by Sherry Law

Created on: October 28, 2008

Most people do not believe that you can actually get paid to shop. Speaking from personal experience, I have to disagree. Over the course of the last thirty years, I have had several different jobs where my primary duty was to purchase items with other people's money. Each one of them was a little different and they are by no means the only ways to get paid for shopping.

The first job I had getting paid to shop, I was the purchaser for a small, church-run school and daycare. One day a week I dropped my son off at the daycare, went to the director's office for a list of the needed groceries, cleaning and office supplies and started my day of shopping. By knowing what was on sale at the various grocery stores, drug stores and office supply houses, I was able to purchase what the school and daycare needed at a cost (even after adding in my wages) that beat the grocery delivery service they had previously used. Though this was only a part time job, it allowed us to pay for my daughter's tuition at the school, while staying at home the rest of the week with my preschooler.

Later, as an assistant for an architect, I had a company credit card and shopped around for the best price when booking his airline, hotel and car rentals. I was also responsible for "shopping" prices on materials to assist him in bidding on upcoming jobs, sometimes on the phone, but often on the Internet or in person. Since he was a self-employed, single parent, I also found that I was often tossed his personal credit card or a handful of cash and a list and told to grab some groceries, "find something" for his children's birthday, fill the liquor cabinet for an upcoming party or pick up a pizza and drop off at his house before heading home for the day. Though some of my more "liberated" friends thought that I refuse to do such "demeaning" work as getting paid to shop for my boss, I was being well compensated for my time and actually had more fun shopping for his kids than I did doing his book-keeping or answering the phone.

Though I went to work for a large multi-national corporation for a few years, I soon found myself getting paid to shop again. As a book scout or "picker" I haunted garage sales, flea markets, estate sales and thrift stores looking for rare and collectible books. I was self-employed and spent my own money on the books I bought, but by working with several different book dealers and having a keen eye for a good buy I was able to make a better than average living for several years. The books that I was not able to sale to the book dealers I often sold on Half.com, eBay or one of the other online textbook buyback sites.

For the past five years I have been working part time as a mystery shopper. Most months I make about $200 dollars, but there have been months where I make $500 or $600. Even counting the cost of fuel to get to the shops and some unreimbursed purchases, I still make about $3000 a year. It's not much, but I am still getting paid to shop for items that I would be buying anyway.

These are just the shopping opportunities that I've been paid for. They are by no means the only way to get paid to shop. Busy professionals, those with health problems or senior citizens are only a few of the people that may be interested in paying you to shop. If you enjoy shopping, decide what you niche is, have some business cards printed and find you some clients. America is the land of opportunity, even if all you want to do is get paid to shop til you drop.

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