There's often a focus on how much shoppers can make from mystery shopping, with a current discussion centering on the $1,000 per month mark. but the reality is that is not a good metric for figuring out the value of mystery shopping. Everyone’s life expenses are going to be different and their earning potential both in mystery shopping and other employment will also be different, based on their location. If you want to discuss the true value of mystery shopping for a large group of people, you need a different metric. I think that should be expressed as a percentage, and not a dollar amount.

There are essentially two schools of shopping. Some do it primarily for the income generated and others do it for the lifestyle (perks, reimbursements, etc.). Looking at the value as a percentage of what’s required helps put that value into perspective. Shoppers often neglect to incorporate the cost of doing business, so you have to look at your cost of living without mystery shopping being involved in order to get a true perspective on the costs/value. I had two months in 2016 that I didn’t shop at all, so that’s easy for me to see.

For me; I live in a huge metropolitan area with endless options for shops, but gave up long ago on the possibility of shopping for a living. The cost of living for me is too high compared to the value of shops in my area. I could make $1,000 per month shopping, yet it would be impossible for me to live on that. I shop around 8 days per month on average, so approximately 22% of my available time, yet my income derived from mystery shopping only represents about 8% of my cost of living. If I increased my shopping to 100% of my available time, that number would not quadruple. I currently accept only the best paying shops and most desirable assignments, so I would be lucky if it expanded to cover 20% of my living expenses after I deducted the cost of travel and operating a vehicle. That’s why I choose to shop for lifestyle enhancements as opposed to income.

My choice of shops is dining and travel. It is relatively easy for me to cover 100% of the cost of me dining out and travelling with about the same percentage of my available time required. More importantly, the reimbursements I received in 2016 are equal to roughly 70% of my living expenses and 40% of my annual income, with only 22% of my available time allotted to mystery shopping. That’s part of why mystery shopping as a lifestyle is a good fit for me.

That said, I also chose to dine out and travel on my own at various times in 2016. My actual expenses paid out for dining and travel are just over one-third of my overall travel and dining costs for the year, at 34%. That means my value for 22% of my available time put in results in 66% of the desired expenses being covered…and that’s my metric (22/66). As long as that equation equals less than 1, mystery shopping is a good fit. The idea is to keep your input of time low and the output percentage as high as possible. If you applied that same metric to my overall income, it would be 22/8, and not a good value.

I would suggest everyone else do the same in figuring out if you are approaching mystery shopping from the right perspective. If you are a full-time shopper and commit 100% of your available time to mystery shopping, are you covering 100% of your desired expense? Working a traditional 5-day a week job with two weeks of vacation results in you offering up around 69% of your available time, and should hopefully cover more than 100% of your living expenses, so that would be the metric you are trying to beat. My main job metric would be 73/146, so even though I make way more money than I would through mystery shopping, my percentage of return for my time is better with mystery shopping than my traditional employment. My numbers coincidentally are easily divisible so my return on mystery shopping is 1/3 while my traditional employment is 1/2.

Well said, bravo!

I do this for survival. I have social security retirement; it's not enough to live on. I was working a W-2 job, but got injured at work and was fired when I couldn't work. I was unable to work at all, even MS'ing, for over a year, due to my injury. Nothing from worker's comp, and I just got a letter from the insurance carrier for worker's comp that I won't be receiving anything (bummer). I have no other pension, and chances of me obtaining any type of W-2 work at this point is pretty near zero.

With self-taught rehab (after I found out exactly what the injury was that was causing my excruciating pain), I was able to get back to MS'ing in August last year.

After I blew through my savings, I started borrowing from friends and family. Due to Ms'ing, I have repaid a large portion of that debt, and have survived.

I am physically and emotionally (PTSD) limited; I aim for 20 - 30 shops a month, and even that is overwhelming at times. I try to work 9 or 10 days a month, which according to your metric means 100% of my working time is devoted to MS'ing.

Since I do this to survive (and repay the debts occurred), and I am surviving, my metric -- as far as I am concerned -- is 100% perfect.

For me.

I understand what you're saying.

In the winter, my housing costs eat up about $800 a month; my SS is about $1100. Every dime I make MS'ing over basic living costs goes to pay my debts to the people who kept me alive while I couldn't work. I'm not in a position to aim for life-style shops and perks. A reimbursed hamburger ff shop saves me money on groceries.
I keep my grocery bill to $13 a week, and I try to do 3 ff a week, which actually gives me 6 meals. That's 3 days a week I don't have to buy groceries for. I wish there were grocery shops within a reasonable distance, but there are none. Gas station shops don't figure in that very much, as they are so far away, it doesn't even normally pay for the gas to get there. But the $2 inside purchases help a lot to defray grocery costs, too, so they do sort of count.

In parts of this country, $800 a month in housing costs is unimaginable. It seems like a great deal to me, when I'm trying to make ends meet on $1100 a month, but I know in the big cities you couldn't rent a shack for $800 a month.

I currently pay $500 a month, utilities included and my apartment is very nice and in a very big city with lots of little cities surrounding it. Granted, it's an apartment so I can't have chickens. I've also fixed it up with crown molding, newer light fixtures and outlets and newer tile, because I can do that work myself so maybe $525 a month total. Some neighbors good and some bad. I make an easy $2k a month without scheduling troubles very part-time, that includes reimbursements I don't have to pay taxes on, I try and get as many reimbursement shops that I can for that reason. Mystery shopping pays 100% for my car, my phone and tablet; payments, insurance and upkeep. eta and pays for all of my food except for coffee. Anyone see Trader Joe's shops?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/04/2017 06:44PM by spicy1.

It's possible to mix a little of 'lifestyle' and 'income' in regards to mystery shopping. This varies obviously depending on your other sources of income. In my case, I technically live very comfortably off just my full-time job alone, added on my other sources of income and passive income.

Back to the mystery shopping, the way I define 'income' doesn't fit the way others typically define income. I see income more than just a $$$ amount; I always look at the end result, which is my NET INCOME (total income + total reimbursements - total expenses).

I'll give you some examples:

(1) I 'save' on expenses on my travels by grabbing shops that focus great parking and toll reimbursements on top of the paid fees and reimbursements.

(2) Another way I 'save' is shopping for food, which I know many people oppose who shop for income.

(3) I stock up on stamps from those shops that allow you to hoard loads of stamps, as I often participate in the "Free After Rebate" (FAR) game. My most recent project was being paid $25 from AMEX, as Newegg got rid of tons and tons of computer parts for free! (Well, free after rebate). Hence, the only thing out of my pocket for these free USB cables, HDMI cables, extension cords, etc. were the cost of envelopes ($1.08 per 40 envelopes), paper (almost free from Office Depot), ink ($9 for my extremely economical Brother printer) and time.

So when it comes to selecting work in mystery shops, I pick and choose shops depending on multiple factors: hourly pay, ease of report, (if a food shop) how much I like the food and how much I value the food itself (uniqueness, ingredients, volume, how it fits into my diet and how much time / money I save from preparing it on my own dime), (if other reimbursements) how I value the potential reimbursed purchases from the shop, etc.

We shouldn't be restricted to purely a 'lifestyle' and 'income' shopping mindset. The key to surviving in this world these days is to maximize your resources, do what you can to INCREASE your NET INCOME, and to diversify your revenue streams to live a more financially-stress free life.

Agreed that it can be mixed. I take shops occasionally for the pay. I am fortunate to know the cost of living without MSing because there are times of the year when I am working so much at my main job that I cannot shop.

For me, $800 in housing costs in unimaginable....and that's my point about not focusing on the dollar amounts, but the opportunities available. and percentage of assistance you receive. If you are making enough to pay all of your bills and repay debt, then things are going in the right direction for you.

My housing costs are only about 25% of my overall living costs. I know that may be different for everyone else, but I have a lease on my car, cable, power, water, gas, storage (that's common in the city), mobile phone, parking costs, insurance costs, union dues, public transit & petcare costs on top of my rent. That also doesn't take into account any medical/dental payments I make, or getting a haircut, fixing anything that breaks, replacing a phone or computer, or going out on a date. Even if I could totally negate the cost of food & clothing (which I have done before when I was shopping full-time), the expenses for a moderate city lifestyle would be well over $2,000/month. My solution to solving that dilemma was to become and editor/scheduler, and my salary doing that paid for my living expenses, but then I had no availability to shop and my overall lifestyle suffered.

I have friends with multiple roommates and no car that claim to live in the city for around $2,000/month, but the reality is that those friends are also often benefiting from free diners and travel when they accompany me on shops...

Lol sound like we're about saying the same thing about what I consider 'maximizing your resources,' SteveSoCal!

@Tarantado wrote:

Lol sound like we're about saying the same thing about what I consider 'maximizing your resources,'

Agreed....and that's the point of having a different way to look at the benefit. Focusing on the dollar value or pay in assignments is not taking the bigger picture into account.

SteveSoCal - great measurement meter. Everyone shops for different reasons. I need to supplement my fulltime income, and I like being my own boss while mystery shopping. Every year I have increased my mystery shopping income, but shopping only on weekends limits a lot of potential income. My last child goes to college this fall, and I want to expand into video and maybe consider fulltime.

Mystery shopping wouldn't even begin to cover my household expenses. Property taxes in CA come to $4400
yearly with Homeowners another $270 (monthly and goes up yearly). Just had a dentist bill for 6 grand, upkeep on my home, etc. Making 1000 monthly pays the basic stuff, 2000 covers it, but then I need my perks where MS'ing comes in. I love going out and being involved, feeling like I'm participating in the business world (if you will). Owning your house helps, but cost of living, car upkeep, time spent driving to jobs, scheduling, reporting, etc. are out of pocket....we know pay is low, I have an elevated lifestyle which I'm not giving up. Brunch at Four Seasons...count me in, so glad I have it, but pay should match time involved.more $ would be nice.
I agree we all shop differently depending on our needs/wants. My daughter will be visiting in May and good ole Mom delights in being able to have a nice dinner, brunch on the house (almost). I love being able to give
so, we all have to find out what we want out of MS'ing and use it, don't let it use us. I shop smartly, and it is easy with being select the key.

Using the percentage MS ing income was 24%of my regular job. In january i did in the 1500 ballpark and i shop heavy 8 days out of the month. Other days i do one or two. So its easily possible to make a living if one was to MS full time. I dont do convenience store/gas station/ route shopping.

I plan my work around my needs first, buying and sending presents second, and helping others with their needs third. A meal location gives me 2- 3 servings and with enough pay for gas to help me travel with my son on his service mission. It has been nice that friends have allowed us to stay free overnight, which has given me the luxury to do work in some bigger cities. My extra income goes to get groceries and household needs.

@indianyooper wrote:

Using the percentage MS ing income was 24%of my regular job. In january i did in the 1500 ballpark and i shop heavy 8 days out of the month. Other days i do one or two. So its easily possible to make a living if one was to MS full time.

Well...you have a handle on the percentage of income you derive from MSing, but it seems like perhaps more than 24% of your available time might be gong into mystery shopping.

The thing that you are not taking into account is the law of diminishing returns with shopping. Receiving $1,500 for an input of 25% of your time doesn't guarantee that you will receive $3,000 monthly if you dedicate 50% of your time. Most part-time shoppers only accept the better assignments, so our going rate for assignments is higher overall than full-time shoppers. It may be possible for you to make a living shopping full time, but your other job might be a better investment of your time.

I see a lot of numbers from other shoppers on what they are earning, but no one seems to be posting about the percentage of expenses covered from that. I'm not asking anyone to divulge what they earn annually. I'm just asking what percentage of your expenses it covers, in relation to how much you work. I'm not sure if others don't really have a grasp on what that number is, or if they just don't take the time to calculate it.

I've been doing this for over a decade now and approached it from a few different directions. While some can make a living shopping full-time, I don't think everyone can. I'm convinced that for those of us who are able to work traditional jobs and live in an area where employment is available, traditional employment usually has better paying options that full-time mystery shopping. Mystery shopping has great flexibility, though, so those who might have a need to be at home often, are retired, or have other disabilities that keep from from traditional employment often rely on mystery shopping. That's a big reason why the pay rates are so poor...the majority of shoppers are not paying a mortgage or rent with their MS earnings.

Enjoyed your post, Tarontado, but what really stuck with me is....you find your Brother printer economical? I use an HP and just like with my last one (Kodak), it's the ink that costs. I just printed up guidelines for two shops today - one 18 pages and one 21 pages! I try not to print unless it's a new kind of shop I've not done before, or they changed guidelines. But if you say Brother is pretty cheap, I may check that out!

I am fortunate that I do not need the money although i do the shops for entertainment. if I am NOT required to put my hands in my pocket to subsidize the greedy clients who are not satisfied with saving tons of money on the REAL cost of sending an employee who must be paid minimum wage, reimbursement for expenses and benefits. Mostly food shops that I consider a "discount" on the bill rather than compensation

@SteveSoCal wrote:

I see a lot of numbers from other shoppers on what they are earning, but no one seems to be posting about the percentage of expenses covered from that. I'm not asking anyone to divulge what they earn annually. I'm just asking what percentage of your expenses it covers, in relation to how much you work. I'm not sure if others don't really have a grasp on what that number is, or if they just don't take the time to calculate it.

I'll give some insight from a full timer perspective. In my previous job I was an administrator in the IT department of a very large manufacturer. My last year there (2010) my salary was almost identical to my profit last year based on payments made minus actual expenses. I worked a simple 40 hour week with no overtime in my old job, so basically 2000 hours a year. Shopping last year I worked 170 days. At 10 hours a day (probably high) that equates to 1700 hours. I would guess I worked at least 300 additional hours as those days worked do not include planning, emailing, mapping routes, bookkeeping, etc. However, there are differences. I had a 30 minute commute that has to be included, and I had a mandatory 1 hour lunch period that was useless as the plant was 30 minutes from anything. So really I had to allocate 10 hours a day to work. Additionally my taxable income is significantly less so I pay much less in taxes, which allows me to save more, which I put into tax deferred investments, which again lowers my tax bill.

Also while I agree with your theory of diminishing returns I have found in practice that working full time opens you up to opportunities that part timers are not available for which more than makes up the difference.

@bgriffin wrote:

I have found in practice that working full time opens you up to opportunities that part timers are not available for which more than makes up the difference.

Sounds like (as we already know) your system works well for you. Better pay + potentially less time put in = a better deal for you.

I'm located in an area where I feel pretty confident that I could not match my salary with MSing. I made more as scheduler that a shopper. It's geographically dependent.

In which city do you live that you make $2000 in MS and only pay $500 for an apartment?
In my area most MSC pay $10, some $15-20, so to make $2000/mo takes lots of shops.

I do a lot of shops, I ran through 38k miles this past year. My mystery shopper name is a hint to the city, I don't really want to say which city because of the lunes here. But I cover most areas of my state and the four states around here because I mix mystery shopping with merchandising. Often times, I'll be in a city, or be going to a city, that no one shops and I'll hit up the merchandising and/or mystery shopping companies for extra pay and that's where I get most of the money I make. I'm willing to wait out the other mystery shoppers in my area for the bonus', they mess up ALOT. I live in a complex that people call a dump but that's because they don't live here; some of the kindest people I know are very poor. I don't mind living here on my current income. There was a time I didn't know how much gas and food cost because I didn't have to worry about it, I had some plenty but not any more.

I hear you and understand exactly what you are going through. I am there myself. For me sometimes the services or product offered is just as important as the monetary value. I choose a lot of my shops based on this. Shopping allows me to shop when I am well and lay low when I am not. I do however have a dollar amount I strive for every month. That being said, I would love to feel great 100% of the time and devote half of that time to shopping. It never works out that way. Imagine the money I could make if I did feel great 100% of the time. The fun I could have, wow.

@ceasesmith wrote:

I do this for survival. I have social security retirement; it's not enough to live on. I was working a W-2 job, but got injured at work and was fired when I couldn't work. I was unable to work at all, even MS'ing, for over a year, due to my injury. Nothing from worker's comp, and I just got a letter from the insurance carrier for worker's comp that I won't be receiving anything (bummer). I have no other pension, and chances of me obtaining any type of W-2 work at this point is pretty near zero.

With self-taught rehab (after I found out exactly what the injury was that was causing my excruciating pain), I was able to get back to MS'ing in August last year.

After I blew through my savings, I started borrowing from friends and family. Due to Ms'ing, I have repaid a large portion of that debt, and have survived.

I am physically and emotionally (PTSD) limited; I aim for 20 - 30 shops a month, and even that is overwhelming at times. I try to work 9 or 10 days a month, which according to your metric means 100% of my working time is devoted to MS'ing.

Since I do this to survive (and repay the debts occurred), and I am surviving, my metric -- as far as I am concerned -- is 100% perfect.

For me.

I understand what you're saying.

In the winter, my housing costs eat up about $800 a month; my SS is about $1100. Every dime I make MS'ing over basic living costs goes to pay my debts to the people who kept me alive while I couldn't work. I'm not in a position to aim for life-style shops and perks. A reimbursed hamburger ff shop saves me money on groceries.
I keep my grocery bill to $13 a week, and I try to do 3 ff a week, which actually gives me 6 meals. That's 3 days a week I don't have to buy groceries for. I wish there were grocery shops within a reasonable distance, but there are none. Gas station shops don't figure in that very much, as they are so far away, it doesn't even normally pay for the gas to get there. But the $2 inside purchases help a lot to defray grocery costs, too, so they do sort of count.

In parts of this country, $800 a month in housing costs is unimaginable. It seems like a great deal to me, when I'm trying to make ends meet on $1100 a month, but I know in the big cities you couldn't rent a shack for $800 a month.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/11/2017 04:58AM by Phaedra.

Mystery shopping covers about 32% of my total income and takes about 38% of my work hours, mostly because of the driving hours. I put about 15% of the, yet un-taxed, income back into the business as I need to front expenditures for larger layouts. I pay for the car, car insurance, get the reimbursed groceries etc. and put the rest in savings and the minimum in the ira. Mystery shopping for me is extra income and goodies that has gotten way out of hand.

When you are an entrepreneur, regardless of your physical condition, you make the choices on how you will survive. If the values you are offering to the client are MUTUALLY beneficial, your client will appreciate that you are friendly (as opposed to abusive or deliberately intent on cheating your client). You must have the ability and intelligence to offer the value. You must have the integrity to make the client trust you so the client will enjoy the relationship.

My clients cried when I told them I was retiring until I offered them a merchant that I mentored and had a mutual relationship with. When I had too much work or I was not sure I had the knowledge to serve the client I suggested the client use a "network alternative" Those merchants would never attempt to steal my client but would reciprocate if they were unable to perform.

I wish I paid $500 in rent, must be nice! LOL. I even paid more than that in college. That said, I think quality of life offered from mystery shopping is a good way to measure the value. So far, I dine out bi-weekly at a nice restaurant, order pizza once a month, go to brunch twice a month and go to the movies free twice a month. That saves me close to $415 in reimbursements alone.

If only I can find shops that reimburse dog grooming and spa's/nail salon, I'd be set.

@eyelove2shop wrote:

If only I can find shops that reimburse dog grooming and spa's/nail salon, I'd be set.

I want the dog's rattlesnake vaccination paid. Affording a pedicure would rock my world this week.

Fixing the garden, farm equipment and the coop is now a pipe dream. Starting a new flock; is a vision of grandeur.

Honestly, my only hope this week is this; Home Depot can fix my trimmer within 24 hours, so I can work while the weather is still reasonable in Texas. 90+ degrees in the beginning of February sucks!

I tried to edit because of too many commas Sadly, when I went to edit. I didn't see the comas. My grammar sucks huge!



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/14/2017 08:54AM by MA Smith.

I beg to differ. You have made this assertion before. By whichever method I choose to calculate, both my per assignment and per hour are much higher than they were when I shopped part time. They are also much higher than the numbers I've seen floated by the many part-time shoppers on this forum. Does that mean there are not the occasional $7 shops on my calendar? Of course, not. Money is money and the pay to work ratio is all that matters.

Bgriffin nailed it when he said the opportunities increase for the shopper available full-time, especially during business hours. We can also agree to ongoing, long-term assignments which are higher paying than anything the occasional or lifestyle shopper will ever see.

@SteveSoCal wrote:

Most part-time shoppers only accept the better assignments, so our going rate for assignments is higher overall than full-time shoppers.

@ceasesmith wrote:

I keep my grocery bill to $13 a week, and I try to do 3 ff a week, which actually gives me 6 meals. That's 3 days a week I don't have to buy groceries for.

Can you tell me what you buy to keep this down? I have trouble staying at 10x that amount.

@LisaSTL wrote:

I beg to differ. You have made this assertion before.

@SteveSoCal wrote:

Most part-time shoppers only accept the better assignments, so our going rate for assignments is higher overall than full-time shoppers.

My assertion was that the overall per assignment rate would be higher. I said most part-time shoppers and it's more than likely it's just some more experienced ones, but I feel strongly that my rate would go down if I took on more MS work. Obviously someone has to take the low-paying shops, but for me, as assignment has to be particularly attractive for me to consider it at this point in my MS career. I don't have a, "Hey, it's money!" attitude anymore and value my free time.

I'd also add that if you are comparing rates to your work in the past, you probably have more experience and contacts now then you did back then...and I think it's just basic bath to see that if you dropped any $7 jobs from your schedule your pay/work ratio would increase. If you only took those high-paying assignments available to full-time shoppers you would probably have a very high ratio as well, but that may equate to part-time shopping for you and a lower overall income if shopping is your only source of income.

@iShop123 wrote:

I have trouble staying at 10x that amount. ($13)

regarding groceries; I think it depends largely on where you are located and how many you are shopping for, but agree that $13/week is pretty good. I'm at around 5X that without mystery shopping, but have brought it down to as low as $20/week with part-time shopping.

When I shopped full-time I was easily able to negate all food costs for my household of two people, but was still not earning enough to pay all of the other bills.

I have to disagree with you. Over the last 2 years I had a large volume of shops from a single client that paid pretty well. I had several hundred assigned quarterly and my fee per was over $20. They also spanned parts of 4 states. No part time shopper would have been able to negotiate that rate simply because they would not have been able to handle that many shops. My second biggest client was a company that assigned routes that spanned whole portions of the country. One of my routes stretched as far south as Miami and as far north as Cleveland. The shops paid into the 3 digit realm but required long periods of travel. I was gone 33 days on one of those trips. Again. No part time shopper would have been able to take that route. Both of those clients have gone away this year but I have found through the first month and a half that my per shop average, per day average fees, per day average profit, and days worked have remained almost identical. That is simply because I have replaced those two clients with two other clients whose projects also would not be open to part time shoppers. As I found out those projects were ending I reached out to several companies looking for work. The two that have replaced the ones I lost were not my only opportunities that would not have been available for part time shoppers, they were just the ones I preferred.