Route w/out bonus?

Would you take a route that does not give any bonus for taking it? It's three thousand miles round trip with the shop being $30 each and 36 shops. I have tried to even get $2 up and was told no. Am I being stupid for holding out for travel bonus?

Just lost trying to find a fire pit in a concrete jungle wishing it was a wooded glen...

if it wasn't for bad luck, I would have no luck at all

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More About Bonuses

Is the MSC paying mileage at the prevailing rate?

$30 x 36 = $1080. 3000 mi X $.50 (rounded down) = $1500. Income $1080/$1500 expense = negative ratio of .7 to 1. Unless as bestof asked, you are getting $56.5 per mile travel expense. This would be on my 10' pole list.

$1,080 for 36 locations. Is each location guaranteed? How much time do you have to spend at each location? How much time will it take to submit the individual reports and is there a final report as well? Do the shops require a purchase, if so is that fully reimbursed and and how much out of pocket would that put you up front?

That is a stop every 90 minutes, plus whatever time you need to perform the shop. Lets say 2 hours per locations on average. That's at minimum a week on the road. What will it cost to stay at a motel for 7 or more nights? $50 a night realistic? The gas alone will cost you around $350. What are you going to eat each day? Based on my math, The minimal cost to you to do this, is more than they are paying. You would need to have your car in for a full service before starting the trip. With that kind of high mileage, you would want to have it checked again when you return. You will run into unexpected expenses as well.

It will cost you more to do the trip than if you sat home doing nothing.

In reality, you should make $200 a day plus costs. That's an estimated $1,500 for just doing this PLUS $1,050 for base costs PLUS $200 for the extra vehicle service ON TOP OF a guaranteed $1,080 for the locations. That's $106 per location, and might still not be enough.

My posts are solely based on my opinions and for my entertainment, contact a professional if you need real advice.

When you get in debt you become a slave. - Andrew Jackson

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/17/2015 01:33AM by isaiah58.

I agree...10-foot poler. And thanks to LIJake and isaiah58 for saving me from having to do the math.

Thank you all! I am glad I am not the only one thinking they be crazy! If they are desperate they say they are they should pay more than what is being offered.
I am going to go up the food chain and see if there is any wiggle room...

Just lost trying to find a fire pit in a concrete jungle wishing it was a wooded glen...

if it wasn't for bad luck, I would have no luck at all

WHAT A MESS! They want to pay you less than $25 an hour for all expenses involved in traveling, shopping, and reporting.

I would only do it if I were traveling to spend Thanksgiving with a loved one.

They think they got you, and they don't want to cut a check any larger than $1080 to get the work done.

I wouldn't even think about doing this route without both bonuses and a generous mileage allowance!

I learn something new every day, but not everyday!
I've learned to never trust spell-check or my phone's auto-fill feature.

I would need triple that amount. Not including shop time you're looking at 40+ hours driving. Let's say the shops are easy and you'll be gone 7 days. I would need $800 for mileage based on actual cost to drive my car, $700 for expenses, and $1500 in profit for being gone 7-8 days.

There are reasons that a body stays in motion
At the moment only demons come to mind

"It will cost you more to do the trip than if you sat home doing nothing."

This is true.

3000 miles x $0.575 per mile = $1725
Maybe you can do 6 per day including driving time. Then you have meals and a place to stay for 5 nights, and meals.
5 nights x $200 per day for room and board (might be too low) = $1000
Revenue = 36 x $30 = $1080
Without any other expenses, you have already lost ($1725 + $1000) - $1080 = -$1645 and you have worked for 6 days without making any money at all. Do you really have to ask if you should do a route where you lose $1645 dollars and make no money?
How much do you want to earn per day? For simplicity, assume $200 (about $20 per hour for a 10 hour day). That means $1200 for the 6 days.
So IMHO, the route is only viable if they pay you a total of ($1725 + $1000 + $1200) = $3925

Shopping Southeast Pennsylvania, Delaware above the canal, and South Jersey since 2008

Nice that you asked this question and nice that some others have figured out the math for you but the bottom line as I see it is you need to figure out your hard expenses based on cost to drive for you (not at .50 a mile which may be unrealistic either up or down depending on your car and it's mileage and other costs), meals, hotels etc. Then throw in an estimate of what you think your time is worth and again, like for your car, that will vary from person to person so you one person might value their time at $10 an hour for work hours only and another person might value $30 an hour including sleeping time. So replace the numbers others have used for your estimate with realistic numbers for you and then send your figures to the msc. If they have proposed this route to you it is also a different story than if you requested it. It can certainly be turned down and as is at the price they are willing to pay to me it sounds ridiculous. Are they forgetting you need to sleep, eat, relax and buy gas??? You are not a machine, you are a person.

@myst4au wrote:

5 nights x $200 per day for room and board (might be too low) = $1000

Wow. That seems really high to me. I rarely spend $100 a night for a hotel and I stay in ok places (Hamptons and Hilton Garden in most frequently but the occasional Holiday Inn/Express or Courtyard). I can't imagine $100 a day for other expenses not including mileage.

There are reasons that a body stays in motion
At the moment only demons come to mind

It depends on the area of the country. I was assuming $150 for a room with taxes. In some places that would ve low, in some places that would be high. $50 for food is probably somewhat higher than it has to be. Since I stated my assumptions, the OP can adjust the numbers as they see fit. Even if you change my $200 per day to $100 per day, the OP is still losing over $1100 at the offered rate.

The more I think about this, the less inclined I am to think that it can be done in 6 days, That is an average of 500 miles per day. In an urban area or rural area without high speed roads, that would be a 10 hour day without the time required to do the shops. It might easily require 10 to 14 days to complete the route, rather than just 6 days.

@bgriffin wrote:

@myst4au wrote:

5 nights x $200 per day for room and board (might be too low) = $1000

Wow. That seems really high to me. I rarely spend $100 a night for a hotel and I stay in ok places (Hamptons and Hilton Garden in most frequently but the occasional Holiday Inn/Express or Courtyard). I can't imagine $100 a day for other expenses not including mileage.

Shopping Southeast Pennsylvania, Delaware above the canal, and South Jersey since 2008

Three hundred miles a day plus shops and reports is a really long day.

Mary Davis Nowell. Based close to Fort Worth. Shopping Interstate 20 east and west, Interstate 35 north and south.

I'm surprised you're even considering it. You've been around long enough to know this is a straight-up money loser.

______________________________________________________________________
Seriously, nobody cares that you're offended.

30 X 36=$1080/3000= approx 33 cents a mile...this isn't even the prevailing rate for federal employee mileage reimbursement. Not to mention the time!

Do not read so much, look about you and think of what you see there.
Richard Feynman-- letter to Ashok Arora, 4 January 1967, published in Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Track (2005) p. 230

The original post may not cover everything we need to know. It is not clear whom initiated the route. It is not clear what the individual shops require. It is not clear then if there are photo or audit requirements let alone purchase requirements.

The general consensus appears to be that a potential route like this would need to pay around $3,600 to $4,000, plus reimbursement if there is any required purchase.

My posts are solely based on my opinions and for my entertainment, contact a professional if you need real advice.

When you get in debt you become a slave. - Andrew Jackson

I did a route of 29 shops for $30 each and drove about 400 miles to do it. 3000 miles is by far a deal breaker.

______________________________________________________________________
Seriously, nobody cares that you're offended.

Let's say Gypsy is not the only shopper available and that the MSC can actually place this work with any of several shoppers who live at various points along the "route". That makes it unattractive and unnecessary for them to pay extra.

Gypsy's lifestyle has no bearing on what is fair pay for the work. What's fair pay is whatever they need to pay to get the work done. If Gypsy plans to travel that general direction anyway, picking up this batch of shops would give her a base to build on and guarantee at least some work.

I would not personally commit to work along a 3,000 mile route at this rate of pay. I would say no thank you, but I would be interested in picking up whatever you have available if and when I'm in the area, and y'all have a lovely day.

Mary Davis Nowell. Based close to Fort Worth. Shopping Interstate 20 east and west, Interstate 35 north and south.

My only thought is that you asked for only $2 extra on a shop paying $30. But it is probably a cheap paying company that doesn't care to bonus shops or has enough shoppers in the area. Or maybe the real due date is not close. Fair?

Happily shopping Rhode Island and nearby Massachusetts and Connecticut

Not on your life. I do this with Maritz all the time. I might not win all the time but in the last of that quarter I win most of the time. The problem is the Shopper that will do anything to make money and Shoppers that use what they have to have they as an incentive amount instead of using what it costs them for car insurance, gas, maintenance cost and replacement cost of the vehicle like a real business would or business man uses.

I think that Gypsy was very lucky that the MSC did not provide the extra $2 per shop. That would not have come close to being enough money for the amount of driving and time required.

Shopping Southeast Pennsylvania, Delaware above the canal, and South Jersey since 2008

I was trying to meet 1/2 way w/$2. When they said no bonus or gas. I low balled to try to have them see reason. It failed. The shops are still on the board. I will not take them w/out propper compensation.

Just lost trying to find a fire pit in a concrete jungle wishing it was a wooded glen...

if it wasn't for bad luck, I would have no luck at all

The other thing is that I am use to straight travel. I am not use to a short leash and having to return to my origin therefore I am not confident in my estimations of gas, time, etc type bonus. It is different when you can just go and then continue onto another destination.
Ahhh the joys of learning!
Thank you for you help.

Just lost trying to find a fire pit in a concrete jungle wishing it was a wooded glen...

if it wasn't for bad luck, I would have no luck at all

@BirdyC wrote:

I wouldn't even think about doing this route without both bonuses and a generous mileage allowance!

I've only been at this for 6 months, but I've never heard of any MSC actually offering mileage allowance. Is this something you normally ask for, or do some shops include such things as part of the reimbursement? To be clear, I'm honestly trying to learn more here.

I've never had a mileage allowance but I've had bonuses that covered far flung shops. I think some of the shoppers do get mileage bonuses on some of their long, negotiated routes. It doesn't happen (as far as I know) on your every day run of the mill shop.

Mary Davis Nowell. Based close to Fort Worth. Shopping Interstate 20 east and west, Interstate 35 north and south.

I've noticed an MSP or more than one offering "distance pay" for shops they want filled. Not sure that's the same as mileage?

Call it mileage, call it distance pay, call it whatever you want, it's all just payment because the shop is a long way away.

There are reasons that a body stays in motion
At the moment only demons come to mind

@bgriffin wrote:

Call it mileage, call it distance pay, call it whatever you want, it's all just payment because the shop is a long way away.

Exactly. I've asked for, and received, additional pay for gas, mileage, whatever term you want to call it. If the MSC has no shoppers on the area, or is having a problem filling the shop, it's not unreasonable, or unheard of, to ask if they'll extend a whatever-you-want-to-call-it. I usually ask for a "gas or mileage allowance." Now, I don't ask for, and have never been offered, the federal mileage allowance of 54.5 cents/mile, or whatever it currently is, but a lump sum to cover the additional time and expense.

I learn something new every day, but not everyday!
I've learned to never trust spell-check or my phone's auto-fill feature.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/27/2015 02:13AM by BirdyC.

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