I have received PayPal payments directly from the scheduler under her own name, not a company name.

@Alisonj3 wrote:

@Tlt14, What's your formula? Gas $$ + travel time = your acceptable hourly rate? (Sorry if you already said and I missed it.)

I calculate what it will cost me in gas/wear and tear. I then multiply my desired hourly rate (I aim for $30) by the number of hours that it will take me driving+estimated shop time+estimated reporting time. I add these two figures together to come up with my fee. I'll also consider what I would accept for a minimum counter offer. For example, I might settle for an outcome of $25/hour, but NEVER less than $20/hour.

ETA: To figure out my gas cost, I multiply the miles by 15 cents. My true gas cost per mile is about 12 cents, so I add a bit of a buffer. I don't do .575 (like many people do) and I know many disagree with that, but to each their own. The way I see it, I'm driving to make money, no matter what the job; it's just life. My 9-5 doesn't give an allowance for gas and I still do that, too. That's my personal thought on the matter.

Interesting to see how it works for different shoppers depending on where they live and travel.

I took an overnight resort from a favorite company that was supposed to be a 100 mile round trip and was actually a 300 mile round trip. I could have pressed for more money (on top of their generous travel fee and shop fee), but I did not. Why? I could have. The answer is that they pay travel and send me EVERYWHERE. They just call or email and ask me to go. I don't have to apply. She probably has no extra money to work with on this shop. So, I'll make it up on the next one. I don't want them calling the next person on the list the next time that they have a juicy job to hand out.

Tell that scheduler for you to stop what you are doing, and to have to reschedule other commitments, it would take a $100.00 bonus. If she will send you a confirming email in the next 10 minutes that the job will pay that, then you will do the shop. Otherwise, thanks but no thanks.

@MsJudi wrote:

After contacting the scheduler, I received a handwritten personal check from her for the bonus amount.

The scheduler made a choice to pay you a bonus to complete a round of shops that allowed the scheduler to get paid more than the money they paid you. They weighed the cost of not getting paid a bonus for getting all the shops assigned,and decided it was worth cutting you that check. If they were loosing money, I don't think they would be scheduling for that company.

I had a scheduler offer me a bonus and told me to email him after the job was complete with bonus in the header. He paid only the bonus portion with a personal joint checking account. The rest of the fees were paid on a company check a month later by the MSC.

@fa2 wrote:

I had a scheduler offer me a bonus and told me to email him after the job was complete with bonus in the header. He paid only the bonus portion with a personal joint checking account. The rest of the fees were paid on a company check a month later by the MSC.

Is that really ethical on the part of a scheduler? They are deceiving their client.

I have seen it a few times. If the scheduler wants to pay more than the client will just to get it off their desk I have no real issue with that. And if the client will only pay so much, the scheduler needs to find some way to complete the contract they made with you.

@Ms.Baker wrote:

Is that really ethical on the part of a scheduler? They are deceiving their client.

The Client has already hired the MSC. The MSC charges a certain rate for its services to the Client. It is up to the MSC to get the job done. I do not see any deception because the MSC is doing what they have to get paid. The Client pays the MSC how much they charge. But the bonuses are offered by the MSC not by the Client. The less the MSC pays US the shopper, the more in their profit in pocket. The Client probably pays by the month (x number of shops~~$1000, bonus for the MSC would be--->x plus) So if the Scheduler is paying out of her own checking account, she is looking at a upcoming BONUS check,

Finally, the Client is reading the report, not wondering "How much are you paying the Shopper?"

Had someone ask me about a shop I did previously, offered a FIVE DOLLAR BONUS. I replied I did it because I was in the area (3hr roundtrip from home) doing a $350 route. What does it pay with the bonus? "..uh wow. $20?" I thanked her for her time and respectfully declined which she graciously accepted. Now..once I was in OR and someone called about a shop in Olympia, WA and I pointed out where I was and I would need some travel bonus to consider it. They paid quite generously and everyone was happy.

You have to be careful on how and what you say when they call. I have been taken off of a gas station shop because of this last minute shops and I told the scheduler but they were too cheap and I could not do the shop for that price and hung up on them. It was not because I didn't do the shops fair I just pissed off the scheduler now the team leader that handles these has black ball me and in my area this was one of my bread and butter money shops

@bmttinman wrote:

You have to be careful on how and what you say when they call. I have been taken off of a gas station shop because of this last minute shops and I told the scheduler but they were too cheap and I could not do the shop for that price and hung up on them. It was not because I didn't do the shops fair I just pissed off the scheduler now the team leader that handles these has black ball me and in my area this was one of my bread and butter money shops

Sometimes............"WE cut off our own noses to spite our face' Where was your negotiating power?

@LisaSTL wrote:

......I'm not sure if that's an urban legend or not. I've read about it yet have not had one single scheduler ever tell me it actually happened....

It's not an urban legend....many schedulers, including myself, do that in a pinch. We're being paid to fill the shop and it's our responsibility to get it booked...so why should the MSP have to foot the bonus?

I was given that line, "What would it take you to do that shop?" for a very nice restaurant n the Hamptons, 96 miles one way. We did the other location in Manhattan. But 96 miles was a bit much. I was scared to ask for $100 bonus, didn't want to alienate this nice company I do lots of restaurants for.

Can you share what your "formula" is? Or how you came about it?

Regarding schedulers/bonuses; Paying a bonus from their personal finances is an option that some will take to assure their own bonus for filling a group of shops before a deadline. They are simply sharing their bonus with you, so I don't see how it would be unethical. If it's the last day of the quarter, the scheduler has one shop left and is looking at a $500 bonus if they get this very last shop in, you could probably negotiate a hefty bonus from them.

That said, I find end of the month/quarter bonusing to be a somewhat lazy approach to scheduling, which creates an expectation of those bonuses and a continuing cycle of begging for shops. Schedulers are, in essence, creating their own problem. I say this as someone who has been a scheduler, so I understand the issue pretty well.

At the beginning of any quarter/month, I already knew where my hard-to-fill locations would be. It would have been foolish of me to wait until the last minute and then beg shoppers and/or offer bonuses. That's when you get shoppers who know the system and are going to milk it for all it's worth. If I called a shopper on the 10th and offered them $25 to get to Podunk in the next 2 weeks, they would probably be easier to deal with then if I called on the 29th and asked what it would cost me to get them there the next day.

You also have to keep in mind that if your job is to schedule shops and you are low on shoppers, your job is also then to recruit shoppers. Too many schedulers rely on MSCs to supply a list of available shoppers and then just simply put names into shops. If a scheduler has to pay a large bonus for a particular location, they would by much smarter to then put some time/energy/money into signing up shoppers that live near the location....and not repeatedly beg the same shoppers to drive long distances for the shop.

Two in particular co's, schedulers will call me and give me great deals!!! One once asked if i would do ten shops in one day.. my bonus was awesome: $200... they were very quick jobs, not close by, but, w/the help of DH, got them all done and inputted.

I removed my cell number from one MSC and said my preference for being contacted was via email because I don't intend to work for them for less than it is worth. Today, I get an email asking me to do a deadline shop. I quoted them a price and justified it at 53 cents a mile and driving time to be paid by minimum wage. I don't expect to hear back from them because they never pay this kind of bonus--you know, what the job costs the shopper or what it is worth.

Steve, really, shoppers milk it for what it's worth? As someone who has worked both sides I would expect you to realize most shops offered at base price are not worth the time it takes to read the guidelines let alone actually get dressed and leave the house. Very few of us are not in this business to make money. If clients and MSCs find no value in what we offer, so be it. Maybe they will learn the lesson it is cheaper to keep a customer than find a new one.

And of course it was easier to offer a reasonable bonus at the beginning of the month when a shopper would be able to build a route. At the end of the month with nothing else available why should we treat it as anything but a stand alone shop? I am going to be much more inclined to add in a $25 shop an hour away early in the month. By the 29th that is a stand alone shop and the fee is going to be commensurate. That is not milking the system, it's a smart business decision.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/04/2015 02:24AM by LisaSTL.

@LisaSTL wrote:

As someone who has worked both sides I would expect you to realize most shops offered at base price are not worth the time it takes to read the guidelines let alone actually get dressed and leave the house.

Yes, of course I realize that. I was not implying that shoppers are taking advantage by waiting for bonuses. I was saying that schedulers and MSCs who increase bonuses as the month goes are are in essence creating their own problem, whereby shoppers hold off on taking assignments that could otherwise get scheduled, knowing that a bonus will be applied if it doesn't. It's a poor system that encourages shoppers to hold of on requesting shops...and would probably work better if each shop paid an acceptable fee to start with.

That we can agree on. If more companies would also come off of this two to three day window at the beginning of the month and their penchant for making us commit to one single day in already short windows, it would make all our lives easier and probably more profitable.

I always add in specific commentary identifying the round-trip mileage, the cost of gasoline per gallon, the mpg my vehicle gets (14 if I take my pickup), and cite the total add-on hard costs to add to any extra fee. The mileage issue always gets them to pick someone else. It is interesting to note that most of these I see usually have no idea where Newark, DE is and think I live in Newark, NJ; thus wanting to assign a task easily 2 hours away from me (twice as long if there is an accident on the NJ Turnpike). Try the gas consumption add-on to your pricing and see what happens. Good luck.

I would not throw out a number. I would simply say, I'm sorry, I can't do it. If they come back with the question what would it take for you to do it. I would reply, I'm sorry, as I said, I just can't do it. I don't like the idea of saying I can't do it and then basically saying if you pay me enough though I will do it.

@SteveSoCal wrote:

At the beginning of any quarter/month, I already knew where my hard-to-fill locations would be. It would have been foolish of me to wait until the last minute and then beg shoppers and/or offer bonuses. That's when you get shoppers who know the system and are going to milk it for all it's worth. If I called a shopper on the 10th and offered them $25 to get to Podunk in the next 2 weeks, they would probably be easier to deal with then if I called on the 29th and asked what it would cost me to get them there the next day.

At the same time I have called companies on the 10th asking for $25 on a shop that in 2 weeks they will be paying $50 for and they wouldn't do it. Some companies thinks it's better to hold out hope that some idiot will take it at base rate. And sometimes they do.

There are always shops that I don't want to do, but if I am made an offer I can't refuse, I'll do it. To me, money talks. If it's a shop I do not want to do, enough money changes my mind. That's just me. Recently, I was offered a shop in the BOONIES, 100 miles RT. It was an easy shop, just taking pictures, but I didn't want to go. I finally said I would do it for $60 after so much begging. They called me back offering $58. I did it. My car gets 21 mpg, I figure $3./gallon. $15 for the gas, under 2 hours for the driving, under an hour for job and report. I am ok with $10 an hour, and this was more, as I got paid for driving time.
I also saw my first Mountain Beaver in the road, and my first wood rake (a huge piece of farm equipment).

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/07/2015 05:57PM by Crickettt.

Timely. One company is reducing its reporting time, which will impact on my work flow when I work on their assignments. On the other hand, I have added more companies and have more options for arranging work.

We will see how this affects jobs, money, etc. I don't know how I will answer the op's question... Yet.