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