@Sybil2 wrote:
Going to the Bahamas during Hurricane Season will get you a discounted rate.
@pinchers81 wrote:
People sign up with MF and GAPBuster, see a long list of jobs that pay 8 to 10 dollars, and immediately say that mystery shopping is stupid and pays nothing.
@Shop-et-al wrote:
That's interesting. Why would you say something like that?
@af517 wrote:
@Shop-et-al wrote:
That's interesting. Why would you say something like that?
The fact that someone would start a thread like this, demand to know how much money people are making and declare that they will refuse to believe any answer that doesn't fit their preconceived assumptions gives us some information about the state of the potential shopper pool. Rudeness, entitlement, lack of professionalism, presumption, and the expectation of having one's hand held are not qualities typically found among successful self-starters.
@af517 wrote:
@Shop-et-al wrote:
That's interesting. Why would you say something like that?
The fact that someone would start a thread like this, demand to know how much money people are making and declare that they will refuse to believe any answer that doesn't fit their preconceived assumptions gives us some information about the state of the potential shopper pool. Rudeness, entitlement, lack of professionalism, presumption, and the expectation of having one's hand held are not qualities typically found among successful self-starters.
@kiki125 wrote:
Funny, I also hear about all this big money being made mystery shopping but I am signed up on several sites and no one could make a living with the shops that are in my area & I live in very large city. How do you make a living getting a free sandwich or a free oil change? Sure it's nice but you can't do that everyday & that doesn't pay the rent. And a lot of these companies limit you on how many you can do. Maybe things are different back east or in the mid-west but I find it extremely hard to believe that you could live this rich lifestyle being a Mystery Shopper full time. I know the amount of work that goes into being one & don't get how getting a $10 shop for a couple of hours of your time is making people so rich.
@MDavisnowell wrote:
I believe we lose shoppers mainly because they have problems making the transition from closely supervised employee to being almost entirely on their own.
@wiseshopper wrote:
I know there are some who claim to make $$$ but I can guarantee they travel and travel far from home.
@SteveSoCal wrote:
Long-term shoppers seem to share a love of completing tasks, filling in the blanks, solving puzzles, etc.
Is there any one of you regular shoppers that hasn't cracked a smile when you have shop X scheduled for noon, shop Z scheduled for the evening and run across shop Y, geographical located between X & Z and needing an afternoon visit?
@jake103 wrote:
The point is not to agonize over how much you "might" make, just get out there, get some free stuff and some free meals and have fun. Hate to see whiners lurking around the board but can't get their feet wet because they fear they won't make "enough". Sounds like that person needs job security, and there ain't none here. MS is for people who love it. We don't have bosses and we choose how to use our time and energy. It's all about being creative, which would not apply to most nine to five jobs. Like Camelliac, I travel and live in campgrounds. I have no mortgage. You have to be creative to survive in this country. Stop waiting for things to be handed to you and get off your a**, Billy!
@jake103 wrote:
The point is not to agonize over how much you "might" make, just get out there, get some free stuff and some free meals and have fun. Hate to see whiners lurking around the board but can't get their feet wet because they fear they won't make "enough". Sounds like that person needs job security, and there ain't none here. MS is for people who love it. We don't have bosses and we choose how to use our time and energy. It's all about being creative, which would not apply to most nine to five jobs. Like Camelliac, I travel and live in campgrounds. I have no mortgage. You have to be creative to survive in this country. Stop waiting for things to be handed to you and get off your a**, Billy!
@SteveSoCal wrote:
I have long believed that on top of good independant business management skills, there is another quality that makes great shoppers; It's a personality type. Long-term shoppers seem to share a love of completing tasks, filling in the blanks, solving puzzles, etc.
Is there any one of you regular shoppers that hasn't cracked a smile when you have shop X scheduled for noon, shop Z scheduled for the evening and run across shop Y, geographical located between X & Z and needing an afternoon visit?
When I worked as a scheduler, I signed up a lot of people, and many friends, to mystery shop. If I had a great shop with no shoppers available, but new someone that lived in the area, I'd contact them. These were often very successful independent business owners, lifetime contract workers, and highly educated people. Many friends approached me for work as well. Absolutely NONE of the friends still shop. Most came back to me after the first shop and said, "How do you do it?"
They were all perfectly capable of the work. It was mainly either uninteresting or too difficult for them, considering the payback. Some did like like the drink limitations on dinner shops. Other did not like the requirement to be punctual. A few did not like having a dress code. There are so many reasons why people may not make a good mystery shoppers, but some us are just the right shape for that hole....