@shoptastic wrote:
One thing we CAN do is educate people on the value of shops, though. You have to factor in mileage and taxes. A lot of people may not realize they may be losing money or making MUCH less than they think after factoring in costs.
....I think teaching people how to calculate the value of shops, learning how to route, learning bonus cycles, etc. will improve their profitability and not have them get stuck so easily into a desperate "loan-like trap."
Although, if one is truly desperate, they just may have no choice.
I agree very much with most of this. I believe many people, perhaps those who are new to the field or some who aren't super analytical by nature, overestimate how much they're making and/or undervalue their work. Or both. When you factor in the extra self-employment tax, your overhead, and other fixed and variable expenses, AND the time it takes to prep for, travel to and from, actually perform, and then report, a shop, that's a LOT of resources. Most self-employed people have to figure on taking about 30% right off the top of gross income to cover that SE tax; overhead and other expenses; lack of vacation pay, sick pay, holiday pay, health insurance, etc. Obviously, not everybody would have all those benefits at a W-2 job, but chances are most people have some. Even if you have a "regular" job and shop for extra income, I think it's important to take those factors into consideration. That $7.50 or $9 cell-phone shop, even if you add it to a route, is more like $5 or $6.
In an ideal world, it would be great if shoppers were to be more united in not taking low-paying jobs that end up not even paying minimum wage. But there will always be shoppers who don't care and shoppers who, due to their own personal circumstances, aren't able to work at a regular job and need what they make as mystery shoppers. Some people don't want to work for others and can make the trade-off work for them monetarily. Some people are better off taking a low-paying part-time job because that $8/hour job may pay, in reality, more than the $9 to $12 mystery shops.
Probably the best thing regarding low fees that most of us can do is set your threshold and don't take shops that fall below it. In areas where there are few shoppers, that might eventually affect fees. Here, I've noticed a series of shops that are done monthly and have been for years that now always have a bonus attached to them, even at the beginning of the month. Seems they can't get shoppers to do these at base price anymore, so the fee has gone up.
I have a figure for which I won't walk out my door, and one that I won't walk out the door for unless it can be easily added to a small route (I don't do large routes) or is within 5 minutes of where I need to be anyway, and is fast and easy to report. That's my personal stand against low fees.
OTOH, I will do no-fee and low-fee restaurant shops because in the long run, it saves me money because I eat out a few times a month anyway. So it's not always about earning money; it could be about saving money. Or just enjoying a nice meal out once in awhile that you wouldn't ordinarily do. .
I learn something new every day, but not everyday!
I've learned to never trust spell-check or my phone's auto-fill feature.