Explain to me why anybody would do $10-$15 shops?

@SunnyDays2, the $15-18 is the shopper's fee. There is always full reimbursement for one hour's parking + $2 tip. So, it is still decent money. I try to pair it up with a $10 Hagen Daz shop. Now we're talking....

Try Service Check, Ann Michaels for valet and general parking shops. They get bonused quickly.

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Post office shops. Usually 5 minutes in the post office (if you time it right) and 5 minutes data entry using the app. The old MSC made it easier since we could self assign, pick up 4, and fit other shops in between on the way to the next one, but sometimes I get lucky and can still get several in the same area to build a small route. I send stuff to friends and relatives anyway so why not get reimbursed and paid for it?

That's the key, JAS. The $ per hour, not per shop. Narratives for $10 are ridiculous, though. .05/word is about the lowest that's acceptable.

Now scheduling travel shops for the day after Christmas through mid-January.

While my car is parked in the Center City (reimbursed plus good shop fee) I will happily stroll nearby and do a short $10-15 shop, or three. Since I can leave the car parked as long as I want, I am even free to take the $50 bank shop where I might have to wait a bit for a banker. Lunch or yogurt or coffee shops near the parked car? Sign me up. I will use the client's Wifi to enter my garage shops or just write the very short narratives for a couple of garage shops. I LOVE ti sort of tandem shopping.

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.

@JASFLALMT wrote:

Post office shops. Usually 5 minutes in the post office (if you time it right) and 5 minutes data entry using the app. The old MSC made it easier since we could self assign, pick up 4, and fit other shops in between on the way to the next one, but sometimes I get lucky and can still get several in the same area to build a small route. I send stuff to friends and relatives anyway so why not get reimbursed and paid for it?

I'm with @JASFLALMT. I had post office shops for the self-service kiosk worth $5.00 and 9 stamp's reimbursement. $5 was my favorite shop! No waiting in line, no human interaction, for some post offices I could go after hours, and no daily limit. I loved it! I grabbed as many as I could. Don't discount the cheap shops that are easy!

#burntoutinthebigapple

I get what you are saying - especially about the shop on the way to your Dad's house.

But it's my understanding that to deduct the mileage, I have to include the income. And to include the income, I have to have at least one 1099. And to get a 1099, I have to have earnings with a single MSC of over $600 in a calendar year.

Am I wrong here?

Yup, you are wrong. You report the income no matter how little you earn from any given company. They only have to send a 1099 if they pay you more than $600 in a year. But YOU are responsible for keeping track of your self-employment earnings, and expenses and filing the appropriate Schedule C for the total amount for all of the MSCs you work for (on one form).

For more details, please go to the New Mystery Shoppers area of the forum and read the discussion of Taxes there.

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.

I have and do, write really good narratives. However, I don't really enjoy it. I prefer the easy shops that don't pay much. But they are fast. So instead of doing mostly high end shops, I stack up easy fast ones. It's a personal preference. I prefer 4 $15 shops to 1 $60 shop. But as others have pointed out, I don't get dressed and leave the house, put miles on my car, for 1 $15 shop. I do it for anywhere from 4-10 of them. At the end of the day I'm in my jammies with a hot cup of coffee doing the fast reports and I've made good money.

Editing to say, that those cheap shops often get bonused so I get calls all the time offering me really good money for them.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/28/2016 03:42PM by CoffeeQueen.

@CoffeeQueen wrote:

I have and do, write really good narratives. However, I don't really enjoy it. I prefer the easy shops that don't pay much. But they are fast. So instead of doing mostly high end shops, I stack up easy fast ones. It's a personal preference. I prefer 4 $15 shops to 1 $60 shop. But as others have pointed out, I don't get dressed and leave the house, put miles on my car, for 1 $15 shop. I do it for anywhere from 4-10 of them. At the end of the day I'm in my jammies with a hot cup of coffee doing the fast reports and I've made good money.

Editing to say, that those cheap shops often get bonused so I get calls all the time offering me really good money for them.

And THAT sound just about perfect! I guess I need to revisit those phone shops that I've overlooked. . .

@jkmystery wrote:

@CoffeeQueen wrote:

I prefer 4 $15 shops to 1 $60 shop. But as others have pointed out, I don't get dressed and leave the house, put miles on my car, for 1 $15 shop. I do it for anywhere from 4-10 of them. At the end of the day I'm in my jammies with a hot cup of coffee doing the fast reports and I've made good money.

And THAT sound just about perfect! I guess I need to revisit those phone shops that I've overlooked. . .

My interpretation of what Coffee Queen said is she will go out to do 4-10 $15 shops (not phone shops) and then come home to relax in her jammies and do the short reports. Try some of those, you might like them. Whenever I am in the midst of a long narrative shop, which is all too often, I too start to say "WHY?"

Some phone shops require detailed narratives, too.

@jkmystery wrote:

And THAT sound just about perfect! I guess I need to revisit those phone shops that I've overlooked. . .

Phone shops, in my opinion, are a different animal. They can have narratives as long and intense as a $50 shop.

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton

@ChrisCooper wrote:

@SunnyDays2, the $15-18 is the shopper's fee. There is always full reimbursement for one hour's parking + $2 tip. So, it is still decent money. I try to pair it up with a $10 Hagen Daz shop. Now we're talking....

Try Service Check, Ann Michaels for valet and general parking shops. They get bonused quickly.

To me, this seems worth it, if I am going to be in the area and can add the valet to other shops!

@HonnyBrown wrote:

@jkmystery wrote:

And THAT sound just about perfect! I guess I need to revisit those phone shops that I've overlooked. . .

Phone shops, in my opinion, are a different animal. They can have narratives as long and intense as a $50 shop.

Yes, but I used to be an online mortgage sales person - ALL phone. And did prospecting for a commercial finance company - ALL phone. Excellent money at the finance company as I received back end commissions.

I guess I do good phone.

But why do you say they are a different animal? (besides the obvious that there is no face to face contact.)

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/28/2016 09:03PM by jkmystery.

@HonnyBrown wrote:

@jkmystery wrote:

And THAT sound just about perfect! I guess I need to revisit those phone shops that I've overlooked. . .

Phone shops, in my opinion, are a different animal. They can have narratives as long and intense as a $50 shop.

I was thinking she meant cell phone shops. *shrugs*

No, not cell phone shops, phone shops. For me, the narratives for some of them are as lengthy and intensive as a Remington apartment shop. One editor asked me if I could hear the banker breathing. Really?? For $4? No thanks! The $30 ones from Informa were great.

ETA: Coffee, I'll find a cell phone shop wherever I'm shopping. They are easy to find, easy to do, and easy to report!

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/28/2016 09:39PM by HonnyBrown.

Why would I not do the $10 and $15 shops? I do a bunch of those, and because I do those, I was offered some nice bonuses recently for some out of town work in all directions. I ended up with a monthly gross over $4300, and that did not include any fine dining, apartments, hotels, cruises, or any other high reimbursement shops. Just my typical $10 and $15 shops at bonus rates. I had two nights of motel expenses which could have been one if I'd pushed it. I didn't push it, so when I got up in the morning to come home, I was able to book another $240 day on the way home. Yes! When selecting work and MSCs, I always keep in mind they probably don't offer bonus work to strangers.

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

Today I have the most incredibly easy $15 shop at a mall I absolutely hate. No way would the shop be enough, but since I also have a $10 gift certificate expiring tomorrow for free Godiva it will be a win/win. Too bad I don't have a coupon or a shop for Auntie Anne's, it would be a trifecta

Equal rights for others does not mean fewer rights for you. It's not pie.
"I prefer someone who burns the flag and then wraps themselves up in the Constitution over someone who burns the Constitution and then wraps themselves up in the flag." -Molly Ivins
Never try to teach a pig to sing. It's a waste of your time and it really annoys the pig.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/30/2016 05:48PM by LisaSTL.

The grocery store shops are big coupons to me, something I always seems to forget my actual coupons. However, there has been no restrictions with the use of coupons on these shops. That is a bigger savings on the grocery bill. We have to eat and clean.

I literally live 5 minutes from where most of the shops I do are located. I usually take shops at clothing stores I shop at anyway or restaurants I was going to eat at anyway.

Red Lobster and Olive Garden are NOT fine dining!

Hey, don't fade to gray any positive comments from Bubba, please. Only when Bubba misbehaves should his comments be reduced to small gray font.

if people want to take the fruit hanging so low it's a tuber...bfd (look it up, pearl-clutchers whose widdle feefees are so easily offended).

i'll show myself out now, thank you

@parkcitybrian, is this your softer, less snarky side?

I love trifectas!

@LisaSTL wrote:

Today I have the most incredibly easy $15 shop at a mall I absolutely hate. No way would the shop be enough, but since I also have a $10 gift certificate expiring tomorrow for free Godiva it will be a win/win. Too bad I don't have a coupon or a shop for Auntie Anne's, it would be a trifecta

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton

@HonnyBrown wrote:

I love trifectas!

@LisaSTL wrote:

Today I have the most incredibly easy $15 shop at a mall I absolutely hate. No way would the shop be enough, but since I also have a $10 gift certificate expiring tomorrow for free Godiva it will be a win/win. Too bad I don't have a coupon or a shop for Auntie Anne's, it would be a trifecta

trifecta? this is not a forum for that kind of behavior. there are children that may be monitoring this site. jeez, find an adult site for that kind of stuff.

Trifecta, not menage a trois

It's no wonder why I have that hidden.

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton

@JASFLALMT wrote:

Hey, don't fade to gray any positive comments from Bubba, please. Only when Bubba misbehaves should his comments be reduced to small gray font.

I'm hoping that won't be an issue much longer. It''s my humble opinion that anyone who posts the sheer number of posts with deliberate misinformation and antagonistic comments as Bubbabubba has done, and then creates another account to continue the antagonism, AND begins to send harassing PMs to other forum members, should be banned. Then no one will have to give any of his comments a thumbs-down.

@LisaSTL wrote:

Trifecta, not menage a trois

au contraire, mon ami, i distinctly remember from my college days...trifecta = menage a trois = 3some = fun.

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Explain to me why anybody would do $10-$15 shops?

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