Luckily I keep all of my work in one room and can close the door and walk away -but do I????

too shea..... Jude, none taken. But we aren't tallking about one of those 10-20$ shops, well some are but one is high dollar. 100+ And I have put so much in and still waiting for some income. I don't have any more extra!!!! I drained both accounts, my old man says he will go borrow the money to send the fax tomorrow, he is being so tolerant. I was told I needed a fax for my first company and then when it was time to use it they said I didn't need it. Now it works really well, I don't understand why companies don't have a 1800 number. Before I bought this house in the last city I lived in we had a 1800 number for personal reasons, it only costs 20$ a month, actually it was one of those all n one package deals at the phone company. It was 70$ a month for local, unlimited long distance, call waiting and ID, plus a 1800 number so everybody else could call for free. If this company offered this I would sign up right now. It is sunday, there isn't anywhere open here for 30 miles, that is so country. I think I still have some culture shock going on.

I live in a suburb of Los Angeles called Valencia....it's a great place and 35 minutes into the city and the ocean.

I live in Chico, CA. It is the home of Chico State. A smaller town but close to Sacramento and Redding.

I live in Yonkers, Westchester County, in southern NYS.

I live in Glendive, Montana...Big Sky Country!!!!!

Is that Evil Nerd? Like a cartoon character?

Um, No like in I was playing paintball with my sister and her husband, and I got them both real good, and as we were coming off the paintball field, my brother in law called me evil, and my sister called me a nerd at the same time. So I became evilnerd...lol even my license plates say that...that name just stuck.Why, is there a cartoon character called evil nerd?

Sneakers is bonkers in Yonkers

No,it just sounds like a toon. Evil Dick from BigBrother last year?

I'm In Dallas TX. There are at least 2Million other shoppers in the area and shops NEVER get bonused.

Hi everyone, I live in long Island,New York......There seems to be a good supply of jobs here and some cos. pay more than others. I look into the paperwork, how far away, how deatiled the job is, how much you have to pay out of pocket, and what the pay is before i accept. I know to get into some cos. you need to take a job or two to help, maybe if its far get several jobs for same day and get gas allowance. Im new at all this,my first three jobs have been great. I just read the job description and see if it is worth the gas and out of pocket expenses you have to wait for a little while to get back. Im happy with my assignments and there are alot of good co. out there you just need to find one that suits your needs.If they come back with a bonus,then if its on a day it can be done thats great... Im just learning but i read and learn alot from others and job sites. Good luck to all from NY,I love this mystery shopping..... its fun.

I live in Tracy, California (was born in Boston and still a Red Sox fan).

I am from a small town in the Northeast corner of Alabama. I live about half way between Chattanooga, TN and Huntsville, AL.

Where do I live and Why? I live in one of the most costly parts of the contiguous states, that being New york. Suffolk County, Long Island to be exact. The shops I have be getting are many but none close enough to warrant the gas. The stores and malls around here are most definitely seeing the tumbleweeds. Although, some weekends are better than others. We enjoy Long Island for the obvious advantage of being only 15 minutes from the beach.

Well I am the odd one out here as I live in the UK. Scotland to be precise. I joined this forum accidentally not realising it was all US but I got such a lovely welcome on the introduce yourself thread that I am still here.

Although I am on a UK forum now I like to peep in at this one as I have been to the US about a dozen times so know it and you people quite well. And as Brits we are so linked in every way with America it is nice to be among friends. We currently don't have too many friends as a country. We have fallen out with the Russians, the French detest us and most of Europe don't understand us or our ways.

Re MS'ing there is a thriving MS community is the Uk and from here I note we have similar problems. I was surprised though to see someone say a company offered $4. That is equal to about £2. I don't know if in the US you have a legal minimum wage but we do here and it is $12 per hour. So MS companies here tend to estimate the time a shop would take plus the report and pay accordingly. On average I get about $50 for a bank job, $100 for a flight, and around $20 for a shop check, ie did the staff smile, how long did you queue etc.

We also have a totally different tax system. We have PAYE. Which means pay as you earn so if you are an employee your employer does all your tax....all you do is have it deducted from your salary. As a MS'er though you are considered self employed so you do your own tax. So you get a form from the Inland Revenue and tote up your earnings, less expenses, phone calls, printing, using your house as a base for your MS'ing, broadband costs etc

I was also surprised you fax receipts etc. None of the companies here do that.We take a pic of a receipt and send it digitally within the report.

So hi all and hope you don't mind a "foreigner" butting in.

And BTW I have been to NY, Fla, Chicago, California, Az, Death Valley, Grand Canyon, Yosemite, North & South Carolina, Tennessee,Vegas, Grand Old Opry, and my very favourite toured Lake Powell.

We are doing a whole bunch of the same with taxes, Hollypear. The MS companies don't withhold our taxes either so we get to tote it all up with the expenses to file with our tax returns in April of the following year.

Different companies offer different options for getting receipts to them. Some allow faxes, some are a "pic of a receipt" emailed or uploaded with the report, some still require us to mail in the receipts. Some allow you a choice of how you want to send the receipt.

The US has a minimum wage system but it does not apply to Independent Contractors, which is what we all are. The assumption is that as a contractor you are responsible for taking those jobs that work for you. Thus the MS companies are free to offer jobs for as little as they want in hopes there is someone out there hungry enough to take them. Our usual bank shops run in the $15-20 dollar range, with some MS companies offering a lot less and a few offering a bit more. There isn't a relationship between the amount of work and the pay on those bank shops. I accidentally almost took a $10 one the other day thinking it was a drive through only to discover that they want a $20 report on an interaction about mortgages. They will have to find somebody hungrier than I to do that one!

Ilive in Staunton Va. in the heart of the Shenandoah Valley of Virgina. It is
one of the most beautiful areas of the whole country.I shop a 50 mile radius
involveing five or six small cities with populations from 9000 to 80000.

As to your comments about the end of the month, I don't wait until the jobs are
gone. I call them or e mail them and say I will take the shop but need extra
money for gas. We hit %3.69 today. More and more ahoppers are doing this,
You can't drive anuywhere for even a $15 shop any more and make and money.
The providers know it and will cough it up if they want the work done.

As to the software not accepting a report, I have encountered this with only two companies.One is very receptive to helping and even take reports over the phone.
The other is perfect. T take very few shops from them anymore.

I live in Timonium, Maryland, one of the bedroom communities of Baltimore.

I live in Henderson, NV. Suburb of Las Vegas. Lived here off and on since 1988. Always go back to the mountains in Salt Lake City, UT, that's were I've lived most of my life. I am just new to the Mystery Shopping. I've not did a job yet, been alittle gun shy, because I've never did this before. Hope that this will be a fun experience.

Welcome aboard Kevanna.

My advice would be to just jump in there and find something simple - for your first one, I would suggest picking something without photos.

What do you mean by no pictures?

You right 'bout that Jude, some times the pickyness gets on my nerves!!! I found clothing shops are the easiest, when ya go into the changing roon, take the instructions in with you and make sure you are doing everything right, and write down notes like names of employees and such. Good luck and don'y give up EVERYONE has glitches!!!

If there isn't a dressing room, go in the restroom and take notes. When I have a lot of names and descriptions to remember, I will text it to my email.

Kevanna: Some mystery shops require digital photos. I would start with one that doesn't. One less thing to worry about.

I agree the cloting stores are usually pretty simple.

Thank you for the info, all will help to understand more.

Have you signed up with a lot of companies?

Not yet have been reading alot today to understand more about mysteryshopping. I'll start first thing in the morning. I've been on the site now for 10.5 hours and I'm tired. I really appreciate all the feed back that I've recieved in the last few hours. I don't mind all the help I can get.

I was born in North Carolina but never lived there, lived in Virginia (two parts) until graduate school, and lived in Texas (three parts) until I married. I am now in rural South Texas near a major city. Because of gas prices, I am limiting my assignments (mystery shops, auditing, merchandising, etc.) to a ten-mile radius. It used to be up to 50.

I am being transferred to Southern West Virginia.

Jude-- how's your back. have you made the move yet?