Hello fellow shoppers!

Just discovered this forum and am loving all the information sharing. I've been a shopper for about 10 years and basically do it full-time.

Looking forward to getting to know you.

A big "Bonjour" from Montreal

Welcome to the forum. We newbies look forward to your experienced advice ;-)

10 years and you are full time wow, that's my dream. I've been at it for almost 7 years now. I'm almost full-time, I don't have another job. I don't have another job, just Mystery Shopping. But my ends barely meet.

How many shops a day do you perform? I try to perform 2-3 a day but sometimes I'm able to build upto 8 in one day. The next couple of days are free/reports. But reports are nothing providing you know how to work with them.

Depending on the shops, I usually perform 6-8 shops per day. If I get a highly bonused shop that's far away, I only do that one shop as it pays for my day. I don't have any issues with driving a 2-hour round trip if the pay is good. I love road trips lol.

Performing the shops is the easy part. Entering the reports is what is the most time-consuming for me. This is my only job and I make it work for me.

I'm also lucky enough to live in the heart of Montreal and have many shopping opportunities, easy access to many suburbs and am fluently bilingual (French being a very big deal in Quebec). I'm trying hard to become the "go-to" person with as many companies as I can.

Having never flaked on a job, I love it when others do because I get calls with bonuses

All right!! Another montrealer, thank goodness..! I´m new here.. anyone know the kinks & bolts regarding mystery shopping & taxation in the Federal-Provincial system? I´ve been trying to find information about wether or not you have to declare your earnings (and how)... since I heard that if you earn up to $500 a year it is not worth declaring, but more than that you have to do so.. is that true?? I have visited the taxation sites of both Provincial-Federal but where do I have to look for just an indication that mystery shopping income is taxable? Are we (independent contractors) in the same league as independent representatives, for example, from Avon? Do companies send us T4 forms?

And has anyone worked with or had experience working with Lanla (www.lanla.com) a Beloeil-based company?

I believe I have heard of the company but never perfomed a shop for them. If it's the same company I'm thinking about most the introductions are in french first english second.

Well considering my french isn't that good I just got fustrated with the company and gave up. There are alot more companies out there worth the time and effort.

sunshine shopper Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> All right!! Another montrealer, thank goodness..!
> I´m new here.. anyone know the kinks & bolts
> regarding mystery shopping & taxation in the
> Federal-Provincial system? I´ve been trying to
> find information about wether or not you have to
> declare your earnings (and how)... since I heard
> that if you earn up to $500 a year it is not worth
> declaring, but more than that you have to do so..
> is that true?? I have visited the taxation sites
> of both Provincial-Federal but where do I have to
> look for just an indication that mystery shopping
> income is taxable? Are we (independent
> contractors) in the same league as independent
> representatives, for example, from Avon? Do
> companies send us T4 forms?


Bonjour! I have some info on this subject.

All income must be declared. You are considered an independant contractor (travailleur autonome). You will not get any T4 forms because you don't work for any companies, only yourself. You must keep track of your expenses and income because lots of stuff is deductible at the end of the year, i.e. car depreciation, gas, insurance, lots of different stuff if you work out of your home like your internet connection, part of your hydro, part of your phone bill, etc.

If you make more than $30K, you must apply for a GST fax form. I have not bothered to do this yet as I don't think it's necessary and frankly, I don't make $30 doing this.

Your best bet is to consult an accountant - that's what I did and got the answers I needed from someone who knew.

Good luck!

sunshine shopper Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> And has anyone worked with or had experience
> working with Lanla (www.lanla.com) a Beloeil-based
> company?


I'd like to tell you they're horrible and never to work for them but that would be selfish on my part because I don't want you taking my shops lol!

Lanla are excellent to work with. They always pay on time, easy reports, extremely easy to communicate with (gasp! they actually answer their phone!) and fun shops. They have a high rotation count: if you do one shop, you're on rotation for 3-6 months before you can do that shop again. They get my thumbs up!

Thanks so much for the info, MtlShopper, very, very much appreciated! I have applied for my first shops with Lanla, though I have answered their questionnaires and am a bit hesitant to go on..what scares me (I have never done this before) is the fact that they ask for my SIN and a VOID cheque so that they can do direct deposits to my acount. I am spooked about the fact of them getting so much info.(like my bank account number and SIN)..do all mystery shopping companies in montreal do direct deposit or do they send a cheque (I guess that´d be more preferable?) or deposit in a PayPal account?

Thanks!

Also I have a question:
I do not have a car, rather I use public transportation. Can the use of public transportatin costs be reimbursed by the mystery shopping company?

Thanks

Things may be different in Canada but in the US it is not. It is anticipated that an Independent Contractor will provide their own transportation by whatever means. In the US you could deduct your public transportation costs as an unreimbursed business expense. I suspect the same would hold true in Canada, but if you check with an accountant as MtlShopper suggested, they would be able to easily tell you that.

I don't know about US but in Canada if you claim Mystery Shopping as a small business. You can deduct certin items, pens, pencles, paper, buss pass.

That is the same in the US. Virtually anything that is a legitimate business expense is deductible. More expensive items need to be depreciated over time, though generally the full value can be taken up front if used exclusively for business and only needs to be recovered if you stop the business.

sunshine shopper - you must give them your info if you want to get paid. There are not very many companies that sends cheques as it's simply not practical in this day and age. Most companies will do direct deposit or Paypal. Some companies pay in US$ and some in CDN$. Most companies will require your SSN, bank info/paypal info, address and some might ask you to scan a picture ID. It's nothing to get worried about, as long as you're signing up with legitimate companies.

Re: bus pass - check with the accountant. I know my gas, insurance, plates, mileage and depreciation have a place in my income tax returns. If you live on the island of Montreal, I believe your bus pass, if you have one every month, is deductible from your provincial taxes. For the deduction to be valid, only monthly passes are deductible and you must hang on to your passes should you get audited.

HTH