This was the year that I got tired of Omnipotent schedulers.....so I "fired" MarketPlace and a Closer Look. I still did over 400.

As many as I care to do. Started in Aug. 2016 and was busy doing at least 1 a day which was enough for me. By the time I live a life, get home and do the survey's, one per day is enough. Sometimes one every other day. Some surveys are like writing a book!! Learning to pay attention to: who the scheduler is, how much and how long is the survey. Many $9, $10, $12 shops I won't waste my time doing. Why: I value myself to be worth more than that for the time and work required. Hope this helps whoever mystery shopper started this survey. Or if a mystery shopping company started it, they have some relative infirmation to not waste sending emails .

I imagine I did about 52. I would have to count my records and I think about once a week.

This was my first year and it started off really slow but picked up momentum. I performed 434 shops and earned 8,566.38. I learned a lot this past year and have determined what shops are really worth my time. So far this year I have performed 90 shops and have earned 1,203.54. Not bad for part time work.

I am a new shopper. I completed 65 shops in the last quarter of 2016

# of shops is a useless statistic as 10 phone shops may be equal in time and money to 1 apartment shop. The better question is what is your actual rate ie net earnings (after expenses) per hour, as expenses (car maintenance, computer/printer maintenance, taxes, ect) is something shoppers who boast about what they "gross" each month rarely disclose!

As a part-time lifestyle shopper, I'm happy to do mostly reimbursement shops so I avoid paying taxes which you can't escape if you do 1000s of $3 phone shops!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/07/2017 01:29PM by kellyot.

I did 275 shops last year. I am picky, but also I do not live in a high volume shop area. So when I travel, I put together a lot.
This year, I have over 75 completed/scheduled, with a few pending travel plans... I am hopeful that I can move to an area that has a high volume, I love doing about five a day! My goal is to continue to help the family budget by taking care of food and clothing needs...

I love the snow, but I desire the roads to be passable!

I did mystery shopping part time, but still managed to do 454 while working my regular job.

1113

I did 49 video shops in 2016, 4 merchandising assignments, and a total of 239 assignments. I do quite a few restaurant assignments.

I added it up. Give or take I did 450 shops. I was lazy last year.

I did over 1200!! I must be crazy....

270 shops. 8246 miles. $7150. Part time and having fun.

I completed just under 600 shops in 2016. I usually slow right down for Nov, Dec & Jan in case we have a lot of snow since I don't have snow tires. In 2017, I plan on taking most of the summer off and relax.

I have been a shopper for many years. I am not desperate, I am retired. I find myself doing fewer and fewer shops. because I would like to "break even" and on some shops I actually get a prifit for my time.

I have been SERVING customers for over 50 years. I never asked for feedback but I got a lot of feedback.I do shops to give back information that could benefit the client.

When I do a mystery shop I try not to mentor, I just answer the questions. Imagine if I were a consultant and the client was paying me for advice and to negotiate to restore a business relationship that was damaged. I did that for a few years and was paid very well.

I am doing fewer shops every year because Mystery shopping has turned into attempts to drum up business. The casual shops that offer a free dinner in return for a report, for example, usually end up PROFITING the client. The want you to bring a guest and order a "hearty steak". .

When you figure it out the amount can be considered a "discount" as you can bring up to 3 guests with you and when you start adding the drinks and the appetizers and side dishes, etc the company is making profit. When a shop is really poor and the experience was comped you were abused and made NOTHING. The client should give you a gift certificate to go back on a different day and enjoy the experience.
to compensate you for your time and expense.

The car dealers get you in there to see their cars. The banks want you to open accounts, If you "bite" and become a customer the $10 or $15 was worth it. They write it off in their advertising budget.

Now if you were a company employee and used your vehicle and were paid ONLY minimum wage and company benefits, It would cost the clients a lot more for your time and effort

Still, those seniors who go to the mall and drink the coffee and get the baked goods and meet with other seniors would be there anyway for the companionship, just to be with another person.

@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?

Life is a competition.

drink!

I did one. Not that impressive....But I was always nervous until I did my first shop. I'm proud of myself.

Everybody starts somewhere, Ruth. Good for you. Best luck and have fun.

I don't have my own equipment so would like to know more about owning as opposed to waiting for equipment to be shipped to me. Time delays sometimes. I have also done as many as three video's in one day. They were close together so it was fun. But if I wanted to take my work on the road I would want my own equipment. Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.

One benefit to owning equipment is being able to take on shops that need to be done "right now." Usually shoppers with equipment are also given priority along with more money. For routes I've always had my own, although on my second major route the shopping company provided a camera to be used as a back up. Keep in mind, unless your route is all shops for one company, using one MSCs camera for other shops may not be an option.

@SunnyDays2 wrote:

I did mystery shopping full time plus merchandising (125 assignments) and I just wondered if you know how many you did? It took me 10 minutes to add them up. I am pretty organized and now have all my 1099's! My total for shops was 869. I wonder who did more! I bet scanman did!

what was the average payout for each shop? $5? $10? $20?

Oh, and I also used a lot of food shops to add to the LDS Church Service Mission my son has done for two years! I can't tell you how much food he really DOES eat! And he loves SUSHI!

58 shops for the year and made over $900. I work a full-time job as well, so mystery shopping has always been part-time.

What are you doing and do you mind sharing?

Let me first say that I do not have another job other than MS. However, I do not shop full time and my average day is from 10 am to 2 pm, perhaps 3 pm. My first full year of MS was 2014 and I did 823 shops. In 2015 I did 804 shops and in 2016 I did 711. Last year I worked 135 days which averages 11.25 per month or 2.6 per week. Fortunately, my income each year has gone up as a result of doing more higher paying jobs and less lower paying. Learning to negotiate has a bearing on the higher paying jobs.

Let's see, I do one shop a month. In a busy month I might do three.

Len

You must be exhausted.

Wow, that's a lot! Well this isn't an exact amount but I average about 10 shops per week which comes out to 520 give or take.