I'm compelled to create this thread, because I've notice a influx of mystery shoppers bragging about how they are making so much money. I think this is misleading for a new shopper, and not accurate. I think new mystery shoppers should understand that any shop they do could be rejected for very small errors. Is it worth it to spend a several hours trying to make 10 bucks and then have it rejected? The companies do not care about you. They just don't. It's very at your own risk. You have to be independent and advocate for yourself, otherwise, you will be blamed and money taken from you. Money being that whole 10 bucks that the MSC refused to pay you because you didn't capture a name. It's not for everyone. Eyes wide open. It's not like the articles you read 10 years ago. The business has changed.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/14/2019 09:30PM by rothers27.

eyerollemoticon.gif

True.

If you can't (or, in some cases, won't) follow the guidelines, chances are very VERY good that your report will be rejected.

Mystery shopping is WORK.

I wrote this in another thread. Last weekend I made $633 in fees and reimbursements for 12 shops. This can be done. I've been doing this for a little over a year, part-time, so pretty new.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/14/2019 11:39PM by Niner.

@rothers27 wrote:

I'm compelled to create this thread, because I've notice a influx of mystery shoppers bragging about how they are making so much money. I think this is misleading for a new shopper, and not accurate. I think new mystery shoppers should understand that any shop they do could be rejected for very small errors. Is it worth it to spend a several hours trying to make 10 bucks and then have it rejected? The companies do not care about you. They just don't. It's very at your own risk. You have to be independent and advocate for yourself, otherwise, you will be blamed and money taken from you. Money being that whole 10 bucks that the MSC refused to pay you because you didn't capture a name. It's not for everyone. Eyes wide open. It's not like the articles you read 10 years ago. The business has changed.

Mystery shopping is like any other form of work. It's work and you get compensated. However - even in an employee role you need to advocate for yourself or you will find yourself underpaid. I've been told several times in my career for various positions I've held that I was the highest paid person in that position at the company. Why did that happen? I spend a lot of time focusing on the quality of my work, my reputation and advocating for pay increases when I feel it is appropriate. Most of the time you will get what you want if you ask for it.

New shoppers, please don't be disheartened by negativity. Plenty of us do well, and we want to encourage you to try and give it a go. Those of us who have figured out a way to make it work are not bragging. This forum is mostly comprised of veteran shoppers who want to help others succeed. The fees made by people in this forum are not unrealistic.

Like building any other business, it does not happen overnight and you have to apply yourself and make it happen. Signing up with 10-20 companies might be fine for someone who already has a full-time job, but if you are self-employed, you need to sign up with 100 or more. Also, if you really want to make the big bucks, look into video and/or route shopping.

I have been doing this 18+ years. I do a variety of IC work, not just mystery shopping. Everyone has their own niche. It took me a long time to get to the point where I am now. You can do it too.

A good ccrporate board will look for drawbacks and pitfalls. This is not negativity. It is the good, the bad, and the ugly. Jacob lets us discuss these ideas here. We can let shoppers know that even (or especially) ICs must do their due diligence. This is an extremely good thing.

@ceasesmith wrote:

True.

If you can't (or, in some cases, won't) follow the guidelines, chances are very VERY good that your report will be rejected.

Mystery shopping is WORK.

But, sometimes you hear stories of reports being rejected for ONE (of, say, 100) observations/criteria being off, cease.

Those cases can seem nitpicky. I'm guessing that is what OP is warning about. I think in most jobs (non-mysetery shopping, I mean), if you messed up ONE tiny thing, you probably wouldn't be completely unpaid.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/15/2019 02:32AM by shoptastic.

^^^unless you work for Donald Trump

@Niner wrote:

I wrote this in another thread. Last weekend I made $633 in fees and reimbursements for 12 shops. This can be done. I've been doing this for a little over a year, part-time, so pretty new.

What shops are you doing, Niner, and what did you net?

Wondering if it's a location thing too. A lot of shoppers have been here for close to a decade and still see the same low fees. Things are not getting better, but worse.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/15/2019 02:43AM by shoptastic.

I haven't been doing this long, but after doing some $9 phone shops where I waited an hour, and other silly things, I'm a lot more particular about what I'm willing to do. I did those to get some experience. These jobs seem to find me. I don't look at boards, etc. The shop types are pretty varied. As far as negotiating, I'm a lawyer, so I'm a professional negotiator of sorts. We have gotten paid to do all sorts of things. My husband is with me for a lot of these. We do them as we run around on the weekends.
Types:
Ice cream, donuts, pizza, fine dining, cars, motorcycles, an aquarium, a science center, cell phones, storage, high end retail, watches, big box stores, wholesale clubs, fast food, amusement parks, bowling, entertainment, oil changes, car washes, supermarkets, gas stations, convenience stores, hardware stores, an apartment shop (never again), senior communities, historical reenactments, bowling, thrift stores, sports bars, lots and lots of restaurants, and even some adult stores!

There's probably a lot that I'm forgetting.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/15/2019 03:10AM by Niner.

@Niner wrote:

I haven't been doing this long, but after doing some $9 phone shops where I waited an hour, and other silly things, I'm a lot more particular about what I'm willing to do. I did those to get some experience. These jobs seem to find me. I don't look at boards, etc. The shop types are pretty varied. As far as negotiating, I'm a lawyer, so I'm a professional negotiator of sorts. We have gotten paid to do all sorts of things. My husband is with me for a lot of these. We do them as we run around on the weekends.

Hmmm. it's possible you have more opportunities in your area than others and/or that your superior work (or, possibly, even background as a lawyer?) could be providing you with more opportunities than some (I'm making this assumption based on things I've seen from veteran posters).

Your point about negotiating does remind me to be better in this area.

I've often just deleted emails with offers rather than trying to negotiate for a better fee/reimb.

@shoptastic wrote:

@Niner wrote:

I haven't been doing this long, but after doing some $9 phone shops where I waited an hour, and other silly things, I'm a lot more particular about what I'm willing to do. I did those to get some experience. These jobs seem to find me. I don't look at boards, etc. The shop types are pretty varied. As far as negotiating, I'm a lawyer, so I'm a professional negotiator of sorts. We have gotten paid to do all sorts of things. My husband is with me for a lot of these. We do them as we run around on the weekends.

Hmmm. it's possible you have more opportunities in your area than others and/or that your superior work (or, possibly, even background as a lawyer?) could be providing you with more opportunities than some (I'm making this assumption based on things I've seen from veteran posters).

Your point about negotiating does remind me to be better in this area.

I've often just deleted emails with offers rather than trying to negotiate for a better fee/reimb.

I know I write quality reports and am reliable. That's probably common here though.

@Niner wrote:

I wrote this in another thread. Last weekend I made $633 in fees and reimbursements for 12 shops. This can be done. I've been doing this for a little over a year, part-time, so pretty new.

How much was fees and how much was reimbursements?

@Niner wrote:

@shoptastic wrote:

@Niner wrote:

I haven't been doing this long, but after doing some $9 phone shops where I waited an hour, and other silly things, I'm a lot more particular about what I'm willing to do. I did those to get some experience. These jobs seem to find me. I don't look at boards, etc. The shop types are pretty varied. As far as negotiating, I'm a lawyer, so I'm a professional negotiator of sorts. We have gotten paid to do all sorts of things. My husband is with me for a lot of these. We do them as we run around on the weekends.

Hmmm. it's possible you have more opportunities in your area than others and/or that your superior work (or, possibly, even background as a lawyer?) could be providing you with more opportunities than some (I'm making this assumption based on things I've seen from veteran posters).

Your point about negotiating does remind me to be better in this area.

I've often just deleted emails with offers rather than trying to negotiate for a better fee/reimb.

I know I write quality reports and am reliable. That's probably common here though.

Hard to tell, as we don't see each other's reports. Part of my point above, though, was that being a lawyer and/or being in a certain income bracket may be giving you more opportunities, too, as some shops screen for people in certain demographic groups.

It's possible (anyone know this for sure?) that some higher-paying shops go to those with higher income, education, and/or job titles.

Niner, I thought you were a teacher?

I have always viewed folks' comments about how much they were making as an opportunity to do cheerleading. Perhaps others are more prone to jealousy or feeling that folks are lying, but when I score a coup I am happy and want to share my happiness. I have had days when I have made $300-$500 in fees and they are memorable because I was in the right place at the right time. But that never happened day after day, week after week or even month after month for me.

In my market, because of its size and the type of retail here, earning $1000 a month is definitely expectable if I spend a bunch of time working the job boards to set up local routes and do 4-5 shops virtually every day. Ceasesmith has to make longer routes because the population density and types of retailers are not the same as here. Folks in cities with larger suburbs and shopping centers should be able to make even shorter routes than mine.

There are so many variables in any market that even month to month it may not stay the same. Competition in my market changes drastically during tourist season for some kinds of shops and obviously many teachers do shops during their summer break. It is up to shoppers to build their reputations with the MSCs they work with to secure work opportunities on a regular basis.

Location is a huge factor as to how much is paid....cities like mine have tons of shoppers (right SandyF))?
Doing video or routes is the way to go, depending on a bonus in a location with many shoppers, not so good. Rural area's pay more in bonus, so, it's really about location. Having 20 shoppers willing to do a job, why should companies offer a bonus. Coyle, an MSC with great jobs, pay a small fee to drive 60 miles for a lunch and an involved report...which is why I work only in my town these days, as driving the L..A. freeway isn't worth my time.
I am a reliable shopper and this is how I see it.....

@Irene_L.A. wrote:

Location is a huge factor as to how much is paid....cities like mine have tons of shoppers (right SandyF))?
Doing video or routes is the way to go, depending on a bonus in a location with many shoppers, not so good. Rural area's pay more in bonus, so, it's really about location. Having 20 shoppers willing to do a job, why should companies offer a bonus. Coyle, an MSC with great jobs, pay a small fee to drive 60 miles for a lunch and an involved report...which is why I work only in my town these days, as driving the L..A. freeway isn't worth my time.
I am a reliable shopper and this is how I see it.....

We used to call it the 405 parking lot when I lived in California. Car just sat...didn't move.

Too much competition where I live (Eoast Coast now). I'm ready to give up and just find another side gig.

Even with MSCs that have previously praised my work (two big ones, in particular), I cannot squeeze a bonus out of their already low fee'd shops. On Prophet Systems and Trend Source, where you can see how takes what jobs, I always see everything taken as soon as they're posted practically. It wasn't like this at the beginning of the year this year. I dunno.

Maybe people want to pile up extra cash to have more for thte holidays? Lately, my area is just depressing.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/15/2019 05:20AM by shoptastic.

@Flash wrote:

I have always viewed folks' comments about how much they were making as an opportunity to do cheerleading. Perhaps others are more prone to jealousy or feeling that folks are lying, but when I score a coup I am happy and want to share my happiness.

To be clear, I wasn't at all asking, Niner, out of disbelief, but rather genuine curiosity. She's always been encouraging towards me, so I know she is not bragging or such.

Sometimes I'm writing on the fly and don't monitor my tone...so just wanted to say that and good job to Niner!

*okay, time for bed now*

I think honest views of the industry for new shoppers are helpful. Reports can be rejected, sometimes for things within your control and sometimes things not. As an IC in this industry you don't have much recourse so don't do jobs you can't afford to have rejected. While some shoppers make very good money, many do not. income depends on many factors like how saturated your market is, your ability to build relationships with schedulers, ability to perform video shops etc. Most shoppers I've read that do the high paying jobs have built up to it over time. Have realistic income expectations. You probably won't be earning a few thousand a month to start with and many of us never get to that level.

How does one build a relationship with an MSC? An MSC is not a person. It's like saying that I have a relationship with McDonalds. I think people just need to get real about how oppressive Mystery Shopping is. The business appears, to me, to have super tiny profit margins (hence the super low shopper pay), no training or mentorship, there is no one to even call with a question or problem (that can answer the question). I'm on 5 mystery shopping sites (the ones listed in the top 10). I only do shops that I want to do and to treat someone (massage for the husband, dinner for mom and dad, etc.), and even with my very super low expectations, I constantly find myself disappointed by the lack of professionalism, poor communication, and rudeness of the MSC staff. IMO it's a gross and toxic environment.

The advice is shorthand for cultivating relationships with schedulers and, if possible, with additional company representatives who attend mystery shopping events that shoppers attend. For some people, the entire process to reach the big bucks is just being their outgoing selves and liking to meet people. For others, it involves networking, schmoozing, and (I suspect) operant conditioning. Perhaps some shoppers have especially effective communication styles which make it easy for schedulers to work with them. There are numerous resources in the larger world that shoppers can access all by themselves. This alone can offset the lack of a personal or professional mentor. Daring to augment or enhance ones skill set it just another instance of independence-- which is the core of Independent Contractor status.

One question: if this is so gross and toxic for you, why do you continue to participate?

@rothers27 wrote:

How does one build a relationship with an MSC? An MSC is not a person. It's like saying that I have a relationship with McDonalds. I think people just need to get real about how oppressive Mystery Shopping is. The business appears, to me, to have super tiny profit margins (hence the super low shopper pay), no training or mentorship, there is no one to even call with a question or problem (that can answer the question). I'm on 5 mystery shopping sites (the ones listed in the top 10). I only do shops that I want to do and to treat someone (massage for the husband, dinner for mom and dad, etc.), and even with my very super low expectations, I constantly find myself disappointed by the lack of professionalism, poor communication, and rudeness of the MSC staff. IMO it's a gross and toxic environment.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/15/2019 09:16AM by Shop-et-al.

@tstewart3 wrote:

@Niner wrote:

I wrote this in another thread. Last weekend I made $633 in fees and reimbursements for 12 shops. This can be done. I've been doing this for a little over a year, part-time, so pretty new.

How much was fees and how much was reimbursements?

About $250 in fees.

@JASFLALMT wrote:

Niner, I thought you were a teacher?

I am a lawyer. I am "retired." I now teach math and physics. The law is a small part of what I do now. When I stop teaching, I will go back to doing trust and estate work.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/15/2019 10:14AM by Niner.

@shoptastic wrote:

@Flash wrote:

I have always viewed folks' comments about how much they were making as an opportunity to do cheerleading. Perhaps others are more prone to jealousy or feeling that folks are lying, but when I score a coup I am happy and want to share my happiness.

To be clear, I wasn't at all asking, Niner, out of disbelief, but rather genuine curiosity. She's always been encouraging towards me, so I know she is not bragging or such.

Sometimes I'm writing on the fly and don't monitor my tone...so just wanted to say that and good job to Niner!

*okay, time for bed now*

I did not think that your comment was offensive. If we are talking about the truth, I wanted to share the truth from last weekend. It can be done. It's not us being dishonest to new shoppers. I am a new shopper. I'm also not young and I have 20 years of work experience in general, so that skews it.

The area where I shop is also rural. We have a vacation home there. I go back home to a major city, and don't shop there.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/15/2019 10:19AM by Niner.

As a shopper who is relatively new compared to many here (been shopping for around six years and only part time), I can't add much to their words of wisdom. Except to say that with regard to having shops rejected, if you realize when you're doing a report that you missed an observation or you didn't get a name because you couldn't read the name tag, or similar things, don't simply ignore them and submit your report, crossing your fingers that it will be accepted. Contact your scheduler asap and let him or her know!

I did a new-to-me shop a couple of months ago that required photos of all dishes ordered. I hadn't planned to order dessert in order to stay within reimbursement limits. So... What happened? Of course, I was too tempted by the selections, ordered dessert, and forgot to take the photo, despite remembering to take them of everything else. As soon as I realized what I'd done, I emailed the scheduler and explained. My report was accepted with, of course, the caveat that it was just for this one shop.

If it's your first shop with a particular MSC, they may not be inclined to cut you slack if you miss a key observation. But if you have even a short history of on-time, accurate, well-done shops, and you 'fess up as soon as you know you did, a missed point won't necessarily get your report rejected. There are some MSCs that have very lengthy reports and numerous observations; some of them will score a report so that if you don't get everything "perfect," the report will be accepted and you'll get a downgraded score.

Finally, don't be afraid to ask for bonuses! You won't get sent to bonus jail.

@Flash wrote:

I have always viewed folks' comments about how much they were making as an opportunity to do cheerleading. Perhaps others are more prone to jealousy or feeling that folks are lying, but when I score a coup I am happy and want to share my happiness.

My comment was actually directed to the OP, who seemed to be indicating that shoppers were misleading new or potential shoppers with their comments about successes.

I find that I am personally very satisfied with my overall shopping experiences. YMMV. Of course I get 'burn out' from time to time, but that doesn't mean the business itself is toxic. I have worked with some delightful schedulers and owners and I have worked for some total jerks. In what way is that different than any other line of endeavor? There are companies where I have resigned so there is no temptation to take further jobs because they look good, I do them carefully and eventually there is always some 'issue'. Meanwhile some of those same companies are 'favorites' of shoppers for whom I have a great deal of respect.

Of course we aren't paid enough. I suspect Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase would likely tell you the same because he was only paid $30 million in pay and benefits for 2018. Do you know of anyone who says, "I am adequately compensated for my work."?

At the moment the economy is creating more jobs than there are qualified folks to fill them. For those ready, willing and able to work full time, this is an almost unprecedented time to capture full time work. Many employers are even providing training for their full time employees. That should take pressure off them with the vagaries of mystery shopping, which they certainly can continue to use to fill in the cracks and/or set aside funds for special goals or a rainy day.

New shoppers do need to know how easy it can be to have a shop rejected. I learned it the hard way when I was new over 10 years ago. I was in a situation where asking the name of someone who barely interacted with me felt really awkward. I would have had to follow her down the aisle to ask lol.
But not getting paid made it clear to me -just ask.

OP, I don't think it has changed in my 10 years. I would suggest trying other companies.

I have no interest in doing this full time but I have no doubt it can be done.

I did a shop yesterday and I totally screwed up. I had it in my mind one thing and as I was doing the report I saw what I actually was supposed to do. I had to purchase something. I was able to add a note to the report for the eyes of the scheduler only. I told that person the mistake I made. I was so mad at myself that I said I was done with mystery shopping. I'm better today. I realize others make mistakes too. I will be surprised if I received payment for this.