I'm a numbers person. Over my career, my managers required proof in numbers to make decisions at their businesses. It was part of my role as a manufacturing engineer, quality program manager, and as technical operations senior staff. It's also a part of my life in personal finance and allowed me to retire early.

Policies matter...

On an annual basis, the average American is"...effectively $7,200 poorer than when [the current President] took office."

So, how much Mystery Shopping do you need to perform to achieve $7,200 additional per year?

[www.heritage.org]

It all depends on the assignments that you accept and your efficiency but I would be able to do that in about 25 - 30 hours/month not including eating time (as I am a slow eater) although I sometimes include gas price in my hourly calculations since it is a commodity that is provided that I use.

That's in the ballpark of what I made last year in fees only, not reimbursements, and not taking any deductions off that number like mileage or taxes.

I did a shop on 108 days last year, so about 1/3 of the year. Some of those shops were very quick 10 minute shops. Some of those were routes that were ~8 hours (mostly drive time, tbh). I did not track to the hour, which would be challenging, since I weave in my shops with my daily errands - trips to store, dr, etc.

I take advantage of every rewards program out there, some shops have an additional perk of accumulating points towards free products, gas discounts, etc. If I have a required purchase, I check the retailers app for any good deals, and check if there is something with a rebate in an app like Ibotta or Fetch Rewards. I use a ton of receipt scanning/rebate apps, and across all of them, that came out to be nearly 1k for 2022.

Could you share which receipt scanning apps are worth your time? I see so many of them, but they take months ( or years) to add up to anything meaningful

@hatter_pan wrote:

Could you share which receipt scanning apps are worth your time? I see so many of them, but they take months ( or years) to add up to anything meaningful

Fetch is my favorite.

By the end of May, I have done 173 shops this year and I am more than half way towards that number.
Some shops are high fees, some shops are lower fees but also quicker and easier. It is a good mix.

There are too many variables in the types of shops available, the fees that are paid, were they bonused, etc. You will never be able to nail down that number exactly. I just set goals for myself. I have noticed that when I first started I did more jobs for less money but now I am doing less jobs for more money.

If you plan to, or are already doing grocery shops, I would definitely recommend Ibotta. Using Ibotta on my grocery shops has put an extra $900 in my pocket since December. I also use Shopkick, with that app you can just scan UPCs in the store and earn points, and if you buy certain products you can earn quite a few points. Points can then be traded for gift cards, I buy Amazon cards with my points.

I have always done this as a side hustle and wasn't always diligent about tracking things in one master spreadsheet over the years. 2022, I made an effort to consistently track things and being able to review that has also led me to do less work for more money.

@Datagirl wrote:

By the end of May, I have done 173 shops this year and I am more than half way towards that number.
Some shops are high fees, some shops are lower fees but also quicker and easier. It is a good mix.

There are too many variables in the types of shops available, the fees that are paid, were they bonused, etc. You will never be able to nail down that number exactly. I just set goals for myself. I have noticed that when I first started I did more jobs for less money but now I am doing less jobs for more money.

A lot of people say this, but since we are required to get receipts for most shops, might as well maximize it. And yes, some of them take a while to add up, but if you are using 8 apps, you'll almost always be close to hitting a reward in one app.
I could post my YTD and Lifetime numbers for most of these maybe that should be a whole new post lol. Ibotta I'm at nearly 2K lifetime, Fetch I have earned over $700.

I am putting in my list and for those apps that have referral codes, I've put mine after the app name. If this isn't allowed, someone lmk and I'll take the code out.

These are the apps that every receipt goes into:

Bing Deals (tied in with Microsoft Rewards app)
CoinOut
Fetch Rewards | G3HHM
Merryfield | LIDZJH
ReceiptHog
ReceiptJar
ReceiptPal
Swagbucks | [www.swagbucks.com] (submit receipts under the Shop->Magic Receipts, or under Surveys, Any Receipt)

Apps that have specific offers (rebate apps)
Amazon Alexa app (this is in a "savings" section, sends you back an amz gift card)
Box Tops for Education (this donates to schools for certain products, mostly general mills items)
Coupons.com (you have to "activate" the coupons)
Ibotta | X2PGG (they frequently have "Any Item", Any Gas Station, Any Grocery Store, offers vary per store)
Checkout51
Upside

Gas receipts:
TruNow | NR3F7M

I also have some apps that give rewards by linking a credit card and using it at certain stores and restaurants.
Drop | 6AUAL
Dosh | JOANNAB30

Someone mentioned Shopkick, that is a barcode scanner app but also functions like a rebate app. If you scan a product, and purchase it, you can submit it for additional points, or shop online through their app for points back.
My referral code is GIFT162496

@hatter_pan wrote:

Could you share which receipt scanning apps are worth your time? I see so many of them, but they take months ( or years) to add up to anything meaningful

@joanna81 wrote:

A lot of people say this, but since we are required to get receipts for most shops, might as well maximize it. And yes, some of them take a while to add up, but if you are using 8 apps, you'll almost always be close to hitting a reward in one app.
I could post my YTD and Lifetime numbers for most of these maybe that should be a whole new post lol. Ibotta I'm at nearly 2K lifetime, Fetch I have earned over $700.

I am putting in my list and for those apps that have referral codes, I've put mine after the app name. If this isn't allowed, someone lmk and I'll take the code out.

These are the apps that every receipt goes into:

Bing Deals (tied in with Microsoft Rewards app)
CoinOut
Fetch Rewards | G3HHM
Merryfield | LIDZJH
ReceiptHog
ReceiptJar
ReceiptPal
Swagbucks | [www.swagbucks.com] (submit receipts under the Shop->Magic Receipts, or under Surveys, Any Receipt)

Apps that have specific offers (rebate apps)
Amazon Alexa app (this is in a "savings" section, sends you back an amz gift card)
Box Tops for Education (this donates to schools for certain products, mostly general mills items)
Coupons.com (you have to "activate" the coupons)
Ibotta | X2PGG (they frequently have "Any Item", Any Gas Station, Any Grocery Store, offers vary per store)
Checkout51
Upside

Gas receipts:
TruNow | NR3F7M

I also have some apps that give rewards by linking a credit card and using it at certain stores and restaurants.
Drop | 6AUAL
Dosh | JOANNAB30

Someone mentioned Shopkick, that is a barcode scanner app but also functions like a rebate app. If you scan a product, and purchase it, you can submit it for additional points, or shop online through their app for points back.
My referral code is GIFT162496

@hatter_pan wrote:

Could you share which receipt scanning apps are worth your time? I see so many of them, but they take months ( or years) to add up to anything meaningful

Holy wow. Great job. I was happy over here with my $40. Lol.

I was thinking "They're gonna think I'm a crazy person." I got into couponing (not extreme couponing for 74 bottles of mustard) when I had kids and most of it has evolved away from paper coupons, so here I am with 38 apps instead. lol

@olympia tennenbaum wrote:

@joanna81 wrote:

A lot of people say this, but since we are required to get receipts for most shops, might as well maximize it. And yes, some of them take a while to add up, but if you are using 8 apps, you'll almost always be close to hitting a reward in one app.
I could post my YTD and Lifetime numbers for most of these maybe that should be a whole new post lol. Ibotta I'm at nearly 2K lifetime, Fetch I have earned over $700.

I am putting in my list and for those apps that have referral codes, I've put mine after the app name. If this isn't allowed, someone lmk and I'll take the code out.

These are the apps that every receipt goes into:

Bing Deals (tied in with Microsoft Rewards app)
CoinOut
Fetch Rewards | G3HHM
Merryfield | LIDZJH
ReceiptHog
ReceiptJar
ReceiptPal
Swagbucks | [www.swagbucks.com] (submit receipts under the Shop->Magic Receipts, or under Surveys, Any Receipt)

Apps that have specific offers (rebate apps)
Amazon Alexa app (this is in a "savings" section, sends you back an amz gift card)
Box Tops for Education (this donates to schools for certain products, mostly general mills items)
Coupons.com (you have to "activate" the coupons)
Ibotta | X2PGG (they frequently have "Any Item", Any Gas Station, Any Grocery Store, offers vary per store)
Checkout51
Upside

Gas receipts:
TruNow | NR3F7M

I also have some apps that give rewards by linking a credit card and using it at certain stores and restaurants.
Drop | 6AUAL
Dosh | JOANNAB30

Someone mentioned Shopkick, that is a barcode scanner app but also functions like a rebate app. If you scan a product, and purchase it, you can submit it for additional points, or shop online through their app for points back.
My referral code is GIFT162496

@hatter_pan wrote:

Could you share which receipt scanning apps are worth your time? I see so many of them, but they take months ( or years) to add up to anything meaningful

Holy wow. Great job. I was happy over here with my $40. Lol.

@hamptonroadsva wrote:

If you plan to, or are already doing grocery shops, I would definitely recommend Ibotta. Using Ibotta on my grocery shops has put an extra $900 in my pocket since December. I also use Shopkick, with that app you can just scan UPCs in the store and earn points, and if you buy certain products you can earn quite a few points. Points can then be traded for gift cards, I buy Amazon cards with my points.

Thanks I will try these

Are there any that work for restaurants, or are they just geared to goods?

I only use coinout. i scan all receipts. i even look for receipts laying around at a place i might be dining (fast food). I don't do 38 apps like the one person on here. I think the one i have is okay. I don't really need to do it, but i figure if i'm taking a picture of the receipt for the shop, then another picture for the coin out app is not that difficult. i can't imagine scanning each receipt 38 times. That would not be worth it to me.

I submit every receipt that I get to Fetch, including restaurant receipts.

@DRJ wrote:

Are there any that work for restaurants, or are they just geared to goods?

The ones I listed under "every receipt" will take anything, auto store, restaurant, etc.

@DRJ wrote:

Are there any that work for restaurants, or are they just geared to goods?

The 38 was an exaggeration, the first comment listed out 8 apps for every receipt and most of them are as simple as Coinout, but it is a "to each their own" thing.

@hbbigdaddy wrote:

I only use coinout. i scan all receipts. i even look for receipts laying around at a place i might be dining (fast food). I don't do 38 apps like the one person on here. I think the one i have is okay. I don't really need to do it, but i figure if i'm taking a picture of the receipt for the shop, then another picture for the coin out app is not that difficult. i can't imagine scanning each receipt 38 times. That would not be worth it to me.

I use fetch as well. One is sufficient. Sometimes you get great bonus points. My husband shopped at BJs the other day and he spent a certain amount. I got a 5,000 bonus for that receipt. I have earned many gift cards from them. I scan everything. If I see a receipt on the floor, I pick it up and scan it.

You can use fetch rewards on all kind of gift cards. amazon, ulta, walmart, tons of food places, etc. It doesn't take long to get there especially with your mystery shop receipts.

By default (hubby has a money issue) I am doing another year of not spending, including not spending even one cent for even the smallest costs associated with mystery shops and merchandising costs. The money is not there! The gist of the book that gave me this idea is that the author was not going to charge anything more or pay for anything unnecessarily. The author met with some resistance and criticism, but at the end of their year they had paid of about seven or eight thousand dollars of debt. Doing the gig work in addition to the drastic spending cuts would be additive.

I use Ibotta but rarely find anything I want to buy at the price they charge in my local food markets. I can buy the same thing at Costco if I wait for a sale (and I do and then stock up) and get twice as much for half the price. Most of the good deals on the app I cannot find in the store. That said, I did scan a costco receipt that was next to my car and get $4 from something the other person bought. For a while I was getting free energy bars.
Back to the original op question I never figured it out but based on driving time etc I think I earn at most $12 an hour and sometimes much less so at that rate 600 hours to earn $7200. I did a high paying shop the other day for $120. It was only 6 miles from my house but with driving time and time at the shop and a simple quick report I spent at least 5 hours so even that job would be $24 an hour. I spent a good deal of time stuck behind two different Amazon delivery trucks on narrow one way streets.

Overall, the straight fee shops I complete would take a few years to make $7200. It's not consistent.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/17/2023 11:52AM by Niner.

None. Zero. Zilch.

@joanna81 wrote:

A lot of people say this, but since we are required to get receipts for most shops, might as well maximize it. And yes, some of them take a while to add up, but if you are using 8 apps, you'll almost always be close to hitting a reward in one app.
I could post my YTD and Lifetimeupons)
Ibotta | X2PGG (they frequently have "Any Item", Any Gas Station, Any Grocery Store, offers vary per store)
Checkout51
Upside

You're leaving out the best one, Amazon Shopper Panel (although I think they might have a waiting period to sign up). $1 per receipt, max of 10 per month.

I used to do the multiple receipt app thing, but got tired of it pretty quick. IIRC the majority of receipts are like 1 to 2 cents a pop, so it can be a grind. I had like 10 receipts one night, and had them lined up to go into 3 or 4 receipt apps like you mentioned, then I thought about how much time it was going to take, to maybe make .70 cents if I was lucky, and I looked at the bag of loose change that's been sitting in my room for forever, that probably has $75 dollars in it, and i decided to do something else.

I still use Ibotta, Coupons.com (app going away in July), Shopkick, and occasionally Fetch. Mypoints and Swagbucks also have some great receipt offers. All of these I primarily use for targeted item offers, instead of general receipt submissions.

If I'm going to Kroger or Walmart, I will often watch a quick video from the Youtube couponers to see if there is anything good going on. Ohio Valley Couponer is a great channel for Kroger/Walmart deals, but there are quite a few others.

It's weird with mystery shopping. I did almost 2k in car shops in the course of a month or two over April and May (14 shops total). This was unusual. Two summers ago I made 4k in maybe 5 days doing phone shops. That wss the most I ever made mystery shopping and it hasn't happened again.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/21/2023 12:25AM by Niner.

I made about $7000 last year and this is just my hobby. (although I may be a little obsessed) I'm also in a state where there do not seem to be too many shoppers so I can wait until the pay goes up before snagging the shop. I usually try not to take a job where it would work out to less than $30-40/hour unless I am already in the vicinity and have nothing better to do. Now I am going to start doing receipts as well! Thanks for the idea!!

Very roughly, two $10 shops a day for two years.

My main receipt scanning apps are mainly receiptpal, fetch, amazon and coinout

The good thing about receipt scanning apps is that you can use one receipt across multiple platforms

I have 15 receiptpal accounts, 7 fetch accounts and 3 coinout

Only issue I find with coinout is that they have recently updated their apps and now they only takes supermarkets' receipt

Wow! I live in a more rural area and I stalk 13 MSC's daily for jobs (the only ones I have found that ever have shops in the area) and I am lucky to make $100 a month --which means spotting a job the literal second it is released because the competition here is crazy.

What's your answer Maverick1? You seem to ask questions but do not respond personally. :-)

@maverick1 wrote:

I'm a numbers person. Over my career, my managers required proof in numbers to make decisions at their businesses. It was part of my role as a manufacturing engineer, quality program manager, and as technical operations senior staff. It's also a part of my life in personal finance and allowed me to retire early.

Policies matter...

On an annual basis, the average American is"...effectively $7,200 poorer than when [the current President] took office."

So, how much Mystery Shopping do you need to perform to achieve $7,200 additional per year?

[www.heritage.org]

I've made $2760 from June 29 through this Monday (assuming I get tomorrow and Monday's jobs completed). That doesn't include any reimbursements because I don't consider that income (although it's a nice way to augment my food budget since most of the reimbursements are for food). But, I'm a teacher and I have all the time in the world in the summer so I've been hustling (looking at my spread sheet, there are only six days in there where I didn't have any jobs, and most days I have multiple. It's definitely slowing down, now, though as I am running some jobs/companies dry in my area and won't be able to do many of these shops for another 12 months, minimum, so, it's not like this would be sustainable for me year round, even if I didn't work during the school year.