I compute my hourly wage door to door, leaving my house until I return. I figure what my jobs pay less gas. Everyone uses a car to get to work so I don't worry too much about maintenance costs or depreciation.

I do get free oil changes for jobs so that helps.

Sometimes I drive more hours than I work.

I have to have some way to compare what I make as compared to a no benefit part time job.

How do you folks figure it?

It is true that we would have to drive to work if it was a regular job. However, that number of miles is usually quite a bit smaller than spending a day driving around shopping--especially for any jobs that are not local. I think it's a mistake not to count depreciation and maintenance for a vehicle. The newer the vehicle is, the more the depreciation will be.

I would also figure out the time it takes to look for, read guidelines for, and enter the report. For me that time is more than the time I spend at the location. You also need to figure in the costs involved in your printer, computer, smart phone etc. If you had a job somewhere in someones office you would be supplied with the equiptment you need for the job.

The cost of your smartphone? Really? I'm 100000000% sure I would have this exact same phone no matter what job I had, or even if I didn't work at all. I'm pretty sure MOST people are the same. Same with my computer and printer.... the only additional cost is the minuscule ink & paper cost. I go months without printing anything for mystery shopping.

@sandyf wrote:

I would also figure out the time it takes to look for, read guidelines for, and enter the report. For me that time is more than the time I spend at the location. You also need to figure in the costs involved in your printer, computer, smart phone etc. If you had a job somewhere in someones office you would be supplied with the equiptment you need for the job.

I have an older paid for car. I don't use that much ink and don't print for the sake of printing. I would have a phone, car and printer anyway.

I did 5 jobs today today. 20.00 to 22.00 per, so 106.00 less 7.00 for 75 miles of gas so 99.00. Door to door, 4.25 hours.

I see about 23.00 per hour and I wasted 15 minutes at one due an error on my part and slowness on the stores part. That is a little low for me and I could not find anything in that area that I liked to go with it.

About 1.75 hours driving, 2.5 of working which should have been 2.25 hours.

I work mostly what would be considered half days, 3 to 5 hours. Even that extra 15 minutes cost me about 1.50 an hour.

I don't spend much time on the guidelines at home and do many of the same jobs. The only thing I do spend time on is making maps, because I do jobs in bunches, I like to figure multiple routes and options to use my time most efficiently. i don't charge for that because I kind of enjoy mapping stuff (weird but what can I say, I don't watch TV so I have time).

Almost all of my work is done via app so there is almost no entry when I get home. If I do a Sassie platform job, I will use the website on my phone, but I do submit at home so I can check it first.

Using my criteria, for a decent week, I average 25.00 to 27.00 per hour. Figure only about 40% or so taxable after expenses.

Edit-Should be about 60% taxable not 40, I think.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/11/2026 04:23AM by 87Supra.

Both my car & my husband's car are paid for. Mine is 4 yrs old and his is 2. His is a small suv hybrid that gets about 35mpg, I drive a mini van that gets almost 24mpg. When I do anything more than local shops I take his car so he can have the extra room in the van with the kids.
I'm currently on a route (just pulled into a hospital parking garage and put up all my window coverings to settle in)
This route is 548 miles from home to home.
$1370 fees
$150 in reimbursements (only about $35 of that is gas reimbursements)
I'll be gone about 3 full days.

I don't figure per hour on routes like this. I just know that I've made enough to view these few days as profitable.

Regardless if I had or would have the same cell phone whether or not I'm working. I am using my phone and a tablet that I definitely would NOT have if I weren't working, to do these jobs. They ARE a business expense. The same as my desktop computer. I claim all of these things on my taxes, along with 75% of the annual mileage on my car, because I almost never leave the house unless I'm going to be working.

I'd love to do routes like that again viv, but I really need to sleep at home where the dogs are. I just can't do it. It took me almost a week to recover from my trip to CO.

@viv0412 wrote:

Both my car & my husband's car are paid for. Mine is 4 yrs old and his is 2. His is a small suv hybrid that gets about 35mpg, I drive a mini van that gets almost 24mpg. When I do anything more than local shops I take his car so he can have the extra room in the van with the kids.
I'm currently on a route (just pulled into a hospital parking garage and put up all my window coverings to settle in)
This route is 548 miles from home to home.
$1370 fees
$150 in reimbursements (only about $35 of that is gas reimbursements)
I'll be gone about 3 full days.

I don't figure per hour on routes like this. I just know that I've made enough to view these few days as profitable.

Sounds like a good route if the work is decent. Do you stay in the cheapest hotels or nicer ones? I used to do some food stuff when I road tripped (though not much really at home), I assume you did as well. How many hours working and driving for that.

There are so many factors involved in figuring hourly wage. I can calculate it in ways that put me at $30 an hour or $15 an hour or $50 an hour. However you do it, if it works out for you in the end, then that is the right way to do it. It gives you a baseline for comparison.

And as someone who does a lot of traveling, I am acutely aware of how expensive driving can be evrery time I replace my tires, fix a flat, replace brake pads, have the belt replaced, get a chip or crack in my windshield, get a dent, have to have a repair, etc. All these things are a direct result of putting on miles, and would not happen as frequently if I had a job where I just commuted to work.

And then when I have to start wiggling the cable on my phone to get it to charge right, or replace the cable, I remember how many times I plug and unplug the phone while doing shops. And those times I cracked the screen or even needed to replace the phone because I dropped it on the job.

I agree that they are a tax deductible! I'm just saying I don't figure their cost into calculations for my 'hourly wage'...

@Morledzep wrote:

Regardless if I had or would have the same cell phone whether or not I'm working. I am using my phone and a tablet that I definitely would NOT have if I weren't working, to do these jobs. They ARE a business expense. The same as my desktop computer. I claim all of these things on my taxes, along with 75% of the annual mileage on my car, because I almost never leave the house unless I'm going to be working.

I'd love to do routes like that again viv, but I really need to sleep at home where the dogs are. I just can't do it. It took me almost a week to recover from my trip to CO.

I sleep in my car... I have no desire to incur expenses...
I take some food/ drinks and use shops to cover what I don't take with me. I get enough gas reimbursed to almost cover the trip.
The shops are all submitted on site, all though most are Sassie so kinda a pain in the $$$ in reporting. But I get into a rhythm and it's OK.

@87Supra wrote:

@viv0412 wrote:

Both my car & my husband's car are paid for. Mine is 4 yrs old and his is 2. His is a small suv hybrid that gets about 35mpg, I drive a mini van that gets almost 24mpg. When I do anything more than local shops I take his car so he can have the extra room in the van with the kids.
I'm currently on a route (just pulled into a hospital parking garage and put up all my window coverings to settle in)
This route is 548 miles from home to home.
$1370 fees
$150 in reimbursements (only about $35 of that is gas reimbursements)
I'll be gone about 3 full days.

I don't figure per hour on routes like this. I just know that I've made enough to view these few days as profitable.

Sounds like a good route if the work is decent. Do you stay in the cheapest hotels or nicer ones? I used to do some food stuff when I road tripped (though not much really at home), I assume you did as well. How many hours working and driving for that.

Wow, hardcore, more power to ya. Least you have an SUV instead of a car car. I would taking the minivan if I rolled that way.

It is nice when I take the minivan... but my husband is taking over my usual routine when I'm on a route so the van is needed at home to tote the kids and all their crap around. In the van I use an air mattress. In the suv I take a thick foam mattress topper and use as a mattress.
Routes are for maximizing every penny brought home. Home is for relaxing

@87Supra wrote:

Wow, hardcore, more power to ya. Least you have an SUV instead of a car car. I would taking the minivan if I rolled that way.

Today was better. 101.00 less 9.00 gas for 92.00. Still working with 3.09 gas, so 99 (easy on the car) miles was under 3 gallons.
3.25 hours with 2 hours of driving. 5 stops, 3-10 minutes, 2-20 minutes About 28.00 per hour, about my average.

Had a picture showing my car at 37.1 mpg (love my Honda) for the way back (about 45 miles) and just realized we don't do pictures here I guess, since I don't see a button.

I finished the route ahead of schedule... added in a few shops that popped up along the way.
Left my house Tues at just after 8am, returned today at almost 2pm.
633 miles
$1475 pay
$237 reimbursements ($45 of that gas!)
61 shops
I went over reimbursement by $5.53
I had $7 expense for a parking garage last night, no free garages in the area.

I spent about 17 hrs total 'not working' (sleeping/ scrolling social media/ etc)

$1462.47 ÷ 37hrs = $39.52/hr with all the reimbursements as "freebies" and since I only used about $50 in gas I'll just call that a wash.

Each person needs to figure their costs for themselves. So if you personally do not have any extra fee for your smartphone then that does not apply to you. I am 10000000% sure that there are people with older equiptment that they had to upgrade in order to do these jobs,especially while on the road. ...lIkewise if you have done the shop a hundred times already you perhaps do not have to figure in the time it took to read the guidelines or review again. Also if it is a shop you do constantly you do not need to look for it and scroll around and find out what it is all about. . But, maybe I do. This person asked how to figure costs. If you dont figure your costs correctly it only hurts you.
I see now the OP was talking about shops on a road trip. I do not do those so what I would count as my time spent is very different than what the OP spends.

@viv0412 wrote:

The cost of your smartphone? Really? I'm 100000000% sure I would have this exact same phone no matter what job I had, or even if I didn't work at all. I'm pretty sure MOST people are the same. Same with my computer and printer.... the only additional cost is the minuscule ink & paper cost. I go months without printing anything for mystery shopping.

@sandyf wrote:

I would also figure out the time it takes to look for, read guidelines for, and enter the report. For me that time is more than the time I spend at the location. You also need to figure in the costs involved in your printer, computer, smart phone etc. If you had a job somewhere in someones office you would be supplied with the equiptment you need for the job.

Right on. I like money, but not 37 hours working out of 54 and sleeping in a vehicle. Where do you bathe?

Reading through these...it seems like figuring hourly wage is tough for people right? Things that need to be tracked to figure out hourly wage: hours? expenditure (i.e. miles driven)? total income?