I'm considering driving to Harlingen, TX from Southern California this summer, which is just over 1,500 miles. I'm considering making it a working trip, doing shops going and coming. Do any of you traveling shoppers have any suggestions on how to get started? Is it better to schedule ahead, or should I schedule whatever I can find while on the road? I've been shopping for almost a year, and while I have signed on with about 100 MS companies, I only shop six consistently. I live in a semi rural area, so there's not a lot locally, and family commitments keep me pretty close to home. Any suggestions as to which companies I might add for the trip would be much appreciated.

Questions:

1. How much shopping do you want to do?
2. When are you going? (in relation to end of month and end of quarter)
3. What type of shops do you like to do?
4. How long will you be there?

A 1500 mile trip just driving is a good 3 days. Do you want to stretch that out for a week or a just add a day or are you just wanting to pick up a shop here and there that probably won't extend your trip?

@bgriffin wrote:

Questions:

1. How much shopping do you want to do?
2. When are you going? (in relation to end of month and end of quarter)
3. What type of shops do you like to do?
4. How long will you be there?

A 1500 mile trip just driving is a good 3 days. Do you want to stretch that out for a week or a just add a day or are you just wanting to pick up a shop here and there that probably won't extend your trip?

Answers:

1. As many as possible. If I can do enough shops to pay for the trip, I won't complain.
2. I plan to go either the first or second week in July.
3. Trailer checks are my favorite, but probably not feasible under the circumstances. My experience has been limited to fast food and casual dining, gas stations, cell phone, and an occasional retail shop. The pickings are slim in my area. I'm open to trying new things.
4. I plan on visiting with friends for three or four days before driving back. (I had considered finding a MS company that does flights to Texas, and another that does car rentals, giving me more time in one place. I could then just search out shops in the general area where I would be staying. I just started my search yesterday, but so far I've not found any companies that offer these types of shops.)

When I've driven with the family to San Antonio, we've made the trip in 19 hours, driving straight through. I'll be making the trip alone, so I had planned on making one stop overnight just to sleep. If I can figure in the shops, I don't mind making it a three or four day drive instead.

If you find out which MSC does car rental shops (without naming clients, of course), let me know! I know that SQM has a 1/2 price program for flights...

I think if I were you I would drive and start looking for shops on the way and drive, and I would make it a week there and a week back, perhaps altering the route slightly for each way so you can pick up different shops. I am not an experience route shopper by any means. Griff and wales have multitudinous experience with this.

Do you do video?

The beginning of July can be a tough time to shop as it will be after the end of the second quarter and the 4th of July holiday. It might be hard to plan shops much in advance as what is available at the end of June will likely not be there for you in July. Plus, especially the first week in July, new assignments might not be posted.

If it were me...I would start scouting out all the potential shops out along my route with most of those 100 MSC's to find out which companies are likely to have shops. I might then try to do a few shops for those companies right away, so as to become a known shopper to them, making it easier to pick up shops on short notice for your trip. Then, about a week before the trip, I would try to schedule a few decent paying shops along my route, making the locations of those shops my over-night stops. I would then start picking up other shops that I could do while using those stops as a home base. Finally, I would look for a few shops along my route that I could do as quick stops. There are gas stations everywhere that need visits, for instance.

I work with a couple of MSC's that don't follow the typical monthly-quarterly patterns and assign well-compensated shops through email. I would reach out to them now and let them know that I was planning this trip and seeing if they are likely to have a need in those areas during that time.

I have not done video shops. When I started out I joined the Sassie network and three or four companies reached out for video shops. Unfortunately their clients were two or more hours away.

That does not mean you can't make good routes, I just asked because I know a lot of shoppers who do long distance routes do some or a whole lot of video.

@JASFLALMT wrote:

That does not mean you can't make good routes, I just asked because I know a lot of shoppers who do long distance routes do some or a whole lot of video.

Thank you. I’ll definitely look into that.

You will want to map out that route and hit the gas stations and FF in BFE for bonuses. Blythe, CA comes to mind. It's an armpit.

@SoCalMama wrote:

You will want to map out that route and hit the gas stations and FF in BFE for bonuses. Blythe, CA comes to mind. It's an armpit.

Sorry, still a bit of a noob. What is BFE? Thank you for the Blythe tip!

@ladymacleod wrote:

@SoCalMama wrote:

You will want to map out that route and hit the gas stations and FF in BFE for bonuses. Blythe, CA comes to mind. It's an armpit.

Sorry, still a bit of a noob. What is BFE? Thank you for the Blythe tip!

BFE is just a profane way of saying someplace that is way out in Egypt.

@SoCalMama wrote:

BFE is just a profane way of saying someplace that is way out in Egypt.

I've either lost my mind, or I'm just plain tired. I say that all the time, and it just went right over my head!

@ladymacleod wrote:

@SoCalMama wrote:

BFE is just a profane way of saying someplace that is way out in Egypt.

I've either lost my mind, or I'm just plain tired. I say that all the time, and it just went right over my head!

When my kids were little, I was meeting some other moms at my daughter's first soccer practice. I could not remember my name. I could remember my daughter's name, but not mine. So, being tired and loopy, I can relate to that.

Contact Team 6 at Maritz by phone, and let them know your major route. Pick up the low-paying, easy-to-report gas shops along the way. They'll add up, and they won't eat into your vacation too much.

Fairly certain I saw a timeshare shop awhile back for South Padre Island. You might want to look at companies that do timeshares and check with them.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/27/2018 06:42PM by iShop123.

You can self-assign at Maritz.

I still can't self assign, so you might have that ability because you've done enough jobs with them that they gave you the extra privileges. The inability to do jobs without someone calling me after I ask for it is the reason I've never done any Maritz jobs.

Oh boy, there should be some good bonused shops that way but given it's early July, not sure. Like others said, it never hurts to reach out even if you don't see something on the board. I've had schedulers reserve shops for me before a month or two ahead but usually it's because I'm doing a handful of other ones for them. I agree with sticking with gas stations and FF. Lots of addresses end up being incorrect or gps sends you somewhere else. Also note holiday schedules.

I would send a form email to all the companies/scheduler and let them know your route and travel time.
I would also download the "Field Agent" app.
I'll be doing the same this summer also on a couple of camping trips.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/30/2018 11:51PM by ShoppingDad.