yes! That is exactly why I do this. If I am losing money I could not live. I actually use this as an extension on my income.. It helps with gas and some groceries. However, I do not want to be a charity case! I will still do some lower paying jobs if I can do enough at once to make it worth my while. If I am losing money by driving around too far and wide, then I am not doing a very good job at scheduling! Just because they are low paying, does not mean I have to lose money. I will not do a job and lose money. My problem around where I live is the lack of jobs. since a lot of the companies, I work for have a 6 month+ rotation on the higher paying Mystery Shopping jobs, it is difficult, so I take some of the smaller audits and such. I do love what I am doing, but I also expect to make money doing it.

maryanncostello
"I don't find mystery shopping fun. I don't accept mystery shops, et.al., as a charity gig. Why do marketing companies believe otherwise? I separate each shop into 1. review and research, 2. fieldwork, 3. report preparation and writing. Each step requires time and most travel. I find if I'm completing a $12 shop for one company then I am not looking for or completing another shop that pays much more. When one sacrifices one shop ($12) for another shop ($12+) the + is called opportunity cost.
The reason I mystery shop is simple, I'm old(er) and my availability to work outside the home is limited. Also, I want the extra money. What I don't want is to be taken advantage of, do you understand."

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/04/2019 05:51PM by creeper459.

@JASFLALMT wrote:

I wouldn't drive 100 miles for $75, much less 175.

You would pull your hair out if you saw shops that I do. I am retired and enjoy traveling, so I take a lot of hotel and casino shops. This month I will be driving to Mississippi, Connecticut, and Florida. I will have half my nights in hotels, a massage, gambling in two casinos, meals in at least four 4-Star restaurants, various other meals, and gas from at least ten stations on the routes I take all paid for by someone else.

One of the two-night hotel stays includes a 24-hour Butler.

My situation is my own, and I understand most folks do not have the time to allow for this scenario. Will all my costs be covered, no. Will I have two weeks of fun for approx a third of what it would cost me not doing it with mystery shops, yes. For me, that is well worth it.

@Jsherma5 wrote:

What I have found is companues dont rsje into consideration rural areas where yiu have to drive more miles thsn suburban areas. For me I have to drive on average 24 miles to get to any major shopping abd at keast 15 miles to the next town. So for me many shops just dont pay enough. I love the one company I am with. The rates make it worth my time as I have to be in those stores anyway.
But I have found few and far between in my area.

Companies simply don't care how far a shopper must drive in either a rural or an urban area to get to a shop. Making sure he makes enough money to make his time worthwhile is the shopper's job. Jsherma5 has the right idea: don't accept shops too far away unless you are in the area already. And .... as for rural vs. urban, I can drive 30 or 40 miles in a rural area faster than I can drive 5 miles in the congested urban area.

That's a completely different story. Those are lifestyle enhancement shops. Heck ya!!!! I don't have time for them currently, but one day

@nilmerg17 wrote:

@JASFLALMT wrote:

I wouldn't drive 100 miles for $75, much less 175.

You would pull your hair out if you saw shops that I do. I am retired and enjoy traveling, so I take a lot of hotel and casino shops. This month I will be driving to Mississippi, Connecticut, and Florida. I will have half my nights in hotels, a massage, gambling in two casinos, meals in at least four 4-Star restaurants, various other meals, and gas from at least ten stations on the routes I take all paid for by someone else.

One of the two-night hotel stays includes a 24-hour Butler.

My situation is my own, and I understand most folks do not have the time to allow for this scenario. Will all my costs be covered, no. Will I have two weeks of fun for approx a third of what it would cost me not doing it with mystery shops, yes. For me, that is well worth it.

You are the type of shopper that keeps the fees low ! This is why a lot of companies STAY CHEAP with their fees, thanks !!!

@nilmerg17 wrote:

@JASFLALMT wrote:

I wouldn't drive 100 miles for $75, much less 175.

You would pull your hair out if you saw shops that I do. I am retired and enjoy traveling, so I take a lot of hotel and casino shops. This month I will be driving to Mississippi, Connecticut, and Florida. I will have half my nights in hotels, a massage, gambling in two casinos, meals in at least four 4-Star restaurants, various other meals, and gas from at least ten stations on the routes I take all paid for by someone else.

One of the two-night hotel stays includes a 24-hour Butler.

My situation is my own, and I understand most folks do not have the time to allow for this scenario. Will all my costs be covered, no. Will I have two weeks of fun for approx a third of what it would cost me not doing it with mystery shops, yes. For me, that is well worth it.

You go girl! or boy! Hooray for you.

last time I said this I got trolled by other shoppers. I wish people wouldn't accept shops that are under $20. You are losing money. When you think about the time of all the gas, the time it takes to fill out the report and all that's involved no shop under $20 is worth it. you're not even getting minimum wage and it devalues all of us

@rboggs127
It's not trolling you to point out that you are simply wrong.

I would not make a special trip for $20. However, if there is a fast $20 visit right next to another stop, it could be very well worth my time. There are some that, including report time, take under 20 minutes. If I am not adding any additional transit time, that's a $60/hr shop. A few of those on a route can turn a so-so day into a pretty good one. In February, I did a route of 31 shops where the profit was $11-$13 each and made good money.

@carolbrandt1 wrote:

(SoCalMama 3k 7y
Lighten up OP. Your grammar and punctuation are terrible. Perhaps work on that, and you’ll get better fees?)

I am a professional writer, but I slack when I'm in what I trust is friendly territory. I guess this is not.

I am with you, OP.

Cool. You both can "loose" money together.

I don't feel the need to get it right every time here, but basic spelling and grammar are not that difficult. Geesh.
Starting a rant about how you should get more work, while making a ton of errors, is a poor plan.

Not trolling. Stating my opinion just as you are.

I drive 0 kilometres to do a $10 fee + $15 reimbursement grocery store shop. I do the shop when I am getting my regular groceries. I get my groceries after work, I don't leave my house just to get groceries, or just to do a mystery shop.
I have to consider the time I take to review the instructions, make the necessary interactions (2- 1 on the floor which is extra, usually, to my shopping and 1 with the cashier) and the report time. Report can definitely be done in 30 minutes or less. The $10 adds to my taxable income, the $15 does not. Worth it for me.

They have a couple locations that sit on the job board month after month, they don't increase the rate.

@rboggs127 wrote:

last time I said this I got trolled by other shoppers. I wish people wouldn't accept shops that are under $20. You are losing money. When you think about the time of all the gas, the time it takes to fill out the report and all that's involved no shop under $20 is worth it. you're not even getting minimum wage and it devalues all of us

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/05/2019 01:44PM by prince.

carolbrandt1 stated: I am a professional writer, but I slack when I'm in what I trust is friendly territory. I guess this is not.

Bob's comment: Carol, as a self-employed contractor, whose income is predicated upon exhibiting writing skills, one can never "slack." In addition, slacking can become habit forming. Finally, I have been a member of this forum dating from 2010; in my opinion, it is not at all hostile.

I find this a friendly place. I am sure I have typos all over this forum, but that "loose money" really grates.

@carolbrandt1 wrote:

(SoCalMama 3k 7y
Lighten up OP. Your grammar and punctuation are terrible. Perhaps work on that, and you’ll get better fees?)

I am a professional writer, but I slack when I'm in what I trust is friendly territory. I guess this is not.

I am with you, OP.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/05/2019 01:50PM by prince.

MF Johnson-
I respectfully disagree. Accepting low paying, high shopper expense, shops is really bad for all shoppers. On your example, $60 accomplished because you are visiting more than location is questionable. You may be accounting for time and distance traveled. You should also consider your time in preparation and your time to write all the reports for those shops.

@maryanncostello
When a shop takes ten minutes, including report time, $20 is a great deal - especially when you are already there. If I can do well better than $300 (in profit) in a day doing a series of these shops, the pay is adequate. If you have read much of what I post here, I am a high-profit shopper. I do not work cheap. When I cited $60/hr, I did include all travel, preparation, etc. The shops to which I am referring a simple and fast.

I am NOT saying that all $20 shops are a good deal. I AM saying that some are a fantastic deal. Refusing to do shops based on payment alone is folly. I frequently use some of these quick, easy low-paying shops to turn $300 days into $400 days

Did you notice that the email that went out today about this discussion corrected the title - in the email but not the forum...lol

@prince wrote:

I find this a friendly place. I am sure I have typos all over this forum, but that "loose money" really grates.

@carolbrandt1 wrote:

(SoCalMama 3k 7y
Lighten up OP. Your grammar and punctuation are terrible. Perhaps work on that, and you’ll get better fees?)

I am a professional writer, but I slack when I'm in what I trust is friendly territory. I guess this is not.

I am with you, OP.

@kimmiemae - no, I didn't notice that. LOL

@prince wrote:

@kimmiemae - no, I didn't notice that. LOL

I did, and I was hoping that the moderator/owner had changed the title. Nope.

Probably a very time consuming task to change all the errors here.

@SoCalMama wrote:

@prince wrote:

@kimmiemae - no, I didn't notice that. LOL

I did, and I was hoping that the moderator/owner had changed the title. Nope.

I try to keep my loose money in a safe place so I don't lose it.

@prince wrote:

I find this a friendly place. I am sure I have typos all over this forum, but that "loose money" really grates.

It grates on me too whenever I see loose instead of lose. It could possibly be a typo in this case but this misspelling of the word lose is one which I see all the time so my brain does not see it as a typo. in this case it is in a title which is much easier to catch when proofreading.

The OP came back to disagree with MFJ's posts so clearly she is following the thread and all comments. If I were the OP, I would edit such a glaring and annoying error that so many posters have commented on.

If you take all of your costs into consideration, especially the cost of your vehicle to travel to the sites (in Canada CRA states the rate is $0.54/km to include not just gas but wear and tear of the vehicle) you will be losing money most of the time; unless you are not making a special trip. The pay rate also translates to less than minimum wage (in Canada $15/hr); so mystery shopping is generally not a good way to help pay the bills unless industry standards change. Unfortunately right now they are very low!

@patricialamontmail.com wrote:

If you take all of your costs into consideration, especially the cost of your vehicle to travel to the sites (in Canada CRA states the rate is $0.54/km to include not just gas but wear and tear of the vehicle) you will be losing money most of the time; unless you are not making a special trip. The pay rate also translates to less than minimum wage (in Canada $15/hr); so mystery shopping is generally not a good way to help pay the bills unless industry standards change. Unfortunately right now they are very low!

If the shopper proves to be reliable, and they can write a great narrative, they don’t get bothered with those junkie shops.

I requested and received a $20 bonus on a basic retail shop because I knew that I was going to have to do my make up and wear something besides leggings or my jeans and a t-shirt. I justified it as a, “I’m going to have to put on make up and make sure my nails look good to do this job“ bonus.

If you do great work, the great shops will find you.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/05/2019 08:36PM by SoCalMama.

My savings account disagrees with you.

@patricialamontmail.com wrote:

If you take all of your costs into consideration, especially the cost of your vehicle to travel to the sites (in Canada CRA states the rate is $0.54/km to include not just gas but wear and tear of the vehicle) you will be losing money most of the time; unless you are not making a special trip. The pay rate also translates to less than minimum wage (in Canada $15/hr); so mystery shopping is generally not a good way to help pay the bills unless industry standards change. Unfortunately right now they are very low!

Actually, the phrase is not all bad. Depending upon what you practice, you may command that the universe or some such loose the funds that you desire. (I do not know whether it is effective or anything else, and I do not judge anyone for their practices.)

You loose your profits, potentially, depending upon what happens in your world..Do your opportunities and choices maintain or grow you business? Or, are your profits loosed due to negligence or bad luck?

Actually, the phrase is not all bad. Thinking of binding and loosing, there are some possibilities. Depending upon what you practice, you may command that the universe or some such loose the funds that you desire. (I do not know whether it is effective or anything else, and I do not judge anyone for their practices.)

You loose your profits, potentially, depending upon what happens in your world..Do your opportunities and choices maintain or grow you business? Or, are your profits loosed due to negligence or bad luck?

If this is your only source of income then yes It can be insulting and hard. This isn't my only source of income so I look at it as if "what else would I be doing with my time." I get frustrated with shops and traffic which is why I don't do a lot better out of my normal driving route. For me it's just down time that I'm making more money, not a job that I'm living off of. Try doing routes or sections of the city where you can do more than one or two shops in a day to make it worth your time.

This loose thing is painful to read.

Your clothes are loose after you lose weight.

@Niner wrote:

This loose thing is painful to read.

Your clothes are loose after you lose weight.

Loose that truth into my world! Now! Bind that blubber from me! Now! (I am stuck at 16, if the brand is generous with fabric or the material is stretchy.)

No offense to anyone. What could it hurt, if a few ounces or millimeters of lard left me?

I will now lose this thread before my mind becomes loose.