I think it's getting harder to be single and do mystery shops

I use to be able to pick up many shops in my area. Now many good paying shops are disappearing in minutes. I think families are doing mystery shops as a group. They could have several people taking up shops quickly. I cannot compete with that.

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johnb974, I actually had a thought in my head, if you were going to post another thread about 1099s or another similar thread first!

But as someone who's not married, and has a girlfriend not interested in mystery shopping, I don't know if it's necessarily harder. Overall, I guess certain types of shops can be more competitive, where a household could maybe circumvent any rotation periods set in place. For me, I think it's just the inherent nature of living in a big city.

I have a family of four (myself, wife, two pre-school children). Being single is probably easier than having a family with children. Most shops I encounter allow solo shoppers.

I mainly do restaurant and hotel shops, and many of those do not allow children, which makes it harder to complete them, especially if we are out of town.

I had that same thought recently when a bunch of good-paying shops dropped, and I hit my assignment limit halfway through my list. If I had a family member that shopped, we could double the limit.

But the reality is being single has way more advantages for mystery shoppers. When I was single, I could drop everything when a scheduler called needing shops done NOW, and they were willing to pay whatever it took. That happens less now, but it still applies when lots of good shops are out there and you need to do as many as possible before other shoppers get to them. When you have a spouse or SO, life gets in the way. Heck, even having a pet makes it harder.

I think what you are seeing is that more people are needing gig income in your area. I see shops in some areas that sit and sit accumulating nice bonuses and stressing a scheduler while other areas get snapped up in minutes for the exact same task.

There have been several times I have taken my wife and she has helped me on a mystery shop where it requires two people.

Several years ago when my kids were younger, I did a Chuck E Cheese Mystery Shop..

My complaint would be when i used to bring a guest on a dining shop. Now the menu prices have increased 30-40% and the reimbursement has remained the same. I just do the shops by myself and order extra to take home.

I could see roommates working together to pay all or part of their rent.

Where I live, there's generally only one of each shop. Two people could only earn more because of rotation requirements.

When a flower doesn’t bloom, you fix the environment in which it grows, not the flower.
Alexander Den Heijer

I'm loving it! Single with grown kids, I'm free to shop anytime, anywhere, as far as I want without having to get home at any particular time. It was what I had dreamt of doing and now I do it. With less opportunities and bonuses now, it's on a smaller scale than I had envisioned.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/01/2025 11:04PM by sestrahelena.

I am single. I couldn't do routes being married unless my partner was doing this with me. Leaving my partner in one state while I travel through other states would be really tough on me.

Shopping Arkansas, Louisiana, & Mississippi.

I was banned from a certain MSC due to their mistake and my adult daughters were also banned because MSC has a policy that one person per household can be signed up no matter what the circumstances are.

My impression is that many good paying shops disappear in minutes simply because they are good paying shops. Many shoppers get up in time to see these shops that hit overnight and by the time i am up they are all gone. Had I had a spouse willing to get up early and find shops for me , yes it would be helpful.

@johnb974 wrote:

I use to be able to pick up many shops in my area. Now many good paying shops are disappearing in minutes. I think families are doing mystery shops as a group. They could have several people taking up shops quickly. I cannot compete with that.

@Rho wrote:

I was banned from a certain MSC due to their mistake and my adult daughters were also banned because MSC has a policy that one person per household can be signed up no matter what the circumstances are.

Wow, I've never heard of that before. Which MSC?

I think many of our newest immigrants know about mystery shopping. My friend has in home care and all the women who immigrated from Africa who also do gig work. They all knew about mystery shopping.

Do not read so much, look about you and think of what you see there.
Richard Feynman-- letter to Ashok Arora, 4 January 1967, published in Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Track (2005) p. 230

My problem is that the some of the good restaurants in my area cannot be conducted solo, I feel your pain. It's too bad 5 Guys and Jersey Mike's don't sell healthy food, I'd do one of them every day. I have to get a restaurant with a nice menu in order to get grilled chicken or fish and vegetables or salad; I can't eat like a teenage boy. Most of the restaurant or food shops don't give you anything except food, so if I can't get a decent meal I don't see the point.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/02/2025 06:42PM by Tiffany0921.

This is off-topic, but regarding households, it made me think of third-party deliveries like Uber Eats. Sometimes when I placed an order, often I would see families working together. For example, the delivery driver shown on the app was the mother, but the father may be driving the car. And in some cases, the kids were the ones delivering and handing off the order. I just thought it was interesting to see, at the time.

@johnb974 wrote:

I use to be able to pick up many shops in my area. Now many good paying shops are disappearing in minutes. I think families are doing mystery shops as a group. They could have several people taking up shops quickly. I cannot compete with that.

Unlikely. You have been removed from many accounts over the years. I know that you had circumstances with caring for your mother, but eventually, the excuses have to end. Life is hard. People have bills and problems. I do feel sorry for you, having to work at your age.

@johnb974 wrote:

I could see roommates working together to pay all or part of their rent.

I can't. Most people have traditional "jobs". I honestly don't know a lot of people of any age that have roommates. The ones that I do know, are all in college or are in their 20's. I do know family members that share a residence (i.e. kids living with parents during or after college).

I think MS has become more well known and so there's more competition. It's easy to sign up and anyone can and for that reason the pay isn't great.

@BayShopper22 wrote:

@johnb974 wrote:

I use to be able to pick up many shops in my area. Now many good paying shops are disappearing in minutes. I think families are doing mystery shops as a group. They could have several people taking up shops quickly. I cannot compete with that.

Unlikely. You have been removed from many accounts over the years. I know that you had circumstances with caring for your mother, but eventually, the excuses have to end. Life is hard. People have bills and problems. I do feel sorry for you, having to work at your age.

@johnb974 wrote:

I could see roommates working together to pay all or part of their rent.

I can't. Most people have traditional "jobs". I honestly don't know a lot of people of any age that have roommates. The ones that I do know, are all in college or are in their 20's. I do know family members that share a residence (i.e. kids living with parents during or after college).

I could still see roommates or family members working together to do shops.

@johnb974 wrote:

I use to be able to pick up many shops in my area. Now many good paying shops are disappearing in minutes. I think families are doing mystery shops as a group. They could have several people taking up shops quickly. I cannot compete with that.

I don't think that is entirely true. I think what is happening is all this paid training from a certain MSO that encourages people to shop, shop, and shop. They have contests where people are given money for the most shops they do. They also do not have the mindset of waiting for more money for the shops. They take it the minute it is released and then complain because they are not making money.

@ArkLaMissshopping wrote:

I am single. I couldn't do routes being married unless my partner was doing this with me. Leaving my partner in one state while I travel through other states would be tough on me.

I work within a five-state radius and always leave my spouse home. This is my full-time job, and it is treated like one. In my previous career, I was a traveling auditor. We lived on the West Coast, and I spent a lot of time on airplanes and in cars traveling. My spouse did the same with their career. This is a job, and it is treated like one. I work in Tennessee, Mississippi, Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, and Alabama.

Hmmm...I'm not aware of an MSC that pays shoppers extra for taking more shops. Do tell!

As someone who has done this from all sides; I see advantages for each.

I had a lot of more time to isolate myself and work on reports when I was single, but was always jockeying for a reliable guest. Now I have a pretty much guaranteed travel & dining partner, but we want to enjoy our lives a bit more than MSing allows for. So being (happily) married probably limits the number of shops I take.

At one point, I had a live-in GF who was also an editor for the MSC I worked for. It was great for team shopping, but working together took its toll on our relationship, so that was short lived. And we were basically broke, but eating well, since two people in a household working for a MSC was not ideal.

In terms of lifestyle, MUCH better being married. In terms of working as a shopper, probably better to be single.

Okie, my son does doordash and uber eats. When we are out together I drive, he does the pickup and delivery. In fact, he seems oblivious to the laws and keeps his tablet or his phone on his lap while he's driving so he can see his notifications. So I really don't like the idea of him dashing without me driving.

@BayShopper22 wrote:

@johnb974 wrote:

I use to be able to pick up many shops in my area. Now many good paying shops are disappearing in minutes. I think families are doing mystery shops as a group. They could have several people taking up shops quickly. I cannot compete with that.

Unlikely. You have been removed from many accounts over the years. I know that you had circumstances with caring for your mother, but eventually, the excuses have to end. Life is hard. People have bills and problems. I do feel sorry for you, having to work at your age.

johnb974, Hope things get better for you. Maybe at best, this will serve as a useful cautionary tale for some.

@Okie wrote:

@BayShopper22 wrote:

@johnb974 wrote:

I use to be able to pick up many shops in my area. Now many good paying shops are disappearing in minutes. I think families are doing mystery shops as a group. They could have several people taking up shops quickly. I cannot compete with that.

Unlikely. You have been removed from many accounts over the years. I know that you had circumstances with caring for your mother, but eventually, the excuses have to end. Life is hard. People have bills and problems. I do feel sorry for you, having to work at your age.
johnb974, Hope things get better for you. Maybe at best, this will serve as a useful cautionary tale for some.

In 10 years of mystery shopping I have only been removed from 2 shops. I never did mystery shopping while I was my mother's caregiver. I was told by Social Services I could not go back to work while I was her caregiver.

I think being single has not much to do with it. I am married but I have 2 grown kids so I have more free time and I love to get lost and go do my jobs and just be alone for a few hours. My family does not shop with me unless they are getting some sort of food. They are not involved, nor do they want to be.

Many people have become very aware of the gig economy and social media highlights mystery shopping quite often. People are catching on. I started doing this 2 years ago and I know that there are now more shoppers in my direct area who take jobs at much lower fees than I would have. You have to be fast to get the jobs that pay decent. I work full time and my "shopping" phone is always on my desk. I check my email and the job boards very often.

Single or not, the competition is just fierce out there.

I have no idea what you are referring to when you say families and room mates working together are taking all the shops. The only shops that are affected by someone who lives alone that I know about are the nicer dining shops where a live alone person needs to bring someone along. It is not easy for me to call a bunch of people once I have accepted a shop ,as if i wait to find a guest the shop will be gone. I do not invite people who i hardly know on mystery shops as a guest and some of my friends are on the do not invite on a mystery shop list as well as I know they will probably open their mouth and say something to ruin the shop.
I take far fewer fine dining shops now that my husband is gone.

@johnb974 wrote:

So how does a family or room mates situation take all the shops. Each person needs to apply for shops just like every one else. I have not seen a scenario where I can grab two shops because i know someone else who is a mystery shopper who lives in my house. So if you would not mind, would you explain how this works...your idea that families are taking all the shops.

@BayShopper22 wrote:

@johnb974 wrote:

I use to be able to pick up many shops in my area. Now many good paying shops are disappearing in minutes. I think families are doing mystery shops as a group. They could have several people taking up shops quickly. I cannot compete with that.

Unlikely. You have been removed from many accounts over the years. I know that you had circumstances with caring for your mother, but eventually, the excuses have to end. Life is hard. People have bills and problems. I do feel sorry for you, having to work at your age.

@johnb974 wrote:

I could see roommates working together to pay all or part of their rent.

I can't. Most people have traditional "jobs". I honestly don't know a lot of people of any age that have roommates. The ones that I do know, are all in college or are in their 20's. I do know family members that share a residence (i.e. kids living with parents during or after college).

I could still see roommates or family members working together to do shops.

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I think it's getting harder to be single and do mystery shops

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