Good morning to all
I have been a part time mystery shopper for about two years now. I am looking forward to become a full-time mystery shopper because it is very convenient my daily schedule. I live in the Northeastern part of MS there are not many shops here, but I am willing to travel a 100+ miles or more to get work. I recently got married a month ½ ago, and my husband does not think that this is a good source of income and that it puts a whole lot of wear and tear on our vehicle that we are know sharing. In other words, he is being very negative about mystery shopping. I like doing mystery shopping and I am not going to stop. I am very interested in all types of shops, and becoming an expert shopper. I need a lot of advice. Thanks

Since the 'way to a man's heart is through his stomach' you can drag him kicking and screaming on a few restaurant shops and when he realizes you are being reimbursed he will think more positively about shopping. You can also point out to him that Uncle Sam is allowing you to deduct 55 cents per mile for shop travel (assuming you have no other job) and since that deducts on your Schedule C, it will render most of your actual fees from this business tax free. (And of course reimbursements are not taxable.)

I agree it's a lot of wear and tear on the car, but if it's a good payoff,and makes a profit in spite of that depreciation, it seems good. But the important questions are:
how much time does it take set up the shop, to do the on site part,then the report?
How much does that produce per hour of your time?
Is that what you think your time is worth?

Depending on that answer you can tell whether it's a for-profit activity or a pastime, for the fun of it. And you'll be able to tell if your husband is being "very negative," or is he evaluating the results correctly.

Of course without shopping you are still paying the same insurance and licensing. Unless you are putting a ton of miles on the car, it is depreciating faster from age than from miles. I am about to replace the tires on my truck--not from being worn out from shops but dry rot from age. I replaced belts on my truck a year or so ago--not from being worn out from shops but dry rot from age. I feel absolutely sure that the business mileage deduction I get is worth far more than what it actually costs me to own and operate my vehicle per mile, especially if you take out those expenses I would need to have whether I shopped or not.

Experience with particular jobs cuts down on the time to set them up and report them. A one time shot at a job gives you a fair idea of whether you can make it truly worthwhile. If your best guess is you can't, you don't bother with it in the future. Yet you will find shops that work, require only minutes each month to make sure there are no changes in the instructions and that fit your reporting style for a fast report. I remember one shop that my first one took me pretty close to 2 hours. I am now familiar enough with the job that it flies on site and reporting is down to 5-8 minutes. I usually knock off more than a dozen of those a month. I do them in strings of 3-4 and although I may put 30 miles on the vehicle for some of my routes of them, they still are worthwhile.

I was also concerned about my car, and only take jobs 35 miles away. You have to figure out how much you can make on one of these 100 mile runs, and do it for paying jobs with maybe a lunch in between, so, your not putting out too much. Your hubby will love the great dinners (and free) Figure it out, and good luck!!