I received the below email from Market Force this morning. I am not sure if this is something everyone gets, or if it was in response to an offer I made on a shop yesterday.

“We wanted to share some pointers with our Shoppers on how to submit a Make an Offer so that you will have the greatest chance of your offer being accepted.
First and foremost, always submit the lowest fee possible, within the parameters below.
Our Scheduling Team first determines whether the Shopper has shopped this particular location in the past or not.

1. If the Shopper has completed the location in the past:

a. What fee was received last time
b. Is that fee reasonable based on mileage, complexity of shop, etc.
c. Does the Shopper already have other scheduled shops in that area
d. If ‘yes’, then we will accept the offer. If the fee is not reasonable based on any of the above, then we will decline.

2. If the Shopper has NOT completed the location in the past:

a. How far is the Shopper traveling
b. Does the Shopper already have scheduled shops in that area
c. Complexity of shop
d. What amount does the Shopper usually get for traveling to this town/area
e. What amount does the Shopper usually get for these types of shops (i.e. – retail, fast food, etc.)
f. If the fee is in line based on the above, we will accept the offer.
Thank you for being a Market Force Shopper and we hope you find this information useful in submitting a successful Offer!”

The way I have been approaching this “Make an Offer” function is, the shop is due today, MF is desperate, I am willing to take a last minute scheduling, if my offer is the lowest they receive and they are desperate enough/have enough budgeted to pay me what I ask, they should (theoretically) accept my offer. Based on their guidelines I almost feel as though I should never do shops for them for anything lower than excellent pay, since that will affect how much I can offer. Maybe it’s because I am new to MSing, but I feel like a shop that I schedule 3 weeks in advance in a convenient location that requires me to buy items I actually need/want I would be ok taking less money than the same shop type, in a location that is inconvenient, a time that is inconvenient, with little to no advanced notice, purchasing products I don’t want/need. Am I doing this wrong?

I got the same email today as well, but I also just did a make me an offer on a job too.

LOL, from my point of view, you're doing it exactly right.

I have NEVER had a "make an offer" offer accepted. And I try to keep them very reasonable.

Then, a week or 10 days later, when they call me, I ask for -- and get -- quite a bit more.

The way I see it is like you said -- I'm working up a route, I could fit this in for $35, fits nicely. Don't get any answer to my offer. Do my route. Get a phone call. "Well, last week you were willing to do it for $35." Well, last week I was -- but this week, I'm not. Ask for and get $125 -- because it's a long drive, I did all the other available shops last week. So I'll be going just for this one shop. Once I even got $175 for one shop, after they failed to respond to my earlier offer.

I like your style!

Jeez! I got this email after asking for $20.00 for something in the ghetto. Next time is will ask for $500 and see what kinda of guidelines they send me.

I got the email too and have never seen the Make an Offer feature let alone used it, so I don't think the email is targetted.

I got it too. Randomly a few days later I made an offer for 4x what the shop pay was listed as for a shop that I have NEVER done before and it was accepted within minutes.

I haven't signed up with them yet, seemed a little intimidating all the stuff they want to get you to do before signing up and the shops I get emails for sound really low. $6 for auditing a sporting goods store with 25+ prices and some kind of inspections for about $7. This sounds like they actually are paying decent prices but only if you decline the shops first. They say they will pay for mileage on a shop that is 3 miles away. Do you have to do a lot of the low pay jobs first before they accept the good ones and what do you all think is reasonable per mile? Sounds like they may be a good fit but am a little intimidated by the inspections. How hard are their surveys?

I got the email this morning and have not made any offers.

Is there a way to make an offer with other companies? Like the sassie shops?

@shaynes5 wrote:

Is there a way to make an offer with other companies? Like the sassie shops?

I just email the scheduler and ask. Half the time they seem to say yes.

I do it all the time. I couldn't tell you how long it's been since I've taken a job at the posted base rate. Most companies provide a scheduler's name and e-mail -- I just shoot 'em an e-mail.

I received that email as well. Of the offers I have made, I have been assigned about half of them. The shopper fees have ranged from $25-$60. I will not make an offer for a mere $3 above what is listed. I guess I am one of the shoppers they are addressing this to. I make an offer that is worth my time.

I received this email last week after making what I thought was a fair offer considering what I had been paid in the past and the fact that there was a phone call added to the regular shop. I wasn't assigned the shop but I did receive this email.

@Ksauber wrote:

1. If the Shopper has completed the location in the past:

a. What fee was received last time

There is a reason this was first. If you normally get $20 for a praticular location unless they are in dire straights they will not give you more than $20. For that reason I do not do base pay shops in my normal travelling area. Because I will be stuck at that rate

Before I moved I lived in a town with 4 drive ins. The one on the other side of town in the middle of all the traffic was sometimes hard for them to schedule. I once got an offer to do it for $25 and took it. I could have done that location every month for $8, but I waited for the call and got it every 3 months at $25. More profit less work. Had I done it for $8 those other times they would onlu give me $8. So, just another reason to pass on MF base rate shops.