We have all heard of professional mystery shoppers regularly earning $300-500 per month, or even more at times. That would be some fantastic extra money, maybe even enough for you to quit your day job and become a full-time mystery shopper. Unfortunately, many mystery shoppers seem to be capped out at earning a much smaller amount, with shops coming in very irregularly. This is hardly enough to be used as a stable income stream for you.
How do the pros do it? What are they doing that yields those great results? They do have some tricks up their sleeves, and luckily it is nothing you cannot duplicate with a little effort.
- Pros have been in the business long enough to know which shops are the best to work for. Companies that consistently rank highly with shoppers are Kern Scheduling and Intellishop.As a newbie, you can get an idea on which shops are good by reading forums and blogs, as well as which jobs you should steer clear from. However, take this with a grain of salt.
Just because one shopper has a bad experience with one scheduler at that company does not mean the company isn’t worth working for. But if you see numerous shoppers talking poorly about the same company, that may give you a good indication to avoid that company for now.
- Just because a lot of shoppers say one particular company is great to work with does not mean that company is necessarily a good one for you to work with.Each mystery shopping company deals with their own niche in the market – such as specific types of retailers, restaurants, banks, movie theaters and so on. Some of these companies focus on one particular region of the country, too. So even though a lot of shoppers may like a company focusing on movie theaters in the Northeast, this may not be a good fit for you if you live in the Southwest and do not enjoy seeing movies.
So while you can research companies online, some of this will also be based on your preferences and your location.
- Pros can quickly read between the lines on a shop and get down to the nitty gritty. They analyze the shop to determine if the work required for the shop would be properly compensated by the pay offered. Pros typically will not accept a $10 shop that requires what will end up being 2 full hours of work.
- A trick some pros use to get around low pay on some of the harder or more time-involved assignments is to hold out on requesting a shop until after bonus pay is offered.Of course, by not requesting the shop up-front, you may lose out on the shop altogether if someone else requests it. Holding out, though, is one way to get more money for doing the same job.
- Pros often see a lot of shop requests coming into their inbox. That may be from being established with a lot of companies, or it may be from having excellent relationships with a handful of companies. Either way, pros typically are able to schedule anywhere from 2-5 shops per day in such a way that generally the shops are in the same part of town.If not, they will strategically plan out their trips so they aren’t spending half the day cutting back and forth across town several times.
This not only cuts down on their overall time involved in doing the shops, but also on the travel costs associated with the shops.
- Most importantly, pros know to treat their schedulers with the utmost respect and professionalism. It follows the adage of “Don’t bite the hand that feeds you.” Pros understand that having a good relationship with a handful of schedulers will keep them busy with recurring shops. If anything comes up that would hinder their ability to complete the shop, they notify their scheduler immediately.
- Remember, pay is different in certain parts of the county. A mystery shopper in New York City or Chicago likely will be paid more than a shopper in Giddings, Texas, even for doing the same type of shop.Set reasonable expectations about your possible income, and work towards your own goal. Don’t be discouraged by other shoppers claiming a much higher income level than you.
Take these simple measures, and you will soon be working at the same level the pros are and meeting your income goal.
Thanks for the info. Though I have been mystery shopping for a while now, I still read the blogs and forums. You’re right about keeping up with a few good scheduling companies. I got in with Kern right away and now have five shops I can count on every month with a local grocery store chain. I do a few low dollar shops now and then, but it’s always something I’d do anyway like Dunkin Donuts) or scheduled in between other shops.
I’m also more selective now, not just taking anything that comes along. I’ve also learned to ask for more money if someone calls me for a last minute shop. Don’t be afraid to ask, especially with the gas prices so high. The least they can do is say no, but you might come out ahead.
I too am more selective these days. There is one site who only pays $5.00 per shop. I feel this is rediculous for what they ask of a shopper. I still get the email from them, but am pretty quick to hit the old delete button!!
You did a great job on this.
I, too am selective,but I will take the $5 shops but only if I can do three or four of them in the same area. This puts me on the list for the good shops when they come up.
I’ve just sstarted out , and I picked up a mystery shop doing the same gas station but in two seperatedtowns close by, I accepted them i must have done well, he sent me 4 more for this month!!! go me!!!
So true! I have a handful of schedulers that I work with month in and month out. When the money rolls in it amuses me to see that the biggest checks come from my favorite schedulers. You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours.
If I spot a job that not only pays me, but I also get to do something I would do anyway, I have no problem requesting that shop directly. Please and thank-you go a long way to getting those shops.
Over the last year or so, I have been able to self-assign the best shops. It is doing what I say I will do, when I say I will do it, and following the assignment to the letter plus writing up a GREAT report.
My best compliment is when a scheduler recommends me to her “friends” in the industry. I get an email out of the blue from an agency I have never worked with before telling me that I was recommended by another scheduler. I consistently clear, after expenses, $500 a month doing things I would do anyway even if I wasn’t paid for it. And I make more if I move out of the box and do things just for the experience or for something new. $1200 a month is easy but time consuming.
Yesterday I was with a friend who had been pestering me to show her how to mystery shop. We had to cut our lunch short because she was expecting a termite inspector to her house. I asked her how much they were paying her. She looked at me blankly and said “pay me?” I explained that mystery shopping paid me for having them come out to my home. And I get paid to grocery shop, and put gas in my car. I think she finally got the point.
To the gal that turns down the $5 shops, you are missing the point. If it only takes me a few minutes and the report has no narrative, and it fits in with other shops take it. It pays for the gas. When I was new and I didn’t know any better, I took anything just to get known. The $5 shop was my savior. One agency would book me 20 of them in one day and map out a route. It took me a little over an hour to do the shops and another hour at home inputting them. $100 for an hour’s work is not bad.
Twenty reports in an hour?? Are we NOT stretching a bit? Perhaps you should give pointers on how to complete a report in 10~minutes or less! I find it hard to believe that 20 reports can be completed in an hour. Maybe it’s just me, since I have a few minutes at being over 60, thus I may lack that … zip, often identified with the younger generation, but 20~reports(!!) in an hour (??), PLEASE !!
I must concur with Angalifu! 20 reports in an hour consists of approximately 3 minutes per report. Impossible! The problem with the $5.00 shop is that it consumes as much time to enter the report as the $20.00 shop, especially if one is conscientious and concise. Please explain how this is done!
just try to get stared
I’m new at this but with what I’ve read this will keep me in check.Thankyou
I have 5 4$ shops scheduled for one day and will only take 2-3 minutes in store and they are all close together. I only have to put in 2 numbers on my submission. I can see doing 20 in an hour if they were this simple.
I don’t know about twenty shops in an hour. A busy day I’ll do six shops and it takes me 3 1/2 hours to do the reports.