Hello all,
When I started mystery shopping, ages ago, I lived in NYC and had no car. Some MSCs would reimburse me for subway/bus fare, which was great, but most of the time I was able to do a bunch of shops within walking distance.

I moved to a different state about three years ago. I had to buy a car, of course, as I now live in a small town in a semi-rural environment with no public transportation.

I have a small business these days and am MSing only occasionally, but there aren't a ton of shops in my immediate area. There are more if I drive at least 40-50 miles away to a small city, so sometimes I think about putting together a route and heading to the areas where shops are more abundant. I don't think I'll do that until gas prices go further down but, as a former city-dweller who never owned a car until later in life, I'm stumped about how it all works when one asks for mileage or gas reimbursement, or whatever it is one asks for.

No need to answer all my questions, but if you can answer one or two, I'd appreciate it:

How can you tell whether that is available on a shop and how do you calculate what amount to ask for? Do you round up that figure and ask for a little extra for wear and tear? Do you email schedulers before requesting a shop? What if you're creating a route out of shops from different MSCs? It seems to me it would be a better stance for negotiating if you create a route of shops from only one MSC. And what does PAD stand for? I know it has something to do with this. Do most MSCs pay extra for mileage, or just a certain few?

Thanks in advance for any insight you can offer!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/10/2022 12:28AM by shopnyc.

PAD stands for Pre-Authorized Distance Pay. When I submit a PAD request, I calculate miles at the IRS mileage rate (currently $0.625 per mile) and then determine the time it will take to drive there. Multiply time by a dollar amount per hour. If it takes me 3 hours round trip, I want to get PAD for that time (I could have been doing something else). I also add tolls as appropriate.

Everyone is different. With the exception of Maritz (no longer in business), I was never able to ask for a given amount of money for a set route. Actually, I did basically the same calculation and then asked for the total. If I got it, great. If not, not.

Pre-COVID, I created my own route. I made sure that adding shops made sense. Sometimes I started with a few base shops, and then added others. Post-COVID, there are many fewer opportunities for me to create longer routes. I do what makes sense. I am sure that you will get a variety of opinions and methods from others.

I did a route of Circle K convenience stores and the scheduler and I agreed upon a route. I had to assume that I wouldn't find anything else to add on to the route, so the overall fee was marginal but not horrible. I could usually y find enough add-ons so that the route made sense. Sadly, the MSC lost the "local" contract for Circle K and the new MSC wants to pay me to go to just one, and the fee would barely pay for the toll road, which I explained to the scheduler. I wished her good luck finding someone.

I believe in building relationships with your schedulers. That makes it easier, knowing someone to contact.

I'll find an "anchor" shop, one that pays enough that alone, it makes a route profitable. I'll e-mail my scheduler, tell her I'm interested, but would need XXXX $ because the shop is 100 miles away from home. After that one shop is locked in, I look for others on the way there or back, or in the same town. USPS, fast food, c-store mystery shop are all usually quick and pretty simple. So say I got $90 for my "anchor shop", and picked up another $100 with 4 or 5 additional shops. That's my mini-route for a day.

I don't live in a "semi-rural" area - - we are wholly rural! Nearest shop is 45 miles away. so I must ALWAYS ask for "distance pay" (aka: bonus money). Fortunately, I live in an area where shoppers are as plentiful as chicken's teeth, so I do often receive the bonus I require.

I have health restraints, so mostly do "mini-routes". I only did two shops today, 45 miles away. One is on the job board at $15, the other at $20. I got $30 for the first one and $40 for the other. I absolutely did NOT tell either scheduler (two separate MSCs) "I'm gonna be next door doing another shop". I MIGHT say "I might be in that general area" or maybe "I'm going in that direction", but I would never ever tell them I'm doing another shop right next door. Because then, as their job is to get the shop done as cheaply as possible, they could come back with, well, you're gonna be there anyway, so there's no bonus available.

If I see a job I'm interested in, and don't know that scheduler, but know another one at the same company, I'll e-mail the scheduler I know and ask them who schedules, or if they can even just forward my e-mail. I don't think I could do that if I hadn't built a relationship with a scheduler.

Oh, how to do that? Easy. Be a great shopper, respond to e-mails, phone calls and texts messages, and always ALWAYS be polite.

I keep very detailed records of my shops in Excel. I give the summary sheet to Tax Dude in March and let him work it out in my refund.

You are an IC. Gas is part of YOUR operating expenses. You need to make sure you take jobs that cover all your expenses. You can accomplish that by asking for a bonus (the MSC may or may not grant that) or finding jobs close together that pay well to make the route profitable.

I can only think of one company that pays mileage... and they aren't really a MYSTERY shopping company, but one that does recalls/etc.

PAD is whatever you think you need to complete the shop for and what they are willing to pay for that MSC. Don't be tripped up by what it actually stands for.

I might be the exception, but none of the shops I do routes on are for one company only. I find an anchor shop that pays well and then search all the MSCs I can around there to make it profitable before I even ask for the anchor shop. And then when IPSOS, cough, cough cough, removes the anchor shop, it makes the route unprofitable.

Lots of great, informative replies so far! I appreciate that. Would love to read more.

wrosie wrote: "I find an anchor shop that pays well and then search all the MSCs I can around there to make it profitable before I even ask for the anchor shop."

That is exactly what I did when I lived in NYC. So, that's how I would approach trying to set up a route in my current state. Since NYC is such dense city with a gazillion MS opportunities, I could just take the subway to that neighborhood and then walk from one shop to another. It's really the idea of requesting a PAD or mileage bonus that mystified me, since driving 50+ miles away or more to do a shop is something I've never had to do before.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/10/2022 04:05PM by shopnyc.

It will help in the long run to completely discard the idea of asking for PAD or mileage bonuses. You figure out your expenses and time, and then ask for a bonus or increased fee in an amount that makes the jobs worthwhile. You are correct it is much easier to deal with just one MSC when initially committing to a route. Over time you will figure how much various MSCs will pay and when, and you can get more sophisticated in your approach.

@mystery2me wrote:

It will help in the long run to completely discard the idea of asking for PAD or mileage bonuses. You figure out your expenses and time, and then ask for a bonus or increased fee in an amount that makes the jobs worthwhile . . . Over time you will figure how much various MSCs will pay and when, and you can get more sophisticated in your approach.

That makes sense. In the past, I have occasionally asked for a bonus. I know some shoppers do it on a regular basis and are quite savvy at it. But I see what you're saying about thinking of it as what is worth my time rather than added-on distance pay.

I do not do routes as I live in a large city like you did but I am not sure how you filed your taxes previously as a city mystery shopper without driving costs. If you were not filing a schedule C before you should begin to do so and you can deduct your auto expenses on that form using either the per mile amount from the government for the calendar year or the method where you figure out your actual costs adding up your actual auto expenses.

@sandyf wrote:

I do not do routes as I live in a large city like you did but I am not sure how you filed your taxes previously as a city mystery shopper without driving costs.

I explained in my original post that I did not own a car in the city and was occasionally reimbursed for my public transportation, so I had no driving costs. In NYC, owning a car is more of an inconvenience than an asset.

Before I moved away and then bought my car, it had been many years since I drove and so I felt I needed some driving lessons because I was so rusty! Anyway, it had been a few years' hiatus from MSing before I moved three years ago, and since having relocated, I hadn't started to do shops again until last month or so.

So, there never was a prior need to claim driving costs on my taxes. But my questions weren't actually about taxes, because I know about Schedule C and contract work. My questions were really focusing on the strategies other shoppers use in order to ask for extra pay when they have to drive a long distance for shops. Thanks for your input, though!


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Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 08/11/2022 12:43AM by shopnyc.

I am doing the same things as you mentioned. I am in metro area. But sometimes I see good shop with bonus pay(with some travel involved) and tying to that one other relatively easy shops.

@sandyf wrote:

I do not do routes as I live in a large city like you did but I am not sure how you filed your taxes previously as a city mystery shopper without driving costs.

You are allowed by the IRS to deduct transportation expenses, not just car mileage. Most shoppers live in car-dependent areas and use cars for their transportation, so the question does not come up often on this forum.

I keep a separate Metrocard that I use just for shops, and keep receipts I get each time I reload the card. They get reported along with other expenses on Schedule C.

If I take the Amtrak or Megabus to DC for a route, I keep receipts and deduct the cost of the train or bus tix, too.

@HonnyBrown wrote:

I keep very detailed records of my shops in Excel. I give the summary sheet to Tax Dude in March and let him work it out in my refund.

Honny,

I am assuming you have a job other than mystery shopping. I can't see how you get a refund otherwise.

If you're getting a refund you've already let the government use your money. My ex-wife was pissed because she didn't get a large refund the first year we were married. I actually prefer to get $50 more each paycheck than a $1,250 refund at the end of the year. Just up your deductions to 15 or so and the government won't take any income tax out of your paycheck. I'll gladly write a check to the government at the end of the year.

If you need enforced savings, get one of those credit cards that round up every purchase you make. But they're using you money too.

This thread is really not about claiming mileage or driving expenses on one's taxes! I posted it to learn how others ask for bonuses to cover their driving costs and strategies for putting together routes. I'd rather it not veer off into the area of taxes. So, please, let's focus on how we approach MSCs to pay us more for shops when we have far to drive. Thanks!

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Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/12/2022 03:44PM by shopnyc.

Excellent suggestion ! Sometimes the strings can grow many legs, like octopus appendages.

@shopnyc wrote:

This thread is really not about claiming mileage or driving expenses on one's taxes! I posted it to learn how others ask for bonuses to cover their driving costs and strategies for putting together routes. I'd rather it not veer off into the area of taxes. So, please, let's focus on how we approach MSCs to pay us more for shops when we have far to drive. Thanks!

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Just figure how much you think you will need for driving to the shops. If you overbid, your offer will be rejected. If you underbid, you will know it immediately by the time you return home from your route. Now you have a baseline from which you can adjust you bid for the next route. Just about everyone has a different way of calculating their travel bonus. When you are beginning, it is really a trial-and-error situation until you find the perfect balance that gets your offer accepted, does not shortchange you, and does not gouge the scheduler.

@shopnyc wrote:

This thread is really not about claiming mileage or driving expenses on one's taxes! I posted it to learn how others ask for bonuses to cover their driving costs and strategies for putting together routes. I'd rather it not veer off into the area of taxes. So, please, let's focus on how we approach MSCs to pay us more for shops when we have far to drive. Thanks!

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Insert thousands of laughing emoji......

Threads go off topic daily. Ask for more $$ or don't. It's not a secret.