I'll be retiring soon, and will be looking to supplement my ssi and pension with MS'ing. How many of you are doing this full time and making out? Am I dreaming by expecting too much from this endeavor?

Can you make a living? I would not bet on it. Remember, in this economy, the competition for jobs (whenever companies post them) is really tough. However, "making a living" is subjective to each individual. For example, to do this full-time, I need to make 3K a month.

Ain't happening - there's not enough jobs in this area, and I'd really need to expand and have a driving route. Maybe down the road I would consider it, I just don't know.

You'll probably start off slow - with jobs that pay $5.00 to $7.00 - it is pretty much the only way to get your feet wet and build a good reputation as being dependable, reliable, great grammar and spelling skills, etc. Starting out slow and building up, try and figure out a goal; browsing the forums (daily), take in as much information as possible, and treat this as a "job" - you probably could do a decent amount parttime.

Also - search the forums, I've seen quite a few topics/threads on being a shopper full and part-time.

I've been shopping since October 1st. I love it - but what I can't depend on thus far is the same (or within a few dollars) amount every month.

You can pick up some extra money and some extra restaurant meals and reimbursements for merchandise at some stores, but I wouldn't count on making a living. Some very experienced shoppers do make a living from it, but it is a lot of work and takes time to build your business.

I do this as supplemental income and for that it works perfectly! My social security will keep the lights on, pay the mortgage and a few other things. Other retirement assets were accumulated to cover the rest. As a mystery shopper I balance between cash and reimbursements so that my household budget gets to take advantage of both and leave the retirement assets virtually untouched. The biggest reason for me to get back into shopping was the cost of my health insurance pre-Medicare was a whole lot more than I expected it to be. I found enough shops each month to cover that expense and then found a lot more benefits as well in reimbursements.

I could not and would not ever recommend mystery shopping to anyone as their sole means of support.

As someone who relies on mystery shopping as my sole means of support, I could not agree more!

You have my sympathy. There is such a law of diminishing returns with shops. No matter how long you have shopped there are only so many 'plums' and so many 'reasonable' and so many 'fair' shops out there before you start getting into spinning your wheels and spending your time for little or nothing. And I don't know where you live Lisa, but it truly galls me to see the same fee offered for the same shop across the country regardless of cost of living. When I moved South it was a given that salaries were only 2/3 of what I was paid for the same work in the North because the cost of living is so drastically lower in the South.

From that standpoint I'm fairly good. Cost of living in St. Lou isn't all that bad. Probably a bit better than Florida, but it's hard to be sure. We have some taxes that you don't have and you have some higher prices on housing, etc. Things like insurance suck just as much here as anywhere else Video shopping helps tremendously. Don't get me wrong, things like dropping fees change the game. I should be steadily adding rather than always having to replace jobs after fees bottom out I do like some flexibility with my time, but always say I'd give it up in a heartbeat for a steady job with benefits!

Err, that's presuming you moved to the *rural* South, Flash. Had you moved to a swank neighborhood of Atlanta or to Star Island in Miami, you'd find the cost of living comparable to anywhere in the frozen north.

Me, I live in "the South," in a metro area of near a million population, and home to a flagship state university too. Nonetheless everything about it, from cost of living to absence of art galleries, is distinctly rural. (We also have cows.)

Most of the jobs in my area are low-paying, true. But if I were to quit my "day" job (I actually work nights), I could spend 7 days a week doing gobs of them. I wouldn't make what I make now, but I think I could make enough to stave the wolves from the door, if I had to. Main reason I don't, I'm just too fond of my caviar and cabernet.

Flash Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> You have my sympathy. There is such a law of
> diminishing returns with shops. No matter how
> long you have shopped there are only so many
> 'plums' and so many 'reasonable' and so many
> 'fair' shops out there before you start getting
> into spinning your wheels and spending your time
> for little or nothing. And I don't know where you
> live Lisa, but it truly galls me to see the same
> fee offered for the same shop across the country
> regardless of cost of living. When I moved South
> it was a given that salaries were only 2/3 of what
> I was paid for the same work in the North because
> the cost of living is so drastically lower in the
> South.

I myself is doing this part time. My husband works and I'm at home with the kids. we do not make much with his income, but with doing this we have gotten to do a lot. I've gone to place I wouldn't even think of doing. Eating out at place I never heard of. It's not a way of living but hey it helps. Like when I want to go out to eat I look for a shop that will provide me reimbursements so I get the best of both worlds. A night out with my husband, no cooking and I get my money back. Its great. I'm not having to use extra money to do the things I want to do and can't afford. This is the only way I can get out and have some fun.

I understand what you are saying, D'Agosto, but I suspect you understood what I was saying as well.

I hardly think of my area as 'rural' even though I have had cows on the back 5 acres and currently have goats and geese. By a geographical anomaly I am less than 5 miles from the center of the city and the county courthouse and within about the same distance from 2 private colleges and a private university with a public college and a public university within 15 miles. There are art galleries and a concert hall that brings through travelling shows, a local professional symphony orchestra and several local theater groups and dinner theaters. Sure there are multi-million dollar beachfront mansions within 15 miles of me and there are rinky dink 'elegant' homes (McMansions) that before the real estate crash folks were gobbling up for a million and a half that aren't even near naturally occurring water. So I rather think of my area as 'suburban'.

But here is the reality I see on the fees. A particular fast casual restaurant reimbursement is $11. In my market that buys the required fries and soft drink and used to cover all but the most expensive burger on the menu. If I shopped the upscale city 40 miles away, my normal purchases would leave me out of pocket about a dime. A shopper friend in a Northern city was unable to purchase the cheapest burger, small fries and small drink and not be out of pocket. A shopper friend in another Southern city is able to even purchase the most expensive burger with the required fries and drink and not spend the maximum reimbursement, plus traditionally her gas costs are 20 to 30 cents per gallon less at the pump. Yet we are all paid the same fee and offered the same reimbursement.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/07/2012 04:06PM by Flash.