Mystery Shopping Thread 22 *PLEASE READ THE OP FIRST**PLEASE NO CLIENT NAMES OR FEES*

kst101

Thank you for the thoughts on smart phones and tablets. I got a smart phone last year for £20 a month rather than my old one at £10 a month and it definitely helps with mystery shopping (get email updates, use the camera for mystery shopping photos etc). I had thought of the extra cost to me being justified by being able to get more jobs (definitely earn more than £10 more a month for having it).

Do other people include an amount each month for phones or do an amount each year? And for larger purchases such as tablets are you accounting for it as a fixed asset and so claiming capital allowances or expensing it? Suppose it depends how long its useful economic life is really.

N.I.M

Boredupnorth wrote: »

I hated the thought of them before I did one but TBH they are great, really nice bunch of people and very nice shops. They are actually nothing like I thought they would be.

Had the exact opposite experience, the pubs looked ok but between the food and the ... "customers" I'd only go back with a stab proof vest, and I've done several to give it plenty of chances.

kst101 wrote: »

Would people really include the whole of the cost of a tablet as a business expense? Maybe i am less restrained than other people but I know there's no way I would be using one wholy and exclusively for mystery shopping - it woukd definitely get used at other times!

If you wouldnt buy it if you weren't a mystery shopper then I think you can claim the lot. Find me someone who doesnt do a bit of personal on work time and/or with work computers.

kst101 wrote: »

I do wonder about including a proportion of the cost of my smart phone as an expense but not its full amount as I use it for personal use as well. Do other people include any of smart phone cost and do you include a percentage each month or a fixed amount each year?

Proportion based on use each month for me.

Boredupnorth

kst101 wrote: »

Thank you for the thoughts on smart phones and tablets. I got a smart phone last year for £20 a month rather than my old one at £10 a month and it definitely helps with mystery shopping (get email updates, use the camera for mystery shopping photos etc). I had thought of the extra cost to me being justified by being able to get more jobs (definitely earn more than £10 more a month for having it).

Do other people include an amount each month for phones or do an amount each year? And for larger purchases such as tablets are you accounting for it as a fixed asset and so claiming capital allowances or expensing it? Suppose it depends how long its useful economic life is really.

You could try to work out a proportional cost if you wanted but to be honest I put the additional cost as an expense. I pay £35 a month rather than the £15 I used to pay so £20 is a business expense. I also claim the full 3G cost of my iPad each month.

Boredupnorth

N.I.M wrote: »

Had the exact opposite experience, the pubs looked ok but between the food and the ... "customers" I'd only go back with a stab proof vest, and I've done several to give it plenty of chances.


I really dislike the pubs; the food is crap and the staff not much better. As for the customer's.....

N.I.M

Boredupnorth wrote: »

I also claim the full 3G cost of my iPad each month.

Do those devil machines / cash cows have a wifi option or do they force you to 3G it so they get more cash?

I'm eyeing up one of the Azus Adroid tablets atm and it looks pretty tasty.

N.I.M

Boredupnorth wrote: »

I really dislike the pubs; the food is crap and the staff not much better. As for the customer's.....

I misinterpreted your comment. Thought you were referring to the pubs.

Last time they asked me to visit one I told them not unless they bought me a stab proof vest was I going. I've not been asked since.

Boredupnorth

N.I.M wrote: »

I misinterpreted your comment. Thought you were referring to the pubs.

Last time they asked me to visit one I told them not unless they bought me a stab proof vest was I going. I've not been asked since.

No it was the dead peoples shops

Boredupnorth

N.I.M wrote: »

Do those devil machines / cash cows have a wifi option or do they force you to 3G it so they get more cash?

I'm eyeing up one of the Azus Adroid tablets atm and it looks pretty tasty.

You can just get a wifi one if you want to. I also have an android one for one of the audit jobs and TBH I hate the thing

Boredupnorth

kst101 wrote: »

Thank you for the thoughts on smart phones and tablets. I got a smart phone last year for £20 a month rather than my old one at £10 a month and it definitely helps with mystery shopping (get email updates, use the camera for mystery shopping photos etc). I had thought of the extra cost to me being justified by being able to get more jobs (definitely earn more than £10 more a month for having it).

Do other people include an amount each month for phones or do an amount each year? And for larger purchases such as tablets are you accounting for it as a fixed asset and so claiming capital allowances or expensing it? Suppose it depends how long its useful economic life is really.

As they get updated pretty often I treat mine as an expense rather than an asset purchase. I suppose you could capitalise it and write it down over a fixed period but it gets unnecessarily complicated.

Workie_Ticket

Catalogue shops - are you normally restricted to 3?