Hey Guys,

I just thought it be cool to get a glimpse if how much cash flow mystery shopping is bringing in for the next person. I just started some months ago and I've been averaging about $500 a month. Of course I have a full time job and typically only shop two maybe three weekends out the the month.

So my question to you all is, what is your income now compared to when you first started? Also, what are your most lucrative shops?

I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of money I saved a month by not spending any money on food.

I never exactly looked at mystery shopping as a additional stream of income. Instead, I seen it as a way to subsidize my monthly expenses such as food, cleaning supplies, etc.

I'm not mentioning what total money I bring in, but mystery shopping was something I thought of doing for a while now and before attempting a shop, I read everything I could on this forum. It proved to be a gold mine. I spent many hours reading and researching before I did my first shop, which was a car dealership. I worked hard at it and it's paying off.

The money I've receive is paying for my sports car and some of the bills here.

I'll continue doing it for as long as I can.

P.S. It was what I expected. Hard work.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/08/2014 05:05PM by Canuck.

It's paying for my kids' college. I don't feel wasteful when dining out. I have a Christmas closet that was completely shopped for. I have totes and totes of clothing and shoes for my children for the next few years. Some of my expenses have completely disappeared. Can't remember the last time I paid for an oil change, haircut, vitamins, or fast casual/fast food.

My husband shops to pay for tools. He has brands he would have never dared buy before shopping. Shopping allows him freedom to purchase quality brands without feeling guilty.

He shops very, very part-time. He averages around $800 a month in fees. I average around $1700, but also part-time. I shop on weekends and some evenings after work.

My most lucrative shops are anything triple-bonused or higher.

$500 for two or three weekends (4-6 days) a month?

The shops in your area evidently pay much better than they do in my area

Shawn S, if she shops like I do, she does 4-5, sometimes 8-10 shops on those days. Not to mention, I make double the last two weeks of the month, than I did the first two weeks, for the same amount of shops. Deadline bonuses.

I'll go all week and maybe do one or two shops, like a FF shop on my lunch break, or a retail shop or bank shop on my way home. But weekends... I'll schedule a bunch of shops on the same day.

Sometimes I'll take a shop at that out-of-the-way location between work and home, on my way home from work, at base fee, to help the scheduler out.... just to get a nicely bonused shop near my house from the scheduler the following weekend. Favors pay off, they go both ways.

Shawn S, I agree. The real $$ out here (Vegas) are the clubs, which I don't do. Car shops do pay well, but they take a lot of time, so I like the banks, one Brand in particular. Maybe I need to rethink my assignments again!

I work full-time at an office. I shop for the reimbursements, mainly, although money is nice too. I have a closet full of Aeropostale clothing for my pre-teen, Pandora for myself, toys, other jewelery, shoes, groceries, etc. I also love doing the fine dining, casino and high-end hotels.

I'm in the Houston area. I definitely catch a lot of bonus shops towards the end of the month. I also catch a lot high of high paying bank shops quite frequently. Those are easy.

I enjoy the grocery shops. I try to get one each weekend, it saves me about $100 per month in groceries.

I've cut right back because of school commitments. I was at around $2,800 a month for a long time but I'm only doing about $1,500 a month now

It would be great to know where you all are!

I make about $600 a month in payments plus useful reimbursements. But.. I don't do banks, car sales, most dining shops, cell phone shops, and a few other things that I can't think of. Those just aren't fun for me and I don't need this as an income, just for fun stuff. I also live in a pretty rural area with the closest shopping hub about 30 miles away.. so I work my shops into days that I will be in those areas anyway. So I work very little.

Hymnsinger, I'm in BumbleFudge, NC.

BBird to show you how gullible I am I actually looked that up on Google maps! I'm in NC and I thought "Hmm, I haven't heard of BumbleFudge before....."

I'll share. I added up my shopping reimbursement and small fees and my grand total for August is $836. I might add 3 of these were fine dining shops. I work full time and do MS to enhance my family's lifestyle; mainly food and retail. I work 2-3 weekends out of the month. I am amazed how much some of you make. I rarely get a bonus but this month I got $60 to do two pizza shops. I am amazed at myself, LOL!

My one other biggie was an in-home visit two years ago concerning cable/satellite TV. It was not a mystery shop. I got $450 for a two hour interview/home visit. Loving it!

My August totals--19 shops for $205 payments and $35 in REAL comps--things I really need like groceries. I am not counting in pizza or other fast food that I would not have purchased. I give away most of the food or I would gain a lot of weight. I rarely see bonus money where I shop and jobs are hard to come by.

Mine has picked up quite a bit. I am doing more shops making more per shop and as a result seeing my income going through the roof.

My tutoring business was much slower in the summer, so I did a lot more MS work. The total I took in for August was $1337.21 from 18 companies. Generally (90% of the time), I don't travel more than 40 miles from home. I will travel (within 150 miles or so) if the bonus is high enough.

I work a full time job that is pretty stressful and started mystery shopping on a whim. I got an email from JD Power to shop a car dealership service department for my newly purchased car of that brand. I then really started looking into it after not paying for my first oil change on the new car. I used the moneythat I made initially to pay off my student loans and the down payment on a house. Now I use it to enhance our lifestyle. I like that someone else is paying for part of my groceries, oil changes, haircuts, Christmas presents, splurge items and fancy dinners for my well written narrative.

jpgilham Wrote:
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> BBird to show you how gullible I am I actually
> looked that up on Google maps! I'm in NC and I
> thought "Hmm, I haven't heard of BumbleFudge
> before....."


jp, this post just made me adore you more. My mind works exactly like that!

(heart)

I make about $50 a month in profit but my area (Cleveland) does not have a lot of shops I can do. I work odd hours so I have two days a week I can do them. I log on and check the boards every couple of days but most of them are empty when I look or very low fees.

I own another business and am an on-call bartender in addition to MS. I earn anywhere from $1100 to $1600 in what I consider the "good" months (Mar-Oct) for MS alone.. I'm happy if I earn atleast $400 in the remaining months. When I became a mystery shopper, I started in July and earned around $1000 in my first month. Mystery shopping is perfect for days where I'm not booked up.. I have a family (one member with special needs) so MS allows me to schedule when I have respite or the wee ones are at school. I majored in Social Work but do not have the time or the emotional energy to do it as a career right now. I am so thankful for Mystery Shopping.

Pretty much anything bonused would be my most lucrative assignments. Lately, I have been taking advantage of rural shops since hubby and I are country folk AND visit family up there a lot. In general, any revealed audits, shops that involve photography (my other biz) or any shops that allow me to earn $14/hr (incl shop and report time or less) is extremely profitable for me. .

I have shopped for six years... some part-time, some full-time months depending on what's happening in my life.

I have shopped probably $10-12,000 a year. Forty percent is reimbursements which are not taxable, leaving 60% of this as taxable. I write off my expenses, and my taxable income each year is about $2500. The months I am working, I shop more reimbursements, such as restaurants. The months I am shopping for income, I try to stick to bank shops, audits, and bonused shops.

But, I just got a $200 reimbursement on carpet cleaning, which I would have had to pay for.... As someone else stated, I never buy groceries that aren't reimbursed. It's a bit complicated to fill the shopping list, but it can be done. I eat at the higher end restaurants with friends who pay the tips or the amount over the reimbursements. I did the painting session which was offered over the summer.... $45 for the report and a $90 gift card.... and had a great time with a friend at a painting session where the result will be a Christmas gift.


You will not get rich shopping, and I doubt serious if anyone who lives outside a large city can make a living doing it. The benefit is the reimbursements, the beautiful drives, and the fun shops. The rest is drudge... writing report until midnight, looking for jobs, and keeping a strict schedule where you can make money.

One added benefit. My dogs love French Fries and Tater Tots, which I usually do not eat.



Edited to add... No, it is not what I thought it would be.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/12/2014 07:11AM by Ms.Baker.

Last year, my daughter who was 19 did mystery shops for the two months she was home and made close to two thousand dollars concentrating on bonused bank shops. This year, she worked traditionally for the local youth camp, and another small paying job. she made about 900 dollars and worked her butt off. Next year she said she's going to just do mystery shops and take it easy over the summer and make more money!

Do you find a restaurant shop, with only a $5 fee and reimbursed up to $35, worth your time and energy to do a detailed report?

If it's a restaurant I'd go to anyway, sure. That's a $35 savings . Savings are still money in your pocket.

baschultz26 Wrote:
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> Do you find a restaurant shop, with only a $5 fee
> and reimbursed up to $35, worth your time and
> energy to do a detailed report?


Is food one of your monthly expenses? If so, doing these kind of mystery shops helps lower your monthly food costs. Though your reimbursements technically isn't actual pay, it is food. Hence, why I take on $0 fee, high reimbursement restaurant shops for this reason. It allows me to add variety to my diet and I can venture out and try different restaurants.

I started in April this year, with a goal of earning $500 per month. I do mostly merchandising and theater assignments (because I enjoy them), and a few mystery shops (mostly FF and gas stations). Although I am signed up with about two dozen MSCs, the vast majority of my work has been for just three.

I have exceeded my goal every month, and find I am doing so earlier each month, with less actual work involved. As a matter of fact, I have already surpassed my goal for September!

What really helped me is that I was developed a good rapport with the scheduler for the company I work for the most. He always calls me when he has an assignment with a good bonus. In exchange, I say yes almost every time he needs something done last-minute.

Also, I did my first two arches when they were still in single digits, just for the experience. I loved the shop for its ease, but hate the food, and told myself, "no more." When I was called to do another, I expressed reluctance, and they offered a little bit more. Lather, rinse, repeat. I like to think I have earned my way up to the nicely bonused fees I am now offered.

I can't really say if it's what I expected; I didn't really know what I was getting in to. Six months ago, the thought of needing ONE (used) new tire for my car had me in tears. I don't know how, but I somehow came across this forum, and decided to cross my fingers and sign up for some MSCs. I know that $500 each month isn't a huge amount of money. However, it is a huge difference in my stress level and quality of life...the difference between having to ration food and being able to actually enjoy my life again.

I do know that I really enjoy the flexibility and variety of work.

Hi Yawarakai. Will you please contact me in a private message? Person to Person Quality has Cleveland shops that need to be completed, if you haven't already done them. They're car dealership assignments, and they pay $41+ bonuses. Let me know if you want some more details. Thank you.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/17/2014 02:01PM by Julie Strasberg.