@shopperbob wrote:

SA posts-- ......nobody who is making any type of real money......

Bob requests--Concerning the following, may I have a clarification: Real, as an adjective is what amount? Do you mean IS MAKING literally, as only in the present or figuratively, also referencing HAS MADE?

Let me put it this way, Bob - if someone is running around doing $30 shops when they have six figures in their bank account from their main job - something is seriously wrong with that picture. I don't believe it, and I call BS on it. It is my right to do.

People who enjoy putting others down to raise their ego make arguments that are irrelevant and are not provable. We have a couple of psych patients on here that seem to think people give a damn about how much money they make. Nobody cares. How crazy does one have to be that they would send someone they don't know their real identity to prove how much money they make? That is beyond crazy. If I had investments in that company, I would pull my money, because that "executive" does not have sound judgement and bases their decisions off emotion.

I know shoppers (and forum members) who make more than me...and I would think I currently make "real" money by most people's standards.

I certainly don't need to MS. It's just something left over from a time when I didn't have as much money, and has become part of my lifestyle. And the less I shop, the more I tend to complain and partake in this forum.

Those of us who have done this for a while have gone through many stages of live, and income levels. I still cannot imagine paying some of the prices I do for the things I evaluate, even if I can afford it! I will definitely be more into MS once I am retired and no longer making that "real" money. For now, I do enough to stay in the game...

Edited because we cross posted...

@ServiceAward wrote:

Let me put it this way, Bob - if someone is running around doing $30 shops when they have six figures in their bank account from their main job - something is seriously wrong with that picture.

SA...that is not specific enough. It's a partial picture. Most of my shops pay over $30, but I would still take a $30 shop with a $5k travel reimbursement. Every dollar once you hit that 6-figure come looks more like $1.50 you have to earn. As I posted elsewhere, my 1099 for MSing this year is quite small.

If I can offset $20-50k of travel & dining each year and take the income I would normally set aside for that, then place it in an IRA, I am that much closer to retirement.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/18/2025 12:47AM by SteveSoCal.

@SteveSoCal very well stated.

She claims that she has private arrangements with some of her clients - that she is working for them directly, rather than through a MSC, and that she has their permission to post the videos.

@gigishopper wrote:

She posted a shop today at Cracker Barrell. Has anyone else shopped at Cracker Barrell recently? I feel like they would be posted at other locations and not just her town in SC. It seems like there are a lot of shops in the Columbia SC area that must only be shopped by the top level secret companies that she has exclusive privvy to.

There are a lot in the very sparsely populated states now that are up to $65.

@Datagirl wrote:

Yes, there is a location here that is $55 because it is in no mans land. There was one for $30 that I tried to get but didn't and I was really mad about it. I hope it was a disaster. LOL Mean I know. But those are rare. I really feel she looks at the job boards and sees what is available and then makes it up as she goes for content. I don't think she is actually completing any reports for any MSC at all.

@Cassiespark wrote:

Good to know. They have never been higher than $25 here.

@mjt9598 wrote:

Hard-to-fill locations are currently paying $55.

@Cassiespark wrote:

She posted a Ty project last week, where she just waltzed in and said she was there to "work with the Beanie Babies". No checkin, no check for backstock, she described to her followers that she was just there to make them look pretty. . She made a point to say she was being paid $30 for the project, which they have never paid. Its all so ridiculous, really.

@gigishopper wrote:

I do follow her on FB now for my own amusement. She is so nasty to anyone who comments on her posts with a challenging question or a general inquiry. I think her own customers are getting frustrated. The math so far is not "mathing" on how she makes 50K year. Im anxiously awaiting some videos on some high paying shops.

@mjt9598 wrote:

She claims that she has private arrangements with some of her clients - that she is working for them directly, rather than through a MSC, and that she has their permission to post the videos.

@gigishopper wrote:

She posted a shop today at Cracker Barrell. Has anyone else shopped at Cracker Barrell recently? I feel like they would be posted at other locations and not just her town in SC. It seems like there are a lot of shops in the Columbia SC area that must only be shopped by the top level secret companies that she has exclusive privvy to.

There are better odds of me being sworn in as President than that being true.

SA posts--Let me put it this way, Bob - if someone is running around doing $30 shops when they have six figures in their bank account from their main job - something is seriously wrong with that picture. I don't believe it, and I call BS on it. It is my right to do.

Bob agrees--It is your right to call BS and not believe. Myself, being 82, I do not have a main job. Since that criteria was added, the matter no longer pertains to me. If, though, a shopper decided to concentrate their work in my category 2, LEISURE, it seems reasonable to me a six figure main job person could exist. Especially, if they completed $500 meals for which they desired reimbursement.

Six figures is really not that much - $100k is six figures....or are we talking the $999k six figure? What if the 6 figures was obtained by entrepreneurship and working several different jobs including mystery shop. Seems so vauge.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/18/2025 03:44AM by JSuing.

My buddy and I both shop. We both are software engineers. He shops much less than I do. I like to feel like I'm "getting over." So if I can be paid to do the things I would normally do (go out to eat), then I would be an idiot to just pay for the dinner instead of being paid. I can easily afford to go to Texas Roadhouse weekly on my own dime, but I like the "game" or "strategy" of how much can I get for my $50 reimbursement and not go over or go over very little. I like to go out for MNF/TNF/and SNF. Doing the BJ's brewhouse shops allows me to go for happy hour with the extra money left over from the gift cards. So basically my 17 weeks of going out for foosball is covered because I'm doing a BJ's shop(s) monthly. It's almost like the game of Survivor where I can outwit, outplay, outlast (but there is no voting in the end).

I do agree with assessment that you need to value your time. If it's something you enjoy doing and you do not consider it to be "work," that's fine, but if you are doing jobs just to make extra money (in addition to your hourly or salaried job), then your pay rate should be 1.5 times your normal hourly rate since that is what overtime pay would be.

That is why I don't waste my time doing $2 phone call shops. I don't waste my time with USPS. I don't waste my time interacting with 5 different departments in a grocery store. I used to waste my time much more when I had much less, but now I can afford to be super-selective.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/18/2025 06:03AM by hbbigdaddy.

When I began mystery shopping in 2016, I really didn't have a clue what I was doing. I found this Forum, and it provided me a great education by reading posts as well as the pinned posts. I must admit I take offense to any allegations that members aren't helpful here. If you don't require an immediate base of knowledge, everything I needed to glean was here. Yes, at that time, I was afraid to ask some questions. However, the information was there if I just searched and read. In the last several years, the Forum appears to be a more friendly place for Newbies. If people can't answer a question directly, they provide hints. Service's comments about the type of people that have become my anonymous Forum family offends me. And I don't agree with Kayla's mode of influence because I see her preying upon people that may, unfortunately, be looking for a "get rich quick" mentality. We are all exposed to scammers, but many of us have learned to recognize the red flags. Her audience may be desperate and buy into her deceit. Hopefully they will realize the scam and learn from it. That's probably all we can hope for at this point. As Tom Peters stated in his best seller Habits book, we have our areas of concern and areas of influence. Kayla is an area of concern but not direct influence. Sometimes we have to just let go.