With the rise of gas prices, many mystery shoppers have begun to doubt whether or not it is worth it for them to continue.
The answer to that question is not always easy, and requires some personal reflection.
Why Mystery Shop At All?
Some people mystery shop just for the pleasure of it. For example, my sister in Chicago. She sometimes mystery shops at luxurious restaurants. She has also mystery shopped at a high-end grocery store, replete with valet parking. She finds pleasure in fine food, and mystery shopping gives her more opportunities to fulfill that pleasure.
Then, there are practical reasons to mystery shop. You can get a free eye exam, money for groceries, or even money for gas–if you’re lucky.
I once received an email from a mystery shopper who was putting away the money earned so that she could take her grandchildren to Disney World. For her, mystery shopping was worth it.
But what about the time spent and the money made?
Sure, you can have dreams of putting aside money earned from mystery shopping towards a vacation–but is mystery shopping really the best option for you?
If you’re doing it purely for the money, I would say no. But isn’t that true of any endeavor?
Some mystery shoppers simply have a passion for good customer service–they truly believe in the value of their work.
Others love getting out of the house and meeting new people.
But it still comes back to whether or not you make enough money for your time. Earning below minimum wage is never worth it.
That’s why it is so important to keep a close eye on the time you spend mystery shopping. Things can get out of hand between searching for assignments, applying to companies, driving to the store, filling out reports, tracking/accounting your earnings and deductible expenses.
I can’t tell you if mystery shopping is worth it for you.
If you are getting started, I can tell you that you will need to commit time and money before you start seeing an income. That is the price to pay for one of the most flexible jobs in the world.
YES, flexible. That is also one of the benefits of mystery shopping. You can work as much or as little as you want–you are in control of your schedule.
I could go on…but I want to hear from you…
What kind of mystery shopping do you do? What about what you DON’T do?
Maybe Jacob can send all these posts we are writing to the MS company’s for them to see. If they see that we are not going to be taken advantage of quite so quickly… they will up their payments. I read that the contracts were signed long ago and I understand. But I am sure they are buying gas and their grocery bill is higher just like our’s is. I believe they should ,and could, up their payment anyway. There is no law saying they have to stick with the payment they agreed upon months ago.
I also understand that the mystery shopping companies have contracts. But all that does is tell how much money the mystery shopping company is charging the client. An agreement between the two, for a fee, for services provided by the mystery shopping company for the client. But, that has nothing to do with reimbursing us for gas. They can reimburse or up shopper fees if they want to. They would just have to take a cut for themselves. Maybe the editor or scheduler would be paid a little less, in order to pay us more. So, I don’t take the excuse of signed contracts. We are not dummies. I,personally, have two college degrees. If mystery shopping is so valuable for the client, then they can show it by raising shopper pay. I, myself, pledge not to take any shop under $10. The only exception will possibly be phone shops.
I also understand that new shoppers have to take what they can get to get started. That, to me, should be the only exception for taking pay under $10.
Janet in Tulsa
The assignments offered by most MS companies pay between $5.00 and $7.00. At those rates, doing these assignments are not worth the effort, unless, you live within a few blocks of the assignment. Particularly, the “audit” assignments which require counting gift cards. Considering the time, gas, wear and tear on your auto; time to complete the assignment; the time spent doing the report’ and the use of your PC and FAX to send the receipts you lose instead of earn money–it is senseless to do these assignments.
I will not accept any $5 assignments. I havn’t since after I got started.
I can honestly can say that I really enjoyed the mystery shops that I did during the Christmas season. Even paying up front for my purchases and get a nice reimbursement for my time and paying for a good portion of my Christmas presents was a nice savings.
Other than those shops the money that these shops cost me was like shopping with a good coupon. I can save that with using coupons. SO Its not really beneficial for the pay that they offer unless its atleast $15 or more.
The MS companies may be under contract, however, one company had the same pay scale last year and did not get it changed. Gas cost and food cost was on the rise then. The $6 shop, with ff, when the price of food items going up four times this year and the reimbursement staying the same puts us in the hole also. If I do one on my way home I am in the hole at least $.50 with the cost of food and $1.00 to $1.50 with tip and that is if I get the cheapest meal I can. If I get anything costing more the hole gets deeper. I may make $4.50 most of the time less than that. I fell off their A list when I said sometihing about being called 5 times in an hour wanting my schedule changed. So now they very seldom call and when they do they do not offer much of a bonus. So I do not do the $6 any more. Besides that my mode of transportion does not suit them so they do not call much but they still advertise a lot.
I use to do the mystery shops all the time in between my loads. I am a truck driver. But, even then I wasn’t doing it for the money. I would choose to do the audits because they paid more and it was worth my time. I am not hurting for money, but I have quit doing them because the pay just remained the same. I use to go out of my way to do them, but I won’t anymore. I had signed up with almost 20 companies and they all email em every day, but until they bump up the pay to actually cover the cost of the meals, I won’t do them. Now, when I go out to eat anywhere now. I feel strongly about the customer service. I have gone on the websites of the place I have ate at and let them know how they are doing. I don’t get paid for it, but they should know. I have had a couple of bad experiences also, I let them know. Sometimes they have sent me gift cards to “buy” business back, to give them another chance. But, whether they are doing good or bad, I let them know. I am already there, on the company’s website it only takes 10 minutes to let them know how they are doing. Once in a while if I am bored, I will take the shops that are in truck stops on the days that I am doing loads. I won’t do them like I use to. My mother in law was doing them and the gas got to high and now she won’t even think about doing them.
I will not even go across the street for a $5.00 shop, the report to file it is not worth it.
I am very interested in being a mystery shopper at Wal-Mart in Roanoke Alabama, I a stay at home mom and i have plenty of time to do whatever it is i need to do.I am through and always available, so if you would help me get started, I will do the best i can,I love to shop,so i will be waiting on your responce..
Sincerely,
Sonya Howell
I’ve always done mystery shopping for pleasure, and choose locations that are several blocks away from me. I particularly love doing fine dining restaurants. It’s a great excuse to enjoy a good meal with my family and not feel guilty about spending too much!
I agree mystery shopping is a pleasure. I have not had a full time job since spring of 2006. I love the fine dining and movie shops. I incorporate shopping with traveling so can claim mileage off taxes. In the rare times that I am lucky enough to get hotel shops that makes iteven better. Or if near casinos I normally get free rooms there and can plan mystery shops accordingly.
I have really been enjoying the casino shops the last few months. To paid they do no cover the gambling. LOL but $50 fee does help.
Anybody have trouble with Orillo paying them for assignments?
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