I remember when Ath Power cut shop fees by .25 and .50. For me, that took the cake - that's the definition of nickel-ing and dime-ing us!

I have noticed some rate decreased for some time. It appears to be seasonal sometimes. I communicate with my tried and true schedulers and get every additional certification I can get my hands on.

Everything helps in negotiations!
M S-ing... there's nothing else like it!!

As a scheduler, I am learning about what other companies pay their evaluators (shoppers). The lowest pay my company offers is $25 and they require no visit to a business or anything - they're all assessments done over the phone. Any assessments that require travel, we pay for the travel expenses before the trip and include contingency/food/gas funds. The pay for the assessments requiring on-site visits are usually $125 each, but also aren't probably as easy as a restaurant or car dealership visit. Just wanted to share that not everyone's pay-per-shop/assessment is going down.

Please add a signature line to your profile giving your company name and contact information. Schedulers are asked to do this so we know who is on the thread and so we have a contact to verify or clarify the information offered.

I'm sure we'd all love to know who has phone shops for $25.

One final comment about all this. I think we all would agree it would be great if shops paid more. You all are independent contracters. You do not need to take any shops that do not meet your needs. I do not expect shoppers to drive 20 miles for a $10 shop. I try to be flexible on shops dates and help shoppers create routes. I am not sure if ay of you live in rural areas, but it is tough to find shoppers in these areas. I especially love on of the companies I work with because we work together as a team to make things happen.

If you are a scheduler, please add a signature line with your company name and contact information so we know who is commenting.

I for one am in a rural area and would love to find more work here. I usually travel 100 miles to do routes in northern Arizona.

I used to say to the bride "I wouldn't do that shop if I were standing in the middle of the store already!" Well, I've matured a little. Maybe I still won't, but then again, it all adds up. You take the good with the bad. And I still average $22/hour, including the report.
Like anything else we done, especially grocery shopping,,etc. - you shop around and take the best you can. You establish relationships, and work with them. So yes, for some schedulers I will take the lower fee, but then they may offer me a bonus then or down the road.
It all balances if you work it.

Well the pay cut only lasted for a day. Thanks! I can take my favorite shops again.

Deacon, when you figure your $22 hourly, do you include your driving time? Is that figure net, after gas expense related to the shop?

I did a shop today that paid $75 and it was 140 miles round trip. This was a single destination; nothing else was available to me on the way or there. At my average mileage, gas alone would be $18.09, so let's say $57.00 net of gas cost. It's right at three hours there and back, including the shop. Report will be 20 minutes or so. So just ball park it at three and one half hours driving, shopping, and reporting.

If I subtract gas and include the driving, that's $16.28 per hour.

If I subtract the gas and don't include the driving, that's $57.00 for less than one hour of shopping and reporting, or $57.00 an hour.

If I don't subtract anything for gas and I don't include my driving time, that's $75 for less than an hour of shopping and reporting.

If I figure total vehicle expense at fifty five cents a mile, I worked a total of three and a half hours and lost $2.00.

I can't get more than $75 for this shop (believe me, I've tried). It's take it or leave it. I like to take it, especially because SOMETIMES (sorry) I can pick up something else along the way and then it makes a good run.

Exactly what are we talking about when we talk about X per hour? Shopping and reporting only? Shopping, Reporting, and Driving? Shopping, Reporting, Driving, Searching, and Getting Ready? Are we subtracting gas money? How are we all figuring out how much we think we make per hour?

I have a real sophisticated system for figuring out whether I will do a shop. Here it is:
1. Do I want to work?
2. Do I want to go there?
3. Do I want to do that shop?
4. Can I make a decent amount of money for my time?
5. Can I possibly add to it this time, or sometimes?
6. And last, how much do I need or want that money?

Mine is driving and completing the shops at an inflated figure to cover expenses including fuel and report time. For me prep time is usually minimal and usually done while doing something else anyway, like laundry or hanging out on the forum

A seemingly low-paying shop is valued differently by each individual. Case in point, take the bank shops Maritz has offered for several years. Many shoppers won't touch them because they think it's too much of a time investment for the shop fee. And perhaps for them, that is the case. There are definitely shops that work for others that don't work for me. However, in my area, that bank call/visit mystery shop pays $12.50, and I have done so many of them over the years that I can do 3-4 in an hour. That includes the scanning (which I have down to a science) and the reporting. That equates to $37.50 - $50 per hour before gas expense. I use an average of $7 in gas per day, which is amortized over ALL the work I do. So, those bank shops - which many people won't do because their pay is "too low" - work for ME so I do them. The bottom line is, if a $5 shop works for you financially, spiritually, whatever - then do it. If it doesn't, then don't. Because there will always be someone that the $5 shop works for, I don't see the point in spending time and energy fretting about it. Do I wish all shops paid more? Of course. Don't we all? But some don't, won't, and never will, as is evidenced by the OPs complaint about the fees actually going down.

And BTW, I am not a newbie, part-timer, or frivolous shopper. I do this full-time as my main source of income, and in both May and June I grossed over $4000 (thanks in part, I will admit, to a very lucrative video road trip). I keep my expenses minimal but most are tax-deductible items anyway.

Having been self-employed for just a hair under 1/2 century, I've noticed most folks want to inflate the net by underestimating costs. Mary listed an accurate manner of computation, I especially liked her 6 point qualifier, but didn't factor vehicle costs which always exceed gas. When I accept a day route that requires traveling a distance, one in June was over 400 mls., I factor $.50 per mile, $20 an hour drive time and what I would require in a fee. If there's only a single shop, I won't receive the assignment, but, if the tally is 12 AND the MSC needs the work completed, I'm "in the hunt." My high day route was 17.

A quick off subject comment: NEVER accept a full day's work covering a large area AND include an hours restrictive dining shop. To save a few bucks on a meal, you place yourself in jeopardy of screwing up the route and needing to return another day. I only needed to err in that area once.

I have my set standard of what I want to make hourly. I figure in my fuel cost, shop and report time and travel time. IF the MSC cannot meet me at that, then I won't do the shop. In my area there aren't many shoppers so I can wait until they are getting desperate to fill it and make them an offer. Sometimes they blow me off and sometimes they will negotiate. It depends on the company. I have found that the ones who will negotiate seem to be better to work with in the long run.