@JASFLALMT wrote:

@Shop-et-al wrote:

Age is important. I am too old for the plenteous compliance shops which can be completed as routes and garner the big bucks.

Compliance shops. As in gas station and convenience store overt audits? I'm not doing those for less than $50 each anyway. Actually, I am not a huge fan of dirty gas stations, so I'm good with the quick and easy mystery shops. I have 30 bonused ones scheduled for my big trip next weekend. I'm not too old to buy gas and sunflower seeds. hahahaha It's a side hustle for a road trip I had to make anyway.

I thought she meant age compliance shops, like alcohol and tobacco? Maybe I was wrong.

I was referring to alcohol, tobacco, and now vape shops which are for younger shoppers. I can do the covert and overt gas station shops. I might do them again, someday. I am still learning about the various shop types, most of which do not exist near home.

@JASFLALMT wrote:

I thought she meant age compliance shops, like alcohol and tobacco? Maybe I was wrong.

Oh yes. But most of us know people who fit that category. I aged out of them a long time ago, but my children do them with me.

My oldest stepdaughter did a couple of them and then didn't want people to get in trouble anymore. The other kids weren't interested at all. Now they are all almost too old!

The shops do not answer this fundamental question: Why do some, but not all, underage kids try to purchase tobacco, booze, and vape products? What is it about these kids that impels them to try to buck the system and get away with something?

I think some are scared to try, some are smart enough to find someone else they can get it from, and some just aren't interested in those products.

I hate that the government necessarily is stepping in and dealing with vape issues for kids. But the kids, on the whole, are not avoiding vape products and other potentially harmful substances. What alternative is there? *sigh* *steps off soapbox and makes a boring but at least not harmful cuppa ginger tea*

@1cent wrote:

Some folks jumped on this thread just to lecture about the rudeness of the question. Better manners might have kept them out of it. No one needs to exercise authority here except over themselves.

I hope you weren't talking about me. If so I think perhaps you need to reread the first page of the thread...…

The OP asked a question.
I simply asked the same question of the OP.
Someone else commented, and I replied to that comment, not with a lecture, but a suggestion on perhaps how to make the question better in order to both not offend people who find the question rude and to elicit a response that would have been much more helpful than the original question.

I did not lecture until the OP rudely told me I should just skip over her question if I didn't like.

So. I'm going to assume you were talking about other people.

I was kind of hoping to see some interesting answers - for me, I make what I can and when I can. Unfortunately, I live in a very rural area so most of the shops I do are out of town. Thus, some months in the summer I made around $300 in fees plus reimbursements, but this month, I'll be lucky if I get over $60. School, work, kids make it hard for me to have the time & I usually do restaurants so the fee is low, but reimbursement is high.

Nicole, that to me sounds more like lifestyle shops than money making shops. What part of the US are you in?

@nicole.tabora wrote:

I was kind of hoping to see some interesting answers - for me, I make what I can and when I can. Unfortunately, I live in a very rural area so most of the shops I do are out of town. Thus, some months in the summer I made around $300 in fees plus reimbursements, but this month, I'll be lucky if I get over $60. School, work, kids make it hard for me to have the time & I usually do restaurants so the fee is low, but reimbursement is high.

Nicole, that is kind of how it is here too. Except you must be more rural than I am. Part of the reason I was asking this question is because I see so many posts or comments where people say they wouldn't do a job for this price or that price. Or they talk about bonuses etc. I don't have many options around here to be be able to choose to do something or not based on the price if I want to make any money at all. If I don't take something when I see it it's gone. Some weeks I do at least one thing every day and I make about $100. Other weeks a lot of things pop up and I make a lot more. The only things I won't do are the ones that I feel are ethically wrong. Like the Western Union one here right now is for $10 to go in and bribe the associate with $100 to fulfill your out of line request. I don't even think I can do that for $100 and I won't do an unreimbursed or a low paying with reimbursement food shop unless I am already looking to buy a meal out. But I sure will do a $5 demo audit and I've even come real close to picking up a $6 cell phone audit. Luckily for me that scheduler did offer me a bonus to have someone finally pick it up.

Why does having a rough week excuse anything? I've had a rough few months, and someone else has had a rough decade. Is that a license to ask uncouth questions?

@SoCalMama wrote:

@colleeny25 wrote:

I posted that question after 11pm last night after finishing my reports of the shops I did after work.
I have had an exhausting week. I work a more than full time job, I had my biggest week in shopping and reporting, most nights I slept 5 hours or less, Wednesday night I slept 2, we had an Uncle take his own life, I have my own grief and a devastated Husband. So I apologize for missing a word or wording my question in a way that you personally do not agree with.

I'm sorry. That's a really rough week.

@HonnyBrown wrote:

Why does having a rough week excuse anything?

I think the forum can be a sounding board for complaints. I certainly have been guilty of coming here and complaining about shops instead if emailing a rant to an scheduler that would potentially get me barred from a MSC.

When I read that colleeny25 had a rough week, it puts the question into perspective and does seem less rude that a newbie showing up here and asking, "How much does everyone make at this"

Days later, I re-read and noted the math part of the question. Inherently, there is a math problem. It involves hours and remuneration per week. The variable answers already have appeared on the forum in various places: some shoppers are reporting consistenly high earnings. Other shoppers report variable earnings. Others receive more in reimbursements than in fees (significant at tax time). veryone has a unique collection of factors including expertise, distances, traffic, fuel efficiency, tolls, ease of routing or difficulty of bundling, etc.

But that's exactly what she did: asked a rude question as a newbie. She should get a pass because life happened? She wasn't venting.

@SteveSoCal wrote:

@HonnyBrown wrote:

Why does having a rough week excuse anything?

I think the forum can be a sounding board for complaints. I certainly have been guilty of coming here and complaining about shops instead if emailing a rant to an scheduler that would potentially get me barred from a MSC.

When I read that colleeny25 had a rough week, it puts the question into perspective and does seem less rude that a newbie showing up here and asking, "How much does everyone make at this"

@HonnyBrown wrote:

But that's exactly what she did: asked a rude question as a newbie. She should get a pass because life happened? She wasn't venting.

@SteveSoCal wrote:

@HonnyBrown wrote:

Why does having a rough week excuse anything?

I think the forum can be a sounding board for complaints. I certainly have been guilty of coming here and complaining about shops instead if emailing a rant to an scheduler that would potentially get me barred from a MSC.

When I read that colleeny25 had a rough week, it puts the question into perspective and does seem less rude that a newbie showing up here and asking, "How much does everyone make at this"

I didn’t think that the original question was rude. It’s too bad that you don’t have compassion for her. You can use to be mean or be kind.

I didn’t realize that you were in charge of punishment here?

I think (just my thought) honny meant everyone has big life problems. I had to put my older sister in an assisted living home and now she is in the Alzheimers section in Palo Alto, and to see what happened to her, she has no life memory and would be better if she passed, the home cost 6,000 a month. I visited with family and my heart broke..will that change a basic personality? The forum now has someone crying because life is too tough, yes it is and one has to deal with their problems. Knowing how much you can make MS'ing is up to you and she has shopped, so she knows. Her intent may not have been rude but my feeling was, none of your business. We are all privy to our feelings.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/17/2019 09:08PM by Irene_L.A..

For the record. I wasn't crying. I was simply stating my question wasn't meant to be abrupt and that is the comment I mentioned the late night posting and tough week. In that comment, I also apologized for coming off to some of you as rude and instead of accepting the apology and moving on, some of you "non rude" people have done nothing but be rude to me. My post that those of you consider rude, did not call you out specifically. Your rude comments however, are directed towards me. Big difference there.

Just read this thread and perhaps this answer is useful for you op. I work very part time and I "earn" which to me includes $ per hour worked including driving time, reporting time and prep time as well as time onsite wherever the job is around 1/8th to10th of what I earned an hour at my other job and much less than minimum wage. I prefer to include driving time rather than miles as I can drive around 12 miles per hour here and then need to tack on another 10-20 minutes usually to find parking and walk to the shop place. I cannot figure it out weekly as some weeks I do not work at all, others I earn over $100. I also am not including reimbursements because most of the time the amt I am reimbursed is way more than I would pay for whatever I was getting reimbursed for if I purchased the item myself in a different store or when it was on sale or with coupons or rewards $.
All in all I mostly shop for reimbursements as in my situation I live in a high priced city with shopping competition so that a bonus of $2 or nothing when the scheduler is desperate is the norm. Most shops go for their advertised fee which is a fee which many rural and small town shoppers would not touch based on what they say. Also I am in a high tax bracket so shopping fees are taxed at the top of my tax rate meaning I do not end up earning nearly as much as even the stated fee the jobs are advertised at.
That aside I took a job last month where I earned $300 in less than an hour. If I only did those jobs I could do one a month and not do anything else. But would I find one a month? As a part time reimbursement shopper it makes no sense for me to do a string of shops in one day and throw away the pizza or burgers etc as they are worth more than the fees around here and how much can I eat? I steer clear of some of the popular shops that others have mentioned as wait times for service in my big city can run to an hour.

@SoCalMama wrote:

I didn’t think that the original question was rude. It’s too bad that you don’t have compassion for her. You can use to be mean or be kind.

I didn’t realize that you were in charge of punishment here?

The two are not mutually exclusive. It's very possible to have compassion for someone AND think they did something rude at the same time.

@OP: Welcome to our world! Sometimes, we get it right. We will get it right again. Eventually. Someday... maybe...

I will answer your question. Most months I make between 4-8 hundred and I am not a full time shopper. I might shop most days but I do not shop all day, most days. Usually 1-2. Often 4-5. Hardly ever more than that. I ignore fast food and do lots of everything else. Whatever has the best pay for the day is what I do. Retail, apartments, storage sheds, phone calls, gas stations and convenience stores, technology, and a few post offices. A typical day might have me driving 40 miles and doing 1-2 post offices, or 1-2 convenience stores along with some cell phone shops and some grocery shops. I like to earn a minimum of $60 for that type of mini-route. I often earn more. I know when the bonuses are coming. I check certain boards often. I do favors for schedulers. Sometimes that works out and sometimes not so much but you never know. I know which locations are hard to fill and when to ask for a bonus. I do routes of just grocery stores. That is one of our biggest bills each month and I have knocked it in half, and sometimes nearly eliminated it. I use my phone and apps to save time and work and back up my receipts in case one gets lost. Sometimes the pay is worth it and sometimes not, but I'm an addict. What can I say.

What punishment...explain.

@SoCalMama wrote:

I didn’t realize that you were in charge of punishment here?

@HonnyBrown wrote:

What punishment...explain.

@SoCalMama wrote:

I didn’t realize that you were in charge of punishment here?

I don't wish to engage you any further. Thanks.

I'll address the original question instead of bickering with others.
~$200 in shop fees per month, ~$300 in reimbursements
Mostly fast food/restaurant shops, about 30 shops per month.

:-)

@SoCalMama wrote:

@HonnyBrown wrote:

What punishment...explain.

@SoCalMama wrote:

I didn’t realize that you were in charge of punishment here?

I don't wish to engage you any further. Thanks.

WARNING: THE TONE OF THIS THREAD IS DETERIORATING. SHOULD THE LACK OF POSITIVE CONTRIBUTION AND/OR PERSONAL INSULTS CONTINUE, POSTS WILL BE REMOVED AND THE THREAD WILL BE CLOSED. Forum Moderator

Hi Colleen. I for one am impressed you make $100 a week or so. I also work full time and I have never made that much in a week but then again, I don't try. I will not try. I will only shop when it's convenient for me. My jobs are reimbursement only. I may 'make' a few bucks for certain reports but that is always eaten up by spending over the reimbursement. I t fluctuates but last month I earned about $800 in reimbursements. The few bucks for fees was spent and then some while on the job. Works for us. I am into MSing for lifestyle.