Tip: Setup your email

Okay, so you have signed up for a ton of companies and you notice an option on most of them: "Get shop offer emails: on or off."

Just about every mystery shopping company I have signed up for can send you emails when new shops become available. This is a great way to get more work, but it is also a great way to clutter up your email's in-box.

One option is to register for a free email address specifically for secret shopping. I've tried that for a while but it is a hassel to log into a different email address. I would forget to check it and miss out on jobs, which kinda defeats the point of email notifications.

I found a way to use my real email address for mystery shop notifications without cluttering my inbox! I use Gmail by google which is free. I am sure that other email clients have the options I am about to show you, but I will speak specifically about gmail.

1) Set up a label called "mystery shop" or "secret shop" (your preference).

Click on "settings" in the top right corner of the window.



Click on "Labels" at the top of the settings box.



Scroll to the bottom of the screen and find the text box which says "create a new label." Enter "mystery shop" or "secret shop" or whatever you want to label your shopping emails. Click create.



2) Set up a filter.

Click on settings again, in the top right corner of the window.



Click on "Filters."

Scroll to the bottom and click "create a new filter."



In the "From:" field enter the domain names of the mystery shop companies you registered with. Separate each email address or domain with an the word "OR". Add new emails and domains to the list as you receive new mystery shop emails. Click next step.



Check the following boxes: "Archive it," "Apply the label:" and select your mystery shop filter, and "Apply filter to conversations below."



This will cause all your mystery shop emails to by-pass your inbox. You can check them by scrolling down a bit on the left hand side to your labels section and clicking on the mystery shop label. The number of new messages is in parenthesis.  Click on it to see your mystery shop emails.



Be sure to add new email addresses (preferrably the domain names) to your filter. Do so by clicking on settings and then edit your mystery shop filter. Separate domain names or emails by "OR" and you are all set.

This method will help you keep your inbox clean without the need to set up a brand new email address.