$1 a mile is not crazy at all and is a good goal. Unless someone is in this for the experience of fine dining or just to keep busy, they should be developing routes. Most of us think of routes in the hundreds of mile, but routes can be within a small geographic area such as one's own city.

I also don't see how $1 a mile would equate to $75/hour. For me to drive 120 miles would take approximately 2 hours and then actual shop time has to be included meaning something like four $30 shops may make for a total of four hours before reporting time is added into the mix.

I understood the post differently. I understood the post as saying if you do 4 shops 100 miles away you should be getting $200 (100 miles each way) on top of whatever you wanted for the actual shop and report time. Meaning in your example above you should be expecting $360 total for that route of 4 shops 120 miles away.

Also I drive 75 everywhere I go, so 75 miles = 1 hour = $75


Personally, I look at it on a per hour basis. I have a $ goal that I want to make per hour, factoring in total time (drive, shop, report). I enjoy driving, so I would actually take less per hour of driving, but I leave it the same to factor in gas and wear and tear on my car.

All I saw was $1 mile with no indication of it was that plus the shop fee. Generally I calculate mine per hour because it is easiest for me and my hourly goal will be adjusted based on expenses. If all expenses are my responsibility the hourly is set higher to offset those costs. If the MSC(s) are picking up expenses I only need to calculate my actual time. My 60 miles per hour of driving is also used as an average. Obviously interstate speeds are higher, but traffic and city streets will drag it down. Not every shop is a quick on and off the highway.

Ok, so tonight I'm doing a quick trip down the interstate. 90 miles each way, 5 shops, only one of which will take more than 10 minutes, and all of them super quick reports. I guess total time (drive+shops+reports) will be 5 hours. According to that post it's only worth it if I get $180 out of it. I'm not saying I wouldn't LIKE to get $180 out of it (I'm not), but I would guess most people would find it very worthwhile to do it for less than that.

Great conversation that might warrant a new thread. I live deep in the heart of Nowhere - in fact, I can see the middle of it from my house. I've put 20,000 miles on my car this year for MSing. My car gets 36 mpg, was paid off five years ago, and just turned 300,000 miles this past weekend. Driving is down time for me. I'm happy when I can get paid above 50 cents per mile and am thrilled on those extremely rare instances of earning over $1 per mile.
Firmer connection to this thread...
Just did 5 of those small town auto shops that opened this thread and snuck in two USPS shops along the way. With bonuses, my pay was $.72/mile. That's good for me. With 4.25 hours drive time, 4 hours on site, and 5.5 hours reporting time, the pay was a little lower than I like per hour (isn't it always?), but still well above minimum wage. I'll call it a good day overall.
My pay per mile has increased somewhat vs. when I started 3.5 years ago. My pay per hour has more than doubled.
Standards of pay, per mile or per hour, are certainly subjective.

I aim for 50 cents per km for my vehicle. Earning for my pocket book starts after that's covered. It's easy because if I'm going 75 km, I need $ 75 to start my car.

elcarev68 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Standards of pay, per mile or per hour, are
> certainly subjective.


Which was my whole point. The post I was referring to made a blanket statement that absolutely cannot be applied to everyone. What I can live comfortably on here is probably less than half of what someone in NYC needs to make just to get by.

Let me make this more clear, sorry about any confusion,

If I'm going to drive 180 miles, I expect to make $180-200 in shop fees. I got this "$1.00 a mile" guideline from this forum. And it's also the measure I use because of the standard IRS deduction per mile. No, at first I didn't make that - for months it was more like $0.40. But as I grew my business and kept signing up with MSCs, attending IMSC conferences and networking with schedulers, it grew.

Example 1:

I just filled my Monday with a drive from Denver to Cheyenne, WY and back, almost exactly 180 miles.

I started with a heavily bonused shop in Cheyenne ($80) and then filled in with 5 $20 shops. $180. And I can still add more in, because I could (theoretically) leave at 7 AM and be done with all six shops, reports included, by 2 PM.

None of these shops are videos, but if they were, add another $300 to the total.

Example 2:

I just came home from a 10,000 mile all-video shopping route. Five weeks straight on the road. After expenses (gas, meals, lodging) I averaged $1.15 a mile net. I slept for three days straight when I came home, but now I'm just chilling out and relaxing for a week, then come Monday I'm back at it.

I'm not bragging, I'm being completely honest. I worried about how I was doing two years ago, and read this forum and saw the $1/mile average suggested as a goal several times. And it's a pretty good yardstick, after you've done this and signed up for 150-200 companies and built some relationships.

Maybe you don't feel like doing all that, but at least think twice about doing a Chicken Little $17 car dealership shop.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/22/2013 12:35AM by ColoKate63.

$1.00 a mile, Interesting.
I did just over 1,000 KM which is about 600 miles this weekend and my profit was just over $400.00. I had a hotel, some food, some gas. Most of all we, husband, wife and 4 years old had a lot of fun.

My point, ColoKate, was that your blanket statement that everyone should only do shops if you're making $1.00 per mile was incorrect. If you want to only do that, that's fine.

In your most recent post you say this:

"No, at first I didn't make that - for months it was more like $0.40. But as I grew my business and kept signing up with MSCs, attending IMSC conferences and networking with schedulers, it grew."

In your previous post you said this:

"You should be looking to net $1.00/mile as a new shopper to make this somewhat profitable."

By those 2 statements, even YOU agree that not everyone does $1.00 a mile. New shoppers should be making $1.00 a mile but it took you months and months of work to get to that level?

I get what you're saying. I don't do Bestmark shops for $17 either, even if they're across the street. My contention was with your OMG YOU'RE A REALLY CRAPPY SHOPPER IF YOU'RE NOT MAKING $1.00 A MILE statement. Ok I know that's not what you said, but it's how it came across.

Many of us don't even look at it on a per mile basis. I normally couldn't even begin to tell you what I make per mile. When I drive to the closest midsized city, it's 60 miles each way. Sometimes I fill a whole day, 12 hours shopping and reports together. If I go by your standards it's a good day if I make $120. By my standards that's $10 an hour and definitely NOT worth it. On the other hand, my quick trip tonight made double that per hour, a number I'm much happier with. It was 180 miles round trip. By your standards it was a REALLY crappy trip because I made nothing close to $180.

I actually meant to type "1.00 per mile as an experienced shopper," and because I was thinking about being a new shopper, I mistyped.

Thanks for checking that.

I look at it on a per mile basis because I declare ALL of my income, even those MSCs I do not receive 1099s from (even though it kills me.)

Because I'm liable for taxes on a full-time income, and because my IRS mileage deduction is my biggest one to offset taxes, I go by mileage.

Who would of guessed that the statement "You should be looking to net $1 a mile" actually meant "OMG, you're a really crappy shopper if you're not making $1 a mile." Apparently I need to learn to read between the lines to know what people really mean.

LisaSTL Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Who would of guessed that the statement "You
> should be looking to net $1 a mile" actually meant
> "OMG, you're a really crappy shopper if you're not
> making $1 a mile." Apparently I need to learn to
> read between the lines to know what people really
> mean.


..... and there is the reason I tend to avoid anonymous/semi anonymous Internet forums. Too much hairtrigger emotion, and it's easy to misunderstand each other and start a raging flame war.

YOLO, Life is too short, Don't Worry Be Happy, all that good stuff.

Have a good and successful day - I'm off to walk my dogs, finish my last four reports (they're negative ones, the worst kind to write) and enjoy an autumn day.

LisaSTL Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Who would of guessed that the statement "You
> should be looking to net $1 a mile" actually meant
> "OMG, you're a really crappy shopper if you're not
> making $1 a mile." Apparently I need to learn to
> read between the lines to know what people really
> mean.


When taken in context with the rest of that paragraph about how they were chicken little shops it came across as very snotty and condescending to me.

Wow, it did not come across in the least bit snotty or condescending to me. I thought ColoKate63 was providing some good information, especially with her actual numbers.


bgriffin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> When taken in context with the rest of that
> paragraph about how they were chicken little shops
> it came across as very snotty and condescending to
> me.

So toggle them off.
Some of us approve of the comments.
Some of us listen to both sides. Just like the shopper and BestMark. Who says Bestmark is right any more than the shopper?
Read and believe what you want.


bgriffin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> LisaSTL Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Who would of guessed that the statement "You
> > should be looking to net $1 a mile" actually
> meant
> > "OMG, you're a really crappy shopper if you're
> not
> > making $1 a mile." Apparently I need to learn
> to
> > read between the lines to know what people
> really
> > mean.
>
>
> When taken in context with the rest of that
> paragraph about how they were chicken little shops
> it came across as very snotty and condescending to
> me.

Encouraging yes, snotty and condescending no. The term Chicken Little was coined on this forum a long, long time ago and is what it is.

This is a quote from you on another thread, "Well then please accept my apology for misunderstanding your tone. Sometimes that's hard to get over the internet." If you cannot be sure of someone's tone, why are you still assuming that you not only know their tone, it is always negative or condescending or "passive-aggressive?" If you are not sure, why don't you ask first?

Ducks, people, ducks........the water just rolls off their backs. We should be thinking like ducks....

We should, perhaps, not give posts insight or meaning that is not expressly presented......maybe give folks a little leeway for the fact that we are not in person, and almost everything can be interpreted differently than you mean it without wordsmithing and body language added to the mix.

Perhaps if a post came across as patronizing, insulting, or demeaning to an individual, than individual could ask a clarifying set of questions to determine actual intent as opposed to replying with a response to the individual's interpretation.

I am NOT calling anyone out specifically, it's just that I have spent time reading through a whole lot of threads, and it seems that a lot of them have time and space wasted by folks reiterating points over and over again to get their meaning across after other folks have called them to task.

LisaSTL Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Encouraging yes, snotty and condescending no. The
> term Chicken Little was coined on this forum a
> long, long time ago and is what it is.


Encouraging? Telling someone how they should run their business is encouraging? The sentence did not offer advice, or say how she ran her business, it told the rest of us how we should run ours. Sure that "information" might be based on how she runs her business, but it was not stated that way at all. It said basically you need to run your business this way. The directness of that statement insinuates that any other way of running your business is incorrect, so by saying that, she's saying that her way is correct, and any other way is incorrect. When someone says that to you, it's being condescending. Period. There's no other way of looking at it. Did she mean it that way? Who knows? But that's what she said.

Had she said "I started looking at a per mile basis and shoot for $1.00 per mile. I've notice my income has gone up significantly and these Bestmark $17 shops don't fit into that." it would have said the same thing and not sounded as if people who do them are bad shoppers and she's the authority on how to run my business.

Yikes....I jump from page one of a shopper fired from Bestmark and land on page 3 which gives advice to maximie your shopportunities by aiming for $1/mi. Umm...jumping gears a bit...

First, not that I am justifying fraud, but I do have one comment to make regarding Bestmark's point of changing descriptions for the same person. As a woman, I can see how that can happen. People wear heels versus flats so that can alter height perception. People gain and lose weight, some more easily than others, so that can change the body type responses. Hair color, perms, hair cuts/styles and eye contacts can alter the look of a person dramatically from one shop to the next. Regardless of the other issues they have with the original poster, I think the descriptions should not be as big of a reason for any company to use because of all of the variables people use to change their looks. For me, the next time I do some of my dealership shops I'm going to have to straighten my hair and wear contacts instead of glasses...there is no way a salesman can forget my troll hair and they could easily call me out if I end up with the same person. And in fairness, by the time I revisit, the sales associates looks could change too.

Second... I should aim for $1/mi? Well, in that case let's not tell my hubby my local routes usually net me $2-4/mi. What he doesn't know won't hurt him.

It's very difficult to simply take words at their face value when reading posts on forums such as this. What I really try to keep in mind and do, although it's difficult, is to:

1) really read what the words actually are, not what I think they are--there's a lot of misunderstanding when people immediately don't fully read someone else's words. I think a lot of issues occur when people just don't take the time to read another's post all the way through, or fail to read them carefully. It's easy to skim over something and think you understand what's being said. I've done it too often, and it's something I really work at not doing.

2) not color someone else's words with our own emotions or prejudices. Again, really hard to do, but it can be hard to see the "face value" of words when they get tangled up with our own experiences. I know I tend to take things too personally and have sometimes shot off a reply in response to a meaning that wasn't there....

3) ask for clarification if you think you're being insulted, and as much as we may not want to read repetition, give clarification if you feel you're being misunderstood or taken out of context

It's sad to see "arguments" because of perceived insults and slights--there's enough potential for lively debate on this forum without bickering over something that was taken one way but meant another.

JMO, of course. And, yes, I am one of those posters who have on occasion felt it necessary to repeat myself because it was clear, at least to me, that my point was taken incorrectly or really getting lost....



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/22/2013 06:14PM by BirdyC.

You make good points Birdy. Admittedly my pet peeve is people who appear to be looking down on or preachy to less knowledgeable or experience people. There are very few people here that I genuinely dislike, and all of them are for that particular reason.

Thank you, b! I'm no expert in the field of interpersonal internet communication (I'm sure this must be a specialty of somebody's!), but belong to several chat groups and/or online-only organizations, and this is a big problem on all of them--some far worse than others! I belonged to a very cantankerous group, and everybody took everything the wrong way all the time, and the very biggest reason was because nobody bothered to take the time to read other people's posts carefully, then made incorrect assumptions about what others were saying, which led to even more misinterpretation, which led to anger and hurt feelings, which led to virtual wars..... It was awful.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/22/2013 08:37PM by BirdyC.

Won't it be interesting when we routinely use our cameras and mics for interactive message board conversations?
Tone and facial expression add so much to these type of discussions...

But then, I'd have to put makeup on every time I wanted to check the boards, and that's just no fun.

Wow. Saw nothing preachy. Saw advice from a seasoned shopper. Maybe my contacts are too dirty to see what's not there....

If we criticize shoppers who offer advice we don't like, eventually no one will be willing to tell us anything.

(other than where they think we can go.)

I have done over a 1000 shops and have only have problems with a few shops companies. The main one is bestmark and gfk. They never said anything about fraud. The rules that they have are ridiculous for the such low pay. The are poor at responding to questions when there are problems with shops. Then they make up some excuse to deduct money. They claim to cancel my account since I did not do any shops for them. They did not have any in my area so that is why I did not do any for them. Then they want a ss number when you make a $150 which is absurd.

Stones, I'm sorry you are having difficulties. All your posts so far have been about difficulties with mystery shopping companies, although you have not posted any details of those problems so we can't help you understand what keeps going wrong for you.

I'm wondering what companies you have successfully worked for. Please let us know some of your good experiences. Having done 1,000 shops, I'm sure you understand that Best mark requires your SS# because your income as a mystery shopper is taxable. Surely you have been required to provide your SS# to all the companies who have paid you for your work.

Bestmark does deduct unless there are MAJOR problems with the shop. They do not unfairly deduct.