I took a much-needed break for almost 6 weeks before I came to the conclusion that mystery shopping is no longer profitable for me. I've been a shopper for 7 years and so much has changed (not in a positive way). Shop fees have gone down. Many of the shops I used to do are no longer available. I used to do a lot of hotel and casino shops and most of them are gone. It's pretty sad. The money was nice but I did it more for the fun and the challenge. It's no longer fun for me, especially with the measly pay and having to wait months for reimbursement. I used to do anywhere from 20-50 shops a month. For February I only had 3 scheduled, and they were Big Lots and Aldi, which I only did because I was going there anyway. Perhaps I'm wrong, but I've seen assignments consistently go down, and I don't anticipate things getting better. Sorry to be a Debbie Downer

@AZwolfman wrote:

I've got a feeling that most of those claiming $50k annually are calling reimbursement of client-required purchases as income.

Making $50k in reimbursement is also not an easy task. That's my annual goal and I fell short by a few hundred last year.

@DareWright.... agree, and have cut back, just not as much fun, lost companies (NSS), fee's cut in half and all that. No more bar audits for me, a lunch is about all I'm willing to do, so, I have gotten over my shopping addiction. Really tired of waiting for my reimbursements, but thanks to the Source and a couple others for your thoughtfulness....I don't see things getting better,it's been quite a journey!!

I've got more than a feeling you are wrong

@AZwolfman wrote:

I've got a feeling that most of those claiming $50k annually are calling reimbursement of client-required purchases as income.

@SoCalMama wrote:

@johnb974 wrote:

I believe it's possible. Depending on where you live and the type of shops you do. If I lived in Orange County (20 miles from me), I could be mystery shopping everyday, all day.

You'd get burnt out or have a heart attack. Neither one is good. Central Orange County has brutal traffic.

You can mystery shop all day, every day in LA, San Diego or San Francisco too. It's a grind though. I don't recommend it.

100% agree. I live in the Southern part of OC. I went to Cal State Fullerton meaning I drove the 22-57 for many years. I could never do it now - the traffic is BRU-TILE! I hate going North of Honda Center on a weekday after about 2P. I am OK going South to Irvine, Mission Viejo because I have family down that way. I also want no part of the 55 after about 1P.

As for the OP - you have to do what you feel most comfy doing.

Pretty sure the law was changed a couple of years ago. This is no longer allowed.

@Want985 wrote:

Im sorry but i dont believe anyone is making $50k a year. Big cities mean more people to spread shops around at lower pay.

You are correct. I live in NYC and there’s a lot of $10 and $15 shops but I’m not seeing many that pay over $20. There are car shops that pay $40 but you need to own a car to get a trade-in value. There are some $45 apartment shops but the reports are so time consuming that you’re only making $7-$8 an hour after adding up travel, shop time and report entering time.

I have physical limitations and mystery shopping via public transportation is tough. The cost of a round trip subway ride is $5.50 which cuts significantly into your $15 or $20 shop fee, to the point where it’s mostly not worth doing much mystery shopping.

I find the fine dining shoos to not be sorth ths time it takes to do the reports. I did some 8 hour reports for a $120 meal for the MSC that begins with C and has 5 letters in its name. Then they asked for much more detail which added another 2-3 hours before they were satisfied. Most of the casual dining shoos are reimbursmenfs only (which won’t cover subway or bus costs) or they pay so little that after the subway costs you’re not making enough to justify the time.

There are exceptions to these low paying shops but not enough to be able to rely on earning enough money to make it worthwhile. Without having a car and doing routes, MS is too limited in NYC. And owning a car is a liability because there’s not enough street parking.

I do have another source of income, thankfully!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/16/2018 12:53PM by nycrocks.

@DareWright wrote:

Perhaps I'm wrong, but I've seen assignments consistently go down, and I don't anticipate things getting better.

I have a new shopper in my area, so a lot of January's and February's shops went to someone who is apparently a lot hungrier than I am. The weird thing is that I haven't made that much less, and I've been able to get a lot of things done around the house. I've been thinking about shopping only the last week of the month, and not trying to compete for shops with someone who must be so down on their luck that they're willing to take shops that net them about $3/hr.

ETA: Typo



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/19/2018 04:30AM by iShop123.