Hi I live in a small town about an hour south of Oklahoma City, OK. I just started mystery shopping about a week ago, I have signed up with 10 different companies. So far I have done 4 mystery shops with 3 companies. Out of the 10 companies that I have signed up with only one has any work available in my town currently posted. A lot of the other companies have work that is any were from 20-50 miles from my house. So my question is how far is to far to drive to do a mystery shop? Assuming that the fee will cover the gas to get there? I really like mystery shopping so far and I don't want to take on too much and get burnt out on it. Thanks

I live in a very small town with only 5 businesses, all privately owned. Our nearest grocery store or gas station is 13 miles away and my nearest shops are 30 miles away. Sometimes you have to travel to get the shops. Sign up for all the companies listed on this site because even if they don't have shops right now doesn't mean they won't get a client in the future that's near you.

Thanks Cettie. If you don't mind me asking, when you do shops that are 30+ miles away, do sign up for multiple shops and do them all on one trip to save on gas and time? One of the shops that I have is 26 miles one way, Shop fee is $9 so after the round trip I still would end up with a profit. I'm just not sure if it is worth it? I am signing up with more shops, I just this morning signed up with two more, and has a shop in my town! Anyway, any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Cynthiam, what you are describing is known as route shopping and is a very lucrative way to earn money.

Another thing you should always do is negotiate. You're a contractor. If that location is too far, ask for extra money for your time and gas.

You should sign up for ALL the companies you can for now until you find things that are in your area. Im signed up for over 200 companies, but i probablyi do work for a dozen or two per month at most.

Never sell yourself short on jobs, don't be afraid to ask for reasonable compensation. The worst thing they will do is say no. The best thing they will do is say yes, or do the "let me get back to you" and then come back and give an answer.

Awesome! Thank you so much for the info. I'll keep signing up for companies and try to plan out a route shopping trip I am very excited about all the possibilities!

Yeah, since it sounds like you are new, im going to flood you with a bunch of noobie advice in hopes you might avoid mistakes I have made.

Never take more than one of an assignment until you have done it once and know what to expect. There's reports out there that are terrible. Just terrible. Ask around about the ikea report from hell or a remington written report.

Always, always, always make sure you have a smart phone or at least an up to date and current GPS. If you're on a route and your @#$%& dies or you dont have it you're gonna have a very bad day.

Make sure you always have enough cash for any required purchases and that you've never moved onto a new location. Verify before leaving on a route you have everything for every job. If you have no internet, then get paper copies or get copies on your device. Never assume you'll have internet when routing.

Never take on too much! I can't emphasize this enough. Assume worst traffic conditions for your area and build in a buffer. The worst feeling is you're towards the tail end of a route and you took too long somewhere and now you are 120 miles from home with 2 jobs left you commit for and they are closed until morning. Now you have to either stay overnight, or drive an additional 240 miles to get them done (or cancel and risk your rating)

Make an email just for shops. Make sure you get those forwarded. Often the early bird gets the worm and some jobs poof in under 10 minutes of an email blast.

Last, have fun. .Ask questions, and make some money =)

You can go to jobslinger.com and search by zip code and find companies with shops in your area. That's how I started building my list of companies to sign up with.

I also shop out of a small town. when i do a route, i go to the farthest shop first if possible (you need to pay attention to what time of day shops can be done; don't book a lunch shop at either the beginning or end of the route or you'll be doing some backtracking). Use mapquest or mapping software to lay out the route. You can print that out and use it as a backup if your GPS dies.

by going to the farthest shop first, you will be working your way toward home instead of away from home. if you have trouble and can't get to your last shop before they close, you'll be a lot closer to go back the next day than if you ran out of time 100 miles away from home because you did all the closer shops first. That also enables you to do your driving before the first shop opens. leave early rather than come home late because you'll have to get most or all of your reports in by midnight. If you go to the closest shop first, you're doing most of your driving between 9 and 5 instead of between 7 and 9. That takes two hours out of your shopping day just for the driving (if you're going 100 miles).

If I'm going 120 miles to the far side of Prescott (usually for a post office shop there) I will leave at 7 or 7:30 so i get there when i can start the shop at 9:35 (and pay really close attention to the allowable shop times if you do post office shops and don't go in even a minute earlier or later than you're supposed to). I'll kill time reviewing my notes, go do the shop, stop nearby to handwrite my answers to the report questions. I tend to forget to look at the posters; if I forget, I go back and get some Priority mail shipping boxes so I can take another look at whatever i forgot to look at. then I go to the next-furthest shop and do the same thing. Try to plan a lunch shop midway in the route if you can. keep working your way home so you get to the last shop before its deadline ends. Then go home, take a break, and input the reports.

It will be a long day but it's possible to do 8 or 10 easy shops in one day. I suggest 6 or 7 for your first route. Don't book long distance routes two days in a row.

You asked how far was too far and really nowhere is too far if the fee is good. Most of us experienced shoppers routinely drive hundreds of miles to perform assignments. As the others said, sign up with all the companies in the list below and then make up a route of shops so that you're not travelling 30 miles to do one shop but rather to do three or more in the same area.

Prestomaps might also help you locate more shops in the areas you might want to travel. Go to www.prestomaps.com

Finally I personally wouldn't get in my car for a $9.00 fee. Once you're signed up with lots of companies you'll have more options but also as jrosetti said, it really is a good idea to just do one shop for a company to see how it goes, if you like it, and what the report is like. I also think the advice to get a smartphone is very good advice.

Remember when you're calculating whether an assignment is worth it don't forget to take the time it takes you to get to the location or not. So where you say the $9 shop is a profit, is it really? How long did it take you to get to that location and how much gas and wear and tear on your vehicle did you incur? For me to travel 26 miles one way, do a 15 minute assignment with a 15 minute report I would be asking for at least $25 and even then I would have to have other shops in the area or I wouldn't do it.

"Finally I personally wouldn't get in my car for a $9.00 fee. Once you're signed up with lots of companies you'll have more options but also as jrosetti said, it really is a good idea to just do one shop for a company to see how it goes, if you like it, and what the report is like. I also think the advice to get a smartphone is very good advice. "



I dont leave my house for under $20 ever (and only for favors) and if it's not a favor I expect $30 an hour or I'm playing video games at home

@jrossetti wrote:

Cynthiam, what you are describing is known as route shopping and is a very lucrative way to earn money.

Another thing you should always do is negotiate. You're a contractor. If that location is too far, ask for extra money for your time and gas.

Yes. Remember that time is the one commodity you can't get back or make more of. Know what your time is worth to you. If you're not struggling for money, working for peanuts is usually a worse use of time than not working at all.

Thank you all so much for the info! Right now the highest shop fee that I see on any of the companies that I am with are around $8-9. I have heard that the longer you are with a company higher shop fees and better shops become available. So far the most I've had to drive to do a shop was about 3 miles, plus after reimbursement I got 2 gallons of free gas. So for $9 that seemed like a good deal. I don't want to do any shops that I have to spend a lot on yet, just encase I don't get reimbursed. For me this is just a way to bring in some extra money, but I wouldn't mind putting in the work to make this more than just "date money".

Keep in mind "gas money" doesn't begin to cover a business person's expenses. Think of all the expenses regarding your business and your time. Thirty minutes each way for a $9 shop might cover your gas, but what is left over? Whether your goal is $8 or $38 an hour, if you don't know your expenses and the value of your time it won't work. This forum is a great resource for finding what companies value their contractors and those that don't. So while a general rule of thumb is to take on some low paying shops to pay your dues, there are companies out there who will never consider you more than a number.

Indeed, 'gas money' doesn't begin to cover it. I suspect that realization may a major cause of the 'burnout' that you referenced.

Expenses for your new business includes your car expenses. Those start with gas but also include oil changes, tires, blown radiators, insurance, registration etc.. You could add it all up and allocate a percentage of those expenses based on how much you drive the car for business expenses versus personal time. The IRS makes it easy for us by giving us another option - deductible cost per mile. In 2015, I hear it is 57.5 cents per mile.

Other costs include your computer and other devices, paper for your printer, required purchases on the shops and your time. Yes, your time. If you want $10 or $15 per hour for the shop, you need to consider this. Consider the time it takes to check the job boards, apply, study the instructions, do the shop, and enter the shop. It is all part of running your business.

So, turning to that $9 shop 26 miles away -

$.575 x 52 miles = $29.90
Driving time - 1 hour estimate = $10.00
Prep & reporting time - 1 hour estimate = $10.00
Required Purchases - reimbursed ? = $ ??

total cost about $49.90, maybe more.

Route shopping definitely makes better use of the time and mileage cost. If you do the same shop(s) it also lessens the preparation time. Practice will also reduce the time it takes to get and report the shops.

But my bigger point is that that $9 shop costs much more than just one gallon of gas. There may be reasons a shopper throws this out the window. Beginners need experience and to get their foot in the door at certain companies. Any shopper may be traveling 60 miles for personal reasons (see a friend/relative, go to a sporting event, etc.) and adds in a gas station or convenience store along the way. However, realize the true cost of your business to avoid misconceptions. Also you will be prepared when the schedulers start calling with an offer of a $16 shop 35 miles from you. You can tell them I need $x for that shop to make it work for my business. Unless you already have a route planned that goes that way.

But you don't have to tell the scheduler about the preplanned route, do you?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/10/2015 03:37PM by vlade5394.

I live in a a small town in Michigan. There are tons of Mystery Shoppers in my area. I started about 15 years ago then got a full time job.( NOT fun at all) I have recently restarted within the year and I noticed the 6 -12 dollar shops get sucked up fast and I was beginning to wonder if there were any good paying jobs out there any more. I started working for anybody taking small jobs to get my feet wet again and I realized they needed, dependable and trustworthy contractors to go out and do the jobs right. Now I very rarely have to look for jobs they either e-mail me or call me. I'm willing to travel (for a price)I rarely have my reports or pictures rejected and I'm willing to go on jobs at a moments notice (for a price) Make sure you know what your worth and do a great job and the higher paying jobs will find you. In my area I will travel 2 hours away but I make sure if I cant fill in the job with a route, I make sure I'm paid what I'm worth for the drive and time I have to put into 1 job. If they need a job done bad enough you will get paid what you are worth. GOOD LUCK

Do you really do shops for $9-12.00? I just accepted my first new car shop in months, I had stopped doing these because the sales people are so desperate to sell a car they keep calling and calling. I also did not like the pay which is generally about $17.00 per shop. But the one I just accepted is paying the $17.00 plus $18.00 in bonus. So for $35.00 I will do it and put up with the annoying calls.

I have a couple of low paying shops that I routinely do. One is at one of my favorite chocolate shops in town. They pay $11.00 for the shop and reimburse $11.50 toward the chocolate purchase. It is an easy 5 minute shop and maybe 15 minute report. I have another that I do whenever the time rotation allows. It is a grocery store and only pays $10.00 and reimburses $10.00 in purchases. So I go and do a minor shopping trip ($10.00 worth of groceries) and make sure I interact in the departments outlined in the job info and the shop takes maybe 25 minutes, and the report another 15.

My most common shops are apartment shops for a couple of companies. I know a lot of shoppers hate EPMS for their tedious reports and I also hate those reports. But I accept the jobs when they are up against the deadline or beyond it and the pay is $35.00 plus anywhere from $25.00 to $35.00 bonus because of their deadline. Another company I do apartment shops for is Market Stat. I have one on Monday for them that will pay $50.00. It is paying high because someone else either falsified a report or did not complete it (I know that because there was a note on the shop and I had to contact the scheduler to find out why I was getting this message). Market Stats reports are not as bad as EPMS's but the apartment complexes tend to be lower end complexes AND their time to pay is ridiculous to me - I just got paid yesterday for a shop I did in March!

My point is unless you are a new shopper, and learning the ropes, I cannot imagine taking shops that are paying so low unless it is giving me something I need/want and the time investment is very short.

Great advice for "Newbies." I've been a MS since 2010, and I received information like this 4 years ago. I'm glad to see shoppers are still supporting each other!