How Do People Make $1,000+/Month Mystery Shopping?

@Traveliz wrote:

@shoptastic wrote:

By the way, for those of you traveling out of state, are you able to do bank opening shops in those states without a state ID?

I haven't opened a bank account in a while, so I can't remember if they ask for your ID that would list a local address or not. But let's say you need at minimum a driver's license or some other other for a standard bank opening, then wouldn't that bank wonder why you're opening an account in Michigan if you
live in Illinois, for example?

My mom lives here and I want to have an account here in case I need it while I am here.
My daughter is going to college here and I want an account in case I need it here.
We are looking at buying here and I want to have an account opened here in advance.
We bought a condo across the street for the winters and I need an account here (might be a true story}

All of these were using an out of state license.

Liz

Good ones, Liz, but what happens during closing time? Wouldn't it be odd to go in and see the same associate who opened your account three weeks ago and close it after telling them you just bought a condo across the street.

Although, that brings up a new question: Do you have to close an account in-person? If so, that would be a pain too, right?

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I would go to a different branch if I feared someone remembering me. However, I wouldn't do a shop I wasn't completely comfortable with.

It depends on the bank, some will allow you to close over the phone but most require in person.

For February I picked up 6 'routes' for a total of 14 gas stations that is going to pay $140 ($10 each and reimbursement of $7 at each location). The total bonuses for finishing the routes is $424. So I will get $564 pay $98 in reimbursement. I will do these over four days while completing other shops. If I don't pick anything else up, I will do 41 shops for the month for a total of $727 pay and up to $223 reimbursements.

In January I did 73 shops for total pay of $982 and $547 in reimbursements (a lot of USPS shops that I needed).

Recently I have completed three account opening shops. I chose to put in the amount required to not worry about fees but as several posters stated, you have two months to get to the required amount or close the account. Most have very minimal opening requirements. At least for the banks I went to, you have to close the accounts in person when you choose to.

I work 25-30 hours a week at a 'regular' job as well.

I did shopping full time for a while and averaged almost 3500 per month. I do it part time with my job and still make about 1500-2000 each month. With phone shop projects i can hit 2500 easily

@kscousens wrote:

I did shopping full time for a while and averaged almost 3500 per month. I do it part time with my job and still make about 1500-2000 each month. With phone shop projects i can hit 2500 easily

Did you live in a large city, kscousens?

Also, I'm guessing you mostly focused on higher-paying shops?

Regardless, that's very impressive! I really need to sign up with some more shops online. I don't come across that many phone shopping opportunities. Thanks for sharing!

I have made over $1000 in a month before. I worked hard and had a route and lots of bonuses. Working 9 months this year, I made $5700. $1000 of that was reimbursements. I'm working another job now so I'm more choosy and make about $300 a month easily, and do shops I enjoy.

I live in a rural area though. It's good and bad. I sometimes drive an hour away and I have to factor the wear and tear on my car.

This week, I have opened accounts with Citibank, Wells Fargo and Bank of America. I put $25 in the accounts. I have to wait seven days, and then I close them.

Any tips on routing everyone?

Any tips on how to manage job alerts and listings?

I literally open every single mystery shopping company's website one-by-one to see if there is a new posting. I'm sure there's a better way. Also, I am willing to do this, because I know that often a job is posted on the site's job board before emails are even sent out notifying us of them. Or, maybe that's just my imagination.

But I seem to recall this happening before, so I'll log into the different sites manually a few times a day.

I also put a star next to companies that haven't shown any listings for a while and only check those infrequently, since I figure they don't have regular work in my area. Every now and then I'll hear from them and it surprises me. Like yesterday I got an email from one of those companies I gave up on telling me of some jobs that I immediately applied for.

Anyhow, I'd love to hear people's strategies for routing and managing job alerts/listings. I feel I'm spending too much time going to each site manually several times a day. But maybe that's normal and I just don't know it.

The idea is not to do mystery shops, Get on the LP side of the companies and do audits. That is where the real money is at

This is so encouraging for me! I was on my way to making $1000 in January...but my car broke down so now I'm patiently waiting for my taxes so I can purchase another car.
Other than signing up for other companies, is there anything I can do to make March more successful?

@FEWill wrote:

The idea is not to do mystery shops, Get on the LP side of the companies and do audits. That is where the real money is at

"LP side"??? Not yet familiar with the forum vocab yet.

@shoptastic wrote:

But those big banks like Bank of America, Wells Fargo, etc. seem to require big chunks up front. $1,000 is actually a lot to me right now, so I wouldn't be able to just easily open an account.

By the way, do you ever find it weird when you ask to close the account a few days later? Obviously, you can't reveal your mystery shopping identity, but what good excuses are there? lol

Actually, Wells Fargo, Bank of America and most big banks have minimal opening deposits. Wells Fargo is $25, The credit union I opened an account at recently was $100 +$5 to join. But there is no minimum balance, so you can spend the money immediately (and I did.. lol).

I actually kept the Wells Fargo account, I use it for mystery shopping, especially for the gas station shops. I know how much money I'm going to spend so I put that amount in the account + $10 just in case. And then I don't have to worry about MS editors' ethics and I don't have to erase any numbers on the receipts I turn in. And I always meet the criteria of using the debit card more than 10 times in a month to waive the monthly fee. And all of MY money is safe in my regular checking account at my bank.

I used to get weird about making excuses for returning items or closing accounts but I don't any more. IF they ask I tell them it just doesn't work for me.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/05/2017 04:33AM by Morledzep.

I probably made $14,000 2 years in a row last year and the year before I don't really do that many banking shops I do a lot of a lot of car shops the pay is $25-$50 apiece I do not do any shops that are $10 I won't do any that are less than $15 because it's a waste of time and I make routes on my day off and I reschedule a lot to make the routes so I'm not driving around wasting gas. it's actually easy but you have to sign up with a lot of companies and it's very time-consuming and it is very difficult to get the shops because a lot of people apply for them. I have a lot of schedulers email me and text me personally because I have done so many shops for these companies so I usually get first call on a lot of the shops. I also know a lot of times when shops are posted and I check my email every 15 minutes and some companies I go on the job board and I get shops that way

I'm guessing there are many reputable (no scam) mystery shopping companies not on this forum's MASTER LIST at the bottom of this page?

I haven't been signing up with that many yet, but am up to 50 tonight (total). Out of those 50, about 18 have local shops. Out of that 18, maybe 14 have regular local shops that I would do.

I got curious about clients for mystery shopping companies and Googled the words:

"clients" + "mystery shopping"

and I got some interesting results. The problem I have is a lot of these companies are NOT on the forum's master list and I don't know whether to trust them with my info. (SS#) or not. There could be malware/viruses on those pages, they could be fakes, etc. And if I give them my SS# or banking info., I'd be scared they would rip me off.

If I find a company that I am unsure about, I'll do a search in the forum search feature and I'll also look them up on Google and see if they have any BBB info or such.

MegglesKat

@clinen11 wrote:

If I find a company that I am unsure about, I'll do a search in the forum search feature and I'll also look them up on Google and see if they have any BBB info or such.

Yeah, same here. Don't forget to run their website through VirusTotal.com - considered the best free online virus/malware scanner (it combines the engines of like 60 known malware detection programs into a single one). You never know if you'll run into a malware infested website. I am paranoid about malware, because they destroyed two of my old laptops and I don't want to pay for another one!!!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/05/2017 05:24AM by shoptastic.

Other reliable sources for finding mystery shopping companies are MSPA and IMSC.

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton

...and also, how to you find the phone call shops? I am only with Marketforce, and I haven't found any like that.

@fishing4icthus wrote:

...and also, how to you find the phone call shops? I am only with Marketforce, and I haven't found any like that.

You need to sign up with more companies. Bestmark and intelli does phone shops.

I agree with you. I am with 15 companies and my area is small. I am lucky if I get jobs that are close to worth it. I am not going to drive out of my city either. I give credit to the people that are moving forward like crazy. I am not going that far. My friend makes good money on ebay.

dino,
To see more and better shops, you will need to sign up with about 100 MSCs.

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.

Agreed. You never know which companies will have clients in your city.

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton

"This week, my honeys mom had to have a very large 20cm fibroid tumor removed. We spent the week at Duke. And we were between Raleigh, Charlotte, Ashville, and Greensboro for all the visits getting prepared. The city is not for me. I think the population of the actual city here at Duke is 430k excluding the area around it"

I hope her surgery went well.

Just to keep the facts straight Duke is in Durham, NC population of the entire Durham County is less that 300,000. I have lived in Durham for almost 30 years in a nicely wooded neighborhood and spend many of my non-shopping hours hiking in wonderfully wooded parks!

I made $15 last month! Go me. But I'm ramping down msing since my full time job is 14 hours a day with the traffic and extra hours. And my credit cards are 18 months away from being paid off.

@shoptastic wrote:

@HonnyBrown wrote:

FYI - you don't need to open a bank account with $1000. You can open it with minimal funding ($25-50) and close it in 60 days with no fees.

I'll have to look into that HonnyBrown. I know the larger banks where I live require at least $1,000 and sometimes $1,500. We have smaller banks and credit unions that probably allow very small opening deposits.

...But those big banks like Bank of America, Wells Fargo, etc. seem to require big chunks up front. $1,000 is actually a lot to me right now, so I wouldn't be able to just easily open an account.

By the way, do you ever find it weird when you ask to close the account a few days later? Obviously, you can't reveal your mystery shopping identity, but what good excuses are there? lol

I told them that I didn't understand that the monthly direct deposit had to be at least one deposit over $350 and not an aggregate and that my deposits would come in at one or two $200 to $250 and a lot of little ones anywhere from $10 to $30. But that only works if they offer you an account with that requirement.

As I schedule my shops and my months, I keep track of the average $/shop number. My $/shop has gone up steadily, and I like to keep an eye on it to be sure I'm not getting complacent. I plan "mini routes," with some big $ shops, some medium $ shops, and I might toss in a $10 lunch shop, as well (which would bring the $/shop down).

I have learned many tips on this forum, and some don't work for me, but others really do make a huge difference! Everyone has to find what works for them and in their circumstance, so trying new techniques and ideas is key.

During each of the last two months, I took short trips to a nearby city (45 minute drive) for short routes, and did very well. It's all in the timing, I think, and asking for the PAD is what makes them worthwhile. I will definitely be going back when I can get a lucrative route again.

I've never done an account opening shop, and for various reasons, I don't think I would. But I can certainly handle the inquiry shops! And once in a while there's a credit union shop route I can do, making a small deposit. The trick for me is not going to my regular branch.

Correct, 2stepps. The banks will give you 60 days to get your direct deposit set up for that account. The MSC allows you to close the account in 30 days (or less).

If you want to keep the account, talk to the banker about a waiver for that requirement. They have the authority to work with you to get your business.

@2stepps wrote:

@HonnyBrown wrote:

FYI - you don't need to open a bank account with $1000. You can open it with minimal funding ($25-50) and close it in 60 days with no fees.

I told them that I didn't understand that the monthly direct deposit had to be at least one deposit over $350 and not an aggregate and that my deposits would come in at one or two $200 to $250 and a lot of little ones anywhere from $10 to $30. But that only works if they offer you an account with that requirement.

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton

If you figure the time and out of pocket expenses and the amount the client would have to pay a real employee you should be earning at least $3,000 a month if you were an employee. making the same effort and submitting receipts for your expenses and time.

You can have everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want ..Zig Zigler

@Piled Hip Deep wrote:

If you figure the time and out of pocket expenses and the amount the client would have to pay a real employee you should be earning at least $3,000 a month if you were an employee.

I'm gonna say that number is slightly off, PHD. I was a shopper for the grocery store that made their shoppers employees in the past. They had done a lot of research into the legalities and what trained shoppers were worth. In the beginning they were good about reimbursing certain food items but that came to stop after a while, and while employees were reimbursed for some milage, your drive the first store and home from the last store were considered as your 'commute', so the only milage paid was between stores. Shoppers were paid around $14 per hour and taxes were taken out from that. So I was lucky to make $1,000 a month as a part-time (18-22 hour) employee, or slightly more when I volunteered for distant stores to pad my milage reimbursements.

I'm earning way over $3,000 per month in reimbursements on average for less hours than I worked for the grocery store, so I think staying a contractor is beneficial for those who know how to select the right shops and utilize technology to improve our workflow.

I JUST COMPLETED MY FIRST BANK SHOP!

Wooohoooo! I like these.

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