HOw much do you really earn shopping? Truth please.

July 03, 2015 07:15PM

A shopper making higher amounts needs to give everyone their location, client list and list of shops performed? You do realize how ridiculous that would be after they have done all the work? No real shopper here has ever stated they make over $2,000 per week every single week of the year. In fact, I've never heard a real shopper say they make $100,000 or more although I know some upper echelon shoppers who regularly make anywhere from $45,000 to $80,000. Those are shoppers who work hard AND work smart and there aren't many of them around.

It is stated quite often, the shoppers making much more have several things in common. The availability and willingness to travel for days and even weeks or months at a time. Ongoing monthly or quarterly projects that are often by referral only or were awarded after the shopper had completed a lot of other assignments for the company. And more often than not, all or a portion of their work is video.

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 07/03/2015 07:20PM by LisaSTL.

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July 03, 2015 07:19PM

@amandad11 wrote:

I am currently doing this full time and make about $200/week (plus reimbursements), I however do not do video shops nor high end ones like resorts. $1000/week might be possible and I am even willing to to concede $2000 but if anyone claims to be regularly making more, they should give us more info such as which area they are shopping and either the MSC's names or the type of assignments they do.

Hi,

I am making great money shopping the Springfield area. I regularly make $50-$75 a location doing a string of 20 Kwik-E-Marts south of Springfield every week for Flanders MSC. I can do them in a day. I'm sure you could offer $5 to $10 less and they would be yours. I regularly make $90 a pop doing the Krusty burgers in the area because no one else applies. You could easily get those too. I get $50-$100 bonuses doing the Acme shops on Hwy 1 near the Springfield nuclear plant for Burns Mystery Shopping because no one else is applying for the jobs. You could offer to do them for $10 less and I'm sure you would get them instead of me. Also, I do a route of the Standard Oil gas stations for $75 a location for Smithers MSC along Hwy 1, Loop 2, and Interstate 3. You could offer to do them for $5 less and I'm sure they would give them to you.

July 03, 2015 07:31PM

I'm amazed by the generosity of those who frequently post here and share information with other mystery shoppers. I'm amazed by how much they willingly share and how open they are. There is a lot of information shared here, but some posters constantly ask for more with no appreciation for how much is provided freely.

In polite society, it is not acceptable to ask how much someone makes. In business, it is unacceptable for a contractor to ask another how much he makes. In what world is a contractor expected to publish his location, client list, and salary?

Posting anonymously on an internet forum apparently makes some people into rude boors who think it's okay to question others, demand information, call others liars, and insist that others "prove" what they say by posting confidential information.

July 03, 2015 07:35PM

@Billy ONaire wrote:

How much can I expect to make if I work full time mystery shopping? I don't believe claims that you can make a good income. I think expenses will take to big a bite out of profits. I don't want to hear from anyone who appears to exaggerate. Only wish to hear frm those who know howvto calculate expenses. Surprises me to read people bragging about earning $$$$/month. That is near poverty income.

Billy,

Good afternoon. I have been away from the forum and just now read this thread.

You have piqued my interest.

Poverty levels vary and involve numbers, locations, abilities, and other factors.

If you could tell us what "$$$$" means, someone could ask follow-up questions about family composition, health, etc., and determine just how near to poverty "$$$$" is in the US and/or other countries.

Thanks for any additional information that you can provide. Your information can be used to help improve the understanding of all mystery shop forum readers who are attempting to place their earnings within the context of poverty for their primary places of residence.

Sincerely,

Shop-et-al

My garden in England is full of eating-out places, for heat waves, warm September evenings, or lunch on a chilly Christmas morning. (Mary Quant)

July 03, 2015 08:15PM

The people who claim others aren't successful, are living in poverty and accepting government assistance are the ones who cannot do it themselves. It only stands to reason in their limited view of the world and with their inflated ego, if they can't then nobody else can.

July 03, 2015 08:39PM

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.

July 03, 2015 08:48PM

Mystery Shopping provides extra income for my family and allows me to work when I have the time and around my kids schedules. For right now, that is priceless to me. Am I getting rich by doing this? No, but I never thought that I would.....

July 03, 2015 08:52PM

@roflwofl wrote:

I'm amazed by the generosity of those who frequently post here and share information with other mystery shoppers. I'm amazed by how much they willingly share and how open they are.

mystery2me's post went way over your head.

July 03, 2015 08:55PM

@LisaSTL wrote:

The people who claim others aren't successful, are living in poverty and accepting government assistance are the ones who cannot do it themselves. It only stands to reason in their limited view of the world and with their inflated ego, if they can't then nobody else can.

$4,000 per month net 12 months a year, year in and year out, is not possible. Mystery shopping is a good part time income at best. But as a full-time income it can only provide an income that almost anyone would agree is barely liveable. It should not be enough to be able to simply post that you make more than is possible. Obviously there are many who don't believe what others are saying about their income. But it should be possible to earn 30k Gross per year as a full-time shopper. It is not possible to earn $300 per day consistently. Lots of misinformation here. Don't know why anyone would brag about any income under 8k a year in this economy in the first place.

July 03, 2015 08:56PM

@kiki125 wrote:

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. / don't get how getting a $10 shop for a couple of hours of your time is making people so rich.

i don't work for free food & i barely do $10 shops. i have no prob paying my rent & bills on time. sounds like you selling yourself short.

July 03, 2015 09:00PM

why r u people so concerned about how much $ forum people are making? instead of wasting time whining do something about it & get more work.

July 03, 2015 09:00PM

@MSNinja wrote:

i don't work for free food & i barely do $10 shops. i have no prob paying my rent & bills on time. sounds like you selling yourself short.

Your post could be interpreted to mean that you don't do any food shops and shop very occasionally part time, and that you don't have high rent or large bills. Perhaps you have help paying your bills or perhaps you have a full-time job. But your post says more about your education than your income.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/03/2015 09:01PM by jilummer.

July 03, 2015 09:05PM

lummerhead u try typing w/a cast on your broken hand. i dont have to tell u anything about my rent or income. what a jerk.

July 03, 2015 09:23PM

As I said before, you are basing your assumptions, and they are just assumptions, on your limited experience. If you read my post above it is clear how others are making a living from this. When starting all I ever saw were $10 shops and FF. I was beyond amazed to find out there was so much more out there. While I may have shaken my head in disbelief, I was not so rude as to call the successful shoppers liars. Instead I threw myself into the work to find out for myself. Many of those successful shoppers are now people I have been able to meet and in many cases we have become friends. I know what they do and how hard they work.

And the only people who have ever referred to this as a "rich" lifestyle are the people who doubt everyone else. If you don't like it that some of us are content to pay the bills, pay our taxes and have the flexibility to do other things that is your problem. It doesn't make any of us less than successful. He who dies with the most toys does NOT win.

July 03, 2015 09:27PM

I think it's possible to configure profitable routes. If I were available, I would try to organize major route work. I truly believe this would double or triple my mystery earnings.

My garden in England is full of eating-out places, for heat waves, warm September evenings, or lunch on a chilly Christmas morning. (Mary Quant)

July 03, 2015 09:34PM

@MSNinja wrote:

@roflwofl wrote:

I'm amazed by the generosity of those who frequently post here and share information with other mystery shoppers. I'm amazed by how much they willingly share and how open they are.

mystery2me's post went way over your head.

MSNinja, my post was not in reply to mystery2me.

Nice to see you back. Once again your posts contain no useful information and seem designed to bait others. I guess every forum has their less-than-useful posters who make posts to create hard feelings. I won't be one with hard feelings - you simply aren't worth it,.

July 03, 2015 09:50PM

@roflwofl wrote:

@MSNinja wrote:

@roflwofl wrote:

I'm amazed by the generosity of those who frequently post here and share information with other mystery shoppers. I'm amazed by how much they willingly share and how open they are.

mystery2me's post went way over your head.

MSNinja, my post was not in reply to mystery2me.

Nice to see you back. Once again your posts contain no useful information and seem designed to bait others. I guess every forum has their less-than-useful posters who make posts to create hard feelings. I won't be one with hard feelings - you simply aren't worth it,.

roflwofl, TOGGLE is a wonderful thing. Until you quoted MSNinja's post, I was blissfully unaware of her return because I TOGGLED her because she makes useless posts and baits others. Interesting to see others coming to the same conclusion about her posts.

She has been a member for 3 months and has 188 posts, with the vast majority of the posts ridiculing and insulting other posters. I toggled MSNinja so I wouldn't be tempted to respond to her baiting posts. The game she seems to be playing is that she taunts others and if they respond, she says she's being unfairly picked on and asks that they be deactivated. Or starts a thread in Meta to ask how she can post without them seeing her posts? She seems to have picked right up where she left off a couple weeks ago. Still toggled.

July 03, 2015 11:50PM

wow didn't know i was so popular. 2 funny.

July 03, 2015 11:54PM

@roflwofl wrote:

Nice to see you back. Once again your posts contain no useful information and seem designed to bait others.

have you read this forum? there is lots of useless info & people whining but there is a lot of useful info. it is working for me.

July 04, 2015 01:56AM

@jilummer wrote:

$4,000 per month net 12 months a year, year in and year out, is not possible.

Absolutely untrue

@jilummer wrote:

But as a full-time income it can only provide an income that almost anyone would agree is barely liveable.

Liveable depends entirely on cost of living in your area and the size of your family. I'm a single male with no children and live in a fairly low cost area of the country. Do you think my income needs are 1/4 or 1/2 of a family of 4 in Manhattan?

@jilummer wrote:

But it should be possible to earn 30k Gross per year as a full-time shopper.

Thanks for the encouragement. I'm over that for the year though.

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

July 04, 2015 02:36AM

The thing that most naysayers needs to understand is that the income possibilities work inversely to the cost of living for most shoppers. As the cost of living goes up for people living in major cities, there are more shoppers and the fees for shops are generally lower, yet costs for shoppers are more for transport and such.

What's a living wage for BGriffin is not a living wage for me, and I'd expect both of us are probably much less than a 1/4 of a family of 4 in Manhattan. For that reason alone, you really have to discuss annual numbers and location if you want to have any concept of what's possible.

That means it's specifically possible to make a decent living in some parts of the country, but not in others.

I will say that when I was a full time shopper, my living expenses were at an all-time low. I paid virtually nothing for food, oil changes, clothing, car washes, laundry, vet visits, etc.

I think it would be much harder these days because 10 years ago (when I was shopping F/T) it was common to get $50 in clothing for a shop with no return required, living expenses were lower and shop fees were about the same.

July 05, 2015 04:14AM

It seems to me that some posters are forgetting that most jobs start out at the low end of the totem pole and move up with performance. By performance I mean reliability, quality and willingness. Without these attributes not many are going to get past "poverty" levels (whatever that is in ones area). I haven't been shopping long, but I am starting to get calls from schedulers offering bonuses, so I must be doing something right! My income has increased steadily since I started. I won't be vacationing on the Riviera, but it's a damn good addition to my income and I have actually been putting money in savings! I am very careful to know the requirements, any scenarios and have gotten familiar with times needed for shops and travel, so I am not feeling rushed. I have one particular advantage and that is that I really like to write and am quite good at narratives. Schedulers and editors seem to find this appealing, as I get top ratings and very few clarification requests.

July 05, 2015 04:53AM

^^^Right. I didn't have the energy to point that out, so thank you for doing it for me. 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. Like nobody on this forum has worked their way up the ladder to make better money.

"The future ain't what it used to be." --Yogi Berra

July 05, 2015 02:30PM

@amandad11 wrote:

I am currently doing this full time and make about $200/week (plus reimbursements), I however do not do video shops nor high end ones like resorts. $1000/week might be possible and I am even willing to to concede $2000 but if anyone claims to be regularly making more, they should give us more info such as which area they are shopping and either the MSC's names or the type of assignments they do.

I do this part time, do not do video or travel more than 50 miles outside my area. I make considerably more than $200 a week. Once you establish yourself as a reliable shopper that turns in quality reports, higher paying jobs will come. And no, I will not give you any details. I built my business, you have to build yours.

July 05, 2015 02:54PM

@amandad11 wrote:

I am currently doing this full time and make about $200/week (plus reimbursements), I however do not do video shops nor high end ones like resorts. $1000/week might be possible and I am even willing to to concede $2000 but if anyone claims to be regularly making more, they should give us more info such as which area they are shopping and either the MSC's names or the type of assignments they do.

I'm completely confused about why anyone would believe that any poster "should give us more details." As far as doing this full time and making $200 a week, I think you are wasting your time. I do this very part time and I make more than $200 a week. If full time means you don't have a job and this is your only income but you do it a only few hours a week, that may be a decent payback on time spent. But if you truly mean that you do this FULL time (to me full time is 35-40 hours a week), and you are only making $200 a week, that's not much money for the time spent.

July 05, 2015 03:08PM

Full time in the traditional sense is a misnomer when applied to mystery shopping. It just seems the easiest way to distinguish between MS as a sole or primary source of income versus lifestyle shoppers or those who do it in addition to a "regular" job.

July 05, 2015 03:17PM

Springfield is MS gold! I'm also busy with Bar Integrity shops at Moe's. Unfortunately they are not getting good reports due to cleanliness and food service/freshness issues. Also I've seen several instances of cash mishandling and over service especially involving a obese bald customer.

proudly shopping in the D.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/05/2015 03:24PM by PaulinMI.

July 06, 2015 12:39AM

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!

July 06, 2015 06:55PM

I MS 26 hours a day, 8 days a week and I bring home about $96.83 a month. I'm sure you all want to know my MS'ing secrets now!

July 06, 2015 09:54PM

Dang you're doing much better than I with significantly less work!

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

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