i am new to this world. can someone tell me how to maximize one's earnings from mystery shopping? i am on about 20 job boards but i do not know if that is enough. i seem to only be getting shops that pay 10 to 50 dollars per shop and mostly closer to 10-20? what am i doing wrong? thanks.......

PG -

You aren't doing anything wrong! Are you a relatively new shopper?

You will find that the majority of jobs ARE $7 - $10.00; particularly until you establish yourself as dependable and reliable with companies. Eventually you will get the higher paying shops. It just takes time, you will need to build up your reputation.

Cultivate relationships with your schedulers also. Always try and keep them informed, even if you don't receive a reply, at least you tried to contact them.

Also - a lot of people are signed up with well over 150 companies. Start by going down the list here on this forum. It's at the bottom of the page. "Official List of Mystery Shopping Companies".

As you go down the list, you will see a link to read and review any posts here on the forum about a particular company. Make sure you do your research on whether-or-not to sign up with that company and shop for them.

One thing to remember, even if you do sign up for 100+ companies, you may not always find a lot of jobs for those companies. I'm signed up with about 128 or so. I work for about 10-15 of those on a monthly basis. If you find yourself overwhelmed with trying to keep track of so many companies - set up your bookmarks folders for something similar to "Daily Checks", "3-Day Checks", "Weekly Checks", "Email Only", and I have another folder called "New MSC's Sign Up" (which I keep a folder if I happen to find a MSC named I am not signed up with).

You are doing great - again, it just takes time! If you are finding $50.00 jobs, that's excellent!

PS: Oh, and make sure you Read, Read, Read and READ the forum. You'll learn a lot of tips, tricks, suggestions and advice! Start with all of the "STICKY" topics under the "NEW MYSTERY SHOPPERS" forum - it's also at the bottom of every page.

Everyting r@inyDayZ3 said and then some.

It helps to be signed up with lots of companies. Most have rotations, so even if you do a zillion shops for a company now, you might not be able to shop for them again for a while.

You will eventually learn which companies you like (as r@inyDayZ3 said, read and research so you get an idea which ones are good, which to stay away from) and which companies you can negotiate with. I took a lot of low paying jobs when I first started. Now, because I was getting so burned out, Now, I am getting to the point where I only take shops I consider to be worth the time and money. I will take a low paying job if it is in my area (or I can combine it with others). If it is far away, I only take it if I can get a bonus. I lose out on a lot of jobs!!!!!! But I am happier. And saner!

Happy Passover and Happy Easter
And happy whatever else you are doing this weekend.
r@inyDayZ3 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> PG -
>
> You aren't doing anything wrong! Are you a
> relatively new shopper?
>
> You will find that the majority of jobs ARE $7 -
> $10.00; particularly until you establish yourself
> as dependable and reliable with companies.
> Eventually you will get the higher paying shops.
> It just takes time, you will need to build up your
> reputation.
>
> Cultivate relationships with your schedulers also.
> Always try and keep them informed, even if you
> don't receive a reply, at least you tried to
> contact them.
>
> Also - a lot of people are signed up with well
> over 150 companies. Start by going down the list
> here on this forum. It's at the bottom of the
> page. "Official List of Mystery Shopping
> Companies".
>
> As you go down the list, you will see a link to
> read and review any posts here on the forum about
> a particular company. Make sure you do your
> research on whether-or-not to sign up with that
> company and shop for them.
>
> One thing to remember, even if you do sign up for
> 100+ companies, you may not always find a lot of
> jobs for those companies. I'm signed up with
> about 128 or so. I work for about 10-15 of those
> on a monthly basis. If you find yourself
> overwhelmed with trying to keep track of so many
> companies - set up your bookmarks folders for
> something similar to "Daily Checks", "3-Day
> Checks", "Weekly Checks", "Email Only", and I have
> another folder called "New MSC's Sign Up" (which I
> keep a folder if I happen to find a MSC named I am
> not signed up with).
>
> You are doing great - again, it just takes time!
> If you are finding $50.00 jobs, that's excellent!
>
> PS: Oh, and make sure you Read, Read, Read and
> READ the forum. You'll learn a lot of tips,
> tricks, suggestions and advice! Start with all of
> the "STICKY" topics under the "NEW MYSTERY
> SHOPPERS" forum - it's also at the bottom of every
> page.

Realize msing isn't a high paying field, we do get perks (food, oil changes, haircuts and work at home). You are getting what we all get, sign with more companies, do good work and zero in on jobs close to you and that you do well. You'll find your speciality, but don't expect to really make big bucks.....welcome to the wacky world of msing.

PGMman Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> i am new to this world. can someone tell me how
> to maximize one's earnings from mystery shopping?
> i am on about 20 job boards but i do not know if
> that is enough. i seem to only be getting shops
> that pay 10 to 50 dollars per shop and mostly
> closer to 10-20? what am i doing wrong?
> thanks.......

The above posters are correct. You are doing nothing wrong. A lot of folks think mystery shopping pays big bucks. It doesn't. Most of the shops I see are $10-20. Purchase/return shops tend to pay more but I do very few, I don't like purchase/returns. I am told video shopping assignments pay more but they require an investment in video equipment and training and I have not done those as yet. But we do have some video shopping pros around the forum who can speak to that - walesmaven, LisaSTL, and others.

Why are you doing Mystery shopping? If it is for the income you will never be wealthy. Some people go out to meet people because they are lonely.

I have a relative that is an Amway distributor. The relative has to make contact with human beings to expand that business. As I mentor people, I suggested that the relative to go out and expose themselves to people. You will never make money while watching TV or playing video games just as fish will not jump into your boat when you are fishing. You have to put a line in the water.

You can not solicit the employees you are evaluating as it creates a bias. You can talk to people in line or customers in the store that should be working at that time of the day. They might need the value you are offering. I do not, I worked for my money, now my money works for me. I "work" only when I feel like it. I would miss Mystery shopping if it were not available.

Some people, like me, like to get a "free lunch" there is no such thing as a "free lunch" you must exchange it for the value of a report. You get mileage, an income tax deduction when you do a shop while you are going to the beach. They may even pay a fee which goes into the gas tank.

You can not take the total mileage to the beach only to the location of the shop. The amount of fee or compensation will be less than minimum wage when you figure you have to do a report. Deduct the travel time because you were going to the beach anyway.