I only did 180 shops last year (less than in 2015), but I was able to travel more and complete more projects around the house. Less shops and less money is a trade off I'm willing to make.

345 from beginning of July onward. In comparison, I have 137 scheduled for the first two months of this year

As a very part-time shopper, I completed 242 shops in 2016.

approx 632 shops

I did approximately 1700 mystery shops/audits in 2016. The majority of them were completed on routes. I usually do 10+ a day in order to make the trip worth it. It was an exhausting year, but I learned a lot. I hope to keep refining my methods to earn more money.

Not sure the exact number but by my estimates it was about 650 - but I have no desire to state my income.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/05/2017 02:49AM by teriraia.

I do know that I have 106 1099's for 2016, which is about 1/2" thick and way too many, and I'm pretty sure I will end up owing about $45 to the Fed's and about $150 to the State. I try to run all my mystery shopping pay and reimbursements in the Paypal account because I have the business cc for that and there was 643 deposits totaling 23,624 but that was probably 20,000 worth of burgers

Since I have a full time job and also do another part-time job I am a VERY Part-time MSer - 257 shops completed over 3,000 paid (some of that reimbursement of course).

I think I do pretty well with the video part. I'd be interested to know (from those who travel)...

What's the most shops you do on a route?
How long you are gone on a route?
Do you travel with family especially kids?
What hotel is best to live in while on a shopping mission?


I have my ideas. My little ones are getting older and eventually I would like to travel with them. I know some companies don't want kids along but I think that's with the ones who are needy and could make it difficult.

@bgriffin wrote:

It is hard to do a lot of video without doing some travel unless you live in a very few select markets. I do almost all video, what would you like to discuss?

PennyRobert, I think I understand your point, but the nature of the business is varied for all of us. Some areas are paid more because the locations are hard to fill. Other areas it's like piranhas in an eating frenzy and you take what you can get.

@prettygul1 wrote:

What's the most shops you do on a route?
How long you are gone on a route?
Do you travel with family especially kids?
What hotel is best to live in while on a shopping mission?

That entirely depends. I've done two routes so far this year. The first was a 7 day trip and I did 48 shops total. The second was a 5 day trip with 94 shops. Both trips were all video with the exception that the second trip included 4 hotel shops (back to back to back to back which I will NEVER do again). The second trip the shops were maybe 5 minutes apiece, so easy to do that many. The first trip was full of slightly longer shops and was actually "worse" workwise than the second one. If I were doing a route of only full length new home shops I would be doing well to get 4 a day in. What I try to plan is working 9ish-4ish each day. If I can't get to my target revenue per day on that then I don't do the route.

Again depends on the route. I had a quarterly dedicated (non-video) route the past 2 years that took me 9 days. So 4 times a year I was gone 9 days. That was a bit longer than I like. I try to schedule my routes a week or less. 5 days is perfect.

I normally travel by myself. Sometimes, depending on the type of shops I'm doing and how long the route is, I take my mom with me. I don't have kids and if I did I wouldn't take them with me on routes.

I not sure I understand the question. Are you asking if there is a brand that is better than others for routes? I don't really think so. I am Hilton Diamond, Marriott/SPG Platinum, and IHG Spire. One thing I consider myself quite good at is minimizing hotel cost while maximizing comfort. I don't stay in the cheaper brands because the chances of the hotel being louder and the room being uncomfortable is significantly higher. I might could save a bit here and there by finding the nicer hotels in the cheaper brands but that's offset by the amount of rewards I get from being top tier in the others, so I consider it a wash. I worked for IBM and travelled for several years. When I quit I retained all of their hotel partner travel codes. I also maximize cash back by using sites like ebates. My hotel budget is $100 per night (taxes and fees included) and it is VERY rare that I am unable to find something within the brand families I stay in. Except in LA cause LA sucks.

I shopped full time for 9 months in 2016, and did 433 shops.

Thanks, this helps a lot.

For the hotel, I guess I was wandering which hotel is best for internet access. I know most video shopping requires a quick turn around for uploading. When I stay at the hotel, I'm on their WiFi. It seems I need to be linked via the ethernet cord, in order for my videos to upload properly.

@bgriffin wrote:

@prettygul1 wrote:

What's the most shops you do on a route?
How long you are gone on a route?
Do you travel with family especially kids?
What hotel is best to live in while on a shopping mission?

That entirely depends. I've done two routes so far this year. The first was a 7 day trip and I did 48 shops total. The second was a 5 day trip with 94 shops. Both trips were all video with the exception that the second trip included 4 hotel shops (back to back to back to back which I will NEVER do again). The second trip the shops were maybe 5 minutes apiece, so easy to do that many. The first trip was full of slightly longer shops and was actually "worse" workwise than the second one. If I were doing a route of only full length new home shops I would be doing well to get 4 a day in. What I try to plan is working 9ish-4ish each day. If I can't get to my target revenue per day on that then I don't do the route.

Again depends on the route. I had a quarterly dedicated (non-video) route the past 2 years that took me 9 days. So 4 times a year I was gone 9 days. That was a bit longer than I like. I try to schedule my routes a week or less. 5 days is perfect.

I normally travel by myself. Sometimes, depending on the type of shops I'm doing and how long the route is, I take my mom with me. I don't have kids and if I did I wouldn't take them with me on routes.

I not sure I understand the question. Are you asking if there is a brand that is better than others for routes? I don't really think so. I am Hilton Diamond, Marriott/SPG Platinum, and IHG Spire. One thing I consider myself quite good at is minimizing hotel cost while maximizing comfort. I don't stay in the cheaper brands because the chances of the hotel being louder and the room being uncomfortable is significantly higher. I might could save a bit here and there by finding the nicer hotels in the cheaper brands but that's offset by the amount of rewards I get from being top tier in the others, so I consider it a wash. I worked for IBM and travelled for several years. When I quit I retained all of their hotel partner travel codes. I also maximize cash back by using sites like ebates. My hotel budget is $100 per night (taxes and fees included) and it is VERY rare that I am unable to find something within the brand families I stay in. Except in LA cause LA sucks.

@prettygul1 wrote:

Thanks, this helps a lot.

For the hotel, I guess I was wandering which hotel is best for internet access. I know most video shopping requires a quick turn around for uploading. When I stay at the hotel, I'm on their WiFi. It seems I need to be linked via the ethernet cord, in order for my videos to upload properly.

Hilton brands have the worst internet access even getting "higher" speed being Diamond.
Marriott is great if you're Gold or Platinum as their higher speed really is higher.
IHG seem to have the most hotels with actual Ethernet ports.

I have found that not many video companies require a quick turn around for their trusted shoppers.

Only a few months in of really focusing on this, but I expect to average 30-40 shops per month. If I clear $5000-$6000 in a year I will be happy. But, this is a hobby / part-time gig for me. Thus, I feel ok sharing numbers. I would not think of sharing my income from my primary job to anyone. It is personal.

Every day I read a thread about shoppers not understanding why others won't do cheap shops. Everyone's motives are different. If I can make $15 on the way home from work by stopping in a cell phone shop, I'll do it. I also will take jobs right now to learn and get better. If I'm making $10 an hour... that's $10 an hour more than watching TV. I'm sure my motives will change over time. For now, I will share what I can and listen to others with an open mind.

I completed 999 shops exactly averaging around 83 shops per month.

@PennyRobert wrote:

So what is the point asking other shoppers how many shops they complete in a year? Is this a competition, or are we all in it to make money?

Let me help you out with your question: This was just a simple question like: "What is your favorite pizza shop" "What fast food place do you avoid?" "How many times did you cancel a shop" I was adding up my shops for (this year) and last year I wondered how many shops I did and did not get around to adding them up. This year I added them up and decided that I would ask forum members how many shops they did? This had nothing to do with money, how much they earned, "competition" or anything else. It was simply a question. Feel free to answer it or not.

4,423
Between phone and in person. About 3200 of those were phone shops.

Definitely less than 200. In winter, snow & ice make it hard to get any assignments, and the rest of the year I aim for 20 shops a month. I am limited by health, age, and lack of tech expertise.

Congratulations that's awesome! I'm looking for a MS mentor. I'm new to the field and simply need to know how I can receive shops with fees over $10? I'm baffled as to what I'm doing incorrectly? Thank you for any expert advice you're willing to share?

1,202

I only did about 1000 this year. I took a month off to help hubby recover from his heart attack. I also had to cancel about 2 weeks of shops due to weather.

I rely on MS and Merchandising for a living and have completed 712 MS shops and 130 Merch jobs. On the days I worked it is usually a 10hr to 12hr day but that enables me to take many days off to create a nice work life balance.

516 shops for $7,292. Mostly part time....not much a social life sometimes too. LOL.

I did almost 300 shops in 9 months. December I hardly shopped though because I got a new job. I can't imagine doing more than, say, 500 in a year. I live in a rural area and just don't have the time. I thought I was doing good with 300! Lol

I think I average about two or three a day. I have some days I do not do shops at all but they are few and far between. I work full time and shop in between my work schedule and on Weekends. I drive a school bus so I work an AM route and a PM route with the several hours in between, I use to shop. I have some that need to be done at dark so I do those after I get home in the evening after I feed the critters. So somewhere around 1000 for me in 2016

I'm so tired over all the jobs you amazing people performed! I did 168. I work full time and I thought I did soooooo much, lol.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/07/2017 05:10AM by Madetoshop.

460 shops/$11,000. 2017 goal=$22,000

1,462