It varies from region to region. Some companies I work for don't have shops in other regions. I do some shops that others hate, others do shops that are on my ten foot pole list, and still others have a special relationship with schedulers built over years where they get shops that never see the job boards. Still others are strictly video, and some people do route shops that take them all across their regions or even all across the U.S. (and some travel out of the country).

You should just sign up with a lot of companies (link to a list at the bottom of the page) and figure it out for yourself like the rest of us did. I don't want that to come off as harsh but it's due diligence in building your business.

@Lexi_lex_Lex wrote:

What's the best paying mystery shopping companies you work for?

In addition to what JAS mentioned, some of the best paid shops happen when you get invited to join a small team that is specially trained to do ALL of a particular client's shops. One never knows when an MSC might negotiate such a deal with a client and having a stellar prior record with that MSC, or with an MSC whose referrals that MSC really trusts, will almost certainly be a deciding factor in who gets invited. So, sign up with many, many MSCs and become a "go to" shopper with as many as have shops that really suit you. There is a huge MSC that I had not done a shop for in about 10 years, but I got an invite to become such a team member because I had a good record with another MSC. Schedulers DO talk to one another. And, there are very, very few shortcuts in this business.

Have to chime in with Wales -- I only pick shops up close to work to offset the money I make while traveling where I may not get enough miles. You cannot deduct miles that you would otherwise travel for your regular job. If it's on your normal work day, those are regular work miles and not deductible -- unless you're a 1099er at your regular job but then they're part of the business miles for that job/business come tax time.

I like to travel into Pikeville & Roanoke when I can because it's a couple of fun cities to go to, more to do, etc. When I go, I also like to try to pick up a few $25-$50 shops to offset trips. Sometimes, pickings aren't that great so I may travel 220 miles round trip and get a fun day out with grandma but only make $80 -- which does cover gas and food for me and my passenger but on paper isn't enough miles to cover the shops. The ones I do to and from work for $10-$25 boost me up so I'm not in the negative or taking a major loss on my taxes. I took a loss the first two years shopping because I didn't really know better. I live in a tiny town so getting anywhere requires a 30 mile drive or $5 in gas round trip (we have a gas sipper). When a shop would pop up for $25, I would snag it just to get out of the house and get free groceries. Woohoo, $12 in food and $25? Yay... I lived in Podunk. But for mileage, it would show as I took a trip to spend 60 miles or $32.70 so it looked like I was willing to drive 60 miles to spend -7.70. Something like that -- but not exactly.

As for portions of your bills, they want proof and percentages. We have a home office. Separate laptop, separate camera, separate printer and paper, etc. I never do personal work on my office things. I'm more likely to do business work things on my personal devices. Oh, it's outside business hours but I wonder if MF has make offers.... click click.

Depends on what you are specifically referring to. If you are asking, how much money you can expect to be paid doing Mystery shopping, it depends a lot on the area you live in. MFJohnston gives a good explanation, but I don't make anywhere near that. I can drive distances, but I am very particular on the work I take. I only work part time. When you are starting out I would say don't expect more than minimum wage. Once you get signed up for a lot of companies and are familiar with the work, $20/hr is pretty reasonable. The way I decide if a job is worth it depends on the mileage. For a job to one location, I figure I need $1 per mile one-way. If I'm doing a route, I figure $0.50 per each mile. That being said, if you plan to do a lot of work, the money you make is taxable income, including any reimbursements you get for purchases. If you get paid $25 to go out to eat, that is all taxable income. When you file your income taxes, you have to pay all of the Social Security taxes. If you are an employee, the company pays half. You need to think of Mystery Shopping as a business, but you can do as little or as much as you want. On the bright side, keep track of all your mileage, because currently $0.55 is a business deduction.

My goal when mystery shopping is to target shops where I can make $60 an hour. It's frequently not possible to make that much. In those cases, I will do shops where I only make $30 an hour. That's including everything (time to read instructions, drive time, time to do the shop and report). I won't work for less than $30 an hour. If no shops are available that fit my criteria then I'll find something else to do with my time...

"That being said, if you plan to do a lot of work, the money you make is taxable income, including any reimbursements you get for purchases."

Where did you get the idea reimbursed expenses are taxable?

There are three conferences coming up this spring and summer, do you think going to them would be a shortcut?

There is no such thing as a shortcut but yes they would be beneficial.

Specific reply to MFJohnston: I hope you don't get audited, because the IRS considers reimbursements taxable income. The 1099-Misc that you get includes the amount that you are paid in reimbursements.

IRS considers non-monetary compensation as taxable income.

Huh? I hardly do any shops with reimbursements - apartments, new homes, banks and car dealerships do not generally require purchases... I think you were replying to somebody else...

@rebshopin wrote:

Specific reply to MFJohnston: I hope you don't get audited, because the IRS considers reimbursements taxable income. The 1099-Misc that you get includes the amount that you are paid in reimbursements.

I think you are mixing up the compensation with reimbursed expenses. Not every MSC includes reimbursements on the 1099 specifically because they are not taxable income. If I am paid $50 to evaluate the service when getting an oil change at my dealership, I cannot complete the job without buying the oil change. I pay out of my own pocket then the reimbursement simply makes me whole.

First, the 1099 are NOT SUPPOSED to include reimbursements, but some do. So keep good records.

Second reimbursements are not what the IRS calls non-monetary income. They cover a cost of doing business. Therefore if you have to spend $10 on a shop purchase and the MSC reimburses $10 you could actually declare the purchase a $10 cost of business and the $10 income as income. But the IRS and the shoppers who keep good records do not give a rat's behind which way you do it. In the end, your taxable income will be the same.

And, rebshop, I HAVE been audited and the IRS had NO issues with my costs being reimbursed. If your tax adviser disagrees, time to shop for a new ne.

It seems to me if someone is paying taxes on their reimbursed expenses they are actually paying taxes twice on the same money.

indeed

The amount you get reimbursed for that oil change is DEFINITELY taxable income. You get the value of that service paid by the company. If the IRS considers bribes, gambling winnings, and the value of items that you steal as taxable income, then the value of that oil change certainly is. Please refer to IRS Pub 525 and 334. Cash, products, and services you receive are taxable income. There is a section on "Bartering Income," which is similar to what we do. We exchange our work, the report or evaluation, for the reimbursement of the cost of the goods or service we receive.

1099's include all money that a company pays to you, even if you buy a product that you are purchasing for that company. I'm not sure what you consider reimbursements. What I am talking about is getting paid for doing a shop that is only a reimbursement for that purchase. For example, if you do a shop at a restaurant, spend $40, get reimbursed $25, then the $25 is taxable income. If it's a reimbursement for expenses, such as mileage, it's included in your income but then deducted as an expense. It's ultimately a wash. As far as what is included in the 1099's, you can look up the IRS publication on that. One year I worked for a company that did a major recall on Peter Pan peanut butter. I visited small stores that didn't have a procedure to return the recalled product directly to the company. The company I worked for reimbursed me/paid for the cost to purchase all that peanut butter, and it was included on the 1099. The 1099 that I got from that company was $20,000! Of that, $10,000 was reimbursement for the product, and about $3,000 was for mileage. The $10,000 is a misc business deduction, and the $3,000 was covered by my vehicle deductions.

You can believe it or not, but I have also been doing income taxes for 30+ years.

Again, not all 1099s include reimbursements. Your post is contradictory because now you say you deducted your $10,000 of product purchases as a business expense, but insist other required purchases are not deductible. Obviously you could not complete the recall job without making those purchases. It is no different than any other shop requiring a purchase whether it is $1 for an unwanted item at a gas station, $30 for an oil change or $25 for a meal. In each case the shop could not be completed without the purchase which make them business expenses.

Glad to see your response ShopGuy9. I was thinking the same thing, though for me it seems even worse because I live in a very small town over an hour North of Austin, so EVERY assignment requires a minimum of a 40 mile round trip and most are actually a 140 mile round trip.. And the fees for this area are what I perceive as low. If I am lucky, they want to pay $12 per assignment and yet the shop requires you to spend 30 minutes preparing, minimum of 30 minutes on location and then narrative-heavy reports taking up lots more time.

There must be a great deal of competition because I see shops posted that will only pay $7-$10 flat fee and requires a minimum $4 purchase, and I think, "I'll wait until they have to raise the pay to a decent amount." But others snap them up at those low rates.

I have to work routes or I can't even justify the driving and time. Thankfully I actually like the route work and don't mind all the driving, but as bgriffin said, this takes time to plan and juggle between MSCs. I will have schedulers contact me and ask me to take 7 evals at $10 each that will require over 350 miles round trip. They seem not to understand why I either need a significant bonus or time/flexibility to try to arrange enough other work along the route to justify even taking the assignments.

I actually love doing this work, but I do audits and evaluations as a business, not to get free food or entertain myself. Eating burgers all the time is not my family's idea of a good time or healthy diet. That said, I am finding it hard to make a credible profit at this business with all the requirements, lengthy reports, unreimbursed/uncompensated time, and transportation expense. Maybe I am in the wrong state or area to get decent fees for the work. Maybe I am not doing it "right," (For example, editors seem to love my reports, but I hate how much time it takes to do them - am I writing more than I really have to and still get a 10?) I try to stay really busy, so don't have much time left over to read and participate on this forum, but grateful to have it here for guidance and reality checks.

@ShopGuy9 wrote:

I envy you people who live in areas of dense settlement on the East and West coasts, where you can drive through half a dozen large population areas in a single day. I'm in the Austin area, and I can pick up jobs in San Antonio now and then when there are enough worth doing on a weekend day. There are a few small towns around us, but like Austin and San Antonio they must be heavily shopped by other people in the area since I rarely see any with decent bonuses. Beyond that, I could be driving for 3+ hours before I even reach a town worth visiting (Houston) and all the other little towns closer than that never have more than one or two shops to do in a day and even those are rare to find with decent bonuses or "make an offer".

For the most part, though, I shop just for a few extra bucks in my retirement account at the end of the month so that I can get out of the full time job in about 15 years instead of 20+. I'm cracking about $400 a month from fees on average, but I mostly stick to shops where I don't have to interact with other people too much more than normal. Being a severely shy person makes it hard to do the shops where you have to pretend to be buying things and they want you to hold a long conversation with a sales person.

@rebshopin wrote:

You can believe it or not, but I have also been doing income taxes for 30+ years.

Guess what? I don’t believe it, nor does the really fancy CPA firm that I use. I too have passed an audit without issues.

@walesmaven wrote:

In addition to what JAS mentioned, some of the best paid shops happen when you get invited to join a small team that is specially trained to do ALL of a particular client's shops.

There is a huge MSC that I had not done a shop for in about 10 years, but I got an invite to become such a team member because I had a good record with another MSC. Schedulers DO talk to one another. And, there are very, very few shortcuts in this business.

If only I was so lucky......if you need a substitute you can have them contact me!

@Shoptosay1 wrote:

I have thought about my internet as a write off.. what percentage do you think is appropriate?

Careful with that. If I was an auditor, it would be a definite red flag. You'd have to show how much time you were spending on the Internet as a whole and how much was spent on mystery shopping. Could be a quagmire and even if part of it was disallowed, you open yourself up to penalties.

@rebshopin wrote:

The amount you get reimbursed for that oil change is DEFINITELY taxable income. You get the value of that service paid by the company. If the IRS considers bribes, gambling winnings, and the value of items that you steal as taxable income, then the value of that oil change certainly is. Please refer to IRS Pub 525 and 334. Cash, products, and services you receive are taxable income. There is a section on "Bartering Income," which is similar to what we do. We exchange our work, the report or evaluation, for the reimbursement of the cost of the goods or service we receive.

Incorrect. If the oil change is a necessary expense to complete the job, it's not taxable. I think you need a new tax professional.

And really how much money are we talking about? I think my internet is $50 a month for 100meg. So $300 deduction if you claim 50% (good luck with that!). $300 deduction is worth between $30 and $100 depending on your tax bracket. If you're on the low end it's $30 bucks. If you're on the high end you make $300k a year.....

When in doubt, I don't deduct. As BG said, the amounts can be so insignificant compared to the headaches. Nothing compares to my mileage and I am can easily prove the miles. I stick with deductions where there is no question they are strictly for mystery shopping, like video equipment and travel expenses, and just suck it up for anything that would involve designating percentages for work versus personal.

@Pro Evals-Audits wrote:

Glad to see your response ShopGuy9. I was thinking the same thing, though for me it seems even worse because I live in a very small town over an hour North of Austin, so EVERY assignment requires a minimum of a 40 mile round trip and most are actually a 140 mile round trip.. And the fees for this area are what I perceive as low. If I am lucky, they want to pay $12 per assignment and yet the shop requires you to spend 30 minutes preparing, minimum of 30 minutes on location and then narrative-heavy reports taking up lots more time.

There must be a great deal of competition because I see shops posted that will only pay $7-$10 flat fee and requires a minimum $4 purchase, and I think, "I'll wait until they have to raise the pay to a decent amount." But others snap them up at those low rates.

I have to work routes or I can't even justify the driving and time. Thankfully I actually like the route work and don't mind all the driving, but as bgriffin said, this takes time to plan and juggle between MSCs. I will have schedulers contact me and ask me to take 7 evals at $10 each that will require over 350 miles round trip. They seem not to understand why I either need a significant bonus or time/flexibility to try to arrange enough other work along the route to justify even taking the assignments.

I actually love doing this work, but I do audits and evaluations as a business, not to get free food or entertain myself. Eating burgers all the time is not my family's idea of a good time or healthy diet. That said, I am finding it hard to make a credible profit at this business with all the requirements, lengthy reports, unreimbursed/uncompensated time, and transportation expense. Maybe I am in the wrong state or area to get decent fees for the work. Maybe I am not doing it "right," (For example, editors seem to love my reports, but I hate how much time it takes to do them - am I writing more than I really have to and still get a 10?) I try to stay really busy, so don't have much time left over to read and participate on this forum, but grateful to have it here for guidance and reality checks.

@ShopGuy9 wrote:

I envy you people who live in areas of dense settlement on the East and West coasts, where you can drive through half a dozen large population areas in a single day. I'm in the Austin area, and I can pick up jobs in San Antonio now and then when there are enough worth doing on a weekend day. There are a few small towns around us, but like Austin and San Antonio they must be heavily shopped by other people in the area since I rarely see any with decent bonuses. Beyond that, I could be driving for 3+ hours before I even reach a town worth visiting (Houston) and all the other little towns closer than that never have more than one or two shops to do in a day and even those are rare to find with decent bonuses or "make an offer".

For the most part, though, I shop just for a few extra bucks in my retirement account at the end of the month so that I can get out of the full time job in about 15 years instead of 20+. I'm cracking about $400 a month from fees on average, but I mostly stick to shops where I don't have to interact with other people too much more than normal. Being a severely shy person makes it hard to do the shops where you have to pretend to be buying things and they want you to hold a long conversation with a sales person.

I don't know how you do it, brother.

I appreciate your and ShopGuy9's determination and work ethic. Hope things continue to improve for your business.

I also second-guess myself at times, thinking the same thing as you - "Am I writing more than I really have to and still get a 10?" I take pride in my writing, and editors and clients appreciate my efforts, but it seems that it takes me significantly longer to submit a narrative-heavy report than many who post on this forum.

Keep pluggin' along.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/10/2018 05:00AM by Professional Guest.

@rebshopin wrote:

The 1099-Misc that you get includes the amount that you are paid in reimbursements.

I have to disagree with this, at least for the 1099's I get. I keep very good records and reimbursements are not included on my 1099's. I work as a sub chapter-S corp but I don't think that is the reason. But I do know the income I turn over to my CPA does not include reimbursements

@Professional Guest wrote:

I also second-guess myself at times, thinking the same thing as you - "Am I writing more than I really have to and still get a 10?" I take pride in my writing, and editors and clients appreciate my efforts, but it seems that it takes me significantly longer to submit a narrative-heavy than many who post on this forum.

Keep pluggin' along.

I type very slowly and get distracted easily. Plus, I get back pain after a couple of hours of sitting.
It takes me forever to type a hotel report, as in DAYS. One company gives me a week. Love them.

Just passed an audit for my 2015 taxes.... (got the all is good letter about a week ago) all home office deductions were just fine. I deducted my internet & cell phone at 50%

@LisaSTL wrote:

When in doubt, I don't deduct. As BG said, the amounts can be so insignificant compared to the headaches. Nothing compares to my mileage and I am can easily prove the miles. I stick with deductions where there is no question they are strictly for mystery shopping, like video equipment and travel expenses, and just suck it up for anything that would involve designating percentages for work versus personal.