A scheduler was upset that I refused to do a few instore telephone shops 12-17 miles away for $10. I explained that my time, driving back and forth, time in the shop, time filling out the reports, and gas was worth more than $10. She basically said $10 was plenty. The mention of 1 car repair has made me think twice about these under compensated jobs.

I have basically set up minimums for myself at this point.

$12 to drive anywhere

$15 for in store shops further than 10 miles away

$25 for apartment shops

$50 for video shops

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/08/2013 09:25PM by Goofy.

We need to determine what our rates are and how much we're willing to do when we step out of the house. If you say I'd be willing to do the shop but only for $15, the scheduler has the option to meet your price or step away. Often times, there are local issues that make it more challenging to get to a specific shop and just distance. I know there was one they called and wanted to do because it was only 16 miles away and so very limited on the bonus that they were offering. However, The main road to get from my place to that shop was closed for repairs and rerouting it would be close to 40 miles. Since it was a very isolated area with no other shops a possibility, I refused even though I had done the shop at the price they were offering previously. As an IC, that's my choice to make.

Let's see.... 34 mile round trip, gas still about $3 a gallon..... for many cars that would be almost 2 gallons of gas not counting wear and tear on the tires and oil changes and stuff. Yeah, I'll jump right in the car and go make that special trip for $10.

I'll do a shop for $10 if I'm already going there for something else.

I got an extra $5 for a $5 FF shop once because it was an evening shop and would require me to make a special trip to town 8 miles from here. I don't mind doing them for the $5 if I can do it during the day when I'm going in to town for the bank or post office or grocery shopping. But I wouldn't budge for a special trip unless they covered the gas.

Turned out the store was closed when it was supposed to be open so the trip was wasted any way. I got permission to do a late afternoon shop and did it the next day when I was in town running errands. I was really glad I'd insisted on that $5 bonus!

I don't understand why that was a wasted trip. Don't tell me they did not pay a closed shop fee at the very least.

itsasecret Wrote:
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> Let's see.... 34 mile round trip, gas still about
> $3 a gallon..... for many cars that would be
> almost 2 gallons of gas not counting wear and tear
> on the tires and oil changes and stuff. Yeah,
> I'll jump right in the car and go make that
> special trip for $10.


The shops were also in 3 different directions. It would have been a minimum of 24 miles for the 1st shop round trip and maximum of 34 miles for the 3rd shop round trip. With all 3 shops together it would have been around 80 miles round trip for the $30 in fees. I would have considered them for $15 each but not for $10 each. They were not interested at $15.

That scheduler is the opposite of many I have worked with who have been bonusing shops for distance and gas.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/06/2013 05:48PM by Goofy.

I try to make it a practice to let the scheduler know what my travel costs are just to break even before we even discuss fees ad/or bonuses. It's usually easier for us to communicate constructively if they know what my situation is from the get-go.

shopgal Wrote:
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> I try to make it a practice to let the scheduler
> know what my travel costs are just to break even
> before we even discuss fees ad/or bonuses. It's
> usually easier for us to communicate
> constructively if they know what my situation is
> from the get-go.


That is what I basically did with this scheduler. Most the schedulers I have worked with have been flexible when I have done that. This one basically said $10 is plenty for an instore telephone shop. I was surprised. Almost felt like she thought she was doing me a favor.

There will be those schedulers that don't grasp basic math that we will encounter from time to time. I break it down very simply for them and say, "It will COST me $10 to go to ShopperTown and back. I would need that just to cover my transportation costs. However, there is no benefit to me simply break even, because then I am working for FREE." If they still don't get it, I politely tell them to keep me in mind in the future if they ever have a situation that works out to EVERYONE's mutual benefit.

If a scheduler gets upset with that, that's not my problem.

I like that approach shopper gal. An extra $5 will not make me rich but hopefully I would then do more than break even.

That scheduler reminds me of someone I know who is a narcissist

Sadly, it seems more and more people are like this, Buzz. The world is all about THEM.

Even if the store was a block away, I wouldn't do a phone shop for $10. A lot of times the store is busy and you have to wait for a minimum amount of time. Plus, the reports are usually a PITA with narratives. I think quite a few of them don't take into account our travel as well as reporting time. They just make the estimate based on in store time.
I wouldn't worry about the scheduler giving you a hard time because you wouldn't take them for that amount. If they had so many people lined up to do them, she wouldn't have had to call you in the first place.

I agree with Scarlet about cell phone shops. They are tedious. I don't touch them for less than $12, and usually really won't even consider them until they are $15 or above.

The irony here is I just got back from a $15 phone shop for a different company.

I was just looking for what I considered fair (not even good) compensation for my time, gas, car, etc.

cell phone shops are one of the highest paying to the msc's. Never settle for less. The cell phone companies pay them big money for what is seemingly a simple shop to us. They love their data.

There are so many msc's that shop cell phone companies that you should be able to eliminate the ones that are greedy and keeping all the money for themselves.

There is one msc that pays me 65-85 to do their cell phone shops at the end of the month that no one completed that normally are on their board for 10-15 dollars depending on scenario.

Sure, they use me only if they need to, but they know I will do them. Most they gave me in one month at that rate was around 20. Nice extra bonus for me. Last month I was given 3.

Key to getting high bonused shops is knowing which areas are hard to shop in your area. The types of shops that are hard vary by region. Over the years I've monitored and watched closely and know which towns in every state along the East Coast that are difficult to shop. Huge advantage by knowing. If I know they usually bonus a shop for 50 at the end of the month, I might offer to do it for 40 mid-month so it saves them money and they get it done early. You would be surprised how many will say yes.

Always Remember to negotiate and don't be afraid to say no. Always ask for a few dollars more then you want, so they can come down to your price and they think their winning.

In the last week I have gotten a $15 shop bumped to $45, two $20 shops bumped to $35 each and two $20 shops bumped to $45 each. A shopper told me that a single car repair wiped out two months worth of her shops. That really opened my eyes. I really encourage people not to sell themselves short. If you are getting in your car, paying for gas, etc you are worth more than 8-10 dollars a shop.

Goofy,

You're doing it right. From the tone of your original post, it sounds like you are a little upset and guilty and nervous about not doing the $10 shops for that narcissist scheduler.

Don't be.

I think that it's kind of a female thing, to feel that we have to make the troubled waters smooth and everyone happy. And since the majority of shoppers are women, some companies and schedulers know they can push us a bt to get what they want.

Don't let them!

Instead, sign up with a new company or two today. Keep doing that, get into triple digits, and you will see the $20, $30 shops when they pop up on your boards and be able to jump on them. You probably won't even answer the phone when that scheduler calls, LOL.

Good Luck!

Missy (former single mom who made it to the other side)

Goofy Wrote:
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> I
> really encourage people not to sell themselves
> short. If you are getting in your car, paying for
> gas, etc you are worth more than 8-10 dollars a
> shop.

That's why it is important to stay away from those low paying assignments when they first hit the job boards. There is no benefit to the shopper to go in the hole by taking a $3 fee for a nonreiumbursed retail shop. None. I still don't get why anyone would take these assignments.

> That's why it is important to stay away from those
> low paying assignments when they first hit the job
> boards. There is no benefit to the shopper to go
> in the hole by taking a $3 fee for a
> nonreiumbursed retail shop. None. I still don't
> get why anyone would take these assignments.


They do them because they're new and don't fully understand MS work.

I used to kill myself doing a daily route of 8-12 shops at $10 each, 5-6 days a week.

Then I started listening to the rational voices of wisdom here and signed up with dozens and dozens of MSCs.

If I'm not doing video, I will do 3-4 shops at $30 each.

MUCH easier on my mind, typing fingers, and vehicle.

It is very rare that I turn down a schedulers request but you ladies are 100% right. I'm not accepting the underpaid shops anymore. I took a $13 shop last week for a new company. I did the shop but was surprised to find out that the form had around 90 questions including multiple narrative questions. I do not plan to take another job from that company. Unfortunately with the Sassie system you can not see the form before clicking accept. Ive been asking for bonuses and looking for bonuses much more often as well. We work hard. We are not getting rich but I feel we do deserve a fair payment. Thanks for all the encouragement.

Goofy Wrote:
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> It is very rare that I turn down a schedulers
> request but you ladies are 100% right. I'm not
> accepting the underpaid shops anymore. I took a
> $13 shop last week for a new company. I did the
> shop but was surprised to find out that the form
> had around 90 questions including multiple
> narrative questions. I do not plan to take another
> job from that company. Unfortunately with the
> Sassie system you can not see the form before
> clicking accept. Ive been asking for bonuses and
> looking for bonuses much more often as well. We
> work hard. We are not getting rich but I feel we
> do deserve a fair payment. Thanks for all the
> encouragement.



I always ask for a copy of the form before accepting a shop, especially from msc's that are known to have long winded redundant forms. If they delay providing you the form, stay away!

I'm not disagreeing with you about asking for the form, but if someone is a new shopper and/or in a relatively competitive area that is not always going to work. Even if the scheduler agrees the chances are the jobs will be gone. It works more for an established shopper. I also see some value for new shoppers to take a variety of shops from as many different companies as possible in order to find their niche and develop their sense of both a MSCs value and their own. That is why we also recommend shopper's proceed slowly when taking new to them shops with new to them companies.

I never dealt with a scheduler in the above example so there really wasn't anyone to ask for the form. I just clicked the shop off the job board. It is okay though. I always do the jobs I accept. I just learned my lesson and will look away from that company in the future.

If there is a gradual move away from MSCs that don't allow you to view the shop first, and they suffer as a result, you better believe that they will adapt and chage.

I can't imagine accepting a business contract without seeing the document, and yet I do it regularly as a mystery shopper.

*shaking head*

That is a great point Missy. We are actually committing to some jobs without really having a firm idea of what they entail at times.

I had no problem spiking a job back to one of them 5 minutes after I got it after seeing the instructions and report and realizing I'd bitten off more than I was willing or able to chew. I make a point (after learning the hard way once or twice) to read the directions as soon as I get the job. If I felt a job was grossly misrepresented and undercompensated, I would be perfectly willing to cancel it right away so they could get another shopper to do it.

I did that with my first (and only) Maritz assigment. I had just signed up with them and they called me almost immediately. I had a really hard time getting the nice, but assertive, scheduler off the phone. I was naive enough to think she was genuinely just calling to introduce herself and let me know how things worked with them, but she then started listing off jobs in my area. I told her I wasn't ready yet and wanted to familiarize myself with the materials they were sending out since it was my first foray into gas station jobs. She was NOT taking no for an answer. I let her assign me a job about three weeks out. I called the very next day and told the scheduler that answered that I was canceling and she acted like I flaked at 11:59 the night of the deadline. The shop had only been assigned to me for about 8 hours at that point and was 20 days away. There was a lot of huffing and puffing by the scheduler and some veiled threats about how this could affect my "standing". Luckily for me, I got the materials a few days later and realized that gas stations just aren't a good fit for me and I wouldn't be signing up for those shops ever (if you're in my area, you're welcome!) so haven't actually checked to see if I'm still even active with them but I didn't appreciate the aggressive push to schedule, nor the thinly veiled contempt for canceling. They're at the very bottom of my priority list for that reason.

I was once offered a FF job with a $10 bonus. It was lunchtime dine-in during school holidays right before Xmas. I had my own child home on holiday and would not be able to take her. I had no intention of even leaving the house that day and the store was 16 miles away. I told the scheduler that I was like a super-model and would not even leave the house for under $100. They declined, but that is pretty much my rate. If I am going out anyway, no problem, but if I have to leave the house, I make a few hours of it to try to do $80-100 for the outing in either fees or reimbursements over several shops, as well as picking up groceries or doing banking for myself.

The point of mystery shopping is that they always recommend that it is something you fit around your normal activities and they cannot guarantee you any regular or income. So if I am not going to a place anyway, they better make it worth my while.

Good luck SaskiaNZ on that $100
you are dreaming if you think it is the norm!


Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I was once offered a FF job with a $10 bonus. It
> was lunchtime dine-in during school holidays right
> before Xmas. I had my own child home on holiday
> and would not be able to take her. I had no
> intention of even leaving the house that day and
> the store was 16 miles away. I told the scheduler
> that I was like a super-model and would not even
> leave the house for under $100. They declined,
> but that is pretty much my rate. If I am going
> out anyway, no problem, but if I have to leave the
> house, I make a few hours of it to try to do
> $80-100 for the outing in either fees or
> reimbursements over several shops, as well as
> picking up groceries or doing banking for myself.
>
> The point of mystery shopping is that they always
> recommend that it is something you fit around your
> normal activities and they cannot guarantee you
> any regular or income. So if I am not going to a
> place anyway, they better make it worth my while.

If I'm going somewhere I don't otherwise need to go, just so I can mystery shop, my daily minimum is $100 PLUS double my gas outlay. And I get it or I don't go.

I'm in this to make ME money, not THEM.