Unsure if this qualifies as income from hobby and needs to be reported... please help!

[vikkiseeks]

Mystery business shops along and rating/reviewing products purchased online is a new interest for a group of friends. For the reviews, a customer purchases an item then uses it and posts a detailed review and rating of that product. Then their money is refunded through PayPal. The reviewer receives the item free, but no other payment, just refund of the original purchase. Is this something that needs to be reported as additional income from a hobby on tax return? Is it really income? If so, is there a dollar threshold for what has to be reported for hobby income?

[MaryK4]

Yes, this is income because of the structure of the transaction- because you received a refund of the purchase price in exchange for writing the review, you must report the income.