The way I read it she's not getting paid. She buys the item out of pocket and then the seller reimburses her after she writes a review. She gets a free item, but no payment. She said she's losing money (probably some sellers are even more unscrupulous and don't pay, because what is she going to do?).
She could probably resell some of the stuff for money, even at a fraction of the price she's make a little since she got it for free, but it doesn't sound like she's doing that.
the point is that if you’re buying a lot of stuff (maybe hoarding) your financials may suffer. she found a way (not excusing her behavior) to make it less impactful to her budget. morals are nice, but i think you need to be off-balance to do something like this to begin with.
Re-read the article. She's not really getting paid for the reviews. She's getting the cost of the items refunded. Net $0, and she's even in the hole a bit from companies that ghost her.
> “I’m pretty sure I’m at a 10% loss. But I’m okay with it, because I’ve gotten a whole bunch of new stuff.”
The cheap crap is the payment. She's not making much on reselling them, either:
> Jessica gives away many of the items she reviews, and she has made about $150 by selling products on Facebook Marketplace. She’s donated clothes that don’t fit and handed off the rest to family members or friends.
She is getting paid (in gift cards) for the purchases made. Her profit maybe zero but she earning a revenue from her scheme. From an accounting and IRS perspective it would be categorized as an income
Regarding the donations, if she takes the charitable contribution deduction it will reduce her income tax due. That may affect the calculation on whether she’s “making money” or not.
However, she should probably be paying income tax on the value of the items she receives because they are payment for her labor in writing fake reviews. If she’s actually paying taxes on the income, then she could easily be losing money.
Charitable contributions are only deductible if you itemize deductions. Under current tax laws, only about 10% of returns are expected to itemize, generally high earners.
As opposed to buying food with the money which OP is implying by saying her stomach is empty.