available. I have not heard anything derogatory about this company. They are an excellent mystery shopping company that stays much in the background but they do have good assignments. I highly recommend you join BDS Marketing.
What Others Have to Say: I have not heard of much feedback from other shoppers about this company. Perhaps others can let the forum know what their experiences were with BDS Marketing.