@89lulalula89 wrote:
Personally, I shoot for $60 an hour. Most of the time that is my pay or higher. But then again I won't usually take a job at the starting rate and I'm willing to do jobs that many others are not.
@panama18 wrote:
The problem with this subject is that there is room for all kinds of mental gymnastics and creative accounting. You can count the time you spend looking for shops, or not. You can count drive time, or not. The time you spend screwing around cropping and renaming photos. Report time. Time spent reading guidelines. I count all of that and don't know why anyone wouldn't.
@panama18 wrote:
The problem with this subject is that there is room for all kinds of mental gymnastics and creative accounting. You can count the time you spend looking for shops, or not. You can count drive time, or not. The time you spend screwing around cropping and renaming photos. Report time. Time spent reading guidelines. I count all of that and don't know why anyone wouldn't. That said, I don't doubt what anybody says they make shopping and it is understood that people aren't saying they make that 40 hours a week. I've made as much as $150/hr, but for only 1 hour, and those hours are few and far between. Overall, I don't average anywhere near some of these numbers, but If you can average $20/hr, or $40, or $60, congrats. One way or another we are all in it for the money, even lifestyle shoppers. God bless us, every one.
@89lulalula89 wrote:
My highest fees usually come from audits in general (but mostly gas stations). There have been many times that I've made $300-400 for a handful of shops for just 2-3 hours of work. I'm also willing to travel and I don't get scared off from completing an audit that I've never done before.
One thing I did not say before is that I work very part-time. No I do not make $40,000 per year. Currently I make about $1500-$2500 per month and that does include reimbursements. However, besides gas stations and grocery stores I rarely take shops that reimburse. I absolutely could make more money if I wanted to put more time into this gig but I'm pretty happy working 10-20 hours per week for the amount of money that I do make.
@shoptastic wrote:
I think I made $5.50/hour first few years.
This year (my 3rd), I might have made min. wage ($7-8/hour). I don't count reimbursements for that figure, though, as they can be hard to price correctly. Not sure what a burger is worth sometimes, as I'd never buy it myself at that price.
Time for me to permanently quit this gig probably. Depressing to see the hourly differentials!!
@Niner wrote:
This is a good side gig. You could get something full time and do this outside of a 9-5 job.
@JASFLALMT wrote:
It really is about location, traffic in your city, and/or how far you are willing to travel. My small city and surrounding region has lots and lots of shops within 25 miles. Traffic here isn't too bad as long as I time it right. People in rural areas or with bad traffic have limited shopping. I do some online financial shops that pay $60-$150, which is also nice, that and some credit card opening shops I can do online.
@MFJohnston wrote:
It's also about:
* What you are able to do well: Are you able to write high-quality long narratives? Many shoppers are not. If you are, you set yourself apart. Do you do video? If so, you are in the minority. Can you act our a scenario for two hours at a time and stay in character? Etc. If you have a shopping skill that most do not have and are willing to employ it, you can demand higher compensation.
* Are you super-reliable? When you say you will get it done, do you? Are you that shopper a scheduler can call today and be confident that you will have the shop done tomorrow, if you say so? If you do a shop, is the MSC confident that you will get it done right with minimal need for editing?
@89lulalula89 wrote:
I think this is right on point. I've carved out a niche for myself and I work my niche well. On the other hand, I do not use video equipment, I loathe lengthy reports and especially long narratives and I refuse to enact a scenario for two hours. So although there is a lot of work in my area, I don't even pick up any of those types of jobs.
As far as being super-reliable, shouldn't we all be? If anyone here cancels jobs often then they cannot be unhappy when they don't receive those better paying gigs from schedulers.