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?