Online Surveys

I used to think those "Get Paid to Take Surveys Online!" junk e-mails were a scam and not worth my time. It took a personal suggestion from another user of a trusted online community for me to really look into the online survey option. Now I find myself wishing I had done this YEARS ago after seeing what I was able to earn in just a few short months. My first experience with online surveys was through Opinion Outpost. If you just want to test the waters and start out slowly, THIS is a good one to start with!

Once registered, I've had thousands of opportunities to take various online surveys online about any number of topics. I earn credit providing my opinions and experiences on various existing products and services as well as potential services or products still in the planning stages from leaders in the manufacturing and service industries. Each potential survey opportunity requires me to qualify through a few initial screening questions. If I qualify for a survey, I then give my thoughts and opinions on the questions posed by that particular survey topic. Sometimes a survey is directed at a specific demographic group that I do not meet, and sometimes the survey has already received the maximum number of responses sought by the time I take part. When that happens, the survey ends early in the screening process letting me know that I do not quallify and I simply wait for another opportunity.

At Opinion Outpost, each survey I successfully complete adds a pre-defined range of points to my account. Before I start a survey, I know just how many points I will earn if I complete the survey.  Most successful surveys from Opinion Outpost pay out anywhere from $1-$4. When my account reaches a $20 minimum, I can request payment by check or credit toward Amazon.com purchases.  Or I can leave the credit in my account and let it build up to a higher amount before requesting a payment. 

I reached $8.80 taking five successful surveys within the first two weeks at Opinion Outpost (I first signed up in mid February 2010), and I requested and received checks totalling $24.00 in just my first month. On average I am notified of about 10-15 surveys a week, and I probably qualify for about 20% of those. (Keep in mind that your results may vary). 

If you like the idea of getting paid to offer your opinions and answer questions about your habits, give Opinion Outpost a try.

One VERY IMPORTANT thing to do when signing up with Opinion Outpost or any of the other survey sites below: you MUST complete the personal profiles associated with your account!  The sites need to know generally about your purchasing tendencies, health issues, travel, education and career industry, family dynamic, etc.  You aren't giving any specific identifying information, but this is key to getting survey opportunities sent to you in the first place.  The survey panels use this information to help match you up to surveys in the first place.  I cannot stress this enough: YOU MUST COMPLETE THE PROFILES!!! If you don't fill out the profiles, you will not see many IF ANY potential surveys come your way. Without surveys, you will lose interest, not return to the site, and forget that you ever signed up.  If you do this, YOU WILL LOSE OUT on free and easy money. DON'T make that mistake!

Another thing to keep in mind is that YOU WILL get turned down for many of the surveys you try.  If you don't fit the profile that the survey's client is looking for, they won't pay you for your opinions. DON'T LET THAT DISCOURAGE YOU!!! Other paying surveys WILL COME and YOU WILL GET PAID. Just be sure to check your e-mail regularly to see if any new surveys are waiting for you.  Surveys not taken within a relatively short time frame WILL expire.

A few final words of caution before discussing the individual panels themselves: a UNIVERSAL RULE across the board with all the online survey sites is that you cannot discuss or disclose the specific survey products or offerings outside of your household.  Doing so can get your account terminated without warning!!!  They all take the confidentiality pledge very seriously and for good reason.  Your opinions will help in the development and marketing of various products and services and you are being paid for those opinions.  You may see new product ideas or plans that the companies are not yet ready to release to the public and definitely do not want released to their competition.  If you want to keep earning money, you have to keep your lips sealed!

Also, many surveys are designed to take a certain amount of time to complete (the recommended time is almost always provided to you before you start) and require your full attention and critical thought in responses.  If you take 10 minutes to speed through a survey designed to take 30 minutes to complete, the panel will see that and likely invalidate your credit for that survey (or even terminate your account).  The panels are paid money -- some of which is passed on to you -- in exchange for legitimate, attentive, well thought out responses.  Completing a survey in significantly less time than it was designed to take is the best way to tell them that you weren't taking the survey seriously.  Some surveys occasionally throw in Quality Assurance questions instructing you to pick a particular multiple choice reponse to make sure you are reading all the questions completely.  So you BETTER pay attention!!!

THE BEST

Opinion Outpost is by far the best survey site in my opinion as described above.  After joining Opinion Outpost in February 2010, I earned $164.50 from Opinion Outpost alone by the end of 2010.  As of early October 2011 my total Opinion Outpost earnings were above $315.00.

THE REST

Below are other survey sites I am currently using, endorsing, and getting paid by, listed in my personally ranked order of preference.  I try to come back and re-rank these a few times a year based on changing trends.  I last updated this list on October 13, 2011.

2. PineCone Research* these guys have one of the highest ratings of them all. Surveys are infrequent, but you are guaranteed to qualify for any that they send to you and they pay a pretty consistent $3.00 for each survey taken with no "minimum payout" to reach before you get paid.  PineCone is able to process payments either by check or electronically through PayPal.  I've earned over $140.00 from Pinecone since March of 2010.

*Signing up to PineCone requires an invite. They only accept members who find and click on their banner ads found around the web which you have to be lucky to find because they don't stay up in any one place for very long and are only around when PineCone is actively recruiting new members.

3. SurveyHead pays you small amounts for completing the various profile surveys and they provide a lot of survey opportunities with a lot of earning potential. It takes a little bit of extra time for your survey points to be credited to your account and payouts often take up to a month to receive after you request them. But this site has consistently been in the top 2 for my total overall earnings competing strongly with Opinion Outpost.  SurveyHead payments are made through PayPal, but have many other gift certificate options for payment as well.  I have earned over $300.00 since March of 2010.

4. My Survey has frequent surveys and slightly lower pay rates, but almost ALL surveys are worth at least a minimal amount through the qualifying questions, even if you do not complete the full survey. If you fit the right profile, you have a chance at a little bit larger payouts for continuing on in the survey.  Recently Lightspeed merged with My Survey.  Prior to the merger, I was a member of both panels for about ten months.  This merger has greatly increased the value of My Survey.  I've earned over $200.00 from Lightspeed/My Survey since March of 2010.  My Survey pays through PayPal.

5. Toluna is more recent to my list, and I am very encouraged by the start.  There are daily surveys and "mini-polls" to take all of which earn points.  The minipolls only earn fractions of a penny, but they can add up if you have some time to waste.  They also serve a survey screeners which often lead to potential larger earning surveys.  I joined Toluna in April of 2011.  Since then, I have earned over $25.00.

6. Opinion Place is another site that pays you individually for each successful survey without requiring you to hit a "minimum payout" figure. At Opinion Place, you can attempt to qualify for one survey a day -- 24 hours after your last (unsuccessful) effort. If you successfully complete a survey, you must wait seven days until trying to complete another survey. This cuts back on earning potential, but it remains very consistent and payment is relatively quick for successful surveys. They pay through PayPal.  I've earned over $90.00 since March 2010.

7. I-Say is a survey site quickly ascending my list of favorites for a number of reasons. First, you get points for every survey offered whether you qualify to take the full survey or not. Obviously you don't get a tremendous amount of points if you don't qualify, but they still understand that your time is valuable to you. Second, they have an option at the close of a survey to answer what I like to call a "Family Fued" type question. Something like Out of 100 American males, how many would say they prefer ketchup to mustard on hot dogs. You pick your answer and based on how close you are to the correct answer you get a certain number of sweepstakes entries to apportion toward four different prizes offered. It's a fun way to end your visit!

8.  Clixsense started a survey panel in March of 2011 after having been in the PTC industry for a number of years. I signed up at the very beginning and have earned more than $25.00 from them.  I am familiar with their integrity and reliability from the PTC site, so I hope to continue to see great things from the survey side of this panel.

9. Valued Opinions has quick payout for well compensated surveys. They just don't pay directly in cash. I opted for the Amazon.com certificates which come by e-mail. Since June of 2010, I've received $80.00 in Amazon gift certificates from Valued Opinions and have another $10.00+ earned toward my next one.

10. American Consumer Opinion surveys are less frequent and took me a number of months to reach the $10 minimum payout, but I've had a few good paying surveys lately and I've earned over $110.00 since March of 2010.

11.   Synovate has a relatively low cash out minimum at $5.00.  I've earned over $25.00 since joining in September of 2010.

12.  Cint is affiliated with Opinion Outpost.  So far my earnings have been pretty low (only $10.00 since August of 2010) and surveys have been pretty infrequent.  But when you are affiliated with the BEST, I'm willing to wait for the rest.

13.  Survey Savvy has an extremely small cashout minimum of only $1.00.  I've decided to let my earnings build up rather than cashout so frequently.  They've put $30.00 in my pocket since November of 2010.

14. Survey Spree is an offshoot of Opinion Place.  I haven't cashed out yet, but only joined in April of 2011.  I am over $9.00 toward that first cashout.

15. Global Test Market offers a lot of surveys, but many are only for sweepstakes entries and I've been screened out of a lot of the surveys for points. This site has taken me the longest to reach the $10.00 minimum payout primarily because the payouts on successful surveys are considerably less than many of the other sites.  But I DID win on a $50 sweepstakes entry, so my total earnings are above $60 since March of 2010.

16.  Harris Polls are infrequent and I have yet to cash out for the first time.  I've earned $10.00 since December of 2010.

17.  Mindfield Online offers infrequent surveys and a low cash out.  I haven't yet made the $5.00 mark since joining on New Year's Day 2011.

Survey Spot be careful with this one. I made a fair sum early on, but then they suspended my account without giving me a reason.  Per the membership terms, I automatically forfeitted the $10+ I had earned at the time but had not yet requested for disbursement. I DID get paid just under $50 from Survey Spot prior to my termination, so I can vouch for their legitimacy. I must have missed one of the QA questions somewhere and got the boot!  Proceed at your own risk and ALWAYS ask for your money from this panel once you reach the $10.00 payout threshhold to avoid missing out like I did.

Through these sites, I've also been asked to test some product samples. Not only were the samples free for me to keep after testing them, but I was actually paid money to give my feedback and opinions!  Items I've tested have ranged from food products to personal hygiene products to other household items.  These usually consist of a pre and post testing survey.

As I said above, one of the universal rules across all the survey sites is a strict non-disclosure confidentiality in the survey topics and products. So I am unable to disclose any of the specific products I've reviewed or physically received for testing, but I can tell you that I have received a couple of items that are and will continue to be used in our household. Regular everyday stuff that I otherwise would've paid for on a trip to Kroger or Target or Wal-Mart.  Items that I otherwise probably WOULD'VE bought anyway - not junk that would never get used. I've BEEN paid money to try these products out and give my feedback.

I started doing surveys in February 2010 from just a few of the above sites, picking up the others here and there along the way. By the end of 2010, I earned just under $1,200.00* on the survey sites alone.  As of October 2011, my total earnings are above $2,000.00. (When I say "earned" I don't mean "received" -- these figures include pending amounts and earned amounts still under a site's minimum payout that I haven't received yet). But I have "received" 85-90% of my total earnings.  Again - it's not something you can live on exclusively, but in the current state of the economy it certainly doesn't hurt to get a little bit extra here and there.

* $300.00 of that total was from an independent site that conducting a more extensive online focus group. I don't recall which of the above survey sites ultimately put me in contact with that focus group, but it was certainly worth the effort!

If you would like a second opinion on any of these survey sites, go to Survey Police where other users have shared their experiences with each survey site. Some rank higher than others, and many of the reviews are subjective in nature, but you can get a general idea of others' experiences with these survey sites, independent of my own reviews above.

Good luck and GO MAKE SOME MONEY!!!