@clinen11 wrote:
I've been hush-hush about this... but January 5th I received a layoff notice saying my last day would be January 4th. What the heck? Of course, I was hired with this as an understanding of a possibility...I was getting ready to log in and the system notified me. I knew it could happen but it hadn't YET. This kinda through my plans for a loop considering savings, grad school apps, and so forth but the show goes on (: I've been working a part time gig since then and still volunteering with the crisis line. Sooooo
Here's how my January shopping went.. I took a a week off to clear my head... organize my files, get my taxes started, do my books...scrub the walls... replace some paneling & insulation.. blah blah and plan a mega route... I will not be repeating this in February because I am FRAZZLED. I have planned much better here in February and am getting more work outside my comfort zone (of driving). I was used to my little 45-60 minute bubble and decided to head out about two hours any direction that offered work.
I did two food shops with a $25 bonus each. ($50)
I did 12 phone inquiry shops for $12 each. ($144)
I did 32 photo upload shops at $10 each. ($320)
I did two account shops for $60 each ($120)
I did two more food shops at $10 each ($20)
I did 8 compliance shops at $10 each and one for $20 ($90)
I did 11 covert photo shops between $17-$27 each for a total of $265
I did 6 bank checking only at $10 each and one at $20 for a total of $80
I did an inquiry for moneymarket on bonus for $40
I did two more inquiries for credit products $25 each for a total of $50
I picked up 18 phone calls for a research company at $3 each for $54
I picked up recorded calls at $10 each for 6 calls and a total of $60
I did car type shops at $25 each for four of them. $100
I grabbed up 18 customer service shops at $10 each for $180 plus a reimbursed $10 purchase!
I did 3 postal shops at $12 each
I did miscellaneous style shops totally $124.80
I did "heavy item" shops; 3 of them for $30
Two more food shops at $50 each on bonus and same day completion for $100
I did two drive in shops at $25 each for $50 -- also bonus for early/same day
I did two app test shops at $10 each for $20.
I did six print shops at $12 each for $72
I picked up 26 mini shops from an app I use for basically walking into store for pics. Some were not the easiest but fast $118 considering the pay is within hours.
And I did 2 appointment and then cancel phone calls for $5 each for a total of $10.
I also sold quite a few things on eBay that came from my shops. EBay earnings were $198.45 but keep in mind this could cause tax questions and iffy situations for reimbursed/non-reimbursed business expenses. Always ask the tax guys to be sure.
February, I have nearly 80 shops planned through the month at about $10-$15 average each. Many of these are phone calls so I can plant my tailbone in a chair and chill. Many more are photos and purchases or inquiries to evaluate service. I don't have more than 5 shops planned each day so far and I have made sure to leave Sat&Sun off. I have very few that will take long narratives. Some of these shops I got by simply emailing a scheduler that I would take "all" of a certain type and crack out 4-5 in a day. I didn't want to let the income flow stop on my part. I'm very driven by green paper with numbers and photos of past presidents on it... I tried to work February out to where I would see about 6-8 hours of work M-F like regular desk job. I was working 9am to 6pm M-F so it's no change up and I was working a desk job. I gained almost 30 lbs at my desk, even varying it up with about 80% standing. The last 3 weeks... I've lost about 10 lbs. I'd say I still eat 2200-2500 calories a day. I digress.
I hope this can give you an image of how it "can" be done but not necessarily how it should be. I will not be repeating January's antics and chaos. There were days of getting up at 7am to go out the door and getting home to be up until 1-2AM writing reports... then rinse and repeat. February is looking like I will be home and all finished up around 6 or 7pm each day. I'm sure ish will go amiss, but I'm so much more prepared for February and this forum is excellent for help if the right folks are responsive.
@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.
@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
@eyelove2shop wrote:
Wow! I'm impressed by the amount of money people are making from mystery shopping. I need to step my game up. I made almost $650 in January. I did bank shops which included inquiring about investment options and account opening. I did some p/r for one high end retailer that paid $60, the others were between $10-$15.
I did several of phone shops that paid between $3-$10. I did restaurant and movie theatre shops that paid $15 plus reimbursement. I also did electronic and retail inquires that paid between $12-$15.
The bulk of my earnings came from apartment shops. I did 8 of those totaling $360.
The phone shops pay were low but those calls were made while at my full time job during downtime. I also filed out the reports for the apartment shops while at work.
My weekends were free.
@shoptastic wrote:
@eyelove2shop wrote:
Wow! I'm impressed by the amount of money people are making from mystery shopping. I need to step my game up. I made almost $650 in January. I did bank shops which included inquiring about investment options and account opening. I did some p/r for one high end retailer that paid $60, the others were between $10-$15.
I did several of phone shops that paid between $3-$10. I did restaurant and movie theatre shops that paid $15 plus reimbursement. I also did electronic and retail inquires that paid between $12-$15.
The bulk of my earnings came from apartment shops. I did 8 of those totaling $360.
The phone shops pay were low but those calls were made while at my full time job during downtime. I also filed out the reports for the apartment shops while at work.
My weekends were free.
You did a $3 phone shop? That's some low pay!! I hope it wasn't too hard for you!
Also, what does p/r stand for?
@shoptastic wrote:
Another question:
Has anyone every done multiple restaurant/fast food shops within the same meal period (for different companies)? I did that once, where I did two dinner shops, and found it hard to do, because I was somewhat full from eating during the first shop.
But, I realize that those types of "stacking" or "bundling" (whatever you want to call it) can be done in my area. I'm just not sure it's so great for your health!!!
@shoptastic wrote:
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
@ceasesmith wrote:
Clinen, don't confuse your e-bay income with your mystery shopping. They are entirely discrete. You even need to file a separate Schedule C for "on-line sales".
That being said, your reimbursement "income" from MS'ing is not taxable; so your COST OF INVENTORY (i.e., what you paid to acquire what you sold) is ZERO. So your on-line sales Schedule C will show your e-bay sales as 100% profit. That is, of course, assuming that you sell ONLY items purchased MS'ing. If you sell other items -- well, let me just say "record keeping is KEY".
@walesmaven wrote:
One of my physical limitations is that I am night blind, so I cannot see to drive between dusk and post-dawn hours.
If I can earn nearly $1000 per month, doing shops 3-4 days a week, with no night driving, what can YOU do?
@walesmaven wrote:
I seldom do more than 3 shops in a day.
@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?