I was transitioning from a 9 to 5 job to freelancing and was seeking some side hustles. I found GigWalk and Field Agent and used them solid for about a year until they started paying less for worse shops. While researching why they'd gone downhill and what the alternatives were I found a Reddit that mentioned the Presto Instashops. I downloaded the app and quickly realized that there were betting paying and more fun shops all over the place. Finding this forum also helped quite a bit. There is one shop that I do every single month at a bonus for which a male is required. (It also needs to be accessed via public transit as there is no free parking nearby, so that would make the candidate pool ever smaller.) I likewise downplay the "mystery shopper" title when being grilled by nosy relatives who dislike my career/lifestyle choice -- usually saying that I'm doing "corporate evaluations" gets them off my case.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/16/2017 06:59AM by NinS.

I always figured you were a woman based on the username because it reminds me of Anais Nin.

Heh I've been referred to as "she" a few times on this board and wasn't in any hurry to correct it!

Someone once posted what they imagined some forum members' voices sounded like, and they matched me with David Carradine (for those that don't know, I am female).

I started in 2008 to build standees at theaters because I like doing puzzles and seeing free movies. They pay terrible now to do standees so I only do a few each year. Other than that all the free pizzas each month are a breeze to complete and I have two hungry teens. So that's all I accept now are pizzas and free movies pretty much. I used to do the Red Robin ones many years ago and that was a treat to have a free family dinner.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/20/2017 01:30PM by Theometer.

I haven't done a lot of movie theater shops even though I live right by a few because I'm not into the audience counting parts. (The one I do the most is a matinee shop at an art house where you just have to count the audience in your auditorium which can inevitably be done on one hand.) I actually haven't seen the standee ones -- sounds kinda fun at least once. Are there any MSCs I should be looking at for them?

I joined with Certified way back then but now it's a division of MarketForce. I think I did an audience count once but it's usually just writing down the trailers in front of a movie. I've done a few hundred standees but the pay is half of what it was back then. A company called Vision handles the high pay ones but you need to know somebody to get in there. I tried for years even with all the experience I have.

I started around 2010 after coming across something for being a mystery shopper at the Marine Corps Exchange by accident. I figured why not, I work on the base anyway and did 5-10 of those a year for a few years. Eventually, I stumbled on to this site and was able to use it to find more legitimate companies to perform other evaluations for but still only made around $200-$300 a year doing it. Last year my daughter was getting braces so I started signing up with more companies and was able to find enough jobs to pay for them without taking out money from my regular paycheck. Now I keep doing them because it's something different, fun, they're flexible, and it's always nice to have an account with extra money for whatever might come up.

. We are being marginalized. (kidding)

Dave Pi, WTF????

When I was a young guy I had worked in retail, therefore I was well aware of "mystery shopping." I had not been working in the retail sector for 13 years when the recession of 2008 hit and pink slips were beginning to be doled out. I had seniority therefore the first few rounds would not hit me but I began thinking that I would need to prepare for the possibility. I remembered "mystery shopping" and I investigated them and if I could include them as I worked full-time. My first jobs were grocery stores and convenience stores (customer service shops). Taking several supermarkets a week stretched the food budget immensely and the snacks gained at the convenience stores were splurged treats. The savings to the food budget and the income allowed me to stash away the extra money, especially since my husband and I were augmenting his retired parents' finances. The savings also allowed me to begin wholeheartedly investing in the stock market and my success there (Thank you Krispy Kreme stock purchases!) had allowed me to buy two cars outright (you know, MS can really rack on the miles!). Now I revel in the reimbursed oil changes/tire rotations, and "single services" to keep my newest car in tip-top shape. I still do post office shops to send trinkets and treats to friends and family in Puerto Rico who, post-Hurricane Maria, appreciate them more. I continue to shop my credit union since the fee I earn is a lot grander than the interest earned on whatever money is deposited. But now, I have slowed down a bit, taking only jobs that I feel are paid fairly for the work involved. But I believe that I will continue to do MS until retirement and expand again after retirement.

This year will mark 10 years since I started MS (Bestmark and Marketforce!)...my sister actually got my mom and I involved in MS and the rest is history...my sister got out of it a few years ago to run her own business (travel agency for the disabled) but my mom and I still shop. As I tell folks this is not my full-time job so I can pick and choose what I want to do from month to month.

liamgrey, aren't we loving the bull market and current rally!

Speaking of Bestmark... Where did the automotive shops go?

Indeed we are, JASFLALMT! The DOW over 25K, incredible!

They were paying well above their average for automotive shops and I suspect they all got snatched up very quickly.... $45 for a car shop that required no test drive or negotiations.

@kennyrogers77 wrote:

Speaking of Bestmark... Where did the automotive shops go?

I've been shopping for over 10 years, and first got into it when I was forced to shut down my independent rep firm in the music products industry.

While I'm fortunate to have investment income to cover my basic living expenses (with only about 5 years left before that runs out), I needed to do something to generate additional income to cover non-essentials.

Having had my own sales territories for 25 years before shutting down my business, a regular 9-5 existence was not in the cards if it could anyway be avoided.

I've continually grown my mystery shopping income each year, and topped $10k for the first time in 2017. Not bad considering I live in a smaller market (Salt Lake City, UT).

I've also played in bands, and I currently teach at a community college and drive for Uber, in addition to working for a non-profit as part of a student loan reduction program.

I enjoy all of them, but none of them generate the same income individually compared to my shopping and auditing activities. Considering my background in both retail and wholesale, I remain fascinated by the experiences when evaluating sales scenarios.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/09/2018 08:14PM by CoolMusic.

Mod note: Post removed as it breached the Forum guideline which states, "Do not reveal the clients of mystery shopping companies". Additionally, it is usually an ICA violation to name both the MSC and client.

kenny,
Please remove the client names from your post. It is an ICA violation and against forum rules to name both the MSC and any of its clients in the same thread. Even former clients.

Get over yourself...

@kennyrogers77
Walesmaven is correct. There are conditions for participating in this forum. One of them is that we are not permitted to state which MSC's have which clients. It's the sort of thing that, if you persist in doing so, you will be removed by the moderators. Your retort is also out-of-place. None of us are perfect, but we try to maintain civility here.

Wow, apparently the mods were on that like white on rice !!

I've never known Kenny Rogers to be so uptight. Maybe he stopped smoking?