The "other" Gas Shop

So I received from my favorite MSC, a shop is urgently needed to be filled(by the end of June). The MSC is paying gas money and shop fee of $11. I looked on the site and the closest shop that will include the gas money is 8h away from me. If I go to my sisters (to write the report), because she does live in that state.,it is still 2 hours from her. I was wondering, what should I ask for gas money? Keeping in mind that I would also have to come back home and I would be submitting the report from my sisters' to keep in mind of the 12-24 hour time slot.

BTW, I would be driving through at least 4 states and I would have to take there gas prices into consideration. A 16 hour drive deserves at least $1500 toward gas. What do you think? Summer here

Create an Account or Log In

Membership is free. Simply choose your username, type in your email address, and choose a password. You immediately get full access to the forum.

More About Gas Station Mystery Shopping

Dear Sojo, yes, the shop urgently needs to be filled. However, asking for $1500 may not work because they have probably not paid $1500 in the past; therefore, it is not possible for them to pay $1500 in the present. You have been contacted along with 3,218 other possibly receptive shoppers to make a bid on this shop and I doubt your bid of $1500 will be the lowest bid they receive. End of June? That means the last day to shop is probably June 30, so the decision doesn't have to be made until June 29. But they could, of course, make a decision on the 27th or the 28th. You are holding the last week in June open for them, aren't you, just in case no one else responds and they decide to take your offer? Be sure you keep your phone in your pocket, you'll want to take that call on the first ring. Don't you love it when they want to know your price but they won't tell you their price? That's why they call it mystery shopping.

Mary Davis Nowell. Based close to Fort Worth. Shopping Interstate 20 east and west, Interstate 35 north and south.

There is a simple answer for such asinine shops---there is such a word as "NO"

Her Serene Majesty, Cettie - Goat Queen of Zoltar, Sublime Empress of Her Caprine Domain

My actual gas costs work out to be around $0.20 per mile, but I usually will quote something closer to the federal tax rate of $0.56 per mile, unless I really want the job or can make a nice route out of it. But I'm a little confused about travelling 8-10 hours for $11 and gas reimbursement. Unless you are going to see your sister anyway or picking up a load of side jobs along the way, why spend all that time for $11?

"That's like a dollar an hour!" - Napoleon Dynamite

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Could I have a receipt please?

$1,500 for two days work is even more than what video shoppers make. I never calculate gas costs, just my time. Since you don't need a hotel room, even figuring your time at $40/hour would still only be $720. Depending on your gas mileage you would still probably net at least $30 to $35/hour.

Equal rights for others does not mean fewer rights for you. It's not pie.
"I prefer someone who burns the flag and then wraps themselves up in the Constitution over someone who burns the Constitution and then wraps themselves up in the flag." -Molly Ivins
Never try to teach a pig to sing. It's a waste of your time and it really annoys the pig.

When I am doing routes, I figure the round trip mileage to each station from my home, divide that by 25 (my gas mileage on my car) to come up with how many gallons of gas (rounded up) it would take to drive there and back. I then multiply the number of gallons by the prevailing rate for a gallon of gas.

I used to just figure the total mileage for the complete route and add 10% to it for misdirections and then divide it by 25 and multiply it by the average cost of a gallon of gas. Then I would divide the amount by the number of stations to arrive at an average for each station and request that bonus for each station. If an overnight stay was required to complete the trip, I also added an additional $100 to cover the cost of the room.

However, most schedulers for my MSC ask you how far the location is from your home and use that as a basis for the amount they're willing to pay as a bonus. It's weird. The scheduler for one vendor almost never haggles with me and gives me the bonus I am requesting; while the scheduler for another vendor always haggles on the bonus being offered leading me to either reject the entire trip or make a second offer that hits some type of balance between my original offer and their counter-offer.

**************************************************************
One buzzard to another while circling high overhead (paraphrased), "Patience hell! I want to shop somewhere."

If you are not subtracting mileage at the IRS rate of $0.56 on your income tax return, then you are cheating yourself.

That rate is based upon repairs, oil changes, tires, depreciation, etc. Anyone who bases costs just on the price of gas consumed is cheating themselves.

Shopping Southeast Pennsylvania, Delaware above the canal, and South Jersey since 2008

Sorry, only registered users may post in this forum.

Click here to login

The "other" Gas Shop

Create an Account or Log In

Official List of Mystery Shopping Companies

Mystery Shopper Magazine