I am relatively new to the world of mystery shopping. I've been hustling though. Doing all I can to learn and make myself a valuable "go to" contractor. I guess it's working. I have received calls from 4 different scehdulers at 4 different MSC's in the past week. All the calls have been the same in nature. They have shops in my area and could I help them out. I do the same thing each time. I ask them about the job and let them know I need to review my calendar before I can commit.

Being so new I wanted to hear from some seasoned veterans. Should I ask for bonuses or should I "prove" myself and the quality of my work for a while before asking? Here is why I ask. I really do want to be a valuable asset, yet I don't want to be looked over because someone may not like that I didn't do the job for their original base rate.

I've read where some of you have built good relationships with schedulers and how they will hook you up due to your prior quality of work. I want to reach that level of trust and competency.

Before you commit, ask the scheduler what the price is on the shop. Then you can tell them you need more because of the distance and ask what they can offer. They will try to get you to name a price because it is usually lower than what they are prepared to pay if necessary. Don't quote a price, ask them to.

It is late in the month so those schedulers need to fill their quotas. They are accustomed to good shoppers asking for a bonus at this time of the month; even more so later in a calendar quarter. I have never, ever, had a scheduler hold it against me that I asked for a bonus. If they can't, they can't, but at least I have told them that I would do it if it made good financial sense. It's all in how you say "no," or "maybe." The following interchange is not an exaggeration; shops in outlying areas often (and I do mean often!) carry bonuses as large or larger than what is in my example.

This goes something like this:
Scheduler: I have a bungle burger shop due by the 24th. Can you do it?
You: When and what pay?
Sched: West Boondock, $7 reimbursement and $4 fee.
You: that's 15 miles from here. I would go that far for a fee of $30, but I would also need some other shops out there to make even that worthwhile. If that works for you, I will put you on hold while I check my calendar to see what day I could go out there.

Now, you are going to need to be able to see your calendar on your smartphone, unless that call caught you at a computer. And, you may need to check a map. If you cannot do both of those things without disconnecting you may need to make arrangements stating that if you hear back from the scheduler, via email, that the date, bonus and additional shops are confirmed within xxx minutes/hours, you will accept the shops. WHILE YOU ARE ON THE PHONE, get that scheduler's email address and immediately follow-up with an email confirming the details of your conversation.

Enjoy!

Walesmaven's approach is perfect, but it takes a while to get all the pieces to fall in line to quickly be able to do the interaction with the scheduler.

Several suggestions. When you have some time kind of think about the areas near you, the distances and the drive times. I know, for example, if I go east into X community I will encounter very little traffic and a 17 mile drive will take about 25 minutes each way (and the businesses out there are all 15-19 miles from me). If I go NW into Y community the traffic is horrid, the lights frequent and not synchronized so that 17 miles will take 45 minutes. I can hop on the interstate and go south 25 miles in 30 minutes for a major retail center near the interstate. So as soon as the scheduler mentions the retail center south near the interstate I know I have an hour drive time.

As you are on a company's website, take a look at the shops in your area and on the perimeter of 'your area' (I usually set the limit at about 40 miles to include both) to familiarize yourself with what they have, where, for how much. In my head I look at a shop I would be willing to do if the price were $___ to cover drive time and the shop itself. So I know that I would do TinkerTown for $30 and it currently is at $7. That may or may not ever come about.

I do not provide MSPs with my cell number because I don't often carry my cell except if the car has been acting up or it is a long drive. I don't want them calling my cell. If they leave a message on the house phone I will call them back if I get home reasonably soon after they have called. If I'm in the house there are portable phones to carry with me to the computer to check my calendar while we talk. And then we can have a conversation about other shops in the area to make the trip worthwhile for both of us.

Flash and I are in complete agreement! If the two of us gave descriptions of two different parts of an elephant, I suspect that people would be able to put them together and recognize an elephant.

Unlike Flash, I carry my cell phone and it is my only phone.

I had a huge advantage when I began MS. For the prior 18 years I had sold residential real estate, particularly to incoming corporate relocatees who arrived without much idea of where they really wanted to live. So, instead of selling houses in a couple of zip codes, I sold DC, and all of the close-in suburbs of MD and VA. And, I had to be prepared to give them area tours, and provide info about traffic patterns, shopping areas, etc. I also had a good grasp of what areas were actually unsafe by day and those that people just thought "must" be unsafe. That latter category of areas will often yield shops with very high bonuses because shoppers who don't know any better avoid them. Moreover, some areas change radically and rapidly so may go from being a true "no go" zone to being the new Wow neighborhood within a couple of years. So, the more you know about your "turf" and stay current with such things, the better position you will be in to catch bonus opportunities and fairly assess what bonus you really need to make that shop a gain for you.

This is looking like a mighty funny elephant I would certainly hate to try to shop a town I didn't know. It is bad enough when I go out of area, but if I print out the google directions I overall know I will arrive at the correct place.

It never hurts to ask for a bonus if the situation is appropriate, and there are a lot of factors that can make the situation appropriate. I'm more likely to ask for a bonus if I feel the shop is a bit underpaid to start with. If it's not on a rat track that I normally run, I'll need some more money because I have extra expense and time involved in getting there. I try not to hit a company for a bonus every time I do a shop. For all of them, I pick up a great deal of base pay work.

I live at the edge of a large metropolitan area and we're overwhelmed with shoppers. The majority of shops move off the boards at base rates. On the shops out west, I'm more likely to be able to secure a bonus. Where you are, how much work there is in your area, and the level of competition all factor into what will be available as bonuses. No one who knows your area will tell you what you can get because you are their competition. Those who don't live where you are cannot know the details of your circumstances and can only make suggestions based on best guesses.

You, rather than anyone else on this forum, will be the expert on your own area. It will take you a little time but you will eventually learn the ins and outs of where you are. In the meantime, take whatever comes along. It will provide opportunities to build your reputation with the MSCs. Keep signing up and keep looking to expand what you are doing. If competition is especially hard, consider driving greater distances. In one hour, you can drive 60 miles. In two hours you can drive 120. No matter where you are, after you do that you will be somewhere else.

@SouthernCharm wrote:

I am relatively new to the world of mystery shopping. I've been hustling though. Doing all I can to learn and make myself a valuable "go to" contractor. I guess it's working. I have received calls from 4 different scehdulers at 4 different MSC's in the past week. All the calls have been the same in nature. They have shops in my area and could I help them out. I do the same thing each time. I ask them about the job and let them know I need to review my calendar before I can commit."

I always have my calendar at my fingertips, by virtue of my smart phone. My cell phone is my only phone. The amount of shops I pick up, on the go, each month, more than pays for the cell plan. Plus, cutting my landline saved me $40+/month.

"Being so new I wanted to hear from some seasoned veterans. Should I ask for bonuses or should I "prove" myself and the quality of my work for a while before asking? Here is why I ask. I really do want to be a valuable asset, yet I don't want to be looked over because someone may not like that I didn't do the job for their original base rate."

We prove ourselves with each shop. You will not be overlooked if your body of work is excellent.

"I've read where some of you have built good relationships with schedulers and how they will hook you up due to your prior quality of work. I want to reach that level of trust and competency.

It is helpful to have studied various MSC's job boards. That provides insight into what locations are hard to fill, and where competition is great. Generally, when it is end of month, and schedulers call, I ask what they are paying. If that is acceptable, I bite. If not, I counter. I do not try to justify what I am asking for. I am a traditional shopper, not video, and it would be folly for me to ask the scheduler to hold the shop for me while I checked around for other shops. Schedulers have a list of eligible shoppers to call, and are pressured to move down the list to book the shop asap. Again, that is why it is beneficial to know who has shops in my area, outlying, and boonies. I have to be prepared to accept or decline, on the spot.

It really comes down to the types of shops you do, the amount of shops in your radius, willingness to drive when the pay is right, and the competition.

Just give it a whirl if you don't think it's enough, and ask for the bonus. If you think maybe it is enough, do the shop, you might change your mind. Or you might be surprised by how easy it was. Experience is always the best teacher.

How is it some MS call you? Ive never been called... And how do you go about asking for a higher price? I get offers on email, but it seems like these emails are more like finals offers and many people might be accepting them, no? Am I really in a place to ask a person emailing smth like "if you can raise this and other shops' prices and bundle them all in one area in one day then I will do them all"?

I have only gotten calls from that little hedgehog.

One other thing to add -- if you do decide to take a shop to "prove yourself," let the scheduler know that you're willing to do it with the expectation that she is going to call you first with the plum shops. Then KEEP A LOG of the schedulers who actually fulfill the "I owe you one" promises. Warning: a lot of them will never, ever reciprocate once they're out of the bind. Remind them when applying for the next shop. Those that do value shoppers who go the extra mile are golden, and I will take a shop unbonused if they're in a bind and don't have the discretion to add funds.

Returned favors are indeed an important part of this business. There used to be a real dog of a shop with one company that was on everybody's 10' list because the pay was nothing and they could not bonus it. It was routinely 'exchanged' for the promise of a plum that paid a lot at a place people liked and the job was very little work. After 2 'oops I forgot and now the plum is gone for this month' the scheduler was politely told to call with the dog only when she could simultaneously assign me the plum. They lost the plum client before the dog and were really in trouble getting the shops placed. We always wondered a bit about the ethics of using a $50 job to get a $4 job done for another client, but somehow the world still spins.

@SouthernCharm wrote:

I really do want to be a valuable asset, yet I don't want to be looked over because someone may not like that I didn't do the job for their original base rate.

Honestly this mindset baffles me.
It's also why many people in this profession average $3 an hour.

So true, b. We have to work with the MSCs but we're not here for them, we're here for us. We'll never get more than we expect. Never.

@bgriffin wrote:

Honestly this mindset baffles me.
It's also why many people in this profession average $3 an hour.

@bgriffin - This is why I am asking for advice and wisdom. If I had all the answers I wouldn't ask. I honestly can't speak for anyone else. I know me, my integrity, and what I am looking for with supplementing my income. I can't speak for the folks who "average $3 an hour." All I can say is God bless them and I hope things turn around for them. Thank you for your input all the same. I like to see both sides of the coin when I'm in a discussion.

For shoppers who have successfully completed assignments ~ you MAY get calls from an MSC requesting assistance in hard-to-fill, or last-minute assignments. If your assignments were not so successful, you may still get calls, if the competition in your area stinks. If you have little to no competition, you likely will be called, regardless.

Regarding $3/hour average? How in the world could this be measured with certainty? Our travel time and time in report, is not recorded anywhere, except in our own minds or spreadsheets.

One more thing to keep in mind is weekday rush hour. I had a dinner shop call that was 15 miles away from downtown on a Friday night that would have taken close to an hour to get to. They would not pay me enough to do the shop and sit in rush hour. They were maxed out at $30 bonus and I would not do it for less than $40. I told the scheduler that I could do it for $30 if it was Saturday instead, as without rush hour, the trip becomes a 20 minute drive each way with everyone doing 75 on that same stretch of highway. The scheduler had to put me on hold and gave me the job for Saturday and I was happy with the bonus at that point.

Once I got the shop moved to Sat. it made sense to modify my route and hit up a bread outlet store near the shop and fill the freezer with my favorite raisin bread, bagels, rye bread, and health nut breads. That one job paid for my bread for the next month as well as eggs and milk for the week.

I want to pop back in and say thank you to everyone for challenging me with their advice, wisdom, and the snark. Yes, I am being serious. I was able to read and re-read through this thread at my leisure and put together a basic script when talking with people. Just yesterday and today I was able to get $95.00 in bonuses between two shops. Thanks for the help and really challenging me to think about how I look at this. Honestly, I don't feel like I got over on anyone and I don't feel like anyone got over on me. It seemed mutually beneficial and I like that.

I have been in the situation that Flash described above.
More than once I've helped out a scheduler in a bind with the with the promise of other assignments.

The follow up shop does not occur and they act like they don't know what your talking about.

"Remind me, send me the email...Oh I forgot and shop is no longer available. "

I no longer do quid pro quo without the "quo" been assigned at the same time.

Which of course puts the scheduler in a bind since there were 23 requests ahead to do that shop. But somehow it is not a perfect world and bribery will get you a long, long way.

@Flash wrote:

Which of course puts the scheduler in a bind since there were 23 requests ahead to do that shop. But somehow it is not a perfect world and bribery will get you a long, long way.

There are many times I watch the jobs drop at a certain MSC and I'm hitting F5 and the plum jobs are already assigned when they are entered into the system. This MSC grays them out, but they are still shown. I'm sure it's someone saying, "I'll grind out two or three of this undesirable shop this month that your sending out email requests for, if you assign me the highly desired shop."

I'm going to call the scheduler of the undesirable shop next time they are in a bind and see if I can work out a trade with them for the shop I never saw unassigned.

This afternoon my phone rang and it was a scheduler with whom I've never spoken before, on behalf of an MSC I've done a decent amount of work for. She was offering me a dinner shop 45 minutes away with a ten dollar bonus. I was hesitant; I asked when the report was due, and God bless her, she said it was already overdue and had to be done immediately.

I already had plans, but said that I would break them for an extra fifty bucks on top of the regular pay. (Personal plans, not cancelling another shop.) She said she'd have to call the boss, but I had a good feeling about it. My phone rang again three minutes later.

You know the rest. The report's already done, and I'm enjoying a cup of coffee on a very full stomach. I learned on this forum to ask for more than you think they'll be willing to pay; the worst they can do is say no. And if they say yes, you get the job done fast and make sure it's perfect. I love the end of the month...

Last night I emailed a scheduler for an oil change shop. I said that I could have it done on Saturday, if he would raise the bonus to $60 (it was previously $30, no fee). I woke up to an acceptance email and was able to do it today instead, because my SO was off today.