Just wondering, because I made $380 in a week without even trying very hard...

Yes. If you do a "search" for "full time" you will find a lot of discussion of this.

I do not, but there are several forum members who shop full time. They also tend to travel a great deal to find highly paid shops which they asemble into munti-day (or week) routes.

Thanks!

Can you live off of $380 a week? And there is no guarantee that you will always be making that amount every week. Could be more, could be less. Things slow down a bit during the holiday season especially end of December into the month of January.

Not trying hard? Good! That means you can probably increase your work volume if that's what your goals are.

The tough part? Being able to find enough work to replicate that income and increase it throughout the year.

The notion of what your minimum costs per week or month is an important one, whether you are mystery shopping or not. The average Social Security payment for 2016 will be $1341 per month, from which roughly $100 will be automatically deducted for Medicare. This makes the net about $310 per week. Where we live, what we own, what we owe, what we feel are 'necessities', determine whether $310, $380 or $1000 per week is enough. $380 per week would probably not cover the cost of handbags and shoes for one friend of mine, it would not cover the mortgage for another, it would hardly cover the technology 'needs' and 'services' of still another friend.

Where I live and how I live tells me that $1000 in fees and reimbursements of items I would pay for myself otherwise is more than enough for a month most of the time, but does fall short by about $3000 per year that needs to come from elsewhere--Social Security, savings, investments, retirement plans.

Sybil2 is correct that the availability of work varies seasonally, by the amount of competition in your area and also by rotation. For October I will have available a shop with a 6 month rotation cycle, but obviously I can't count on that shop every month even if it is available. There are shops with a 45 day rotation that I know better than to take because the employees don't turn over that fast and the nature of the shop would make a shopper memorable.

Yeah, a full time job writing reports... Lol

I am a teacher by academic year and do this full time. During vacations and summers I do this full-time and average about $750 a week. However I still have taxes to pay and aTh just fired me for a false accusation. It is ok though, because the summer is over. I have no strength to fight with them. During the school year I average about $150-200 a week when I have the time.

I've had months where I only earned about $100 or even less after gas, but the free items are what make up for it for me. I've netted as much as $500 in groceries in a month, which means I can eat a bit healthier (so can the rest of the household), pick up necessities, stock up staples, and maybe toss in some toothpaste, shampoo, and such for free-- yesterday I was able to buy 4 items my parents wanted and pass along to them at no cost knowing I would be reimbursed and they couldn't necessarily afford the items at the time with major medical bills eating their pockets up.

The best month I had was around 70 shops, but they were mostly $5-$9 shops with reimbursements and a few that paid for travel and tolls... I'm not a full time shopper--however-- and I do some online gig stuff as well and have spent well over 40 hours in a week shopping... That being said, if you just shop 40 hours with reports, travel, and all that factored in, you may not actually make so much. It can be time consuming to research, read up on reports, input reports, drive to store, find associates, interact, travel home, get gas and on and on.

I was working 2 part time jobs, attending school, and mystery shopping at one point. Now I'm down to 1 job, part time school at home (online class this term not online schooling as a whole), and mystery shopping. It's a work-life-balance-play ordeal for some, for others its a way of living and pays those bills. Just keep an eye out for the good ole tax man, and if you have a 9-5, keep it for a while to get a feel for how life shopping could be. It's great to bring home an extra $500-$2500 a month, but when you maintain a car, pay out for gas, realize you shopped 108 hours in a week, and you've gained 12 lbs from fast food... eh. Haha. Just play around and find that balance!

This week I did 3 shops. Made a quick (I spent about 5 hours total on this plus gas but it included some car maintenance for free...) $150. That's all I have scheduled and all I plan to schedule until maybe another 5 or 6 days pass so I have me time. Was enough to get me a little extra cash to spend on a new monitor for working, some much needed socks, and a balaclava I'm usually a $100 a month earner by nature as I pick up reimbursement shops A LOT. And I'm a bit newer to the multiple gigs ordeal as I spent 2 years strictly doing fast food and grocery. Little did I know there was a world of interesting things out there as I've learned over the past 4 or 5 months... heehee Can you say awkward sex toy, bar, strip club, and car dealer shops? $ $ $

I do it full time and yes you can make a living off it depending on certain factors which differ for everyone. The main being number of shops in your local area and number of shoppers in your local area. Now if you can travel and be away from home for a few days or weeks then it is much easier.

I do this part time as I work the night shift at my regular job. I average about $1000/month in MS fees, but like the other shoppers commented, the cost of gas, the reimbursements for meals, required purchases, printer ink, utilities, phone bill, and what I will be owing the tax man, will be ahead of my fees slightly. If you are not aware, you must report income of $600 or more, depending on the MSC. Do not assume the money you are earning is all tax-free. For example, MSC (a) you earned only $100 for the whole year., MSC (b) you earned over $1000 for the year. Of course, you would report the income from MCS (b).

In reality you would report the income from BOTH MSC(a) and MSC (b).

@catgrannyof5 wrote:

If you are not aware, you must report income of $600 or more, depending on the MSC. Do not assume the money you are earning is all tax-free. For example, MSC (a) you earned only $100 for the whole year., MSC (b) you earned over $1000 for the year. Of course, you would report the income from MCS (b).

@catgrannyof5, you are 100% wrong. You MUST report ALL income from ALL mystery shopping/auditing/merchandising, etc. companies. In your example, you need to report both incomes from MSC A and MSC B. You may owe taxes or you may not owe taxes but you have to report it all.

@everyone else, Don't take tax advise from an unknown name in a public forum. If you have tax questions, you need to talk to a financial planner/CPA/tax consultation specialist, etc.

Okay, I stand corrected. Yes, verify all income received from your tax preparer, CPA, etc.

oops, I meant verify all income received with your tax preparer.

@catgrannyof5, just in case you didn't know, you can edit your own posts. Under your own posts, there is an EDIT tab. You will only see it on your own posts since you can not edit other people's posts. It might be better to edit your posts instead of always starting a new post. Just a suggestion in case you were not aware of the edit feature.

No Sybil2, I was not aware of post editing tabs. I am still challenged in the many ways of the computer functions. A lot of times, I still need to ask my adult children to help me with certain functions when the computer is not performing the way it should or have them show me how to do a new function this way or that way.

Like others have stated, that will ebb and flow. When you factor in rotations (not being able to do same one every month), fact that not all shops are done every month, companies and MSC come and go. Not every week will look that good.

My first year shopping, I made, after all expenses (except taxes) $1000 in one month and it was exhausting. Granted, I've learned more over the years and there are some better paying shops you can get over time. I doubt I'd try to work that hard again to make the $1000, it's not worth it to me.

Now, we get to go out to eat and explore new restaurants and experiences, and I've calculated $3700 this year so far that we've gotten in food shops. Sure we wouldn't have eaten at most of those places or as often if we were paying. But even if I saved half that in eating out expenses, thats where this is a real win win for me.

When I started in March of 2014, I finally had enough confidence to work routes and by July of 2014 to do this full time. Then I had a melt down. Took a couple of months of pacing myself and made more when I could handle it. Then my sweet deal ended. The sweet deal is still out there but I'm only allowed 3 shops per day. It's not so sweet anymore because 3 shops require a minimum of 100 miles. Not worth it.

I was pulling down over $800 a month for just one company. Now I do the happy dance if I net $500 for an entire month. The best part of this business is you can build a reputation and schedulers will go to bat for you with other schedulers. The worst part of this business is you might have to bite the bullet and do a shop that pays nothing in the short run,and may or may not help you in the long run.

Some months it's a crap shoot and other months there isn't enough time to earn the money.

clinen, I did a search on balaclava and found it is a ski mask of sorts, similar to the ones in the movies that the bank robbers wear. For a minute I thought you might be talking about baklava, which sounds like a much better purchase to me

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/25/2016 11:16PM by JASFLALMT.

@JASFLALMT wrote:

clinen, I did a search on balaclava and found it is a ski mask of sorts, similar to the ones in the movies that the bank robbers wear. For a minute I thought you might be talking about baklava, which sounds like a much better purchase to me

I would shop for baklava!!!!

Haha. I was preparing for winter. We usually get our first snowfall in mid October so I figured I would snag up a few toasty items before it hits... feels like it may be a "late winter" here judging on the way fall is happening right now, but then again it could take a turn . And yes, Baklava is delicious. I'm guilty of adding extra, fresh honey to mine.

Thank the Lord, I have a degree in Accounting!! Just wade through all your schedule 1099's. Add them all together and use that as your total income for the year from MS. Or, make sure you get an EIN instead of using your Social Security Number. That way they can't touch your personal finances only your business finances. It doesn't hurt to incorporate, either.

Your gross income for the year is not necessarily related to the total of your 1099's. You will be under the limit for a 1099 with some of your companies. Others may or may not include reimbursements in the total on the 1099.

The gross income you report should be all your fees and reimbursed purchases. From this, you subtract all your expenses and take any other legal deductions to arrive at taxable income.

I agree with Sybil on tax advice. Stick with your tax consultant and not advice on this forum, as well intentioned as it may be.

In the area I live, NO. I have watched postings for 300 plus companies for 3-4 years, and done routes and never came close to replacing my other part time income. That said, it's a great periodic supplement to my regular income.