Detecting as a Business

[Jagdpanther]

Does anyone use their MDing as a business?

MPG

 

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[TheSleeper]

I had a business setup bout 6 years ago, "BeachFind" beach and shallow water search and recovery. Printed up biz cards and passed them out to the lifeguards and alot of the resort motels on the strip at the beach and offered anyone that called a % of the reward or finders fee.

It wasn`t enough to make a full time living off of but it did produce a lil bit.

 

[SHERMANVILLE ILLINOIS]

Like Sleeper said, think you could pull
in a few bucks, but not a living.

Let folks know your and MD'er, and available,
let them pass the word; and hope something
pops up.

have a good un....................
SHERMANVILLE

 

[U.K. Brian]

My wife tells me I've been detecting full time for nearly twenty years now. Bad time was the British 'foot and mouth' epidemic when my wife had to go out and get a job to make ends meet. No land detecting allowed for several months. I think I made about £3000 that year ($6000).

You can't do it if your not in an old country and you need a few bigger finds to clear your mortgage and have either no kids or they should have left home.
U.K. advantage is that finds are classed as luck so no tax to pay, also medical care is free. Drawback is no fat pension building up.

I get some income from doing recoveries for insurance companies and in the past did get paid to test prototype detectors. Most companies don't pay now though will drop a free detector as a sweetener.
The biggest advantage is time. If a beach is stripped by storms or an interesting field is ploughed and is going to be reseeded within a day or two you are able to take full advantage. I will take my camper and live on site while its still producing.The Sunday detectorist has to wait till the weekend and more often than not the opportunity has been lost.

Worse thing in Europe is travel costs...fuel costs a fortune and you pay no tax so have nothing to set the expense against. Parking has also become a problem over the last few years. Very little free parking and restrictions everywhere. In the past you could park, do a quick check of a beach and move on if things didn't look good. Now its £2 ($4) every time you step out the car.
I only know of two other full time detectorists in the U.K. Most who claim to be are either retired or living off state benefits which is not quite the same thing.

 

[Jagdpanther]

Not thinking of making a living out of it. Just wondering about advantage of a small part-time gig that would afford a tax break. Also, if it is a registered business would it be an advantage in getting permission/access to certain areas?

HH
MPG

 

[Farmercal]

I don't think it being a business would give you an edge on asking permission. I think a average Joe would have the upper hand over a business.

 

[jonesat]

Vaguely recall something about a buisness has to generate $7500 plus in order for the IRS to consider it a buisness instead of a hobby

 

[jeff of pa]

First off If this were a Job, I'd hate it.

Second, I prefer Helping people rather then Charging them.

 

[kenb]

I've used mine thru my business to locate in ground oil tank fills, curb cock and gas cock vaults and a couple other litttle jobs. Charges for locating these items depends on the customer or the home owners willingness to let someone detect there property

kenb

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

You have to show a profit within 3 years or close it down. Talk to a good CPA, there are advantages to doing it as a business, but you have to make a sincere effort to make it profitable, not just as a tax dodge.

You are flagging yourself for a possible audit on any business you run from home. I have been audited 3 times, they all sucked, and I was doing everything legal.

No CPA on the first audit, and I paid for it in what I gave the IRS. I always have a CPA do my taxes now. I can do the tax paperwork with no problems, but you want a CPA if you are audited, take my word for it.

Pay the CPA few dollars now, or pay the IRS a lot of dollars later.

 

[treasurejack]

I tried the insurance thing once but they simply don't understand why they should pay you to find anything they've already settled on. Creates too much paperwork for them at that point I guess?
Second, they simply don't understand that time is money.
And third, if it's a big ticket item, expect a lot of company, especially on private ground. And this really creates problems when you pop up another nice item that everyone says is theirs!

I did it only once, the above was that experiance. Never again!

 

[The Beep Goes On]

The only people that I have heard of making a living off of detecting are professional resort hunters. They work all the beaches in, say Cancun, and they make enough to get by. They know everything about the area, the hotels, the types of guests, etc. and work it hard every day.

HH!
TBGO

 

[U.K. Brian]

Interesting that in the U.S. insurance companies don't seem to want to make the effort of engaging some one to hunt for a lost item. I always think of U.S. jewellery as being high value....people in the U.K. don't tend to go in for the bling so much perhaps because the tax is so much in the first place so rings/jewels are more money down the drain than an investment.

 

[EDDE]

First off If this were a Job, I'd hate it.

Second, I prefer Helping people rather then Charging them.

agreed to a point

 

[CWnut]

I have dealt with insurance companies on several occasions in 27 years of firefighting and i'm here to tell you the bottom line is profit..I have seen them on several occasions choose not to prosecute arsonists because it is less expensive to just pay the claim..

I also had some business cards printed up offering metal detecting services and the only work i ever got was locating a couple of survey markers...but i still enjoy it...have a good day

 

[SomeGuy]

I tried the insurance thing once but they simply don't understand why they should pay you to find anything they've already settled on. Creates too much paperwork for them at that point I guess?
Second, they simply don't understand that time is money.
And third, if it's a big ticket item, expect a lot of company, especially on private ground. And this really creates problems when you pop up another nice item that everyone says is theirs!

I did it only once, the above was that experiance. Never again!

If the insurance co. is not interested in recovery, perhaps you can make a deal with the adjuster. He/she gives you leads, you make the finds, sell the items and pay 10% to the adjuster. Soon, all the adjusters your first contact knows will be ringing your phone off the hook.

 

[treasurejack]

SomeGuy,

Nice thought, but it made me wonder, "Once an insurance company pays off on a lost item, who then becomes the rightful owner?" The insurance company I can only assume? Might be another good question for the legal eagles on this site.

 

[SomeGuy]

Yes, the insurance company is the owner, but they've abandoned it.

If they want to pay you for your services after you've found it, then your fee is, of course, the actual cash value of the object.

 

[U.K. Brian]

Under U.K. law (and much of Europe) if you find say a ring and don't declare it to the police then you are 'stealing by finding'. Hand items in and you normally get them back though on two of the most valuable rings I ever found the owners did claim them. When the police return an item you get a little chit which covers you when/if you sell it on.
A friend of mine many years ago tried to sell a ring he had found and got into real trouble as the owner had reported it stolen. He had a few painful months.

 

[wishbone1958]

THERES NO QUESTION IN MY MIND THAT WOULD MAKE ME BELIEVE OTHERWISE THAT YOU COULD MAKE A LIVING AT METAL DETECTING.. IT ALL DEPENDS ON WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR.. ME MYSELF AND I.... I AM LOOKING FOR GOLD.. GOLD IS AT ITS ALL TIME HIGH AND IT WON'T BE LONG BEFORE IT GETS TO $1000.00 PLUS A OUNCE... YOU HAVE TO SET YOUR SIGHTS ON WHAT IS IT EXACTLY YOU ARE TRYING TO FIND... JUNK..A COIN... JEWERLY... I AM PRESENTLY PLANNING TRIPS TO TAKE MY TESORO LOBO SUPER TRAQ AND FOCUS ON GOLD THAT IS ALL I AM LOOKING FOR BECAUSE THAT IS WHERE THE MONEY IS AT.. WE CAN LOOK DAY AND NIGHT AND NEVER COME HOME WITH ANYTHING FOR DAYS ON END BUT THERES GOLD IN THEM HILLS AND I AM GOING TO BRING IT HOME... BECAUSE ITS OUT THERE AND PROSPECTORS ARE BRINGING IT HOME EVERYDAY ITS JUST A MATTER OF DOING YOUR HOMEWORK AND GOING WHERE THE GOLD IS... YOU CAN MAKE A VERY HEALTHY LIVING... NUMEROUS STORIES ARE BEING TOLD EVERYDAY WHETHER YOUR IN OREGON OR ARIZONA OR ALASKA.. THERES GOLD IN THEM HILLS.. GOOD LUCK... GO FOR THE GOLD.. NOT JUNK.. PULL TABS PENNIES.. ETC.. MY TIME IS MORE PRECIOUS AND I WILL USE IT WISELY