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Thursday, December 19

Happily Shopping

I woke up at 4 AM this morning in Guntersville, AL.  Unfortunately, my first dealership doesn't open until 7 AM.  With so much opportunity this week I am finding it hard to sleep.  Sort of like a kid on Christmas morning... except every morning I wake up with the gift of more shops to do.

Yesterday I set a new record.  I earned over $600 from mystery shopping in a single day.  Does that help explain my inability to sleep?  I'm ready for more!  I am picking up random shops along my route since there are some good bonus opportunities.  Yesterday I did a gas station audit for $50 and a Lowe's for $30.  These were early morning and evening shops when the dealerships were closed (the dealerships pay more than that; I don't want anything to slow my down from getting to those!).

I'm keeping it frugal on this trip.  I was able to book a Hampton Inn for tonight for 5,000 points.  There are very few Hilton properties available for 5,000 points - these are special "opportunity" level redemptions.  I don't think they have a single property in Florida for that level.  What's even better is that I am spending even less than 5,000 points on my hotel.  Even on free stays I earn 500 points for reserving with my AMEX card and 250 points for being a Diamond member.  This is a cheap stay!

Last night I stayed in a Super 8, as it was the cheapest hotel in the area.  I have only paid for one meal so far this week.  Mystery shopping has fed me the rest of the time.  This is an amazing week!


4 comments:

  1. Hi, I am mystery shopping as well. What kind of dealership shops do you do? are they service shops? are they new car shops? what company do you do them for? Thanks in advance for your help.

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    1. I have done a sales shop from time to time, but these routes are all service shops; I do them through Bestmark. Happy shopping!

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  2. Thanks for answering, would you mind me asking how much you get paid for each service shop? For example, if you do a route of 15 shops in five days. How much do you get paid per shop including travel cash? and how much do you get for hotels? Any tips for getting the reports done faster? Any additional tips will be greatly appreciated.

    what companies do you do shops for? what company do you do gas station shops that give you free gas? also which company do you do restaurants shops with? I have only been mystery shopping for a couple of months and I am trying to get better at it. Your blog has been of great help. Thank you so much for all your help.

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    1. I am not able to tell you how much I was paid per shop, but I was not reimbursed for hotels and other expenses - that was all built into the rate I was paid. I've done over 200 of the shops, so data entry is fast because I have memorized the form. Sometimes I can start on the report while I am waiting for the service to be completed; I only do that if I can sit with a wall behind me and get a decent connection.

      Most gas stations are through Maritz and Stericycle in my area. I don't do a lot of restaurants. Marketforce has some and Stericycle has others. Another local company has a ton of local restaurants I do when I am home.

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