Im going to apologise if its been asked already...I just started and I was wondering if you guys could throw out some high paying companies to sign up with. $40 and above lets say but any input is much appreciated.

Check the Kudos section. You;ll find a lot of useful information there.

Thank you very much

Many MSCs have higher paid assignments that you just will not see until you have performed some set number of lower paid shops, with high scores and on time. Just trying to target companies that would have $40+ shops for a new shopper may be a waste of time.

I've never known of higher fees to be exclusive to specific MSCs, at least not the numbers you suggested. Fees are often dependent on the type of client or the type of shop like video. Some of the best fees I've received have been from companies who also have some of the lowest fees for shops in other categories.

High fees are also not the be all and end all in this business. There are $40 and up shops that may take a total of four hours or more while there are $10 shops you could complete in ten minutes. If you find MSCs happy to take a chance giving a brand new shopper higher paying shops you may want to step back and look at those shops. There could be a reason the veteran shoppers have left them sitting there.

You probably won't get specific 'companies' names here. Sign up for jobslinger and then add the tab for high $$ jobs.

There was one MSC that offered $600 to fly to a resort in Mexico, yet I think that you'll be significantly out of pocket for a while until reimbursements are paid out down the road.

Thank you everyone for the great responses. Still getting my feet wet with the mystery shopping!

I have found that the higher the pay, the more work that is involved in writing up the shop. It takes longer than doing the shop. Thus, you may be better off at taking 3-4 10-15.00'shops. You make the same money but spend less time doing the reports. And that is what they are paying you for. And you will make more for the time spend doubt the shops & reports.

Hi. I agree to start off with the low paying shops first to get your feet wet. When there are higher fees involved, usually the reports ask for a lot of details, a lot of narratives and time. The reports are very time consuming. It can take up to 2-4 hours to complete the report accurately. I recently did a fancy steakhouse restaurant shop that reimbursement was $75 and can bring up to 3 guests. The report was very easy for me since I had the experience to complete it properly. Some newbie shoppers get the "I am confident that I can complete this shop/report 100% mentality" and get frustrated when it was not. Then, they come on the forum and gripe about not getting paid or whatever regarding the shop or MSC.

epms, intellishop gives awesome bonuses, the higher the pay, the more work involved.

Thank you all very much for your input!

Thank you all very much for your insight. I appreciate it.

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Also, it depends on where you are. If you are shopping a rural area, you will find that there will be a less number of shops available (since there are less stores). However, at the end of the shopping period, those are also the ones to usually bonus (and become high-paying!). Do the cheaper shops first to learn the process, then the schedulers will start to seek you out to complete their bonused and hard to fill ones.

I learned that from experience. Pretty neat!

Also, when you sign up with a MSC, expand your shopping radius to 30 miles or so, depending on how far you are willing to travel for a shop. That will give you more shopping options. Eventually, you will do what they call "route" shopping, where you do a list of shops in the same general area. Do some shops in your local area, see if you can do a couple of shops in a day, and complete the reports on time. When you build up your shopping confidence, then add more shops onto your daily routine. Don't take on more shops than you think you can handle otherwise you'll get stressed out.

Actually I always look way beyond the 30 miles. Not necessarily for a potential route, but to get into those rural areas or other states in order to see what clients they have.

As I get a full day free, I tend to expand my area to about 150 miles. There are some smaller towns in my state that seem to lack shoppers completely, so I've done well finding multiple shops in a small geographic area with significant bonuses attached to them. This weekend, for instance, two hours from my house, I've picked up a $100 shop that started at $10. So far I've added two $50 shops to the route and have several others in mind. I hope to spend a long Saturday on the road and bring in $400-$500. The real bonus: I'll be driving through some beautiful areas of the state.

You may try Routes, (These are shops you string together like crossing a brook by stepping on rocks so you do not get your feet wet). If you group them properly and some of them are at a distance the fact that you have a few shops and you ask for bonus for gas may get you sufficient payment between the shop fees and the bonus for gas to make the trip profitable. I banged out 10 bank shops for one company. The scheduler knew the locals do not mystery shop. Three of the shops were "local" but 7 were in the boondocks but were "local " from the previous shop. . Put them all together you make money. Throwing a few remote convenience stores along the route and asking for bonus money from that scheduler for gas because they were only $10 fee and up to $10 for food made the entire trip very profitable. You do not want to try it until you get a little experience about how long it takes you and you are familiar with the clients reports for the shops you accept. to report the shops

@LisaSTL wrote:

Actually I always look way beyond the 30 miles. Not necessarily for a potential route, but to get into those rural areas or other states in order to see what clients they have.

For sassie all of mine are set to 90 and once a year or so I log into all the MSCs and hit the "search entire country" button just to take a look. Yet another reason I like Shopmetrics better. All you have to do is hit the survey type drop down and boom there's a list of every client they have.

My two favorite high pay MSC's have been Market Force Certified Field Associates (aka Theater Checks), not to be confused with Market Force Shoppers (I would steer clear of them). Sometimes they pay up to $100 to build a cardboard display in the lobby. It does take a few hours some times, but it's fun and pays well.

Also GfK's Auditor program pays well. It does take an entire day to perform an audit. 6-7 hours, with up to $100 pay. And you can do this 1-2 times a month if there are several of the locations in the area. They also have smaller 1-2 hour audits that pay $30-40 sometimes.

I am driving a 2004 Saturn with 68,500 miles on it. I have had only a few maintenances on it over the years. I personally limit myself to a small radius, but because I have such a diversified job description between mystery shopping, merchandising, demonstrations, and product retrievals, I don't have to go far from home. I do believe that route shopping without getting any sort of additional compensation for mileage from an MSC is just additional wear and tear on one's vehicle and if any IC work involves driving out of a certain range, it's just not worth it. Think about how long your vehicle might last if you take care of it well and don't drive it far from home.

I only do 'routes' if I am traveling anyway. For example, I traveled from Knoxville to Indianapolis for a wedding. While there, I did two shops in Indianapolis, and then one in Florence, KY and Richmond, KY on my way home, all for the same series of shops for the same MSC. Earned an extra $48 on a trip that I was taking anyway. So almost paid for the gas at least, and the wear and tear was on my car anyway.

JASFLALMT, I would be surprised if any distance route shoppers aren't getting quite a bit of additional compensation. If they go at base rates or for "gas money" they are probably going to learn quickly it is not worth it. Even staying relatively close to home shoppers still have routes. I treat local work the same as long distance. I start with one or two shops in a particular part of town then add more on the way there and back.

I drive a 2008 Honda Fit with almost 95,000 miles on it. It should go 200,000. Since I bought it used, at 42K miles I have replaced the battery and the wiper blades and had regular fluid changes. It is not even due for its first tune up until 105K miles! I get 36-38 mpg on the highway and about 32-34 in town. The first owner took almost all of the depreciation; a very good reason to buy the best rated used car that you can. I shelter more than enough in MS fees with the current IRS mileage write off to pay for a new "used" car if I wanted it. Will drive 600 mile RT route next week, with one "free" hotel (shop), one very high end hotel( reduced to $40 plus some rewards points), and one night at the home of a family friend. Currently scheduled shops will gross about $700, but I am still adding to the list and can stay another free night at my friend's house if I add more shops in the area. Bonus? I love Manhattan, where this route will permit me to wander during 2 days on this route. Bonus? I will have fun at my friend's house. Bonus: MSC will foot the bill for a sumptuous meal, with wine, plus breakfast on that hotel shop, with minimal reporting on the meals and meal service. I will be on the road for four days and 3 nights, unless I pick up more shops with high fees. I pack a cooler with water, snacks, wine, and can keep leftovers from a big hotel meal in it for the hotel night with no paid meal. However, as a rewards club member at that hotel I get free breakfast in the concierge lounge and enough free evening snacks to make a meal.

Route shoppers have tons of ways of being comfortable while making higher fees on the road.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/18/2016 03:07PM by walesmaven.

It depends on where you live. I live in the boonies and get high bonuses cuz I am one of the few shoppers here in this area.