Being a Mystery Shopper While Working Full-Time

During my 2+ year mystery shopping journey with iShop I frequently hear the question: How do you make time to shop while working full-time? Here is my story that will hopefully help answer this question!

I have been working full-time as a Sales Operations Specialist for almost 15 years. My position is very demanding because I am in charge of making sure hundreds of orders are set up properly, documented properly, and processed properly before the Finance Department can create an invoice to send to the customer for payment. Therefore I sometimes work up to 50 hours in a week, especially during the last week of each month, quarter, and year!  I am also a single parent of a now 20-year-old daughter who was in her senior year of high school when I started mystery shopping back in October 2020, so I always found myself needing a way to make more money. I found several ways over the years, but mystery shopping has been the greatest way to make more money while enjoying the process!!

When I first started shopping in October 2020, I started slow because I had no idea what these shops would entail. I signed up with the 10 MSCs provided by iShop and picked shops I thought would be easy to complete. I started off doing them in the evenings and on weekends. I was also a Shipt shopper so I was balancing doing those shops with mystery shops and working full-time. After 6 months of juggling all 3, I stopped Shipt shopping because I had more fun mystery shopping than I did Shipt shopping and I made more money.

During my newbie phase, I quickly learned which shops I would do on a regular basis, which shops I would do every once in a while, and which shops I would probably never do again. I based these decisions on how long it took me to complete the shop, how much I had to remember in order to complete the shop, and how long it took me to complete the reports. 

I also learned about some tools to help me work smarter and not harder while doing shops. The main ones I use are Google, the notes app on my phone, a voice recorder (I prefer the actual devices instead of phone apps), a mileage tracker, and a good route planner app. I use Google when I’m looking for shops on the different MSCs to determine which ones are in the same areas to plan a route with. I put the main shop requirements like scenarios, questions to ask during the shop, what to look for during the shop such as location cleanliness and employee interactions, and needed pictures in the notes app on my phone so I can look at them during the shop if needed. I also use the notes app to jot down notes during the shop so I don’t forget anything like names, descriptions, and issues. I use a voice recorder to record employee interactions so I don’t forget to document key information they provided (or the lack thereof). I use a mileage app to track mileage and time spent doing shops for tax purposes. I use a route planning app to ensure I maximize my travel time when I do big routes on the weekends and on my planned “PTO to shop” days. I also use the route planning app to help me determine which shops are near each other before I apply for them

As I started getting used to doing certain shops, I found myself doing more and more, especially during the Spring, Summer, and Fall months when it stayed light outside longer. Then as I started getting faster at doing certain shops I started doing them on my lunch break. I also started dabbling into phone and web shops so I didn’t have to travel all the time. Now as a 2-year seasoned shopper I go out and do shops on my lunch break almost daily, in the evenings after work, on weekends just about every week, and I take 2 days off of my full-time job to do big routes of shops every other month! 

Key Points:

1. Use tools to help you work smarter!
1. Google
2. Notes App
3. Voice Recorder
4. Mileage Tracker
5. Route Planner
2. Do shops in the evenings if time allows after work
3. Do shops on weekends if your schedule allows
4. Do shops on lunch breaks if they are close to home and don’t require a lot of effort and time.
5. Look into doing phone and web shops that can easily be completed during lunch breaks.
6. Use PTO/vacation time if you have it and do big routes which essentially means you get paid twice (from PTO and mystery shopping) in one day!

To sum it all up, I believe the key to balancing a full-time job and mystery shopping all depends on your goals and dreams. You can do anything you set your mind to do when you have a goal you want to accomplish! So if you are just getting started, create a small goal like something small you have been wanting to purchase like a pair of shoes or a new outfit, but you just haven’t had the funds to do it. Figure out how much that costs and figure out how many shops it might take to help you get there. Then look at your schedule and see where you can make time to get them done!  Once you reach one goal amount, purchase the product and celebrate! Then, set another goal and repeat the process! Set it and Go Get it! You can do anything you set your mind to do when you have a goal you want to accomplish! My main goals were and still are getting out of debt and traveling more. Over the past 2 years, I have been able to move from Michigan to North Carolina with mostly saved up mystery shopping payments, and I’ve taken more vacations instead of staycations in 2022 than I have in my whole life using the money I have made mystery shopping! 

Meet Lonitta...

She's originally from Philadelphia PA, but lived in Michigan from 1995-November 2021 and then moved to NC for a "fresh start". She has a 19-year-old daughter who is her pride and joy! When she's not working her 8-5 job she's mystery shopping. Her favorite shops are revealed audits, card and brochure replenishments, and post office shops.