Want to get paid for taking surveys? I don’t personally take surveys for money just because of my own time constraints – but my fellow blogger Nicole’s Nickels does find that it’s worth her time and she wrote this guest post.
I have been doing online surveys for a year and a half now and enjoy the additional income it brings me. While you won’t get rich doing online surveys, it can supplement your income by $50-$100 per month depending on your demographic and how many surveys you try and qualify for. That’s pretty good gas money, I’d say!
I suggest signing up for a new email address just for surveys. I don’t get any spam in my surveys only email address so that’s not my rationale behind the new email address. It’s that I get A LOT of survey invitations each day and don’t want to clog up my inbox. This way, when I log on to the survey email account, I know just what will be waiting for me and can sort through and try to qualify for the ones I want.
Each person’s experience with the various survey companies will be different since we each fit a different demographic. Many surveys end with a request from the manufacturer for you to test a new product. You won’t know when you start that there will be a product test though. I’ve tested high-end hair products, toilet paper and even frozen dinners that arrived on dry ice!
I’m going to briefly highlight the companies I have been most successful with and find the most easy to work with. If you want to check out the 15+ other companies I am signed up with and my experiences with them, please check out Nicole’s Nickels.
Here are my top 5 survey companies:
My Survey
My Survey sends me approximately 3-5 invitations per week. I like this company because you get points for taking the screener and then if you qualify they offer you additional points for continuing to take the survey. Points can be redeemed for cash, charity donations or merchandise.
American Consumer Opinion
American Consumer Opinion sends me fairly infrequent survey invitations but the ones they do I almost always qualify for. The payment is high for the industry and I have received several product tests from these surveys. They also have a sweepstakes where I once won a small check. Payment is via check.
Opinion Outpost
Opinion Outpost is the company I have earned the most with. I receive between 7-20 survey invitations per week from them. You are given a set amount of points per survey and points are then redeemed for cash via check. You can start surveys with Opinion Outpost and finish them later which is a nice feature.
Pinecone
Pinecone is an “invite-only” survey company. You’ll need to find a banner or google “pinecone banner” to find a site that routinely has a registration link. Pinecone sends me approximately 2-4 screeners per month and 2-4 surveys per month. The screener surveys are short and each survey pays $3 – via check or paypal. I always get paid within days and love not having to cash out or remember to check my points.
Ipsos-I-Say
Ipsos-I-Say is another survey company that I receive approximately 5-7 surveys per week from. I qualify frequently for their surveys and find I have very few technical issues with their site. Most of my product tests come from this company and points are redeemed for cash.
For more information or to sign up for the survey companies mentioned here, you can visit Nicole’s Nickels.
If you are ever in doubt about the quality of the survey company, check out SurveyPolice (http://www.surveypolice.com). I think they do a nice job at to reporting which survey companies do a great job and those don't do so well.
I have been using MyPoints for years, and I find it very reliable. I like that I get points for different things, including clicking on emails, using printable coupons and doing surveys. I've been a member for 11 years and I've earned $100's in gift cards.I belong to a few other sites, but that's my favorite. One of the things I like is really being able to share my opinions with companies.Alicia
I am trying to get a blog/Etsy party going on for Black friday pricing in some Etsy shops on WED before Thanksgiving… I am trying to spread the word, get people to join me and list a few items at a deep discount price and join the party it will help people out and get more traffic to shops and blogs, please help spread the word or join the cause.Check out my post here :http://bzzagentroyalty.blogspot.com/2009/11/black-wed-for-etsy-shop-owners.htmlThanks so so much, Brandy