I color code my spreadsheet.... red for what hasn't been done, black after it is finished. The red color helps me to see what is coming....

A route is not 3 shops.

The number of shops you can do in CO is nothing like what you can do in San Diego. I could easily do 100 shops a week in San Diego. I usually did 50-75 good ones though when I shopped there full time.

Having recently left San Diego last fall, I came to Nevada which is very different because we have to be licensed here. As to San Diego, I do not know how you can possibly make a living on $50.00 per day. I drove their freeways for 35 years which get harder to get to where you wish to go. Find the companies that will bonus you at the end of the month, and then know that you will have to work long hours. Do route shopping (as I really never had done that), and keep all you income and expenses in Excel in spread sheets. Keep your gas receipts and your mileage book (bought at Office Depot or Staples). Thank every scheduler that you work with for giving you great shops. This is the way to build your relationships. Like any independent contractor you will have to keep good records, income, expenses and reimbursements. You do not pay tax on reimbursements, as it is not true income. Find a good book keeping service to help you, too. You will do fine, if you keep good records.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/16/2018 05:06AM by gbarnes.

@Kyrat4216 Not saying anything about your writing skills, which seem to be fine, but one thing that will help immensely over time is learning how to write detailed and concise narratives. Many community colleges offer business writing classes. Even creative writing helps. The better you are at painting a picture of your shop experience, the more likely you are to be recognized by editors and MSC owners when they need shoppers for high-end, high paying shops. It can take years before those offers come in, if they ever do. However, the better your reports are, the better your chances of getting them.
Another thing to look into are Mystery Shop conferences. There are a few held throughout the year. Great places to get training and knowledge. Yet, the best thing you will get from them is exposure. Putting names to faces can help tremendously over the long run. Assuming that you also build a reputation for reliability. Otherwise, names to faces doesn't help so much .
Given that you don't need to make that much (and yes, $50 a day average should be easy), you've got flexibility to do a wide variety of shops. That helps you get more exposure and experience. Keep a record of the types of shops you do, i.e. apartment, retail, automotive, banking as well as the numbers you have completed. Make a file where you keep all the kudos you receive from editors and schedulers. Crate and maintain a Mystery Shop resume. You won't need it very often, but as it grows, it can be helpful to have a summary of your industry experience.

I'm new to shopping. What MSCs should I steer clear of? I realize that there are many scams out there. Hoping to gain some wisdom from u guys.

@SoCalMama wrote:

A route is not 3 shops.

The number of shops you can do in CO is nothing like what you can do in San Diego. I could easily do 100 shops a week in San Diego. I usually did 50-75 good ones though when I shopped there full time.

Like I said, it was my first attempt at a route. And at $60 plus all of my meals paid for for the day, I'd say it was pretty successful. Not to mention very easy, laid back, and fun.

It seems reasonable to work my way up to much larger routes, but I'm happy to take baby steps to ensure I am able to schedule, record, and complete them successfully. I learned a lot today.

I'm looking at relocating from Austin to southeast Colorado, and I can't believe how scarce the mystery shopping jobs are up there. I'd have to drive a couple of hours up to Denver to pick up a decent number of jobs for a day, and then the drive makes it hard to be worthwhile unless I find great bonuses. I definitely won't be doing this full time any time soon.

How do you find that many ms? I only know about 10 ompanies.

Look at the Official List at the bottom of the page. It lists every company that has been discussed on this forum, and there are tons in there.

Whats a "tracker"?

thanks