No.

Because if I did, and I worked 100 hours a month, I would make $6,000 a month mystery shopping.

I worked about 100 hours in May, and grossed about $l,600. (Which is very low; but I had to reshop a number of assignments this month, for which I'm totally out of pocket. Ugh.)

Equivalent W-2 job pay of about $2,200 (because it's mostly tax sheltered via mileage deduction).

Since minimum wage here is $10 an hour, and the work is work I physically cannot do, I do much better mystery shopping than I would be doing at a minimum wage job (which, in all probability, is all I could get).

I do actually AIM for $25 an hour. I did better than that 4 or 5 years ago, but a certain major MSC has cut pay from $125 per shop to $70 for the same shop, which means an 8 hour drive there and 8 hours back no longer pays $1100-1500 for 9-13 shops, but now pays less than $700 for the same shops.

But do remember, 25 miles here means 25 minutes of driving, not an hour or an hour and a half, which is often what happens to shoppers in metro areas.

Can I occasionally make $60 an hour? Yes.

I have a friend who is a real estate agent. He sold a house last month and made $15,000, so his income was higher than mine last month obviously... but who knows when his next sale will be... unless you reach a point where work is consistent and reliable, it’s a bit of a fallacy in my opinion to claim you make a certain amount when you have no idea what it’s going to be next week or month.

Looking at hourly or weekly is ridiculous when you run your own business.

Look at your annuals for two straight years. That's what you make. That's what any bank or lending institution would look at when considering credit for your business.

I'm consistently over $60 based on an annual workload of 2,000 hours but I also probably average more than 40 hours a week. That's based on a few business, of which MSing is one, but I feel comfortable that I'm accurate in stating that I make over $60/hour....

Of course you are. But you're lumping them together, and I'm talking JUST MSing. And you live, possibly, in an area that sort of demands $60 an hour in order to live. The cost of living is much, much lower here. And most of the hours I "work" are hours spent driving.

Which I find really, really hard to count as "work" -- but it is. The fact is, a shop might take 6 minutes and pay $110 (yes, that has happened) -- but it was 8 hours from home.

@ceasesmith; That's why looking at hourly is ridiculous and cannot be applied across the spectrum, though.

$60/hour nets me a one-bedroom apartment in a questionable neighborhood. I absolutely could not make a living as a full time shopper with my lifestyle and location. I need multiple income streams.

Your $25/hour might offer a better lifestyle than my $60/hour.

Yes. The big difference is housing. My landlord hasn't raised my $250 a month rent in the 14 years I have lived in this house. I have 2 bedrooms, 2 bath, and a 2 car garage. I have a huge kitchen and butler's pantry, which I love, because I love to cook.

I can live well on what my friend in Massachusetts pays annually in property tax.

Actually, he pays more in property tax than I do live on!

Woozzaahhh Nice! What area of the country do you live in?

@ceasesmith wrote:

Yes. The big difference is housing. My landlord hasn't raised my $250 a month rent in the 14 years I have lived in this house. I have 2 bedrooms, 2 bath, and a 2 car garage. I have a huge kitchen and butler's pantry, which I love, because I love to cook.

I can live well on what my friend in Massachusetts pays annually in property tax.

Actually, he pays more in property tax than I do live on!

Rural, western Nebraska.

And I absolutely LOVE it.

Moved here from California about 20 years ago.

I've been fighting the notion of showing newcomers you can make 60.00 an hour. I think it unfair to lead newbies on, when #1, you do Video and #2, you travel to the moon as well as the hood, and don't count mileage. This just isn't a high priced industry, but a great supplemental business especially if you include reimbursements. Getting to stay in top resorts, eat at nice restaurants and basically take advantage of all it has to offer enhance's one's lifestyle. Most folks that have a full time job, do not have time to do long undesireable routes, so again, what works for one, doesn't mean it works for all. This is not an hourly gig. Urban cities don't give the big bonus, no need, they have ample shoppers, Apartments here go for 45.00, for a target, not worth it anymore for me, have done my share and now its too much work taking 40 minutes to an hour on property, report and driving time. Maybe we won't go into the getto livng here and knowing the danger, so if your willing, go for it. I will say, I enjoy getting the checks and the getting out for a nice meal....but 60.00 an hour, please...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/31/2019 06:14PM by Irene_L.A..

I average $60 an hour, never do video, and will be retired at 55.
I no longer shop full time, but when I do, I make sure it’s profitable.

$73.22/hr, my job
$3/hr mystery shopping (?)

Then just don't MS, Niner.

Plus, don't forget, you probably have marketable skills. I don't, really.

Again...I'm repeating myself but for those of us with those marketable skills, it's about reimbursement. Despite my hourly wage matching @Niner, my reimbursements are very high for the hours I put in, and are at or near that $60/hour mark every year.

IMO, it really doesn't matter how much you make. It matters if it's enough to comfortably take care of your needs. As Cease and I know, cost of living in the Midwest is much lower than the coasts. I don't need to make $60/hr to live comfortably. I choose instead to do routes that allow me to see the tourist stuff and enjoy the travel.

How many MS'ing hours in a day, making 60.00 for the four hours working, or making 60.00 for working eight hours, informing minds want to know....I just don't get it. part timers never know how many hours they'll work next month or even the next day. Let's clear it up. Kudo's to those that do, and oh well to those (like me) that don't My reimbursements are my largest source of income, but it's not 60.00 per hour. trying to give both sides of the equation.

I'm still scratching my head that minimum wage in rural Nebraska is $10 an hour when it's only $8.50 here.

@JASFLALMT wrote:

I'm still scratching my head that minimum wage in rural Nebraska is $10 an hour when it's only $8.50 here.

yep, here McD's had a sign saying minimum wage now 13.00, but L.A. is expensive so it makes sense.
We don't have a minimum wage, it goes as low as it can (at times), it has gone up for workers in FF.

@JASFLALMT wrote:

I'm still scratching my head that minimum wage in rural Nebraska is $10 an hour when it's only $8.50 here.

Here in Idaho it is only $7.25 an hour. And with all the people moving here wages are still very low, but rent & housing have skyrocketed.

I find looking at how much I'll make hourly on a given route useful when determining whether or not to take that route, ask for more, etc. (A ten hour day for $50 won't interest me as it comes out to all of $5/hr.)

I do think it's reasonable - and good - to share what the potential for earnings are with new folks, so long as it is honest and includes what is involved in earning said amounts - such as driving long distances, video, etc.: If a new person wants to try to earn a good chunk of change doing this, s/he needs to know what it would take to do so.

Yes, there are different financial realities in different areas. I live in Seattle, a city with one of the highest costs of living in the country: The minimum wages is $16/hr for larger employers (think: McDonald's) and the average house price is over $600K. $60/hr here might be equivalent to $40/hr in many areas in terms of buying power.

@JASFLALMT wrote:

I'm still scratching my head that minimum wage in rural Nebraska is $10 an hour when it's only $8.50 here.

I'm still scratching my head on paying $250.00 for rent.....my homeowners is more than that, and with taxes, please.

@ceasesmith wrote:

Then just don't MS, Niner.

Plus, don't forget, you probably have marketable skills. I don't, really.

I do it for the dining reimbursement. At $15/5 hours for a Coyle report, that's $3/hour. It's not always this bad though. Tomorrow is a relatively short shop for $70, maybe 20 minutes at the store.

You have skills. Think of what you enjoy doing and your hobbies. You could teach others, start a blog, or start a Youtube channel. People also make a fortune starting businesses that fulfill a need.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/01/2019 01:04AM by Niner.

@Irene_L.A. wrote:

@JASFLALMT wrote:

I'm still scratching my head that minimum wage in rural Nebraska is $10 an hour when it's only $8.50 here.

I'm still scratching my head on paying $250.00 for rent.....my homeowners is more than that, and with taxes, please.

Agreed. Taxes around here are 1-2k/month or more. The home insurance is also more than a year's rent. But, we choose to live in NY/CA.

San Francisco is one if not the most expensive city's these days thanks to Silicon Valley. My family is there owning apartment buildings and rent for a one bedroom is $3,000 with no vacancy. My cousin is racking it in, building paid for, was her Fathers bought for $11,000 many years ago (great story). Love to go to their airport, great restaurants with decent pay. Interesting how prices and fee's differ depending on location. We sold my Mothers house twelve years ago, a small two bedroom with a large yard and got well over $600,000. Today probably worth a million, the city is small and nowhere to build. The Japanese business man bought it with cash and put up condo's......when I see some of the fee's of MS'ing, I could laugh or cry.

Lifestyle choices are important to shoppers. I am one who does not give an unprintable about a visually appealing lifestyle. Years ago, I did. It never worked out the way I wanted it to. I wasted time, energy, and money in search of something that was wrong for me. Now, I do not bother about that. Fortunately, I live in a rural college town and am free to be casual. Phew! So my independent contracting work is not about creating or maintaining an image or lifestyle. This is perfect for me. Other shoppers will pick up certain shops, and I will do the assignments that match my interests and/or support my goals. If I lived in a metro area that typically has hundreds or thousands of shops, I would shop only enough to fund my journey to a sensible I mean rural area. Occasionally, I go to or through larger towns and complete a few assignments there. That is enough for me. $60 per hour is not as useful an equation as: intangible wonderfulness of being in beloved, wide open spaces minus monetary costs of traveling to and from the magnificent fave places. I work enough to pay for the monetary costs and have a little somethin' somethin' left over. No fees, bonuses, or reimbursements can compare to my personal pleasure and happiness. Mind you, this does not show up in any of the tax forms or in any business tutorial. It is just a little part of the work philosophy of an old broad who loves the wild outdoors.

Following your heart is a good thing Shop-et-al. Needing to make only money, I think being perhaps an Atty or Dr. would service you. My daughter has a career she adores and makes money and is very humble.....that is the best. I know a handful of shoppers that say they do so well, more power to you, I am happy with the shopping I did when starting, and have seen prices gone down, and am o.k. with what I do (much less), so, not all of us are in this for the dollar only, it is also a lifestyle. I don't get the need to try and tell yourself what a lucrative industry this is. Those shoppers without another job have no Ins., or pension, having a career beside shopping, of course your doing fine, let it go.

They are probably friends or became friends along the way. Cease seems like a very good-hearted person. You know what they say - what goes around comes around.

@Niner wrote:

@Irene_L.A. wrote:

@JASFLALMT wrote:

I'm still scratching my head that minimum wage in rural Nebraska is $10 an hour when it's only $8.50 here.

I'm still scratching my head on paying $250.00 for rent.....my homeowners is more than that, and with taxes, please.

Agreed. Taxes around here are 1-2k/month or more. The home insurance is also more than a year's rent. But, we choose to live in NY/CA.

@SoCalMama wrote:

I average $60 an hour, never do video, and will be retired at 55.
I no longer shop full time, but when I do, I make sure it’s profitable.

I believe you, you are experienced (20yrs) and have great relationships within the industry, not just starting out.

OK, you tell me. I do mostly gas stations and for Jan thru Apr of this year I earned the following: Shop time, $68.57 per hour, Shop + Report time, $33.38 per hour, Shop + Travel time, $38.82, Shop + Travel + Report Time, $22.45 per hour. I allow 20 to 25 minutes for a shop and rarely do I go beyond that. The report takes 15 to 20 minutes and travel is what it is. Because of the congested suburban area and tons of gas stations, my typical day is 5 or 6 stations in a mini-route within 30 miles of my home. On occasions I will do as many as 8 stations and travel a route of @ 150 miles but only if I can negotiate bonuses. The per hour income includes fees, bonuses and gas and product reimbursements So tell me, in your opinion,am I earning $68, $33 or $22 per hour.

For what it is worth, I pay more attention to the income/expense ratio than income per hour. And I consider fees, bonuses and reimbursements as income. Expense is rounded down to $.50 per mile plus any tolls. I will not work for less than a 2 to 1 income/expense ratio and for the first 4 months it was 4 to 1.

Let me also say that I do not have another job but do not shop full time either. Rather, my choice is to work 2 or 3 days a week, leave at 9 or 10 am and and return from 5 or 6 shops by around 2 pm..

Just another way to look at this business,

When counting your per hour (or per week), do you count travel and/or report time? I'm just curious. I personally only go to areas that I will already be in or I do a route. I usually use public transportation as it's quicker than the car most times so I tend to have no more than 15 minutes travel time outside of initial travel. $13.75 is the most I've paid for travel in a day & that includes a Lyft to the Ferry. I don't do videos and I type fast, utilize voice to text or the swipe function to make long reports quicker. And I choose not to perform shops with long repetitive reports anymore outside of whom I already do this for. I don't really lose any money doing this, even when in the car.

@JustAnotherShopper wrote:

When counting your per hour (or per week), do you count travel and/or report time? I'm just curious. the car.

There are 4 different per hour rates in my post. As I said, I am more concerned with the income/expense ratio