Is there a set amount that shops pay for distance pay. I just requested 5.00 each for two shops that are in the vicinity of another shop that I am going to shop. I am hoping I can receive 10.00 for traveling out of my way to complete this shops. Thanks.

In general, they'll pay the least that they think they'll have to in order to get the job done. If you're asking for $5 apiece for "distance pay" and you're driving an extra 10 miles, and another shopper is asking for $4 apiece and is driving an extra 100 miles, the other shopper will get it. If the other shopper asks for an extra $10 apiece, you'll get it. The dependability of the bidding shoppers can affect the MSC's decision as well, but in general the lowest bidder gets the job irregardless of miles traveled.

Well said, Elcare. Many shoppers believe distance is a factor in what the MSC will pay. Not so. The MSC will pay the least amount possible to get the job done. Wouldn't we do the same thing? Yes.

Yes I understand. I usally do not ask for distance pay but in this case since I was doing 3 shops I asked. OHH yes I did receive the 10.00 extra for my shops... Now I just have to input them... That is the tough part.

You are running business. You should be calculating mileage at the IRS mileage rate of $0.575 per mile. If you are charging less, you are loosing money. You may not get the job, but the real question you should be asking is whether you are happy losing money. Those who simply try to recover "gas money" are deluding themselves about the true cost of driving somewhere. I continually get requests to travel 100 miles each way, and it will take me 2 hours to drive there. My distance pay is 200 x $0.575 = $115 plus 4 hours at whatever I decide my time is worth. Once in awhile an MSC can't find anyone to go "there" for "gas money" and they pay me. More often than not, someone is willing to go there for less, and probably lives closer or is simply deluded and is willing to lose money. I am not willing to lose money.

As far as what to ask to cover a long distance shop, there's more than one way to go about it. I don't charge any amount set in stone as far as car expense or hourly driving fees, but I try to get about $10.00 to $12.00 an hour for my time driving. Sometimes I do and sometimes I don't.

It does not cost me 0.575 per mile for the incremental vehicle expense incurred to mystery shop and I assure you I am on top of my numbers and I am not deluded. Nor am I losing money. Most of the time I ask for less than 0.575 per mile, and on the rare occasion I'll ask for more and get it. It depends on the circumstances, and those circumstances include my volume of work booked and my inclination to take the trip.

Each individual shopper has to decide what their time/car/efforts are worth and how important it is to earn the available dollars for any local or long distance shop. A person needing food for the family and diapers for the baby has a different attitude than a person shopping for the little extra goodies no one really needs. All of us are different and we have different programs.

I'm not encouraging anyone to shop and lose money doing it, but I think sometimes we're not practical about how much many of us may be in actual need. When need is pressing, it's better to work and generate consistent daily profits rather than hold out for all the peachy plum assignments that may look great but do not add up over the long run to as much as consistent daily work. I don't do this to lose money. I do this to make money, and I have been making money doing this since 2009. Thinking there is only one way to make this work is just so much "delusional trash", a term I learned from another forum member and took for my own.

If BOTH shops are in the same vicinity, there is no justification to get a separate travel bonus for each..as you are not traveling far from one to the other.

There is no one set standard across companies. At least one company has it set by milage built into their job board.

It is not the distance from your office but rather how well you can hop from rock to rock as you cross the stream. I did a route that took me to the border of New Jersey/ Pennsylvania from Essex county and made lots of money asking for distance pay but in reality it was not the distance from where I live but the distance from the last shop.The shops became "local" rather than long distance. If you can weave together shops out in the boondocks you can make money. Out in West Jersey the locals have million dollar houses and do not mystery shop. The schedulers have to find mystery shoppers in less afluent counties. I did not know they had bison farms in West Jersey.

I got a call the other day to do two grocery store audits in the next county. I usually do three at $10 extra a store to make $1 a mile. I asked for $15 instead of $10, she checked with her supervisor and gave it to me. I found a bank next to one store for $12 soI am still making $1 a mile. The next day they called back and asked if I would do the third store because of a flake, being nice I took their offer of $10 extra because I have the extra money from the other two stores and bank. Now I am making more than $1 a mile today. But with shops I try to keep my minimum to $1 a mile for round trips.

I ask for what I WANT....they can take it or leave it as can I.....