I've started really going at mystery shopping in the last 2 weeks. I am disabled and have been looking for extra income to complement my VA disability. I had really been searching for an at home or work with minimal physical demands. I want to find more no fee shops since reimbursement can take a while sometimes. I had done a few jobs here and there previously. Now Ive done about 25 banks, 5 phone shops, 1 bar/restaurant, 5 check cashing businesses in the last two weeks. I'm trying to maximize my potential. Any advice about getting more shops or practicing for new scenarios?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/12/2016 08:29AM by myles1225.

As far as mystery shopping goes my uncle did it for 4 years and says it's difficult to make a living off of (although not impossible).

I personally supplement my Mystery Shopping income with the Appen Global "Social Media Evaluator" job. Appen pays $13.75 and all you need is a computer. Hope this helps (:

Well, I've been going to banks for 5 minute presentation and 10 min report for $15. All these shops plan on a route. Doing about 10/day 3-4 times/week being away from home for 3-4 hours/day. Ive been averaging $500/week so far but its just been two weeks. With my VA disabilty, I'm good with that.

myles,
Congratulations! You are off to a roaring good start! Learning early to plan one day (or part-day) routes is absolutely the first serious step to ramp up MS earnings fast. The trick may be when it comes to "rotation" requirements for return visits to the same sites. For banks, this may be 3 to 12 months or more. So, you are absolutely right to start diversifying early!

My advice would be to set aside a good portion of those earl fees to use as "working capital" so that you are prepared to fund some shops that do require cash outlays that will be reimbursed. A good place to start would be with parking garage/lot shops. Since those will provide fees and reimbursements for up to about 1 hour of city parking, you can use them to support shops that can be done nearby during that waiting period. Those might include a lunch shop (modest fee, but a reimbursed meal helps keep you going during 4-5 hours of shops.) Some retail shops may also be combined with the garage shops. And, cell phone shops are a nice idea, since there is no cash outlay.

Next, I suggest trying written apartment shops. These will pay between about $35 and $50. They are a good way to decide whether or not you want to try video apartment shops. Also, non-video new home shops are a good prep for moving on to video new home shops. Some shoppers do well with routes of convenience store/gas station shops.

Also, don't forget the value of shops that will reimburse your oil changes, tire rotation, hair cuts, groceries, dry cleaning, etc. If you find a shop at your preferred grocery store, even a modest fee or reimbursement is a sort of bonus, and you can, of course, write off the travel to and from your grocery shopping when you are doing an assignment.

I hope you also have some fun at this! Please keep us up to date on your progress.

Are you signed up with Second to None? They have shops in your area that you might like.

Thanks!

I didn't see but one shop in the area.

It is possible that their November shops are almost all assigned by this time of the month. Keep checking the job boards in case they have to repost failed/flaked shops, or get new orders from their clients.

Yes, at the first of the month, S2N had 11 shops in my area. Now there is only 1 left.

I am sure you are signed up with Marketforce already, too? MF doesn't always pay the best, but if you do a few shops for them to show your competency, then further on you can request and get bonuses on shops.

Yes i signed up with marketforce. How do you go about asking for bonuses? The banks are pretty lucrative at the moment. I stay in a large city so banks are plentiful. Monday i have 12 banks scheduled on the same 10 mi stretch of road. I just have to travel 15 miles to start. I have a route planned that will only have me driving 30 miles.

If a scheduler calls you, you can negotiate a bonus for those last minute shops (especially MF). They offer a price, and keep in mind that if they are calling you, they are willing to go higher.

If the MSC has shops that sit on the board and aren't taken quickly, then you see some shops that sit on the board...no one takes them...the shop fee increases...the jobs still sit there. Then, you can email Shopdesk (or call a scheduler who has called you before which means you were smart enough to put their name and number in your contact information on your cell phone). Negotiate based on distance, time, and a variety of other reasions.

Do remember with MF it does not matter if the shop was on your route and close to a shop you did previously. Even if it is really is 100 miles from home--they don't give a crap unless the location never gets filled. If you did it before at base pay even if it was not close, they will say "but you did it before for $10" keep that in mind.

Not trying to overpick your brain... What is the usual bank rotation? I would have done 45 banks by tuesday with one company, 6 banks with another, 10 grocery shops, 5 check cashing shops, 10 merchandising photo audits, 5 phone shops, 3 internet inquiries, and one bar/restaurant since 11/1. So I will be due a little over $1200/2 weeks - 30 hours and $75 spent in gas whenever I do get paid. Do you think its normal to expect this same rate(Hence the reason to diversify), or should I expect it to raise with a good rapport with MSCs or lower cause of rotation cycles? I know youre not omniscient. For the apartment shops, are there any tips for those? How long do they take on average and are they usually one on one interactions? Im in Houston, so it looks like I have many options.

Rotation requirements are almost always set by the client, not by the MSC/scheduler. So, unless a scheduler is desperate and gets a waiver, they will not get shorter. And, they differ by client. So, the shortest might be 90 days (pretty rare, in my experience), 120 days to 9 months would be more common for bank platform shops. Remember, you do not want to go back too soon and be tagged as THE shopper and lose all chances of doing that location, or even any location, of that client!!!

The name of the game is diversify, diversify, diversify! Apartment shops may take 20 to 45 minutes on site and are typically one-on-one tours. The rotation my range from 2 years to "never again."

Grocery shops tend to have short rotation schedules, since being seen in a grocery store once a week would not be at all unusual. Parking shops should be a big deal in any big city and have rotations, typically, of from 60 to 120 days. I don't do check cashing shops so have no clue on those. Around here, convenience stores run about 90 days, but that may be different in your area.

I am sure that other shoppers will chime in with different types of shops. I do very little retail or fine dining, for instance.

Oh, bank shops I have a self imposed rotation and won't do the same location again within a year. I once did a bank shop that I hadn't been to in over 2 years and the banker remembered me! If it were teller shops no big deal, but platform bank shops...no.

MercSurveys has some phone shops that pay (relatively) well. I don't like the phone so don't take these, but for those of you who like to yak, it's worth the $.

Check out 'The Source' too.

I use The Source, they don't have any phone shops in my area. I have used them for grocery and photo audits. I'm going to start gas station audits with the same company I've done banks for the same pay as those, they have tons. I had to submit a 640x 480 pic first. I just hope gas station audits don't take too long.

In the Houston area, I can recommend Service Sleuth, Service Check, A Closer Look, Jancyn, Intelli-Shop, and Bare. Using these MSCs, I get my oil changes and car washes for free, some retail with reimbursement and a lot of hotels and restaurants. Yes, you get reimbursed, but the way you're going you will be able to afford to do this, if you set some aside to cover reimbursement until the payment arrives, usually in 60 days. Market Force too, but you already have them. With Market Force, once they know how you will perform, you'll get a lot of calls at the end of the month to do last-minute shops. Ask for the fee you want. I'm doing three today for $50 total, but I can loop around to home with some stops between at paces that I wanted to visit for Christmas presents. A large market like Houston means a lot of available shops, but also, a lot of shoppers - if you really want it, grab it quickly!

Hi there:

Sign up with Ipsos! Around your area they should have a lot of shops to choose from. I'm very happy with them. Jobslinger is also a good source.

Don't sign up for those shops that requires a lot of detail and long narratives for now. Compensation is usually very high (and nice too) but, those shops take a lot of time to complete the report and even for a seasoned shopper like me can be a little bit frustrating. Not to mention, there are some crazy and inconsistent editors out there. They will drive you crazy...

Take your time, practice makes perfect. )

You guys give great advice