If you have just been focusing your mystery shopping efforts on urban and metro area assignments, you may be missing out on the opportunity to make even more money as a mystery shopper! While urban areas have many restaurants, retail stores, gas stations, and so forth that require the services of mystery shoppers, these areas also have a lot of mystery shoppers vying for those jobs. In rural areas, you will also find venues that need mystery shoppers, and in many cases you will find that these rural mystery shopping assignments have far less competition than urban assignments.
Expand Your Search. If you have your job search area saved to reflect jobs within a 5-10 mile radius of your home, you may be missing out on some great job opportunities. While nobody really wants to drive twenty or thirty miles out of town for a single $10 assignment, it may pay off big for you to pick up several assignments while you are out of town. Consider the small towns you will need to drive through or close to in order to reach the assignment in question, and try to find several assignments in these areas to complete while you are out and about.
You may even want to expand your search queries not just to twenty or thirty miles out, but possibly even to include mid-sized cities that are located nearby. If you can schedule a day trip picking up several mystery shopping assignments in one outing, your travel time and efforts will really pay off.
Different Types Of Rural Assignments. In rural areas, you may stumble across more unique types of mystery shopping assignments. You may find more gas station shops, car dealership assignments, and maybe even hair salons or various other types of jobs. Keep your mind open to the wide variety of possibilities available when you expand your job search to include mystery shopping jobs in rural areas.
Milk The Assignments. Rural assignments are often seen sitting on the job boards unrequested for many days, and the reason for this is often because people don’t want to drive that far. If you are thinking about requesting a rural assignment that has been sitting on the job boards for awhile, consider asking your schedule for additional compensation for travel expenses or a bonus to cover your extra time on the road. It’s not uncommon for a mystery shopper to double the overall compensation for a job simply by asking for more money. Consider how lucrative your day mystery shopping in a rural area can be when you pick up several assignments that each have travel or bonus pay attached to them!
Mystery shopping assignments are available in almost every corner of civilization, at points where services are provided and goods exchange hands. Avoid the inclination to work as a mystery shopper in one little corner of the world. You will find that you can make quite a bit of extra cash as a mystery shopper when you branch out and expand your horizons a bit!
i just want this for the glory. I live in CT and have part time hours. I’m just starting so I’d appreciate a mentor.
I am looking for jobs that are open for Mystery Shoppers. I live in Walnut Creek, Californis, Phone 925 274 1854.
Thank You!
lezlie
Am in the TRAVERSE CITY-LANSING-BATTLE CREEK-KALAMAZOO-GRAND HAVEN MICHIGAN. SO SIGN ME UP.
I used to travel all over for assignments and make more than I am now but I stopped. After figuring out the maintenance costs such as oil changes, tune ups, etc…and then realizing after so many miles the car does need to be replaced I have restricted my search to a 20 mile radius which if I do take several low paying shops seems to pay off better in the long run.
I’m a granny needing to supplement my income. I live near a city but lots of rural towns within 50 mile radius. Do not want to pay to get started but hope you can help me
I have been doing mystery shopping for 2 years and have done 100 of fast food jobs and other fine restaraunts and looking to get other shopping jobs to get my income up. I was in retail management for 30 years and managed stores that did 13 MILLION a year in retail sales so I can take on big jobs if they pay enough for my time. ICan help any retail store in procedues that can help yhem make more profit and thats thename of the game . What do you have that I can do for you MELVIN KERN
I have had a few good companies that will work with me to get their required shops finished. You need to work for them, with them and then when they NEED someone they will call you within a rotation schedule.
I think from a business standpoint, one needs to see how, as a shopper, you can fulfill a need for that company and then how it can help yourself. It has been fun to see how many distance shops we can get, how many along the route. I usually stop at eight shops on a daytime road trip. I start my paperwork in “route” order then I put all my paperwork in “time due” order after it is finished so I can enter it in before the deadlines.
Another thing you can do is get yourself a wireless laptop, a scanner and a portable printer so you can finish the shop in the car right after you complete the shop! Sitting outside a public wireless accessible site and completing the shop down the road from the business is a good feeling. The best benefit is coming home to NO paperwork!!
I am a long way from where I would like my business to be, but do get certification along the way. The training experiences are invaluable and deductible! Be sure to track everything- job fees, bonuses, reimbursements, mileage and payments. Also totals for each company worked and which state. All needs to be reported for taxes.
The perks are good too with gifts being paid along the way.
For those starting new- yes, you need to start slow. Have about $100 in an account for cash to use to spend on your shops. Be prepared for payments in two months after your shop. Sometimes this can be a negative, but if you plan, and note when your payment should arrive, you should have a better budget prepared for your future shopping adventures.
Happy Trails!
Sounds like some people are getting paid mileage and still taking the tax credit for mileage. I would think that is not legal. Also is everyone looking at the actual money being made or just the amount being reimbursed? Sounds like a lot of money. Although I am not in a rural area, but I have received mileage reimbursement and bonuses for going further out.
I’m interested in doing the mystery shopping but I’m concerned about an up front fee to get started, the gas (it is not cheap), and the milage you are putting on your car. Is all of that travel worth your time and and the amount of money that you make?
Am retired Allstate agent dealing with customers for the last 15 years.Retired but need something to do. Also ex Region Office mgr for Kentucky Fried Chicken and my boss and I did our own mystry shopping on our 10 stores in orando Florida
i have made a lot of extra cash and most places i can bring my 3 yr alod and its all extra so u get cought up on bills and the most part for me is the reimbursement so its a two 4 1 and with the paypal set up i am now an internet shoppaholic lol