Surveys for money?

I tried it once. I spent a lot of wasted time in front of my computer and got nothing out of it. They want way too much information and to be honest .. I really didn't trust it.

I've tried a lot of different ways to make money, online and offline. I just like trying new things. Mystery shopping, merchandising, product tester, focus groups, taking surveys...

I'm convinced that survey companies have it rigged so you have to invest 15 minutes worth of answers before you find out you don't "qualify". It's a sleazy business.

fLufF
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Damn you mean like those complete the survey for you chance to win a iPod? Those surveys? WOW! What kind of surveys did they ask?

In fact, it is pure torture!!! Asking too many questions !

I agree and disagree.

My "online money making" fever started with paid surveys 6-7 years ago. And while there are many scams out there, there are also lots of legit survey sites. These are sites that are part of big market research companies who do this both online as paid surveys and offline as focus groups. It's a huge industry and obviously that's why there are a lot of scams in it as well.

About making money, I can tell you this, you will certainly not be able to make a living doing this. However, I personally know a few people who do make what for many of us these days would be considered making a living (around $1200 or so a month). But, they spend a lot of time taking surveys for whole bunch of different survey sites and they also participate in their local focus groups.

As an average survey taker, I would say, you could make a few hundred dollars a month (cash and gift certificate, as some survey companies only pay you in forms of gift cards) if you take 2-3 surveys a day averaging you an hour a day or so.


All that said, most people who unfortunately are misled by ads and websites telling them you can make thousands of dollars easily with online surveys, go into it and soon realize its not that easy. I mean, after all it takes time to complete surveys. yeah, some of time are really fun and enjoyably, especially the ones about movies or new products, but mostly they are boring.

By the way, the rule of thumb when it comes to paid surveys scams is that if a survey site asks you for money in order to register you, that's just a scam. All survey sites are free to join. I mean all legitimate paid surveys sites. Those scam sites basically charge you a fee to give you a list of legit paid surveys sites which since I have been involved with them for years, I have pretty much figured them out and have listed them in my own blog. See it here at 40+ legitimate paid surveys


In short:
There are lost of survey scams.
But there are also many legit survey companies that do pay.
You will not get rich doing paid surveys.
All legit paid survey sites are 100% free to join.


By the way, if you can get referrals, that's another good way to make more money with these sites, since most of them do have referral programs.

Thanks for you response, I guess we can quite safely say, hardly anyone made good money with surveys.

I once made about $45 with a survey site (and I can't even remember which one it was.) But the only reason I got that much was that I qualified for a HUGE 3-part skincare survey that actually paid "well."

It still broke down to be something like $5 an hour or something stupid like that, and it took me a couple months to make that $45.

Some people claim it is good for "supplement income," but I say that's baloney. You could make way more than that blogging, selling affiliate products, getting a temp job, or hunting for treasures at yard sales and selling them on eBay!

I say avoid surveys because they ask for too much info, and many of them are now "prize" based - which is just scammy to me.

I wouldn't waste time with surveys if what you're trying to do is start an online business..because that isn't a business. I would focus all my time on building my brand and creating and selling good information products.

Yeah man, go get a decent job that will be better :p

Same thing here, it was even stated in an moneymaking article that surveys are source of income. So I tried it out and it sucks.

Thanks for the share, I will check it out myself

Ya I'm gonna say I don't believe a word you just said.

Sorry I scared you, I won't say the word SURVEY again... Oops :p

ya it works, but even if it works its not worth ur time like what some people are saying.

unless ur time is worth 0.10 per 15 mins.

which is 0.40 per hour?

i rather u work at macdonalds.

haha

I got one survey that paid me twice and a really hilarious story from a live survey at a real boardroom setting.

What is so funny about the boardroom case? I went down there and waited with other participants to do this live survey for 30 dollars abouts. Finally the survey was going to start. EVERY OTHER participant went to the boardroom while I got told to stay back. Confounded, I wondered "Did I do something wrong?"

No you won't be involved in the survey, they said. They just handed me the cash for rearing my head up in the waiting room without answering anything. Paid HUGE just to wait for 1/2 hour. I just fainted away dead, so to speak.

I dropped out of surveys because they hadn't made me much.

Read all of my other posts. You will find out I went on to Freelancing on oDesk with FORGOTTEN and recovered skills.

On the flip side, I remember the last time I filled out a survey was on a redirect strategy...5 minutes into it, I'm like wait I'm here to redeem my code for the product I just purchased. What am I doing filling out a survey to get all these gadgets and magazines!!!

Some years back when paid surveys were talked about a lot, I checked into it thinking that I could supplement my income, even in a little way. What I found was that many that did seem to offer better pay or offer something that would really benefit the person taking the survey had a major catch! Many were built upon the concept of signing up for free offers that required your credit card information to receive payout. It was all about juggling the offers and remembering to cancel before a 30 day period, so your credit card wouldn't be charged, say $29.95. What a joke!