thinking about doing this for extra money and i wanted some honest answers on approximately how much someone can make ( monthly) doing this part time. Thanks!!

It depends on many factors: type of job, the mystery shopping company, how many jobs you accept, etc.

Thank you Phoebe70 for the reply. i think it is worth a shot!

Gracie - It depends on how much time you have available, how many miles you're willing to drive, how many jobs you can find, and how much they pay.

I consider myself a part time shopper because I don't go out five days a week and work all day. In the first six months of 2011, I went out a total of 108 days, which is 18 days a month. The average full time job requires 22 days a month, but I didn't work all day every day I went out.

For that six months, I took in $5,440 in shop fees and $1,129 in reimbursements. I estimate 25% of the reimbursements are of some value to me. I drove 8,450 miles in an economy car which gets extremely good mileage.

Because of mileage and other deductions to which you are legally entitled, you will find this income is for the most part not taxable. It is, however, reportable.

Gracie, if you think of it as supplemental income, it can be very satisfying. Start with only one or two companies to see how you like the whole process. I generally suggest that people sign up first with those companies that have shops all over the country and are accustomed to dealing with new shoppers. Those include Market Force (blue portal), Bare, Corporate Research International and Maritz. If you like the process after a few shops, then you will be ready to sign up with other companies.

Thank you all for your responses! you all are so helpul!

From May until Dec of last year, I made $3,000 and $1500 in reimbursements.
I consider myself very part time as I have two other jobs. I usually average a shop a day, maybe $100 a week.



Carol

Gracie - More numbers. In that six month period, I did 433 jobs. The fees averaged $12.56 and the reimbursements averaged $2.61. This is very modest money per shop, even considering that a lot of these shops were quick with simple reports. Lots of shoppers are not willing to take shops in this fee range, but I like the freedom and flexibility of this work and I don't require large additional income.

In my earlier post, I estimated my reimbursement at 25% benefit to me. I have now added up gas reimbursements at $558.26 and grocery reimbursements at $48.00, so I have $606.26 in 100% useful reimbursements. This added to the $5,440 in fees makes a total of $6,046 for the six month period.

This income is reportable on Schedule C, but because of expense deductions to which I am legally entitled, it is not taxable and does not increase my tax burden.

This income earned on a "regular" job reported to me on Form W-2 and added to other income would have been taxable, so the tax benefit is worth about $1,511. Now we're up to a value of over $7,500 plus what I can use from other reimbursements. That's added value of over $15,000 annually from a part time job. Non-taxed money is worth more than taxed money.

If you look at Carol's numbers, you'll see that she earned much more per shop than I did. The cheapest shop I took was $3.75 (which reimbursed my lunch during an all day route) and the best paying shop I took was $100.00 with no reimbursement. Early in the year, my average was lower than it was later in the year. As I gain experience, I am offered jobs with higher fees. Carol's numbers prove you don't have to do a large number of shops to make a big difference in family money.

Reimbursements for required purchases (such as fuel and groceries that the shop instructs you to buy) are NOT taxable income. Please check out the tax threads elsewhere on the forum for details on this. The fact that you may get $100 worth of reimbursements for groceries, with no federal or state income tax owed on the, means that it is worth much more than $100 of taxable income. Now, if the grocery assignment requires that you buy at least $10 in groceries, and you buy $25.00 worth, only the required $10 counts as reimbursement, of course.

Right, Walesmaven. These reimbursements for required purchases are NOT taxable. Therefore, the $606 in groceries and gas that I was reimbursed is worth more than $606 to me. If I had to buy $606 in groceries and gas with AFTER TAX income, I would have to earn approximately $757 to have $606 left net after "ducks" for withholding tax, social security, and medicare. Non-taxed income is worth more than taxed income.