How much do you make from mystery shopping on an average year(Reim + fees)?

This year I will probably earn around $2,000 (Reim + fees) from mystery shopping. I mostly do food shops so I save a lot of money on food a month. I primarily do this as a hobby and as something to do on my free time. I usually schedule a mystery shop right after work so I don't have to cook anything when I get home.

Just curious how much you guys are making from mystery shopping, whether if this is a major income source for you or if you are primarily looking at it from a reimbursement aspect. Don't post what you make if you don't feel comfortable to do so.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/10/2016 04:29PM by DavePi.

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What is your 9-5 job and salary?

There are reasons that a body stays in motion
At the moment only demons come to mind

Reimbursement + fees last year totaled to around $20,000, I believe. Fees was about half of that; can't remember from the top of my head. This is a side thing for me as well and also a way to subsidize food and other expenses.

Shopping the Greater Denver Area, Colorado Springs and in-between in Colorado. 33 year old male and willing to travel!

I will make about $5.00 to $10.00. That is why all my money is going into the purchase of Powerball tickets. It is a sound business plan, don't ya think?

@Tarantado wrote:

Reimbursement + fees last year totaled to around $20,000, I believe. Fees was about half of that; can't remember from the top of my head. This is a side thing for me as well and also a way to subsidize food and other expenses.

You blew past the Forbes article "How I made $14,000 Mystery Shopping in a Year", very nice! What is your accept/delete ratio? Today going through all my emails I found nothing of value, your area must be far productive.

Last year, approximately $36.000.00 in reimbursements, fees: not enough to trigger any 1099's from any of the companies I work with.

This year, $12,000.00 on the books for first third of the year, approximately $500.00 in fees from the companies I work with.

It looks like I'm on track to hit or exceed $36.000.00 again this year - with approximately 12-15 hotel, 36 fine dining, and the occasional ice cream shop assignments.

@GuyFawkes wrote:

@Tarantado wrote:

Reimbursement + fees last year totaled to around $20,000, I believe. Fees was about half of that; can't remember from the top of my head. This is a side thing for me as well and also a way to subsidize food and other expenses.

You blew past the Forbes article "How I made $14,000 Mystery Shopping in a Year", very nice! What is your accept/delete ratio? Today going through all my emails I found nothing of value, your area must be far productive.

There are some projects I find reasonable for me to take on at the base fee based on the amount of time it takes for me to do the work. I also take on many food projects to help save on food.

When I see good paying work and I'm aware of the amount of work involved, I take it on if I am available.

It would be good to note that I did not make $14,000 in fees though.

Shopping the Greater Denver Area, Colorado Springs and in-between in Colorado. 33 year old male and willing to travel!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/06/2016 06:45PM by Tarantado.

I shop part time and grossed between $19,000 and $20,000 in 2015. No fine dining, cruises, hotels, time shares, etc.

Mary Davis Nowell. Based close to Fort Worth. Shopping Interstate 20 east and west, Interstate 35 north and south.

i thought its rude to ask how much $ people make.

Many people think it's rude to ask, Ninja, and I don't disagree. Since I don't do this full time, I don't mind sharing. I would never ask anyone how much money they make but I have to admit I have some curiosity about this work.

Apparently we earn anywhere from not much to a bunch of money, depending on what we do and how effectively we do it. I'm sure most of you earn more than I do but I believe $19,000 to $20,000 annually part time for mostly bankable money and a totally flexible schedule is a good deal, particularly for the elderly who may be automatically selected out from most employment.

Mary Davis Nowell. Based close to Fort Worth. Shopping Interstate 20 east and west, Interstate 35 north and south.

@MSNinja wrote:

i thought its rude to ask how much $ people make.

I'm with Mary on this one. While this kind of work has many, many variables, I do not see an issue for those interested in knowing.

I'm part of other forums focusing on my full-time profession. The same question is asked all the time. Knowing how much you can make is a deal breaker when deciding if this kind of work is worth it. How can this be a discussion forum about this profession, but leave out the most important part, the pay?

Shopping the Greater Denver Area, Colorado Springs and in-between in Colorado. 33 year old male and willing to travel!

There's always the option too, if you find the question rude, to simply ignore it. Just because the question is asked doesn't mean you're compelled to answer it if doing so would make you uncomfortable.

Shopper in California's Bay Area

@DavePi wrote:

This year I will probably earn around $2,000 (Reim + fees) from mystery shopping.

Reimbursement is not money earned. It's money you paid out of pocket for the shop and the shop paid you back. The money you make is only your fees plus any bonus offered.

If I do a $12 shop and have to pay $20 to ship the package, I only made $12. If I look at my fees + reimbursement, it looks like I've done really well. When in reality looking at my fees + bonuses, I making out alright. My money is used for auto related expenses (insurance, smog, tuneup, tires, etc.), shopping for myself and groceries mainly. The rest I save for a rainy day or a purchase I wouldn't normally buy.

@CaliGirl925 wrote:

There's always the option too, if you find the question rude, to simply ignore it. Just because the question is asked doesn't mean you're compelled to answer it if doing so would make you uncomfortable.

I could also say your ass looks fat in those jeans.. You could choose to ignore me but that wouldn't make me any less rude.

There are reasons that a body stays in motion
At the moment only demons come to mind

@bgriffin wrote:

@CaliGirl925 wrote:

There's always the option too, if you find the question rude, to simply ignore it. Just because the question is asked doesn't mean you're compelled to answer it if doing so would make you uncomfortable.

I could also say your ass looks fat in those jeans.. You could choose to ignore me but that wouldn't make me any less rude.

You seem uncharacteristically passive aggressive about this topic. It seems you find the question rude. Why not just say so and explain your reasons? For example, I would find what you said to be rude because it's making an unwelcome and uninvited comment about how I look.

Shopper in California's Bay Area

@CaliGirl925 wrote:

There's always the option too, if you find the question rude, to simply ignore it. Just because the question is asked doesn't mean you're compelled to answer it if doing so would make you uncomfortable.

Nice reply, as kids our parents and teachers said "There are three questions your not suppose to ask people" and before I post them I would like to add the author of the OP is probably just trying to measure how their comparing or has a honest curiosity of what is possible being a professional shopper. CaliGirl is right because you don't have to post anything if the topic bother's you. I stopped attending church because people would gravitate towards money and politics, they used church as a way to sell their MLM products. Not cool turning the Lord's house in to a money making scheme or push your political agendas!

1. "How much money do you make"?

2. "What religion are you" and soon a debate on religion starts.

3."What political party are you affiliated with"? I've seen good friendships destroyed because someone did not teach their kids correctly.

If someone asks me face to face how much I make without offering to exchange information, a cheerful and unrevealing answer is "not enough". Or, perhaps another might be "less (or more) than I deserve". In any case, either answer lets me engage in conversation without answering the question.

When someone shares their own information on a public forum and asks for feedback, I don't consider it rude but that's just one person's opinion. Instead, I consider it inquisitive. If I didn't want to share, I wouldn't.

When I had a real job in the real world I shared information regularly with anyone else at my level. I remember one time in particular when I was a high volume store manager and the manager at the nearby Whataburger wanted to swap numbers. Imagine my surprise when I discovered he had me by $5,000 annually. You never know if you don't find out.

Mary Davis Nowell. Based close to Fort Worth. Shopping Interstate 20 east and west, Interstate 35 north and south.

@bgriffin wrote:

@CaliGirl925 wrote:

There's always the option too, if you find the question rude, to simply ignore it. Just because the question is asked doesn't mean you're compelled to answer it if doing so would make you uncomfortable.

I could also say your ass looks fat in those jeans.. You could choose to ignore me but that wouldn't make me any less rude.

I'm sorry this makes no sense, the first was a general question asked to the group the second is a statement made about an individual to that individual. They really aren't the same thing at all. The second just seems meant to be inflammatory.

I don't have a problem talking about my pay so I will share. I'm making about $400 a month and work very part time. I don't include reimbursement since a lot of it is for shipping and things that are of little or no value to me.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/07/2016 10:01PM by wwin.

@deelitefullyme wrote:

@DavePi wrote:

This year I will probably earn around $2,000 (Reim + fees) from mystery shopping.

Reimbursement is not money earned. It's money you paid out of pocket for the shop and the shop paid you back. The money you make is only your fees plus any bonus offered.

If I do a $12 shop and have to pay $20 to ship the package, I only made $12. If I look at my fees + reimbursement, it looks like I've done really well. When in reality looking at my fees + bonuses, I making out alright. My money is used for auto related expenses (insurance, smog, tuneup, tires, etc.), shopping for myself and groceries mainly. The rest I save for a rainy day or a purchase I wouldn't normally buy.

Reimbursements can help depending on how you see it. I am still single and feed only myself.

At my most efficient, I was able to eat well for around $8-10 a day on food (with basically no drinks other than protein shakes and milk). So to eat well, that translated to around $240-300 a month. With mystery shopping, I am able to reduce this amount dramatically, with time spent on reporting can help offset my time grocery shopping, preparing, cleaning, etc.

Then you have some gas station mystery shops that pays a fee + 2 gallons of gas. When fit in appropriately into your route and schedule, the work pays off with more than just a fee.

These are just some reimbursements that can easily seen a money saved, which can help maintain and maximize your income indirectly.

Shopping the Greater Denver Area, Colorado Springs and in-between in Colorado. 33 year old male and willing to travel!

Good point Tarantado.

Although I will do the occasional food shop and have never done the purchase of groceries or gas, I have done very well with the home improvement shops.

Was able to purchase veggies in containers, fertilizers, soil and weed killers. They were items I would have needed to purchase anyway for my annual garden, but with the Armstrong shops, they were free. Perks of the job.

You're right. I guess it is how you look at it!

@wwin wrote:

I'm sorry this makes no sense, the first was a general question asked to the group the second is a statement made about an individual to that individual. They really aren't the same thing at all. The second just seems meant to be inflammatory.

Because they are both rude. Who they are rude towards is independent of the fact that they are both rude.

There are reasons that a body stays in motion
At the moment only demons come to mind

@CaliGirl925 wrote:

You seem uncharacteristically passive aggressive about this topic. It seems you find the question rude. Why not just say so and explain your reasons? For example, I would find what you said to be rude because it's making an unwelcome and uninvited comment about how I look.

Perhaps it's different for me because this is my full time job and so for me is equivalent to how much do you make a year. In effect the OP is asking full time shoppers how much their yearly income is. To make matters worse they OP did not share the same information.

This is obviously a blown out of proportion example but it's the same as an accountant and an engineer who works weekends at H&R Block being at a party and the H&R Block person saying to the accountant "I made $3000 doing taxes last year, how much did you make doing taxes last year?"

On second thought it's not even a blown out of proportion example, it's pretty much exactly the same thing.

There are reasons that a body stays in motion
At the moment only demons come to mind

@bgriffin wrote:

Perhaps it's different for me because this is my full time job and so for me is equivalent to how much do you make a year. In effect the OP is asking full time shoppers how much their yearly income is. To make matters worse they OP did not share the same information.

This is obviously a blown out of proportion example but it's the same as an accountant and an engineer who works weekends at H&R Block being at a party and the H&R Block person saying to the accountant "I made $3000 doing taxes last year, how much did you make doing taxes last year?"

On second thought it's not even a blown out of proportion example, it's pretty much exactly the same thing.

But..... This is a forum for mystery shopping and merchandising. The point of this forum is for discussion and education. Part of education is understanding the income potential. I didn't look into the OP's profile and his/her previous posts, but what if they are a prospective shopper learning what can be made in this industry?

Shopping the Greater Denver Area, Colorado Springs and in-between in Colorado. 33 year old male and willing to travel!

The income potential is that there are at least a dozen shoppers on this forum who do this full time as their only income and who do not appear to be bankrupt.

Also the OP did not ask any question of this sort. He threw out a yardstick and asked if his was longer or shorter than everyone else's.

If someone wants to know how to make a good living doing this I'll be glad to give them some pointers. The most basic being you have to travel to some degree, you have to have excellent planning skills, you have to work smart, you have to understand how the business of mystery shopping works, you have to be a shrewd negotiator but at the same time cultivate positive relationships with companies and schedulers.

Then you have to go out and work your ass off.

There are reasons that a body stays in motion
At the moment only demons come to mind

Many jobs contain perks, and mystery shopping can too. Perks are perks; they are not income. I work mystery shopping full time and make $27k from it in each of the last two years. I have no idea how much in reimbursements I have received, nor do I care. Reimbursements are not income; they are amounts that a client paid me back for purchasing items or services that the client required me to purchase before I could be paid for the job.

@AZwolfman wrote:

Perks are perks; they are not income.

While reimbursements are not direct income from wages, those 'perks' can be used to offset the cost of things that income would normally go toward, like food, travel, clothing and other household needs. That income (yes...it's income because you receive a payment for it) is also tax free and, for me, pays out at a higher percentage than equivalent income from wages would, so it indeed does have a value. It just depends on how you structure your MS business...

And indeed one needs to find reimbursements that are useful and are purchasing something for which you otherwise would have spent your own money. For simplicity, lets say you are in the 20% tax bracket and every week you buy a $1 item. You need $1.25 in pre-tax money to purchase that item. If you have a shop every week for which you buy and are reimbursed for that $1 item, you have saved $1.25 each time because you are not using your own post-tax money to make the purchase.

Of course for me not all reimbursements are useful because some are for things I would not purchase anyway. I have a dozen restaurant shops scheduled this month. The reimbursement will be nice, but I would not likely be dining out a dozen times in a month if it were on my own dime.

I actually track this in my spreadsheet. I track both taxable and "effective" income and one of the things that is factored in for effective income is how useful the reimbursement is to me. For instance if I eat a meal that costs me $20 and I get reimbursed for it I assign an actual value. Sometimes it's the same, sometimes it's less, sometimes it's $0. For instance if I am on a route and I would have probably stopped at Chick-Fil-A and spent $8 but instead I took a nice carry out shop that reimbursed $20, I will assign a value of $8 to that reimbursement.

There are reasons that a body stays in motion
At the moment only demons come to mind

I did that for a while as well. Then one night I realized that if I was trying to find 'real values' I probably needed to also calculate the value of the fee + bonus protected from taxation by the miles driven. The following day I decided to scrap both items as being a PITA when I already knew that shopping was quite valuable to my fiscal health.

HA! I calculate that as well. I don't do it to look at individual shops but as a way of knowing how much I really do earn, as my taxable income is quite laughable.

There are reasons that a body stays in motion
At the moment only demons come to mind

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