Do you love shopping? Would you love to get paid to shop, even if it is for someone else? Then why not start your own personal shopper business?
Turn Your Love of Shopping Into a Profitable Home Business
Many people enjoy shopping, and they choose to turn that into a business. It is a good way to go into stores and boutiques and buy items that suit their client’s styles or haul necessary items while earning money to do so. In short, personal shoppers work to find the perfect item that their clients want or need.
What Is a Personal Shopper?
Having a personal shopper job is not only about the fashion industry or going in and out of department stores. They can be advisers, with some of them even going shopping with the clients and guiding them to the right purchase in person.
Personal shoppers can buy groceries or other necessary items too. However, they are mostly known for purchasing clothes and accessories that their clients have envisioned. Some personal shoppers may even send text messages to their clients before buying an item to double-check. Plus, keeping the employer informed is good customer service and keeps the money flowing.
A personal shopper’s job is to know their client base. That is why they would interview their clients to get a sense of their style and what they need, as well as what they dislike. Therefore, if you want to start this type of business, you should have a questionnaire ready.
What Are the Qualifications?
As we said earlier, a personal shopper should be a secret shopaholic in that they know how to get bargains and find good deals. That can apply more to grocery shopping or running other types of errands. But, it can also work with buying clothing.
If you hired a shopper to buy clothes, it would help if they had a good sense of style and know-how to work the items together for you. Another important aspect of being someone else’s paid shopper is to give good advice.
Therefore, having experience in department stores or boutiques could help gather the skills and knowledge desired to be a good shopper. Here is where one can learn to see bargains and deals as well as fashion trends and styles. Or at least a typical store layout to make their shopping experience easier and quicker.
How Much Does It Earn?
In short — it would depend on the business model that you decide to go with. Some shoppers may ask for a percentage of what they have to buy. But mostly, they would charge per hour, with the average being about 11.57 USD. This can result in about 23.000–76.000 USD a year, depending on how large the client base is and how often they hire you. But, it is not easy to reach these numbers at the start of a business because:
- Building a client base, even a small, one is a challenge.
- Gaining the trust of the clients is also difficult.
- Working strange hours and over holidays (peak shopping season with crowds).
Plus, if you do find clients, some of them may be picky, which can make it difficult to please them. On the plus side, if you get good clients who trust you, then you could build rewarding relationships with them, which could result in good word of mouth.
What You’ll Need to Get Started
While a personal shopper does not hold inventory, and they are paid to shop, it is still a business. However, one that does not require much start-up money. But, you would still have to get a business license, write a business plan (which includes marketing) and do all the necessary steps that one has to do to establish a legal business.
Tools that would help your business as quite basic such as a cell phone with a good camera to send your clients pictures of the items and a reliable, working car to get you from shop to shop. Going back to marketing, you should set up a good website and social media presence to get the word out there about what you do. Plus, an old-fashion business card can also help.
As a reminder, it is also a good idea to have a sense of fashion and style and follow the trends. You should also know how to bargain and catch deals. Plus, it is important to respect and be conscious of the client’s budget. Therefore, aim to go under it and never over it without their permission and proof that you have to. As in a client wanted a certain shirt, it was on sale, but now it no longer is. You have to communicate and send photos of the change of price.
In Closing
A personal shopper business follows the same steps as other businesses in terms of paperwork. But, it can be fun for those who have an itching to shop, especially for other people.
