Make Mystery Shopping More Profitable
Do you want to make more money as a mystery shopper? You do not necessarily have to work at lot harder to have more money in your pocket.
One way to make more is to get paid more for the time you spend. That may mean making more money per shop, or it may mean using your time more effectively to get more done in less time.
And at least as important as making more money is keeping more of what you make. Cutting expenses, and finding ways to save money on taxes, will let you hang on to your hard-earned cash.
Over the next few months, I will post a series of articles here on how you can make more, work less and keep more of what you earn. Using this techniques will help you to get the most from mystery shopping. Here are just a few of the topics we will cover:
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Are you ready to take your mystery shopping business to the next level? To make sure you don’t miss a single money-making idea, subscribe to email updates by entering your email address in the box to the right.
Cathy Stucker is the author of The Mystery Shopper’s Manual.
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on September 3rd, 2007 at 10:25 am
Is it my imagination or are there more and more companies coming out and paying only $8 – $12 per shop? I know that it is up to our discretion on who to shop for – but that doesn’t pay for anyones time. I would love to know where to go and get more $$ for completing “long” hours worth of mystery shopping. Thanks!
on September 5th, 2007 at 7:37 pm
I didn’t participate when mystery shopping was paying more but I do wish that the reimbursements would be more then $5.00 However, the discounted merchandise isn’t a bad deal either.
on October 4th, 2007 at 1:30 pm
I do not click on any mystery shopping job that pays $5.00. The area I live in is very small so I have to travel a little bit and the price of gas today it is just not worth it. I am constantly applying with different companies because as you well know that is not even minimum wage. I love to mystery shop but I am leaning more to merchandising. Mystery Shopping sure has busted my bubble sort of speak so I just have to deal with something else.
About those hand held Navigators I gather a lot of us has read what she wrote about them and how nice they are but what she fails to see is that those shopping jobs that offer you $5.00 will take you for ever to own one. I believe the only people who might own one is people who live where they get a lot of work and can afford one. I wonder if they know that poor people like myself and plenty of others are not making that kind of money to purchase one of those. Just think how long it would take you to get one and your shopping jobs are paying $5.00. Some people do not realize that we are struggling to get jobs when they are in this area.
on October 4th, 2007 at 1:40 pm
Each shopper has to decide which jobs are worthwhile. I would not do a $5 shop either—unless, perhaps, there was a very good reason. For example, if you are trying to get a first assignment with a company you know has other, higher-paying mystery shopper jobs. In that case, the $5 shop might open the door to better assignments.
I also would not buy a GPS navigation system solely for mystery shopping; however, it might be worthwhile for someone who does a lot of mystery shopping.
Many people will have reasons beyond mystery shopping to buy a navigation system. We bought a navigation system for other reasons, and it occurred to me that it would be very handy to also use it while mystery shopping.
Each shopper has to decide which tools are worthwhile and make good business decisions. For example, I would not buy a digital camera just to do mystery shopping. But, if you have one, it can make you eligible for more shops.
on October 8th, 2007 at 11:15 am
I worked for one company that paid good, but they were calling all the time, expecting me to ship things back to them when they could just place the shipped paperwork online, canceling assignments when the shipments were late. It was like a full time job just to get prepared for assignments, then in these particular assignments, I had to really stretch myself. When I complained about the late shipments and other problems, they couldn’t handle it and fired me. I was a Star shopper for their team and they fired me after all this trouble I went through. I felt so used, but as I was paid well, it actually set me up for failure and then impacted my reputation and rating only because the company couldn’t, at first, use some sense and get shop instructions placed online and schedule the shops a few days more advance after the shipments were to arrive. I get blamed for this, and then when I complained, I get canned. I complained to the MSPA on this company.
on October 8th, 2007 at 11:37 am
I would be glad not to have to deal with that company any longer. In fact, you should have “fired” them first.
One of the great things about being an independent contractor is that you get to choose with whom you work. If a company or a scheduler is a pain in the behind, dump ‘em.
Deactivate your shopper account with any company that does not respect you and your time. They need you more than you need them.