Get Paid to Take Surveys
For those of you looking to make a few bucks with all that time spent on the Internet, taking surveys for cash might be of interest.
There are several companies out there that will pay you for survey taking and for product evaluation. (Getting a free product that you would otherwise buy is like being paid all in itself). These companies allow you to register with them via their website. They’ll take your home address so that when it comes time to be paid or when they have a product to evaluate, they can mail you a check or the goods. Many also offer payment via PayPal.
Before taking a look at some of survey websites, let’s get one thing out of the way. You’re not going to become rich taking surveys or evaluating products. Most of these companies offer pay comparable to minimum wage when considering the time needed to take the survey. That said, getting even a little money for time spent on the Internet that might have otherwise been wasted can feel pretty nice.
Each company you sign up for will contact you via email when a survey is available for you to take. They will also contact you when they have a survey in mind for you, but if they need additional information to see if you qualify for it. The best survey sites are the ones that do not waste your time or mislead you. The worst are the ones that do, perhaps by inundating you with nonpaying surveys or by misstating the time it takes for a survey. I recommend signing up with several companies, and weeding out the ones that suit you best. Here are three sites that I am familiar with to get you started, in order of preference:
- Pinecone Research (Rating: Highly Recommended)
Pinecone is an excellent consumer survey company. They’ll pay you $3 for each survey you qualify for. I’ve been paid a few times by Pinecone, as you can see below. They send a check out promptly every time I complete a survey. (Pinecone just implemented a PayPal option too.) Survey offers appear in my inbox about once every week or two. Historically, Pinecone has been closed to new members, only opening up to applications via existing member referrals. But enterprising individuals can find signup links out there on the Internet, like this one.
- American Consumer Opinion (Rating: Recommended)
American Consumer Opinion is another good survey company to consider, although after being registered with them for about two months, I have yet to qualify for a paid survey. But they do not waste my time with unappealing surveys. They send out offers to me for preliminary surveys about every two or three weeks, and the offers they do send typically pay better than Pinecone’s. I received an offer recently for an $8 survey lasting 30 minutes, but after filling out a few preliminary questions, I failed to qualify for it. A reputable company by all indications. - SurveySpot (Rating: A notch below)
Survey Spot is a website that I have heard good things about, but that has left me disappointed. The company floods my inbox with five surveys a day, most of them nonpaying. Instead of cash, they offer an entry into a cash prize drawing, but I won’t fall for that trick. Whenever I have received a paying survey, which occurs every tenth survey or so, one of two things has happened: I don’t qualify for the survey or they reach their participant limit before I can get a chance to click the link, and I usually click within a day or two. Pinecone, for instance, won’t play these games – they’ll give you an ample, set amount of time to complete your survey. While my experience hasn’t been the best with SurveySpot, I won’t condemn them outright just yet. Your mileage may vary. It certainly can’t hurt to sign up and try them yourself for a few days.
Enjoy making a few bucks out there! Let me know your opinion of the companies I’ve mentioned and some others you’ve tried too.
