Written by Mister Mike
Many shoppers are earning $1,000 and even more a month, which surprises many people. Why? Because most shopping assignments pay less than $20.00.
I’m often asked “how do you do it?” Keep reading to find out.
The answer is not always easy and due to the nature of the work you must understand that it is never going to be consistent. However, it helps to remember that $1,000.00 a month is only $250.00 a week. $250 a week is $50 a day if you’re working 5 days a week.
There is more than one way to earn $1,000 a month as a shopper. I’m going to focus on how I do it. For even more stories about earning this much as a shopper, I highly recommend reading these interviews. After reading those interviews, be sure to read our free eBook, a Concise Guide to Mystery Shopping.
First of all I live in a large metropolitan area where there are a lot of shopping opportunities. Second I have a good reputation with the companies I work with, especially the schedulers and editors with whom I work. I am be approved for the majority of the assignments for which I apply. Third, I have the time and am prepared to work hard to achieve my income goals.
Finally, there is an element of chance and luck that there will be some high-paying assignments for which I can successfully apply and complete on time and to the editor’s satisfaction.
Let’s look at these in order. If you live in some place like Cedar Rapids Iowa or Fallon Nevada you are not going to have the same number and variety of assignments as you would if you live in a place like Boston Massachusetts like I do. However if you do live in Cedar Rapids and know your surrounding geographic area well you can plan “routes” allowing you to combine and complete 4-5 and more $10.00 – $15.00 assignments in a day.
Perhaps most important is your relationship and reputation with the companies that are offering the assignments. If you have a record of submitting clear, accurate and concise reports that are in on time you are very likely going to receive positive consideration for most of assignments for which you apply. Schedulers love shoppers who are low maintenance and are naturally going to assign the higher paying shops to these shoppers so make sure that you are one of them.
Third is the kind of assignments you get. Specialize – get to know how to do certain kinds of assignments and get good at them. I like a mix of banking shops and new car assignments. Most bank assignments pay $12.00 -$20.00 and you may spend 20 minutes onsite and 30 – 45 minutes drafting your report. I have earned up to $150.00 on certain bank assignments. You may be limited in the number of shops you can do in a day and, of course, most companies will not let you visit any branch less than 90 days from the last time you were there. Having an account helps a lot because you can also do teller shops which often require the shopper to be a customer of that bank. It also helps you to prove you were there because you can always get a receipt, even if it is a only a balance inquiry at the ATM.
New car shops are often very well-paying but frequently they require two visits and the ability to negotiate the “best deal” with the salesman/sales manager. These assignments are not for everybody but if you are good at it you can easily earn that $250.00 per week that we are talking about.
So, in summary, in order to make that G-note a month it helps to live in or near a large metropolitan area, have a good rapport with your schedulers and specialize in the kind of assignments that pay well, because they may be a bit more challenging than the normal run-of-the-mill shops that you may have been doing.