Chelsea - We would all like to have higher fees, but it is what it is. This is free enterprise, and while the shoppers are trying to find higher fees, the companies are trying to find less expensive shoppers who are dependable and can provide complete reports by deadline. This will not get better as long as so many cannot find regular jobs that pay well. Supply (shoppers) will have to go down before demand (pay) goes up.
Not only are many of the unemployed trying to scrape together a little income mystery shopping, many who are underpaid in their regular jobs are supplementing by mystery shopping. There are advantages. Some of them are flexibility, freedom, and a constantly changing stream of work. Other advantages are the opportunity to work alone, without supervision, and at your own pace. The scale of pay is a disadvantage. However, in some areas shops can be scheduled to provide a decent day's pay for hard work.
Mary Davis Nowell. Based close to Fort Worth. Shopping Interstate 20 east and west, Interstate 35 north and south.