@SteveSoCal wrote:

@aayaey wrote:

I think there is definitely a GOOD amount of money to be made if you work efficiently and can work full time.

You really need to define what a good amount of money is. For me, earning $35k annually in shop fees was more than full time work and too demanding. Earning $35k in reimbursements can be done with less than 10 hours per week and a few shops a month.

Agreed. I am fortunate that I do not have to rely on "shopping" for my income. I use it as a way to enhance my life and gain entry to experiences I would otherwise not have access to. I would find it extremely challenging to complete enough shops to earn $35,000.00 annually in shop fees. The ability to "earn" $35,000.00 annually in reimbursements /credit reversals by doing an average of 10-12 shops a year, while not easy-peasy, is something I am grateful for and appreciate. I figure at least three days of work per evaluation - that means working a LOT during your hotel stay and a minimum of two FULL days fully dedicated to writing narratives and uploading images and any other necessary documentation to your report. In MY mind, I make $1,000.00 a day, give or take. With fine dining reimbursements/credit reversals, I can count on another $7,000.00 annually, if I chose to do four evaluations a month. If I just counted shop fees, I'd be losing money, given the time and effort I put into each evaluaton. I love what I do, and I'm grateful that I have the ability to do what I enjoy. That being said, it took me a long time to get where I'm at - just as many of the other seasoned shoppers who are at this level and above. You have to do the work, and pay your dues.

While I can say it is possible to make as much as $500 in fees (without counting in mileage or rental car / gas costs) from a days worth of shops (for these kind of stressful routes, I've had a round of 20-25 shops to meet this mark), the amount of concentration you need to maintain your quality and the stress it puts on your on a long 10-12 day (+3-4 hour report time) will get to you. The strain + finding enough work to maintain that is of course, YMMV, and in my experience, I don't believe I can maintain this mark for beyond a couple days like this a month.

@Professional Guest wrote:

In MY mind, I make $1,000.00 a day, give or take. With fine dining reimbursements/credit reversals, I can count on another $7,000.00 annually, if I chose to do four evaluations a month.

So at $1,000 a day, let's say 5 days a week, you are making $260,000 a year...in your mind. Oh, I forgot the extra $7,000 annually for a total of $267,000. Maybe we should all get inside your head!

I assume that I earn comparatively little.

My numbers show a few bucks left over at the end of this month. This is enough money that I can take next month off I want to.

Well, I have ongoing and recurring projects to do. I just don't have to add any assignments.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/22/2015 01:47AM by Shop-et-al.

@Sybil2 wrote:

@Professional Guest wrote:

In MY mind, I make $1,000.00 a day, give or take. With fine dining reimbursements/credit reversals, I can count on another $7,000.00 annually, if I chose to do four evaluations a month.

So at $1,000 a day, let's say 5 days a week, you are making $260,000 a year...in your mind. Oh, I forgot the extra $7,000 annually for a total of $267,000. Maybe we should all get inside your head!

You're misunderstanding the concept of considering reimbursement as income while shopping for lifestyle perks, Sybil.

It's $1,000 per day, working the equivalent of about 35 days per year, because we have other jobs that take our time up....and my $35k figure already includes my fine dining reimbursements. It's not really 35 8-hour work days for me, though, but I'm well under 10 hours a week of work on average. Probably 300-400 hours of work per year.

Nope, I completely understand the reimbursement of lifestyle perks. I perform a lot of high-end shops. I still think the numbers are totally inflated. But that is my opinion.

Well, we're 6 months into the year and I'm well over the halfway mark to hit that goal.

It's not easy, but it can be done....

@SteveSoCal wrote:

@Sybil2 wrote:

@Professional Guest wrote:

In MY mind, I make $1,000.00 a day, give or take. With fine dining reimbursements/credit reversals, I can count on another $7,000.00 annually, if I chose to do four evaluations a month.

So at $1,000 a day, let's say 5 days a week, you are making $260,000 a year...in your mind. Oh, I forgot the extra $7,000 annually for a total of $267,000. Maybe we should all get inside your head!

You're misunderstanding the concept of considering reimbursement as income while shopping for lifestyle perks, Sybil.

It's $1,000 per day, working the equivalent of about 35 days per year, because we have other jobs that take our time up....and my $35k figure already includes my fine dining reimbursements. It's not really 35 8-hour work days for me, though, but I'm well under 10 hours a week of work on average. Probably 300-400 hours of work per year.

Thanks so much for clarifying that, Steve, because there is no way that I could possibly work at that level of intensity, and at that capacity, 260 days a year! And it's definitely not 8-hour days. It's 18+-hour days, devoted to diligently working to put out an objective well-written, well-thought out and well-supported evaluation, with multiple narratives, accompanying images and supporting documentation that provides value and insight to the client(s), and then being available the next few days to answer/clarify any follow up questions the client and/or support team may have.

I hope to have more opportunities become available to me in the future, as I work to reach your level.

I'm not bragging - just being honest. I've worked hard and paid my dues - did a few Quick Service Restaurants (more than I cared to), did my research, wrote and re-wrote narratives, and then re-wrote them again, have been responsive, candid and forthright with editors and schedulers, and ensured that my credit was excellent so that I could front the thousands of dollars it takes to qualify for these evaluations. This is how much I am on track to be reimbursed THIS year. These are MY numbers. This works for ME. It may not work for everyone.

And note to self: Sybil is not very nice and is quite the cynic. Noted!

Since we've heard from the high rollers, I figured I'd chime in. It's almost the end of the month (for me and my shopping), so here are my projected July figures:

$349.20 in reimbursements and fees paid or pending
woo hoo! Not exactly blowing anyone's skirt up, but I'm fine with it.

Here's the thing though, my expenses (as I calculate them) are:
$311.67
ha! looks even less impressive now, doesn't it? But two things about those expenses:

1. with very few exceptions, most of that is for stuff I'd have bought anyway (gas, an oil change, restaurant meals, movie tickets,an arcade with my adorable niece). So, I got value out of all of those reimbursements. That $311 is really money back in my pocket that I would have spent anyway.

2. Additionally, and this is something maybe the more experienced shoppers can help with, I included all of my expenses in that $311.67 figure. So, if I went to the gas station and only got reimbursed $5 or $6, but put $40 worth of gas in my car (which I did. A few times. Today, in fact.) I counted $40 worth of expenses and payment of I don't know.. $10-$15 (depending on the job). Is there a better way to capture this? I can say that I'm probably not going to put just the minimum amount of gas in my car, because if I can't also knock out a needed trip to the Gas Station while doing the Mystery Shop, then it holds much less appeal to me. So really those expenses and payments figures don't mean as much when you look at them quickly. For the gas station job, it really only had required expenses of $8-$9 (gas is expensive in CA). So even though it looks like I only made $37 and change for the month, it should really be more.

Does it matter? I mean outside of a message board about how much I make? Should I start separating out those expenses now for calculating my taxes at the end of the year? I know no one is a tax accountant handing out free advice, but if anyone has some experience they'd like to share, I'd be grateful.

What I do for those type of shops is count only the reimbursed amount as an expense. If it's something like say a meal, that I may or may not have eaten anyway, I could the whole cost on my taxes, but gas is just like cash. You were gonna spend that extra $35 one way or another.

@ Professional Guest, I am glad that you are happy with your numbers. I am very happy with my numbers also. I can't afford to spend 18 hours on performing shops and writing reports so I have to settle for about 2-3 hours a day, 3-4 times a week. We can only do what we can do.

@Sybil2 wrote:

@ Professional Guest, I am glad that you are happy with your numbers. I am very happy with my numbers also. I can't afford to spend 18 hours on performing shops and writing reports so I have to settle for about 2-3 hours a day, 3-4 times a week. We can only do what we can do.

Ah, look at that, something we can agree on!

I work 3 18-hour days which works out to 54 hours per evaluation, 12 times a year, which works out to 648 hours (for me).

You work, at the top end, 3 hours a day, 4 times a week, which works out to 12 hours a week, multiplied by 52 weeks (in a year), which works out to 624 hours (for you).

We can only do what we can do.

Oh, and one of my personal mottos is, "Never settle."

Posted to wrong thread. Sorry.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/22/2015 04:55AM by Sybil2.

@Sybil2 wrote:

So at $1,000 a day, let's say 5 days a week, you are making $260,000 a year...in your mind. Oh, I forgot the extra $7,000 annually for a total of $267,000.

I don't work 52 weeks a year so my numbers are even lower. I get 5 weeks paid vacation, 5 sick days and 5 personal days per year. And I have other priorities besides work as do many other forum members. Family is important to some people, social life to others, and that pesky school thing gets in the way.

And I dont work 5 days a week, and I certainly don't work 260 days in year.

Friends and family are important to me too! And grad school was kind of pesky too, back in the day. So much we can agree on!

@Sybil2 wrote:

Posted to wrong thread. Sorry.

No worries! And certainly no need to be sorry. I captured your original post for you in my previous reply, and it looks like you did post to the correct thread after all!

A 24-hour deadline is usually ideal but a 12-hour deadline is reasonable. I perform several shops that have a 6-hour deadline and I have one client that requires a 1-hour deadline. I don't question when the editors edit my report just as long as it is finalized and I get paid on time.

@bgriffin wrote:

Also now I want ice cream

@jackaroe wrote:

I do it to hire strippers....

I think strippers with ice cream would be the perfect solution.

The longest it ever took for me to be paid by SC was 85 days way back in 2012. Since December 2014, I have been paid for all shops in under 30 days; longest 28 days, shortest 24 days. They must have changed their payment practices which is a good thing. Wasn't this the MSC that was being bashed in the forum recently?

@Sybil2 wrote:

Posted to wrong thread. Sorry.

???

I don't understand. You posted your original reply to my post at 12:47 AM, and then deleted it and edited it at 12:55 AM. It looks like you did post to the correct thread.

Then you post the above snippet of text from your original post at 12:41 AM to the "[Vent] 12 Hour deadline for report, but 6 days later to review???? " (http://www.mysteryshopforum.com/read/2/442469/442471#msg-442471) discussion at 1:27 AM. Why?

I'm new to the forum, but I don't get it.

@Sybil2 wrote:

@bgriffin wrote:

Also now I want ice cream

@jackaroe wrote:

I do it to hire strippers....

I think strippers with ice cream would be the perfect solution.

Oh, Sybil, I think I know where you're coming from now.

Please, please, please get some professional help (from IT) and ask them to fill out a Help Desk ticket. You are definitely experiencing some technical difficulties.

What are you talking about? i was replying to a post from an earlier page of this thread. If you don't like my posts, free feel to toggle me. You won't hurt my feelings one bit.

I didn't know that the forum has a Help Desk and an IT department. How do I contact them?

@Sybil2 wrote:

What are you talking about? i was replying to a post from an earlier page of this thread. If you don't like my posts, free feel to toggle me. You won't hurt my feelings one bit.

Actually, I LOVE your posts!

@Sybil2 wrote:

I didn't know that the forum has a Help Desk and an IT department. How do I contact them?

I'm not sure if they have them, but clearly, a ticket needs to filed!

@Professional Guest wrote:

I work 3 18-hour days which works out to 54 hours per evaluation

I'm assuming that some of the time you're counting is leisure time spent enjoying the hotel? I like luxury hotel evaluations as much as the next guy, but if it took me an average of 54 hrs of WORK per assignment to complete I'd have to question whether it was worth doing 10-12 per year.

I'm going to assume that number includes time at the hotel/resort. When I can, if I'm just doing a single hotel, I don't work when I'm there at all (except for taking notes, performing the required tasks, etc.). I do all of the writing and reporting after departure to separate the payoff from the work.

My reports generally take between 10-25 hours for a hotel, which includes taking food breaks. If I'm getting a few thousand dollars of value back for the stay, that's worth it to me.

@CaliGirl925 wrote:

if I went to the gas station and only got reimbursed $5 or $6, but put $40 worth of gas in my car (which I did. A few times. Today, in fact.) I counted $40 worth of expenses and payment of I don't know.. $10-$15 (depending on the job). Is there a better way to capture this?

That's actually a pretty complex question and there are multiple ways to approach it.

As BGriffin said, from a technical aspect, only the reimbursed amount is an official expense. You are also entitled to dedicate the milage on the car, however, which is going to include the wear and tear that comes into play and is not figured into just the direct cost of the fuel.

In the past, I used to separate everything out, but that's wen I was performing shops for things I would not natively do. These days, like you, I only take shops that are things I would do natively (If I had the money to do it). For me, as long as I have a positive number after putting the cost of performing the assignments against the pay & reimbursement, I'm happy. That means I'm offsetting the cost of my lifestyle by that much, plus making a small profit along the way.

@SteveSoCal wrote:

That's actually a pretty complex question and there are multiple ways to approach it.

As BGriffin said, from a technical aspect, only the reimbursed amount is an official expense.

Thanks @SteveSoCal and @bgriffin!
I'm surprised to learn that only reimbursed expenses can be considered an "official expense". I guess I'll take a closer look (pun unintended) at the reimbursement amounts to make sure I only take ones where I'm sure I'll be fully reimbursed, or where the reimbursement amount is generous enough to make any overage worth not being able to claim it.

Great info, thanks again!

@CaliGirl925 wrote:

Thanks @SteveSoCal and @bgriffin!
I'm surprised to learn that only reimbursed expenses can be considered an "official expense". I guess I'll take a closer look (pun unintended) at the reimbursement amounts to make sure I only take ones where I'm sure I'll be fully reimbursed, or where the reimbursement amount is generous enough to make any overage worth not being able to claim it.

Great info, thanks again!

Forgive my ignorance as I'll get clarification from my accountant on this later, but is it 'wrong' to cancel out my reasonable overage from the reimbursement with the shop fee, then count the 'net' shop fee as how much I made on the shop?

In other words, I get two gallons of premium gas (required for my vehicle) and end up being $2 over the reimbursement limit, say the shop fee was $10. Would it be reasonable to say my reportable income for this shop would be $8?