I've been mystery shopping since July 11. As soon as I found out I was going to Hawaii in the end of Sept. I knew I had to find something to earn extra money.
I joined about 30 different companies and off I went.
I have completed 93 shops in this time. I've made 1450 (or about 15 average per shop) in profit and 700 in reimbursement.
Overall, I am satisfied with all it entails though it does get draining and I have found myself taking a day or two where I do not schedule anything.

I have had to learn what is worth getting reimbursed for. I did not have any money set aside to use for mystery shopping so I had to use my primary checking s and when you aren't getting reimbursed until weeks later... you have to be mindful. I've kept an excel sheet to track my payment due dates and amounts earned with each company.
I've learned that sometimes waiting for a shop can result in a nice bonus. Some go quickly but if you see the same one posted multiple times, you often can get a bonus on it.

I have been using jobslinger primarily to find jobs as I don't have a lot of time to go to each individual website. Some companies now email me directly which is very helpful.

Looking to keep doing this for a while but become a little more particular on the ones I do accept.

What a nice progress report! It sounds as though you are well underway.

Just remember to keep all your receipts -- because of ridiculously high self-employment taxes, you don't actually make what you think you're making unless you can write most of it off.

It seems that you're off to a great start!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/01/2015 04:32PM by MrEToomey.

It's good to see some stats that I can compare my progress to. I have been shopping since June 30. I have only done 69 shops for $1240. I do have to travel about 30 miles one way to shop since I live in a small(ish) city. I have often wondered if I can't be doing more. After 2 months of this, I decided to be a bit more discriminating in the shops I accept: no shops less than $10; no reimbursement-only shops unless it is something I absolutely need (e.g an oil change); and no new car shops for less than $50.

My sense is that it is very important for a new shopper to try a wide variety of shops with a wide variety of companies and these I just think of as 'get your feet wet' shops. They may not be 'favorite' shops but you will know what you would find to be a fair fee for them in the future. And as part of your repertoire, if you are going right by them to your destination, they may be worth dropping in.

@aby_e wrote:

. I have only done 69 shops for $1240. I do have to travel about 30 miles one way to shop .

When I read these stats, I can't help wondering how this is worth it for you. If you are driving 30 miles each way (60 RT) for a shop, and have done 69 shops, you have driven 4140 miles. If you get 30 MPG and pay $3.50 a gallon for gas you have spent $483 in gas alone. Of course, the cost of driving is more than gas. The IRS allows 57.5 cents a mile for 2015 and I believe that is close to what it really costs to drive. True, some of the costs they factor in are fixed costs (e.g. insurance and age depreciation) but many of the costs are directly related to miles driven (e.g. maintenance and mileage depreciation). Based on the IRS numbers, it has cost you $2380 just to drive to your shops and you have lost almost $1000 based on driving alone! Even if you want to argue with the IRS number, just deducting the gas alone from the $1240 you have earned brings that figure down to $757..

I figure that if you are driving 60 miles for each shop you are spending at least an hour and a half for each shop meaning that you have spent at least 103 hours shopping., you have made, at the most, $7.35 an hour. At that rate, you would be better off working at The Arches then shopping there.

Most of the time folks who need to drive a distance will get multiple shops in the destination area. That cuts down drive time and miles. But in reality it is rare to make a bottom line IRS profit on your Schedule C for the first 3 to 6 months. It is only as you learn the shops, they become quick to perform and quick to report and you can cluster them that you make reasonable money.

I've been doing this for 2 days.
I would love some help with some sites to sign up for!
not enough jobs nearby and I'm in a huge major city.
Would love any pointers you could send my way!

@atomvirulent - Scroll down below this thread and you will see a link with this title - "Official List of Mystery Shopping Companies."

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/01/2015 07:24PM by SouthernCharm.

MW, why did you assume the 60 mile round trips were for a single shop each time? If the shopper was completing only one per trip it would involve multiple trips per day because there have only been 64 days since they started on June 30, including today, and he/she has completed 69 shops.

@MW wrote:

@aby_e wrote:

. I have only done 69 shops for $1240. I do have to travel about 30 miles one way to shop .

When I read these stats, I can't help wondering how this is worth it for you.

The OP did not say that they drive 30 miles for ONE shop. They said that they drive about 30 miles one-way TO shop. Except for brand new newbies, most shoppers quickly figure out how to schedule and perform more than one shop a day.

I travel more than 60 miles per day on most days but that includes my FT job and MS'ing in between. I try not to even drive just for my FT job on any given day. And I run errands as I drive by a location while I am working. I hardly run errands on my days off which is a very nice feeling.

Looks like some cross-posting has occurred.

@MW wrote:

@aby_e wrote:

. I have only done 69 shops for $1240. I do have to travel about 30 miles one way to shop .

When I read these stats, I can't help wondering how this is worth it for you. If you are driving 30 miles each way (60 RT) for a shop, and have done 69 shops, you have driven 4140 miles. If you get 30 MPG and pay $3.50 a gallon for gas you have spent $483 in gas alone. Of course, the cost of driving is more than gas. The IRS allows 57.5 cents a mile for 2015 and I believe that is close to what it really costs to drive. True, some of the costs they factor in are fixed costs (e.g. insurance and age depreciation) but many of the costs are directly related to miles driven (e.g. maintenance and mileage depreciation). Based on the IRS numbers, it has cost you $2380 just to drive to your shops and you have lost almost $1000 based on driving alone! Even if you want to argue with the IRS number, just deducting the gas alone from the $1240 you have earned brings that figure down to $757..

I figure that if you are driving 60 miles for each shop you are spending at least an hour and a half for each shop meaning that you have spent at least 103 hours shopping., you have made, at the most, $7.35 an hour. At that rate, you would be better off working at The Arches then shopping there.

Uhm @MW that's some impressive math, but I don't drive 60 miles for each shop. I meant that I shop within a 30-mile radius. When I have to go out that far, I schedule multiple shops on the route.

For comparison's sake, I did my first shop on July 3rd. I have (had) 2 small kiddos so my shops are limited to ones that allow me to take kids (very rare) or ones that are open in the evening/weekends. I took a couple weeks off in August (gave birth to my third kiddo August 14th). I don't travel for shops and live in a small-ish town. This is just our "Disney" money (planning a trip next fall).

I have completed 58 shops, brought in $800 and had $388 in reimbursements. My favorite shops are the gas station shops because they are quick in and out and have saved me money on gas. I also enjoy the pizza shops (I may be the only one on this site that does??) because it means I don't have to cook dinner!

I'm seeing my shops slow down now as I wait to be put back in rotation but now that I've done several shops for certain companies, I'm starting to get called. Sorry, grocery store shop, I'm not doing your shop again for a meager $5 pay!

@Liz36 wrote:

I took a couple weeks off in August (gave birth to my third kiddo August 14th).

SLACKER! JK!

Haha! I was afraid to schedule anything because I didn't know when she would come. Also she WEIGHED 10LB 3OZ so I was MEGA uncomfortable!! Which is probably why that $5 grocery shop put me in a foul mood all evening. Haha!

@Liz36 wrote:

Haha! I was afraid to schedule anything because I didn't know when she would come. Also she WEIGHED 10LB 3OZ so I was MEGA uncomfortable!! Which is probably why that $5 grocery shop put me in a foul mood all evening. Haha!

Congrats on your baby @Liz36!!! I also have a baby (if you can call a 15mo a baby), so I have to drop her off at a babysitter for a few hours when I shop. I can't take her with me on ANY.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/01/2015 09:58PM by aby_e.

I returned after a 10 year break from mystery shopping on Aug. 8th. I have completed 51 shops for a total $992.50 and $124.41 reimbursement. This total may be a little more. I think there is a couple of shops that I have not added. I do have to point out that I have put an estimated 1500 miles on my car in Aug. doing mystery shops. I agree about the $5 grocery store shops. I keep saying I am not doing anymore and then...I start thinking I am in the area anyway. But I know one store I have done twice that has taken me 45 min. each time because there is never enough employees. It drives me crazy wondering around the store looking stupid. lol

Wow. I took a long break too but I'm nowhere near candiwv's stats!! I started back in the beginning of August and only did a total of 13 shops last month. I learned soo much in one month though. I did a few phone shops, but lumped them all together as one, so really I guess I did more than 13 (27 including everything). I only earned $178 in fees, but I did a couple reimbursement only shops that I would have normally anyway, and I'll be getting back another $97 for that. I already cleared it with the hubby and the whole $275 will go into a savings account.

The hardest part of this is the money that is put up front, the gas, the time that takes so very long to get paid for. I do work full time, and I'm so used to a consistent 2 weeks after you get paid, so that some of these take 45-60 days to get paid for has been a real eye opener for me. In fact, according to the calendar on this site I shouldn't expect to start seeing any payments for another 13 days. That is probably the most disheartening part because of the long wait.

I don't expect to be full time doing mystery shopping, but I think those of you that do are pretty amazing!! I panic a little before each shop and read obsessively. I've gotten pretty awesome scores from all my shops, which boosts my morale and makes me want to do more, except one company that I have learned is hard to get a 10 from anyway, so I just had to brush those scores off. Not that the reports were bad or I had any bad comments, but I think that one particular MSC is a just that way.

I also have been watching and making lists to see when shops that I am interested show up so I can grab them early this month. My area must be saturated with shoppers because I feel like if it comes down to the email coming from the scheduler, by the time I look the shop is long gone. So I guess I'm learning also to just be quicker on the draw. Thanks everyone for your feedback, its so fun to see how everyone else does this!

I live in fairly large city, so I am never driving more than 10 miles one direction.
I have started lining up my calendar to hit multiple spots on same day. I work a full time job so I usually go somewhere during lunch and then after work. The 2 malls around me always seem to have shops available.

Well, it looks like my stats won't be anywhere near what they were last month. I cannot depend on my husband to get my children off the bus. I actually had to leave in the middle of a shop today to go get my children from school because they were not picked up. So I will only be able to do local shops and no routes. I was actually hoping to pay off some credit cards this way but that is not going to happen now. I have disappointed a lot of companies by cancelling shops that are too far out to get me back home in time to get my children. But my children come first! Anyway...

I find the 30-60 day payout difficult also. I should start receiving some pays by the 10th of this month. Thank goodness! I just hope I get enough local shops to at least earn $200 a month. That is difficult in this area. Even though we have a mall, etc. It does not seem like many of those stores get shopped or if they do, I have not found them yet. Like Belk's, JcPenney, Old Navy, Sears, Spencer's, Toys R Us, etc.

candiwv,

It's easy to be disappointed when you don't make your goals. But as you said, you have your priorities. Just keep going at the pace you can do. After a couple of months the pay catches up to the work and you will have a steady enough income. As your children get older or your find better options for picking up the kids you will have more time for this. Just keep signing up for more companies. As for those stores you mentioned, some of them are shopped, just not on a frequent basis like every month. Remember though, the beauty of a job like this is you can do as much or as little as you choose.

Have fun.

Thanks Vlade! I can do a lot with help. But without reliable help...not so much. lol. And on the pay most of these companies pay, a person cannot afford a babysitter. Thanks for being supportive though!

The long payouts are the pits when you start shopping but as you stay with it, if you stay with it, the payments keep rolling in. So after a couple of months it isn't that bad.

My goal is to consistently do better each month than the previous month! I definitely achieved that in August. Thirty Five shops done with total fees being 789.50, and reimbursements of $148.63. I only shopped 15 out of the 31 days, because I have other jobs too. Not sure how I'm going to top this next month.

I began Mystery Shopping in April 2014 to help supplement my income from Government Disability. I was just taking a look at my Spreadsheets from my first year (April 2014 to March 2015). In that time frame I made $2,569.13. Those fees break down as follows $1,781.17 were shop fees, $169.48 were Bonus Fees and $618.48 was for Reimbursements (mostly food.) I completed 120 shops in that time, so that averages out to $16.26 per shop (not including reimbursements.) Including reimbursements that averages out to $21.41 per shop.

Now I then decided to compare that to how I am doing for my second year of business (April 2015 to March 2016.) So far I have made $2,267.45. Those fees break down as $1,226.58 in fees, $508.99 in Bonuses, and $531.88 in Reimbursements (also mostly food.) In addition I am owed $600.01. That breaks down as $421 Fees, $210 Bonuses, and 159.01 for Reimbursements (also mostly food.) That comes out to total earned since March 2015, $2867.46. I have completed 72 shops, so that averages out to $30.23 per shop (not including reimbursements.) With reimbursements that averages out to $39.83 per shop.

I knew I was doing better my second year in business, but seeing the numbers spelled out really puts a smile on my face. Thought I would share.