I mystery shopped my butt off in 2015 so I thought I’d do a post to show just what I got for all that work. This just goes to show that you can indeed make money from mystery shopping. Sure, it’s not a full time job but as a side gig it helps me to keep the ball rolling on paying off my debt. This is what real mystery shopping pays.

When mystery shopping, you are often asked to purchase a specific product or service which you are then reimbursed for, and on top of that you are paid a shop fee which is your income. You don’t have to claim the amount of the items you were reimbursed for as income on your taxes but often those items are things you materially benefit from anyway, like food or gasoline, so you are then getting reimbursed for items you would have likely purchased anyway.

I usually shop a few hours a week, on my lunch breaks, after work, and on the weekends. Some weeks are very busy and others are not. I schedule myself based on what is available and how much time I have available that week.

I keep a separate bank account for mystery shopping and when I get reimbursed for my purchases, I use that money for the next month’s worth of mystery shopping. So I keep a set amount of “operating expense” money. The fees that I am paid I use to pay bills and pay off debts.

Here’s the breakdown of what I earned mystery shopping last year:

 

January 2015: $341.24 reimbursed, $480.50 fees paid

MaritzCx– $19 reimbursed, $260 fees paid

GFK Mystery Shopping– $10.62 reimbursed, $5 fees paid

Field Agent– $0 reimbursed, $23.50 fees paid

Easy Shift– $0 reimbursed, $26 fees paid

Gigwalk– $0 reimbursed, $6 fees paid

Bare International– $73.04 reimbursed, $17.50 fees paid

Intellishop– $27.67 reimbursed, $18 fees paid

Shared Insight– $20 reimbursed, $10 fees paid

Bestmark– $180.91 reimbursed, $93 fees paid

Stericycle– $10 reimbursed, $21.50 fees paid

 

February 2015: $211.97 reimbursed, $503.80 fees paid

MaritzCx– $30 reimbursed, $278 fees paid

iSecretShop– $13.08 reimbursed, $15 fees paid

Field Agent– $12 reimbursed, $29.30 fees paid

Easy Shift– $0 reimbursed, $27 fees paid

Gigwalk– $0 reimbursed, $47 fees paid

Bare International– $119.22 reimbursed, $64.50 fees paid

Intellishop– $27.67 reimbursed, $18 fees paid

Bestmark– $0 reimbursed, $17 fees paid

Sinclair Customer Metrics– $10 reimbursed, $8 fee earned

 

March 2015: $180.09 reimbursed, $299.25 fees paid

MaritzCx– $0 reimbursed, $54.50 fees paid

ACE Mystery Shopping– $0 reimbursed, $15 fees paid

Reality Based Group– $35 reimbursed, $0 fees paid

About Face– $30 reimbursed, $13 fees paid

Field Agent– $0 reimbursed, $31.50 fees paid

Easy Shift– $0 reimbursed, $9 fees paid

Gigwalk– $0 reimbursed, $42.25 fees paid

Bare International– $34.98 reimbursed, $15 fees paid

Intellishop– $16.82 reimbursed, $14 fees paid

Service Sleuth– $5 reimbursed, $7 fees paid

Shared Insight– $20 reimbursed, $10 fees paid

Bestmark– $2 reimbursed, $30 fees paid

Stericycle– $10 reimbursed, $30 fees paid

A Closer Look– $26.29 reimbursed, $28 fees paid

 

April 2015: $298.60 reimbursed, $497.50 fees paid

MaritzCx– $43 reimbursed, $259 fees paid

ACE Mystery Shopping– $0 reimbursed, $9 fees paid

Field Agent– $0 reimbursed, $18.50 fees paid

Easy Shift– $0 reimbursed, $27 fees paid

Gigwalk– $0 reimbursed, $22 fees paid

Intellishop– $26.10 reimbursed, $17 fees paid

SeeLevelHX– $13.95 reimbursed, $10 fees paid

Bestmark– $196 reimbursed, $95 fees paid

Stericycle– $5 reimbursed, $20 fees paid

A Closer Look– $14.55 reimbursed, $20 fees paid

 

May 2015: $71.33 reimbursed, $262 fees paid

MaritzCx– $42 reimbursed, $120.50 fees paid

Field Agent– $0 reimbursed, $12.50 fees paid

Easy Shift– $0 reimbursed, $58 fees paid

Gigwalk– $0 reimbursed, $10 fees paid

Bare International– $8.94 reimbursed, $10 fees paid

Stericycle– $13 reimbursed, $40 fees paid

Sentry Marketing– $7.39 reimbursement, $11 fees paid

 

June 2015: $130.06 reimbursed, $205 fees earned

MaritzCx– $6 reimbursed, $19 fees paid

Field Agent– $0 reimbursed, $16 fees paid

Easy Shift– $0 reimbursed, $18 fees paid

Bare International– $70.02 reimbursed, $30 fees paid

Intellishop– $0 reimbursed, $60 fees paid

Stericycle– $14 reimbursed, $0 fees paid

A Closer Look– $29.04 reimbursed, $39 fees paid

Jancyn– $11 reimbursement, $23 fees paid

 

July 2015: $165.95 reimbursed, $407.75 fees paid

MaritzCx– $36 reimbursed, $94.75 fees paid

Reality Based Group– $40.45 reimbursed, $7 fees paid

About Face– $0 reimbursed, $120 fees paid

Gigwalk– $0 reimbursed, $4 fees paid

Bare International– $50.81 reimbursed, $40 fees paid

Intellishop– $0 reimbursed, $45 fees paid

SeeLevelHX– $13 reimbursed, $10 fees paid

Stericycle– $8 reimbursed, $62 fees paid

A Closer Look– $17.69 reimbursed, $25 fees paid

 

August 2015: $113 reimbursed, $237.94 fees paid

MaritzCx– $18 reimbursed, $18 fees paid

GapBuster– $12.51 reimbursed, $8 fees paid

Service Intelligence– $0 reimbursed, $100 fees paid

MarketForce Certified Field Associates– $0 reimbursed, $14 fees paid

Reality Based Group– $6.49 reimbursed, $7 fees paid

iSecretShop– $5.06 reimbursed, $4.94 fees paid

About Face– $0 reimbursed, $13 fees paid

Field Agent– $0 reimbursed, $4 fees paid

Easy Shift– $0 reimbursed, $12 fees paid

Gigwalk– $0 reimbursed, $8 fees paid

Bare International– $34.98 reimbursed, $20 fees paid

Intellishop– $13.08 reimbursed, $9 fees paid

SeeLevelHX– $11.71 reimbursed, $5 fees paid

A Closer Look– $11.17 reimbursed, $15 fees paid

 

September 2015: $73.21 reimbursed, $461.66 fees paid

MaritzCx– $8 reimbursed, $80 fees paid

GapBuster– $10.66 reimbursed, $28.66 fees paid

About Face– $0 reimbursed, $65 fees paid

Field Agent– $0 reimbursed, $5 fees paid

Easy Shift– $0 reimbursed, $5 fees paid

Gigwalk– $0 reimbursed, $23 fees paid

Intellishop– $0 reimbursed, $35 fees paid

Service Sleuth– $40 reimbursed, $25 fees paid

Stericycle– $3 reimbursed, $35 fees paid

A Closer Look– $11.55 reimbursed, $160 fees paid

 

October 2015: $71.05 reimbursed, $270 fees paid

MaritzCx– $24 reimbursed, $151 fees paid

GapBuster– $10.55 reimbursed, $12 fees paid

Reality Based Group– $20.00 reimbursed, $0 fees paid

Field Agent– $0 reimbursed, $5 fees paid

Easy Shift– $0 reimbursed, $21 fees paid

Gigwalk– $0 reimbursed, $4 fees paid

Confero– $6.64 reimbursed, $12 fees paid

Intellishop– $0 reimbursed, $27 fees paid

SeeLevelHX– $0 reimbursed, $25 fees paid

A Closer Look– $6.70 reimbursed, $5 fees paid

Sinclair Customer Metrics– $3.16 reimbursed, $8 fee earned

 

November 2015: $115.60 reimbursed, $400.75 fees paid

MaritzCx– $62.88 reimbursed, $267.75 fees paid

Albatross Global Solutions– $0 reimbursed, $15 fees paid

Easy Shift– $0 reimbursed, $14 fees paid

Gigwalk– $0 reimbursed, $14 fees paid

Confero– $34.27 reimbursed, $60 fees paid

Intellishop– $18.45 reimbursed, $0 fees paid

Stericycle– $0 reimbursed, $30 fees paid

 

December 2015: $68.24 reimbursed, $113.77 fees paid

GapBuster– $36.92 reimbursed, $53 fees paid

Service Intelligence– $0 reimbursed, $12 fees paid

iSecretShop– $10.23 reimbursed, $12.77 fees paid

Field Agent– $3 reimbursed, $3 fees paid

Easy Shift– $0 reimbursed, $18 fees paid

A Closer Look– $18.09 reimbursed, $15 fees paid

 

Overall, I earned $4139.92 in mystery shopping fees in 2015 and was reimbursed for $1840.34 worth of goods and services.

As you can see, some months are busier and more profitable than other months. This usually depends on my availability and the availability of mystery shop assignments. Some mystery shop campaigns are available monthly and others are only available quarterly or annually.

Mystery shopping is not a scam and it is not a get rich quick scheme. It pays to sign up with a lot of different companies that you will do several shops a month for each. No single mystery shopping job is going to pay you $500 and the max that I have gotten paid for a single mystery shop is around $150 for a complicated site inspection. Most average about $5-15 as a fee earned per shop.

This breakdown shows you what I earned from which company so you know that these are reputable companies that pay for work done. If you want to sign up with them just click on the link to go to the company’s website.