(First post) - Best paying shops without soul-sucking reports

This is my first post but I've lurked on the forum for a while now. I've been mystery shopping for almost 4 years now, I'm signed up with around 40 different MSCs, but regularly only do 10 to 15 a month (mostly food shops). I'm not trying to sound lazy but I have some credit card debt that I want to pay off, so I'm honestly looking for shops that have the most amount of profit for the least amount of time spent. I'm a student, so audits and other shops that take several hours to most of the day don't work for me. I used to do cell phone retailer shops for GFK which paid $14 to $17 which was nice, but now they aren't offered as frequently in my area. What shops have you found where you're satisfied with how much you're paid relative to the time put in? Thanks!

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Lottery ticket shops. The MSC mails you a winning scratch ticket (at where I am; elsewhere it might be different), you redeem the ticket while performing the shop. The winnings you receive are your pay. ~10 minutes total interaction and report. For me they pay $10 without a bonus.

@Kakita987 wrote:

Lottery ticket shops. The MSC mails you a winning scratch ticket (at where I am; elsewhere it might be different), you redeem the ticket while performing the shop. The winnings you receive are your pay. ~10 minutes total interaction and report. For me they pay $10 without a bonus.

Hmm that could be interesting. I've done car dealership shops which are good when they pay $20 to $30 but the fee has gone so low lately. I've heard check cashing and paycheck advance shops are nice but I'm kind of hesitant to do those. What MSC does lottery ticket shops?

You can do convenience stores before and after class and the reports run something like 30 minutes on the average. I can't help you with something that pays more and requires less. I haven't run across that yet.

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

Hi, Vondrook! Good luck, and glad to see you posting!

If you're open to video shopping, then you might want to try that. A lot of these shops are lighter on narrative, apparently, and many only take an hour or so on-site. They also tend to pay pretty well. You do not technically have to own your own recording equipment to get these shops, as the MSCs will sometimes loan out equipment, though preference goes to shoppers who possess their own equipment.

Also, some of the non-recorded bank shops pay fairly generously for amount of time and effort involved. Just depends on which one. Revealed audits also tend to pay pretty well, though lots of shoppers won't do them because of the anonymity compromise.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/07/2015 03:03AM by OceanGirl.

Check-cashing shops through Kern. 3 minutes to buy a money order (which you then cash at your next one) + 15 mins for a report. And you get paid for a phone call as well. As far as pay per hour, this is lucrative for something non-involved and easy to pick up for a student.

Note: Even though you're a student, the college bookstore shops are a nightmare. Unless you're actually going to buy your books there, the shop isn't worth the time it takes.

Bank ships, particularly mortgage shops. Business account inquiries can pay a lot, too. If you fit in the required age range you may want to give 'em a shot.

I don't think there are any Russians / And there ain't no Yanks
Just corporate criminals\ / Playin' with tanks

@vondrook4 wrote:

I'm honestly looking for shops that have the most amount of profit for the least amount of time spent.

I think we're all in the same boat on that one.

I don't have a ton of ideas that haven't been mentioned already, except for one. I am assuming that, since you said you are a college student, you are the typical age for a college student. I don't meet the age requirements like you might, but there always seems to be a big need for age compliance shops around my area. I have never done one, but they sound pretty straight forward: You try to buy alcohol or tobacco without your id and see if they sell to you without it. The age range is usually 18-mid to late twenties. You can search the forum to see what others think about these types of shops. The one thing that might stink about them is that, if an employee doesn't stand by the rules, they could loose their jobs, sometimes on the spot. Some shoppers feel bad about this and have even suffered retribution by disgruntled (former) employees. I know there are several companies that offer incentives and referral bonuses for recruiting younger shoppers to do these.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Could I have a receipt please?

I would suggest you use your free time to sign up with more companies. You might be surprised by some of the more remunerative shops by the time you get through...2/3 of the list!

My most lucrative shops come from bar audits, child care or senior center tours, and bank shops. Unfortunately the bar audits do have soul-sucking narratives within their reports but its worth it at $40-$50 for one hour and 2 free drinks.

soul sucking, love the term.

You can't make everyone happy, you're not pizza!!!

I find the parking lot shops to be the easiest for a nice piece of pay. You do need to lay out the money to get out of the lot ahead of time but it is reimbursed. The job itself only takes a few minutes in and out but you often need to stay at the lot so if you can take care of some school assignments while you wait out the time these are easy and straightforward. There are several companies that do these and they seem to be regional. I am only signed up with 20-25 companies and out of them I have seen these shops on 5.

@OceanGirl wrote:

Hi, Vondrook! Good luck, and glad to see you posting!

If you're open to video shopping, then you might want to try that.

I doubt he'll want the cost of the initial expense to do video shops.

A Dad shopping the Ark-LA-Tex and beyond.

Restaurant shop patron count, 4 hours $100.00, report about 30 minutes

@jcarson1 wrote:

Restaurant shop patron count, 4 hours $100.00, report about 30 minutes

Not bad, what companies do these shops?

Bonused tobacco or alcohol audits.From time to time, I'd grab ~$40-50 shops that take no more than 10 minutes to perform on-site and no more than 10 minutes to report.

Shopping the Greater Denver Area, Colorado Springs and in-between in Colorado. 33 year old male and willing to travel!

Gas stations are usually a good bet as you have to buy gas anyway. The report is mostly the pictures.

Shopping across Indiana but mostly around Indianapolis.

@lbw1000 wrote:

Gas stations are usually a good bet as you have to buy gas anyway. The report is mostly the pictures.

Are there any companies other than Maritz that does these? I'm uncomfortable with reveal shops because I feel like it blows your opportunity to shop that location in the future, but I do know many gas station audits aren't reveal shops.

@Tarantado wrote:

Bonused tobacco or alcohol audits.From time to time, I'd grab ~$40-50 shops that take no more than 10 minutes to perform on-site and no more than 10 minutes to report.

I've seen some AMC theater compliance shops but have never done one; I don't drink or smoke, so I'm wondering if you can decline or change your mind once you've evaluated whether they ID you or not.

Here's my best advice. Some will agree and some will not, but it works for me: Go to Jobslinger and sign up for IC Pro. You can then connect all the MSCs you've signed up for that use the Sassie platform. You can also click on their "Recruiterator" link and it will show you a list of other companies you can sign up for only it's a very quick click and fill in basics. Then, go to to the Presto Moblie app either on your computer or phone and you'll be able to see on the map a ton of shops from numerous MSCs at once with the pay listed. It's just a fast way for me to see a whole boatload of shops at one glance and narrow down some choices without the drudgery of logging in to each separate MSC one at a time. If I don't find what I'm looking for that way, then I do the drudgery.

There are two types of people in this world: Those who can extrapolate from incomplete data.

@vondrook4 wrote:

@Tarantado wrote:

Bonused tobacco or alcohol audits.From time to time, I'd grab ~$40-50 shops that take no more than 10 minutes to perform on-site and no more than 10 minutes to report.

I've seen some AMC theater compliance shops but have never done one; I don't drink or smoke, so I'm wondering if you can decline or change your mind once you've evaluated whether they ID you or not.

Just order the shot and mixer in separate cups. You don't HAVE to drink what you order. At the theater, you can take liquor with you and just dump / not drink it.

Shopping the Greater Denver Area, Colorado Springs and in-between in Colorado. 33 year old male and willing to travel!

@LJ wrote:

Here's my best advice. Some will agree and some will not, but it works for me: Go to Jobslinger and sign up for IC Pro. You can then connect all the MSCs you've signed up for that use the Sassie platform. You can also click on their "Recruiterator" link and it will show you a list of other companies you can sign up for only it's a very quick click and fill in basics. Then, go to to the Presto Moblie app either on your computer or phone and you'll be able to see on the map a ton of shops from numerous MSCs at once with the pay listed. It's just a fast way for me to see a whole boatload of shops at one glance and narrow down some choices without the drudgery of logging in to each separate MSC one at a time. If I don't find what I'm looking for that way, then I do the drudgery.

Thanks for the info! I actually do use Presto which is convenient; I think I'm IC Pro but I need to do a scan again to link all my accounts.

Also, think about reimbursement shops for some of your daily needs. Oil change/ car maintenance, nice meals, warehouse groceries are a few I shop regularly to keep my expenses down.

Kona Kathie

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(First post) - Best paying shops without soul-sucking reports

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