Paid Survey Sites: A User Review

Several months ago, I was between jobs. We had just moved to a different state so my husband could pursue his education. We had no kids and only a small apartment, so although I did spend time looking for steady employment, I had a lot of time on my hands. That's how I got started taking surveys.

I joined most of my survey sites around the same time, but a few of them are more recent, since I joined them because of incentives offered by other survey companies. In this Hub, I will be listing the different sites I joined and the pros, cons, and useful information about each company's systems, surveys, and payment methods (which is why we're doing them, right?!).

I will also be sharing estimates of how much I earned from these places (in a timespan of about four months) to give you an idea of what is reasonable to expect. I have seen a lot of websites advertising that a person can earn $5-$70 per survey. This claim is simply not realistic. While there may be a few surveys out there that award that much, I have never seen one. The most I have ever earned for one survey was $3 or $4. So taking surveys is not a way to get rich quick. It is a way to earn a little extra spending money in your spare time.

Toluna

For me, this has been the site where the most surveys are available. Toluna sends emails every day or so inviting you to a survey. If that survey opportunity is no longer available by the time you click on the link, they will provide another one for you to take. You can also take sponsored polls and "quick surveys" for a few points. The quick surveys often lead to more survey opportunities, and add up fast.

Toluna has recently revamped their site and made a few changes. They now have a limit to how many surveys you can take in one day. However, you can keep checking back under the survey tab and may still be able to qualify for some even after you have "taken the maximum number." The rewards for surveys range in value from 1,000 points to 3,000 points for the average survey, with special ones awarding 9,000-15,000 points, but those are hard to qualify for.

I have received two $20 checks from them so far. Toluna does not offer a PayPal option. The checks take several weeks to arrive after you redeem them, so don't panic if they don't show up in your mailbox within a few days.

Opinion Outpost

Opinion Outpost is my favorite survey site so far. The main drawback is that they don't have as many surveys available. OO sends survey invitations through email, but you can also log in to your account and take surveys without an invite if there are any available.

Opinion Outpost pays with PayPal as one of its reward options, and they are the fastest-paying site I have found. Your payment is processed within minutes of redemption, and the minimum for PayPal cashout is $10. I have made the most money with them, too ($60 so far), so they are definitely high on my list.They often have 10-minute surveys for 10 points, which equals a dollar.

Recently the site got a makeover, which I was not entirely pleased with. Since the change, I have gotten numerous surveys that had bad links and took me to an error screen. However, this is a minor issue and I will put up with it as long as I keep getting surveys from them.

IPSOS I-Say

This is another good site. I-Say has the great feature of being able to come back and complete a survey at a later time, unlike most sites, which do not allow you to return to a survey and thus result in a lot of wasted time and effort if you are suddenly called away from the computer and have to shut it down.

I-Say also offers a few reward points even if you did not qualify to take a survey that you were invited to participate in, which is worth a lot more in my opinion than a prize draw entry, which is the norm for survey disqualifications.

I-Say has a variety of reward options, including PayPal. The minimum for redemption is 1500 points, which comes out to $15. They have a longer processing time--one to three weeks. I have gotten one payment from them and am waiting for the second one to be processed.

MySurvey

This site sends you survey invitations via email and has the available surveys listed for you on your account, but doesn't offer the option of taking more than the ones you are invited to. MySurvey rarely allows you to come back and finish a survey later, and since the number they send is limited, that is a bit annoying. They also have a rather low number of points per survey in many cases. Nevertheless, I was able to cash out with PayPal a few days ago for $10, which took 1100 points. They also offer merchandise or donations to charity as some of the award options.

GlobalTestMarket

GlobalTestMarket sends me many survey opportunities: sometimes three or four per day. However, I screen out of most of them, probably because I don't watch many movies. GTM also has a high cash-out level, with a minimum of $50 to get a check. I suspect they get a lot of surveys done for free because of this fact. Probably many people give up before they ever get 1000 points for cash-out. (The surveys are often 30-40 points.) They also send me invitations for surveys with prize draw entries as the reward, but I just delete those. I have 700 points, so I intend to persevere and get that $50 check one of these days.

InboxDollars

This site features various ways to earn. There are two daily surveys on the site and they also send you survey invitations through email. I gave up trying for the daily surveys since I hardly ever qualified to complete them and spent a lot of time getting screened out. However, I do try all the ones they send to my inbox, since I seem to have a pretty good success rate with those. The surveys vary in length and rewards offered. Most pay fifty cents to $1.50. I have gotten one check from InboxDollars so far. The minimum to redeem your money (they don't use the point system) is $30, but they charge a $3 processing fee. A 10% cut in earnings seems a bit steep to me, but I did get one check from them and am well on the way to earning another.

MyView

MyView is a pretty nice site with the opportunity to complete surveys from email invites as well as directly through the site. They don't always have surveys available, however. They also have no cash, check, or PayPal options for payment--only gift cards and magazine subscriptions. They require a great deal of points for redemption of anything worthwhile. For example, the reward I am working toward is an Applebee's $25 gift card, which is about 35,000 points. I still have several thousand points to go. They do give a small amount of points if you try to qualify for a survey and get screened out.

Springboard America

This is a site I joined only a couple months ago through an offer from another site. So far I really like the surveys and the way they are set up. The main drawback is that I don't get many survey invitations from them, and they don't have the option to take as many as you wish. Even with this little problem, I am halfway to the cash-out of $20 already, since they pay up to $2.50 per survey and it adds up faster than a lot of other sites. I believe Springboard America pays by check.

Harris Poll

Harris Poll is another site I joined a bit later on. They are similar to Springboard in a lot of ways-- I like the surveys but don't receive many invitations. They offer points that can be redeemed for gift cards or vouchers or charitable donations. They also don't have a cash or PayPal option. An Amazon voucher for $20 requires 2500 points, and I am not even halfway there yet. However, I like their surveys so I will keep them on my list.

Pinecone Research

I recently joined this site through an invitation from Opinion Outpost. I had tried to join before through a banner I found online, but was not accepted the first time. Pinecone is a favorite site of many survey takers since they pay $3 for every survey and you qualify to take every survey they send (usually a few per month). However, they are more exclusive and you have to submit an application to join and may not be accepted if they are not looking for participants in your demographic right then. They don't typically allow sign-ups directly on their site so you have to find an active banner or link elsewhere online. I have made about $25 from Pinecone surveys in less than two months and highly recommend them if you can find a way to become a member.

Or at least the disappointing. The next few sites are, in my opinion, not worth my time or yours. I will explain.

Valued Opinions

This looked to be a promising site and I did two surveys shortly after joining, but have not received any invitations for a long time. I have $2.50 in my account there, and at this rate I should be able to cash out in about five years, if ever. This site may work for some people, but it's not worth the bother for me. Why go to all the trouble of signing up and filling out profile info if you can't get any surveys?

Vindale Research

Many of these surveys required too much personal information (I am not going to give my telephone number in every survey!) or essentially required a purchase so that I could be "paid" to give my opinion on a product or service. I don't even read most of the invitations I get from them anymore and will not spend time beginning surveys that I am highly unlikely to complete because of the above requirements.

Memolink

This one was a total waste of time. I spent a long time trying to qualify for various surveys and panels, earning a few measly points here and there, and when I checked to see how close I was to the $10 mark, I discovered I had only earned a very minute fraction of that on the progress bar. This site did not have the survey possibilities that I was hoping for. I have unsubscribed from this site.

In conclusion...

Many survey sites offer a chance to earn a little money, and what works for one person may not be successful for another. The different demographics can make a big difference in which sites you may find worthwhile. However, I hope that my honest personal opinion of these sites can be helpful for understanding the differences in paid survey companies and aid in developing realistic expectations for those who are interested in giving their opinion in exchange for a little extra cash.