ewwww. Just think of all the gross germs that would get passed around. gross.

Excellent choice of words and add concerned. Video shoppers should not have to take $30 shops when often the same type of traditional shop is offered for more without the stress, risk and large investment in equipment. Naturally there may be exceptions. I regularly had a route of FF videos that only payed $35 and then $40. The shops took five minutes or less while the reports and video upload took 30 minutes for all four of them.

Agent 99 Wrote:
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> "Incredulous" would be more like it.

Thank all of y'all for your insight!

I do calculate the estimated time for: (1) the preparation for the shop, (2) the actual shop, and (3) the report submission. I don't accept an on-site shop out of town unless I have personal business and/or other shops that day, too. I use the first shop to hopefully meet the expenses and the remainder are the frosting when I consider accepting the assignments.

I should have included that I took those factors into consideration, also.

I just wasn't sure about a quick "replacement/vehicle use" fee to factor into whether or not the first shop is worthwhile.

Thanks again!

researcher31726 Wrote:
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> But when you are deciding to do a shop, based on
> your out of pocket expenses versus the fee, what
> dollar amount or calculation do you use to roughly
> cover your expenses?
>
> I know that some will not do a shop for less than
> a certain amount on general principle. I
> understand that, but that is not my question.
>
I'm a traditional mystery shopper. Generally, I work 3-6 hours a day, which includes preparation, drive-time, on-site, and report. Though at home, there is no such thing as uninterrupted time for my business. The phone or doorbell rings, I chat with my husband, one of the pets wants something, I get hungry, or decide to do a chore. I route shops within 20 miles from home, typically 2-4 a day. I drive a fuel efficient vehicle. With the IRS' standard mileage rate, and unreimbursed expenses, I show a profit every year. This year, my profit margin is a concern, and while I'm certainly not complaining, I'll mull and tweak before year end to my best advantage.

I take shops that make sense to me, and leave the others on the board. A lot of it is personal preference. There's a Lowe's less than two miles from me. I'm not doing it for the going rate, as it doesn't make sense to me. Also, I don't go by the dollar a mile measure, nor do I go by the $ per shop or I won't leave the house. So many variables, and each IC's business is unique. I take the shop of value to me.

Thanks for your comments, Mert. There are some shops, too, that no matter how high the pay is I prefer not doing them right now.

One is for the nursing homes. My Mom had a bad experience with a nursing home (which we reported to the official state agency.) While I was cleaning out her room while we were moving her out of there, I overheard the admin escorting a prospect around. Oh, what the admin was telling the patient's family versus what the residents had to endure!

If I ever sat down to figure out my hourly pay on mystery shops I would quit immediately and just work some additional hours on my 9-5 job. I work for chickenfeed on mystery shops because I enjoy it but I am very selective of the jobs I take, not by pay but by what I can get for it, usually nice meals. If my msc offered the vet jobs again I would take those in a second. Ditto for haircuts which are also gone. For those I just figure I am getting what I need anyway and not paying with after tax dollars. As for mileage...small amts but time is more important as the 40 mile trip that takes LisaSTl a mere 40 minutes would take me 2-3 hours on some days. And it is unpredictable with traffic. On those days my car would average 16 mpg as it would be driving the speed of city streets and stop and go driving even though I am on the freeway.
Add in bonuses as large as $2 if there are any jobs left after the 1st week of the month! Video shopping is sounding very attractive after reading the fees involved on this thread, but then again I have never seen a McD's shop for more than $1 over the regular fee and some of you do them regularly for $40 and up! So maybe those video shop fees are inflated for what this market might pay too.

Sandy,
Video really will require some travel to get the best paid jobs. Becasue videos may be really long shops (30-90 minutes on site) you cannot go back to the same site again unless the staff has changed completely. In my large metro area, I am fortunate because new apartments and condos are constantly opening, so I have some new places to do video locally. There is also a fair amount of new home developments, with SAs that I have not shopped at any time in the last 9 years. But, all of this will vary with your location. Even so, I need to make 2-4 long road trips a year to get new home, automobile and assisted living video shops at locations that I have not done before. Population density and building trends help me becasue I can easily find new video shops within 100 mile radius, for shorter road trips.

Video shopping is not really an option where Sandyf and I live...mostly due to the 2 party consent issues, I think. There is also relatively little undeveloped land and very few new home developments. Decent paying new home shops that I have seen over the years are so far outside of the central city where I reside that it it's not work fighting traffic for the fee offered. As Walesmaven pointed out, it's very location dependent.

The economy and types of shops offered are always changing, however, so I think you have to keep your eye on the market and adjust your shopping strategy as times change. Ten years ago, most of my mystery shopping was retail related. I lived within walking distance to one of the largest retail outlets in the L.A. area and it was the norm to be able to keep the items purchased on shops. Soon after I filled my closet with reimbursed apparel, the industry shifted and required returns became commonplace, so I moved on to other types of shops. I've been though phases of shopping banks, grocery stores, fast food, fine dining, apartments, etc.

These days, my focus is to stay out of my car and only take shops that are local or can be quickly accessed through public transport. Obviously that's not an option for all shoppers, but that's how I currently determine if a shop is worthwhile. As Sandy mentioned, driving in L.A. is precarious at best and with fees pretty much standardized throughout the U.S. and a plethora of hungry shoppers, a lot of driving doesn't make sense for us.

Steve,
Video and audio recorded shops are alive and well in California, as long as the prior consent rules have been obeyed by the client. Also, there are tons of video and audio recorded apartment, new car, senior living and other shops in CA. Video for retail is not, however, very common in 2 party states, simply because the employee turnover is so high that keeping up with consent forms may be a bit crazy. My state (MD) and 2 bordering states (DE AND PA) are all two party states with requirements for consent very like those in CA. And we do tons of recorded shops in these 3 states.

I shop and drive in the DC Metro area, which recently has out scored LA for traffic congestion. Schedulers are starting to bonus my recorded shops in recognition of the travel time factor. (When it's not rush hour, lanes are closed for construction.) Moreover, it's rare that I do only one recorded shop at a time, so negotiating due dates can really help the bottom line. This is much different from traditional shopping management, and the scheduler and shopper work as a team to produce workable routes. Example: I got a call last week from a scheduler saying that she had a new home video shop that would be a 100 mile round trip. Rather than offering me just that, she had done some research and gotten a client to more the date on a similar shop to coincide with the only day that original shop could be done without having to make an appointment. She began with a travel bonus so generous that it would have been a bit silly to try to negotiate. So, two very well paid, no appointment needed,new home shops with ridiculously short reports will be very profitable. Most video schedulers have done a ton of video shops themselves (Beware the one who have not!) and really apprciate what is needed by the shopper to make a good deal. Quite a different kettle of fish from most traditional shops and schedulers.

This is wonderful insight you two (Wales and SteveSoCal)...I have seen the traffic and parking issues in DC myself firsthand...I think one of the major differences is that Los Angeles goes on and on for miles of congested living (or what we call suburbs). I can drive 50 miles in every direction except west into the ocean and still not find a piece of empty land large enough to put in a housing tract. Smaller lots open up occasionally but not the scale of "new homes for sale" in the plural. And I suspect there are lots of shoppers with good credentials who live on the outskirts of the urban/suburban parts of LA in all directions who can shop the far flung new housing developements and even senior housing which is rather new and spiffy. I live ocean and freeway close but a freeway that has traffic jams even at 2 AM.sometimes.
Wales, sounds like your expertise has given you some wonderful and well earned jobs.

If you're basing it on distance, I usually use Gas Buddy's trip cost calculator and offer a scheduler to compensate for gas for close to that amount, especially if it I can knock out several for them and they've been on the board for a while. Other than that, I base it on distance from other shops I'm doing, shop complexity, and length of the report. I don't have any special numerical formula other than the trip calculator.