I did say that pay isn’t everything. I certainly didn’t mean that pay isn’t anything. Of course everyone wants to maximize their profits. How do you get the best bottom line?
The number one way is to bundle shops. That means that you’re not going out for one or two, but for four or five. Shopping companies that let you self-assign are the easiest to do this with. You simply choose those in the same general geographic area. When you’re first starting out, this can be difficult though, especially if there’s a lot of competition in your area. Here is one way around that. I try to find one shop that is almost worth it on its own, but still has time left to complete it. Say, one that pays $15 for 15 minutes worth of observations. When I add in my 45 minutes of driving to and from the shop and my data entry time, it’s a barely passable wage, though not a good one. Once that shop has been assigned, I will scour all the other companies I work for (see The Best Mystery Shopping Companies) and try to fill in other shops in the area.
Sometimes a shop will be close enough, but the date will be off by a couple of days. Since gas prices have risen far faster than wages, many schedulers are willing to adjust the dates. It’s just a matter of asking. The worst they can do is say no. In general, if they can change it, they will. After all, they want to get the shop done as much as you want to do it.
If you get stuck with just the one shop, do it. Don’t cancel. Canceling is one of the quickest ways to sabotage your mystery shopping career. Schedulers share information with each other as to their best shoppers (and their flakes), and once you get branded as a flake, you’ll never get out from under it.
There’s another sure-fire way to make real money at mystery shopping. It’s picking up orphans.
Related Blogs:
Mystery Shopping: Make Millions of Dollars!
How to Get Started in Mystery Shopping
The Best Mystery Shopping Companies