Which is better and makes you more money. Part time temp or mystery shopping? I've done caregiving, part time for different agencies. One agency wanted me to drive 18 miles, for a shift that was one day a week for 3 hours a day. The drive would take you at least 1/2 hour each way. I turned down the assignment. I told them it was too far for a shift that short. It's close to minimum wage, $12 an hour. The company made it clear, you take whatever shift we offer you, no matter where it is. I thought I can make more money doing mystery shopping in less time and I don't have to put up with their attitude. Your thoughts on temp part time vs mystery shopping.

Mystery Shopping really depends on where you are. In my area, I can easily earn $30/hour or more. But I also have to spend 2-3 hours driving. Shop fees depend on how many clients are in the area and how many shoppers are there. Sign up for as many companies as you can and you’ll get a good idea of what you can earn.
Personally , I wouldn’t discourage temping as some firms can offer stable, high-paying assignments.

The money takes a long time to make and to get. You will likely have to lay out your own money.

After 50-60 shops, it has taken two months of hustling to make what I get going to my job for two days. Many of the shops were restaurants and I didn't make money, I was actually out five or ten dollars. This seems like a hard way to make actual money to live on and pay your bills.

The car shops have paid up to $65, but they have also paid $20, $28, $37, $40, and $50. The best day was $300 and that was seven car shops in one day, which was insane. This was leaving at 9 am, and finishing the last report at two in the morning.

The majority of those shops have not paid yet. You can wait over two months to get paid with some of these companies. You might want to get a part-time job that offers consistent hours.

@Niner wrote:

After 50-60 shops, it has taken two months of hustling to make what I get going to my job for two days.

Either you make a boatload of money at your day job or you are doing some really low-paying shops. Most people in it for the money don't take a lot of dining shops unless there is a good fee attached or they are traveling so the meal can offset some of their expenses. OTOH, they are great for lifestyle shoppers.

I try and stick with companies that pay at regular times, most within a month. It can depends on where you live. I checked one MSC. They had 9 shops in my area. If I drive 20 miles to another area, there's 101 shops. I'll have to start doing shops there.

Honestly at the rate you falsify reports and the rate your reports are rejected I would suggest working as an employee somewhere is probably a better fit for you.

One of my friends works through temp agencies.

But she has skills.

And makes $68,000+ working through the temp agencies.

So if you have marketable skills, temp can be good.

@LisaSTL wrote:

@Niner wrote:

After 50-60 shops, it has taken two months of hustling to make what I get going to my job for two days.

Either you make a boatload of money at your day job or you are doing some really low-paying shops. Most people in it for the money don't take a lot of dining shops unless there is a good fee attached or they are traveling so the meal can offset some of their expenses. OTOH, they are great for lifestyle shoppers.

I am a lawyer. I do the mystery shopping for fun. In two months, I might clear $600-$700 total if they pay me.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/17/2018 01:54AM by Niner.

That explains it. Those of us who do it for a living have a much different business model than those who do it for fun or perks.

How do you make a living at this? That is impressive, considering how hard you must need to work.

@Niner
It does take some work to make good money doing this - but what it really takes is a lot of learning. You have to know your market, be able to choose the right types of work for your skills, network a little, etc. I do this as a second job, but my objective is the same as those who do this as a career. I can clear $3K in a month while working if I really push...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/17/2018 02:19AM by MFJohnston.

You are basing it on how hard you have to work to only make a few hundred a month. For instance your $300 day that took 17 hours. A couple of my recent days included one at $400 and another at $230. Total time was 12 hours and 5.5 hours respectively with no reports needing to be submitted sooner than 24 or 48 hours. My shortest reports took only 15 minutes while the longer ones took 45 minutes to an hour.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/17/2018 02:35AM by LisaSTL.

Nice job to the two of you!

I don't know about MFJ, but I've been at this for over ten years now and worked extremely hard the first few years. Anyone taking it seriously treats it like a business that takes time to build.

If you really want to be impressed, click on bgriffin's name and read some of his posts. It is probably fair to say he is one of the most successful shoppers participating in the forum. I taught him everything he knows

That sounds like a good thing to go check out. There's a lot of dedication and hard work shown by members on this forum.

@johnb974,

I think it just depends on the area you are at and what type of shops you enjoy..of course like others have pointed out how much demand is there for mystery shoppers or how far do you have to drive etc to make it work? I also agree with others it can take 2-3 months to get paid for example through mystery shopping and that is after cross your fingers nothing goes wrong. I do this on a very part time basis at the moment, I try and do at least enough shops to get 50 dollars to 300 dollars every weekend. On a good month like July where I lucked out on one particular set of shops that were very high pay for the msc that you could do over and over and adding some very easy shops on top of that I was able to bring in over 500 dollars, already been paid for a couple of the shops still waiting on the others compare that to August where there hasn't been alot and I had some fall through in the beginning of August, or I just don't feel like driving for over an hour for a 7 dollar fee..I should end up somewhere around the $350 range for the month of August unless a really huge bonused job comes through at the end of the month. Not really clear from your post but why can't do both the temp job and mystery shopping, if you are working just 3 hours a day every other day, you can do msc on your days off and before and after your shift, that's what I would be doing if I didn't have a full time job..heck after joining this board I try my best to do at least 2 shops during the week if not more after my full time job.....

I’ve only been doing this a little more than two years and believe that I am not near my earning potential. However, I have benefitted greatly by really paying attention to what folks like @LisaSTL and @bgriffin have shared here. It has greatly accelerated my growth as a shopper.

@dawnhu It was 3 hours, one day a week only. Not worth the 18 mile drive. I told the company if the assignment was for 8 hours I would do it, but not for 3. The job pays almost minimum wage. In those 4 hours, adding in the drive time, I could make more doing mystery shops.

I wonder how mystery shopping compares vs. homeless panhandling?

At a good intersection, it seems possible to get a donation every 10 minutes of $1-5. If a person made $2.50/10 minutes, then that'd come out to $15/hour.

@johnb974..

I think it's a matter of perspective..there is something definitely wrong if you have been with the temp agency for a few months and that is all they are offering....

On the other hand if you're pretty new for them this might be what they offer for the new people, before offering better jobs..

I know it seems like a bad offer on the surface but by turning it down you could be missing out on a good networking opportunity....not only that but the temp agency might pass over you if a really great offer comes along later down the line

I was already working with one of their clients for 3 days a week, 6 miles from me. I had been working there for 3 weeks. They seemed happy with the work I was doing. My impression of the woman running the office, you don't reject any offer for work. No matter where it is. On some jobs, there's no profit. It doesn't matter to them. Any client is a profit. It can be the same with mystery shopping. A job may end up costing you. The MSC doesn't care, it's always a profit for them.

@LisaSTL wrote:

I taught him everything he knows

This part yes. The rest? Oh I dunno.

@shoptastic wrote:

I wonder how mystery shopping compares vs. homeless panhandling?

Apparently not very well -- $100k/yr from idiots who give them $ instead of apples
[www.cbsnews.com]

If I cared enough to sign up with a particular agency, I would take 1,2, maybe even 3 less desirable jobs to put in my dues. I don't expect to be given the plum jobs right away. By taking the cruddy jobs, it's an opportunity to show the temp agency that you're a trooper. There are 15 people lined up behind you that want the chance.

I used to be one of those naive people who wasn't aware of scammers and would give a dollar or two to everyone asking. I quickly learned my lesson a few years ago. I didn't have any money on me and was on the way to Mcdonalds and on my way there someone was asking for money. I decided to get them a combo meal..when I went to give it to them they said..I don't want that. I was stunned and to this day..I absolutely will not give out money but if it looks like they could use it I might give them food. Only exception is I was leaving a bank a couple of days ago and it isn't very funny but I was having a rough day so I thought it was hilarious..saw a sign a panhandler had that said need gas money for my private jet..I kept driving but it made me laugh so much..I actually turned around and drove back and was going to give him a couple of dollars but he was gone by the time I drove back



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/17/2018 11:56PM by dawnhu.

@Monk-N-Nut wrote:

If I cared enough to sign up with a particular agency, I would take 1,2, maybe even 3 less desirable jobs to put in my dues. I don't expect to be given the plum jobs right away. By taking the cruddy jobs, it's an opportunity to show the temp agency that you're a trooper. There are 15 people lined up behind you that want the chance.

I was already working with one of their clients for 3 weeks. I would not take a job that was going to cost me money to do. I don't think there was anyone lined up for this job. If they had someone else in line, they would have called them and not push me to take it. This is like a couple of shops I've had where I corrected a mistake in the report and the company asked me to go back and do the shop over. These were reimbursement shops, no fees. No incentive for me to go back.

@op: Where you live, are there agencies that offer siimilar or different work?

Apply at Costco?

@Shop-et-al wrote:

@op: Where you live, are there agencies that offer siimilar or different work?

I have applied with other agencies. One is very close to me, had an interview with them. It appeared to go very well. Didn't hear anything from them for over a week, I had about gave up. A friend who I gave as a reference calling this morning and said they had just called him. He gave me a good reference. Now it's wait and see.

@Niner wrote:

Apply at Costco?

Would really like to, but I cannot lift more than 20 lbs. Abdominal Hernia. I asked a surgeon about having it repaired, he said only as a last resort. To fix mine, might cause even more damage. Mystery shopping that's not a problem. I decided to expand the areas of my shops. I can bring in more money going 20 miles west of my home.
One MSC had 9 shops in my area, 20 miles west of me they had 101.