Making Money with Online Surveys

On-line Surveys: The Good, The Bad And The Really Ugly

There are approximately 500 different On-line Survey Companies advertised on the Internet.  I've participated in several on-line surveys for cash and researched hundreds of them.  I've found that, just like everything else in life, there are the good, the bad, and the really, really ugly.

The good survey companies consist of those that actually pay you a little bit of money for your time, don't sell your information to telemarketers, don't send you thousands of e-mails, most of which end up in your bulk mailbox, and tell you exactly what each survey you're taking is worth in terms of dollars.   The good survey companies are an excellent way to bring in a few extra dollars from the privacy of your home.  They're usually maintained by parent marketing research companies and confirm your acceptance via e-mail.  Their website will provide extensive information regrinding the company and earning incentives. 

The bad news about the "good" companies is that the surveys are few and far between, are usually only available by e-mail invitation and take a while to get a check or deposit into your Pay-pal account.  If you've ever participated in a survey at the mall or through a neighbourhood research firm, you know that you're lucky to make $100 a year doing this.  

The good news about the "good" companies is that you don't have to worry about them selling your information to unscrupulous companies, charging your phone bill for something you didn't buy or trying to "trick" you into buying anything.    A good company doesn't operate that way.

The "bad" survey companies are the ones that offer cash, actually pay cash, but fill your e-mail inbox up with so much spam that you end up spending a good 15 minutes a day deleting all of it.  The "bad" survey companies are legitimate to the point that they actually do pay cash once you've accumulated a certain amount, but are also interested in getting you to visit the websites of their marketing partners, where you will be pressured into signing up to learn more about affordable health insurance.  If you show any sign of interest, expect at least three calls a week from various telephone representatives.

The bad news about the "bad" companies is that you have to keep on your toes.  You'll often find yourself directed to other websites, they will try to sell you many products that you don't need or want.  You have to stay one step ahead of them, or participating in a survey will cost you more than you'll make.

The good news about the "good" sites is that they're easy.  And that you can make money by referring others to the site.  And if you learn the ropes (never, under any circumstances, say that you're interested in learning more about health insurance), you can earn a few bucks.  Cashcrate is one of these sites.  It's bad because you're constantly being barraged with ads during the course of the survey, but it's good because you can pick the surveys you want to take and they pay cash once you've accumulated $20.   You just have to make sure you empty your spam folder every day, delete your cookies each day and sift through a lot of junk e-mail.

The really, really ugly sites are just downright scams.  They won't offer you any money, instead, they'll offer you a chance to win "thousands" in their sweepstakes.  Or they'll make ridiculous claims about making "thousands of dollars a week" on their site.  They will attempt to get as much information from you as possible and then promptly sell it to third parties.  They will try to trick you into accepting "free" magazines and charge your telephone bill for a subscription.  They will ask for your cell phone number and charge you for ringtones.  They'll do anything and everything to try to weasel money out of you and you'll receive nothing in return.

There's nothing good about these really, really ugly sites except that they're easy to spot for anyone with an IQ over 60.  Unfortunately, the elderly, the young and the very greedy are their favourite prey.   Beware of any on-line survey site that charges a "fee" to join, or has a bunch of "testimonials" from people claiming to have made $10,000 a month on their site.  If it was that easy, no one would work; we'd all stay  home and do surveys.

So enjoy the good, be careful with the bad and stay away from the really, really ugly. 

Check out cash crate by clicking this link.

My Survey

The idea of making easy money from home appeals to most people, and if you have a computer, online survey gigs are a good way to start.

They aren't going to pay your mortgage.  You'd have to do surveys non-stop for days straight to make any real money.  But if you can manage to do a few surveys a day and keep up with the different websites, you can make a nice supplemental income to enable you to buy the "extras."

MySurvey.com is a little different than some of the other online survey companies I joined.  For one, instead of awarding you instant cash per survey, they give you points.  Each survey you complete is worth about 10 points.  Once you reach 1,000 points, you can redeem them for cash, prizes or make a charitable donation.

The nice thing about MySurvey.com is that the surveys are short and easy.  You can easily do about 10 surveys in a half an hour and earn 100 points.  For each 1,000 points, members earn $10 in cash.   Each time a participant earns $10 in cash, they can opt to have a check sent to them from MySurvey.com.

Not all surveys are worth 10 points.  Some of them can earn an individual 1500 points.  In addition, several times a year, 50,000 points are awarded to a lucky member of MySurvey.com.  And every month, a lucky winner receives a bonus of 10,000 points.

One of the nice things about this site is that you are not inundated with telephone calls from solicitors.  Since I joined, I have not received any calls from any telemarketers.  MySurvey is generally just interested in getting opinions about their advertiser's products.  

I also like the concept of donating the money to charity.  Some of the charities this website supports include The American Heart Association, The Make a Wish Foundation and Save the Children.  I'm quite an advocate for children's charities, particularly the "Make a Wish Foundation."  

Those who accumulate a lot of points have the option of donating some of their earnings to a charity and taking the rest of the earnings in cash or prizes.  Only those people living in the contiguous 48 states are eligible to participate in MySurvey.com.  It is not open to those in other countries.

Another way to earn points is to refer a member to the website.  For each referral, you earn 150 points.  These points can add up very quickly.  Members also receive 45 points for just signing up on the website.  However, you must remain active in order to maintain your membership.  It is best to add MySurvey.com to you list of favorites, or bookmarks, and take a survey every other day or so.  Inactive members are sent three e-mails.  If, after the third e-mail, the member does not respond, the account is cancelled and all points are forfeited.

To avoid missing any e-mails, you should add the website to your address book, so the e-mails don't go into your spam folder.  The first e-mail I received from MySurvey.com was directed to my spam folder; luckily, I was expecting it and was able to respond.

Participating in online surveys is a fun, effortless way to earn some cash while sitting at home.  MySurvey.com makes it easy to do this.

The Survey Pro

Those interested in doing "paid surveys" online must realize that although some sites are legitimate, others either want money in exchange for registration into their data bank, or simply want to collect as much information about you to sell to telemarketing companies.

Thesurveypro.com is of the latter.   I clicked on the site and entered some basic information, such as my name, address, age and e-mail address.  I then pressed the button to "join" the site, that promised to pay me for participating in online surveys.  Thesurveypro.com then sent me a confirmation e-mail.

I went to my inbox and clicked on the confirmation link and was directed again to the site where they asked me to participate in a brief "20 questions in 2 minutes" survey.  Some of the questions they asked me consisted of the following:

Would you ever consider working from home?  I answered "no."  In my experience, answering "yes" to such a question is giving the "go-ahead" to receive dozens of calls and e-mails from unscrupulous "work at home" scam companies.

Are you interested in an online degree?  I answered "no."  Ever since I foolishly answered yes by mistake at another survey company, I get, on the average, four calls a week from "online education" sources using hard sell tactics to try to get me to "better" my education.  At first I was nice, now I simply hang up.

Do you carry more than $10,000 in student debt?  I answered "no" and this is the truth.  But a "yes" answer will signal calls from debt consolidation companies, which are always bad news.  Signing up with such a company ruins your credit as it is actually viewed as filing a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy.

Do you own a home or a condominium?  I lied and said "no."  Because I know if I said "yes," I would get a ton of mail asking me to refinance my home.

Do you feel it is important to know your credit score?  I said "no."  Because I know if I said "yes" I would get mail and phone calls trying to "help" me raise my credit score.

Do you carry more than $10,000 in credit card debt?  I truthfully answered "no."  This is just another attempt to get you into debt consolidation.

In the last 30 days, have you rented a movie?  Again I truthfully answered "no."  This is an ad for netflix.  I'm not interested.

Do you consider yourself an expert in computer use?  Another "no."  But I'm expecting to start receiving mail offering me instructions any day now.

Are you happy with your current body weight?  I truthfully answered "yes."  I am one of the few Americans who is actually happy with my weight.  Constant aggravation caused by my two kids has kept me in marvelous shape.

Do you belong to a fitness club?  Gee, I signed up for three health clubs during my lifetime and ended up paying over $2,000 in fees.  I think I used the club about five or six times.  I wisely answered "no."

Do you drink coffee?  I answered "yes," but I am not interested in receiving free gourmet coffee every month through the mail. 

Are you interested in receiving free gourmet coffee?  I answered "no."  

After answering these questions, I was directed to yet another site where they asked me to "help keep their site free" and check "yes" or "no" if I was interested in getting more information from their sponsors.  As you may have guessed, most of their sponsors related to the 20 questions.  They included various online universities, Overstock.com, Taste of Home (which is a wonderful magazine, but available at the bookstore),  a few other magazine subscriptions and several "diet" sites, 

I said "no" to all of these offers.  They then asked me to "consider" another optional offer.  I clicked on the site and saw a flashy car, huge house and the chance to earn THOUSANDS of dollars.  All I had to do was give them my name, address and telephone number.  Fat chance.

I clicked out of that site quickly and went to my inbox.  There I found a link to confirm my membership to thesurveypro.com.  I clicked on the link and quickly found how I can immediately earn $10 for only 30 minutes worth of work.  All I had to do was sign up for 20 other survey sites.

While thesurveypro.com is not technically a scam (they don't want any money), it is not a legitimate "paid survey" site.  It is merely a tool used to get information for businesses.  The information that you provide to this site is sold to telemarketing companies that sell products such as diet pills, fitness equipment, magazine subscriptions, credit cards, debt consolidation, and - my personal favorite - online education.

Looking for a way to make a few extra bucks online?  Skip Thesurveypro.com.  Unless, of course, you have a desire to have your mailbox flooded with offers and like to talk to telemarketers.

Zoom Panel

An online survey company that does market research for a variety of fast-food restaurants, including McDonalds and KFC.  A couple of their other clients include General Mills, Proctor and Gamble and Microsoft.  Zoom Panel makes the grade of one of the "legitimate" online survey sites on the internet.

Membership is free for this site.  There are no fees involved and they will not share your information with telemarketing companies.  They also promise not to "spam" you inbox with a variety of ads.

Rewards are based on points.  Surveys regarding different products are sent via e-mail.  You are under no obligation to participate in any survey.  Each survey earns the participants "points."  When accumulated, the points can be redeemed for prizes or gift cards.  Zoompanel does not pay cash to individuals participating in surveys.

Those interested in participating in this website should answer "yes" to all of their questions in order to receive the most surveys.  If, however, you answer a couple of questions and find out that you do not qualify for a survey, you are eligible to play a game called "spin to win" where you can earn points or prizes.

Each survey is worth between 25 to 150 points.  Points for gift cards and merchandise can be redeemed once you reach the 1000 point level.  If you manage to refer a friend to the site, you will earn 100 points for each friend referred.  This is probably the easiest way to gain points with doing as little work as possible.

Referring a friend to a survey company is easy.  This can be done in a variety of ways.  You can send a link to the site to all your friends via e-mail.  Or you can rave about how well you're doing on the site on your MySpace or other blog site and include a link.  This is the easiest way to earn points and/or money for every legitimate online survey site that offers rewards for referrals.  Be advised that Zoompanel limits you to 400 points a month for referrals.

One of the exciting things about zoompanel.com is the opportunity to view different products and/or concepts before they are available to the general public.  The information is gathered in a database and presented to those companies that use this site to gain information from the public.  McDonald's, alone, spends millions of dollars a year conducting surveys about its products and uses several different avenues to gain information.  

A word of warning:  Don't expect to get "big rewards" for participating in zoompanel,  Rewards at the 1000 point level consist of battery charges and other little gadgets.  Even at the 5000 point level the rewards are comparable to those banks used to give out as premiums.

The positive aspect of participating in this site is the chance to view new and exciting products, not receive telephone solicitations, answer simple, brief surveys and gain a little prize now and then.  This is not a way to make money, but can be a lot of fun.  And yes, this site is completely legitimate.

Popular Scams Online Survey Companies Use

Anyone who's ever been online should, by now, be aware of the hundreds of "work from home" internet based companies that are consistently advertised in various websites.  One of the more popular is "doing surveys for cash."

There are literally hundreds of online survey companies.  Most of them are not legitimate ways to make money, although a few of them can earn you a few bucks.  These companies target stay at home moms who want to make a few extra dollars while taking care of the kids, the unemployed who want to make a few extra dollars while watching dozens of daytime court TV programs, the elderly who are not afraid to use the computer and teenagers who think they know everything, but aren't yet wise to the ways of the world.  And let's not forget the very greedy people of low intelligence who think they can get rich by answering a few simple questions to which a five year old can respond.

These people are prey to unscrupulous methods used by some online survey companies.  These scams include the following:

1.  The fee for joining.  There are some sites out there who charge a "fee" to join.  They promise you an opportunity to earn up to $100,000 a year, sitting home at your computer taking surveys.  The fee is usually less than $50.  These sites are always a scam.  If it was possible to earn $100,000 a year doing surveys online, the roads would be empty because no one would be going to work.  Everyone would be home, in front of their computers, earning easy money.  These sites prey on the greedy and/or lazy people of little intelligence.  By the time they figure out that their "get rich quick" scheme isn't working, they're out $50.  It's not a crime to be greedy, lazy or stupid.  And, unfortunately, it isn't a crime to prey upon them in many cases.  These sites are careful to add "disclaimers" stating that not everyone will earn this amount of money.  They promise nothing, but include testimonials on their site from people with no last names who claim to be living the high life from the comfort of their homes.  They usually have photos of flashy cars and huge houses on their websites.  People need to stay away from these sites like they would avoid the bubonic plague.  Unfortunately, PT Barnum was right when he said that there was a sucker born every minute.  Which is why these sites continue to exist.

2.  The cell phone scam.  In this popular scam, you'll be asked for your cell phone number to "confirm" your membership.  Seconds later, you will receive a call on your cell phone.  The call will end up costing you anywhere from $1.95 to $4.95; depending on the company.  These companies don't usually end up charging you too much because they figure you'll never miss a couple of bucks.  But it adds up for them and that's how they make their money.  They will then periodically send you text messages telling you you've won a prize and to claim it, you simply need to reply to the text.  This will end up costing you more money.   Do not give out your cell phone number to any website.

3.  The Switcheroo.  In this scam, you will be participating in a survey and then be directed to another website.  They will ask you to show an "interest" in obtaining more information from one of their marketing partners.  You will continue to answer "no" and keep getting more offers; the survey will never end until you answer "yes."  Now this scam might not cost you any money, but it will cost you time.  Because when you say that you are interested in learning more about health insurance, expect to receive an average of 10 calls a week from telemarketers trying to sell you health insurance.  And the insurance they are trying to sell you is a lot more than you can expect to pay than if you contact an insurance agent in your area.  I know this for a fact as I've actually done price researching.  And the telemarketing company will ask you for both your social security number as well as your bank information (so they can send in a deposit with your application).  It's dangerous to give out such information to anyone over the phone; legitimate companies will send you any information you require by mail.  

4.  The phone bill scam.  You'll sign up for a survey company and provide your telephone number.  Then you'll proceed in completing a survey and receive an offer for a free issue for a magazine.  You'll think to yourself - what's the harm?  You'll give your name and address for the magazine and hardly notice when a fee for a year's subscription shows up on your telephone bill,.  If you read the fine print, however, you will see that when you provided the company with your name and address to receive your "free" magazine, you authorized them to bill you via your telephone bill.  They figure that you won't even notice the extra $12.95 attached to your phone bill.  And many people don't.

These are just four of the scams that I've actually encountered during my foray into the world of online survey participation.  I consider myself a half-way intelligent person, but I got caught for $1.95 for the cell phone scam and $12.95 for the magazine subscription.  I've also been called about 20 times so far by different "health insurance" company representatives who requested my social security number and bank information over the telephone.  These companies have yet to send me anything by mail.  Luckily, I know better than to give such information over the telephone.

Online survey taking can be fun, but be careful.  Do not give out your cell phone number under any circumstances.  Do not give out your social security number or bank information.  Do not ever express any interest in receiving information from health insurance providers.  And avoid the "online education" inquiries as well.   Do some research prior to joining any company, do not pay a fee, and beware of anyone or any website that promises to make you rich.  

Paid Surveys

Lonely people looking to get a lot of spam in their internet mailbox will benefit greatly from paidsurveys.  This site is merely a portal to "hundreds" of other internet survey sites that promise you everything from the moon to a $1.

If you decide to join this site, expect to receive up to 40 e-mails a day from a variety of  online survey companies.  Some of them legitimate, others not.  It will be up to you to figure out.  A better way to decide which online survey companies you wish to participate in is to do a little legwork yourself.  

Paidsurveys.com is open to anyone in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and Canada who is at least 18 years old.  They promise a free membership and access to 30 different companies that will pay you cash and "prizes" for participating in online surveys right from your home.

Although the site promises security and privacy, I made the mistake of joining and began receiving e-mails from virtually every known site in the world that offered me money, prizes and trips simply for filling out a questionnaire.  They do not offer to send you to corporations that "spend billions of dollars a year" finding out what the average Joe is thinking, they merely flood your inbox with hundreds of e-mails from different survey companies.  

One of the scariest things about this site is the offer to do "data work from home."  Anyone with an IQ over 60 can smell this scam.  It is the internet equivalent to "stuffing envelopes from home."  It usually requires an upfront fee to "connect" the participant with people who are just dying to pay big bucks for someone to type all day into their computer.  It's a scam.  And an old one, at that.

There are approximately over 500 internet sites that offer people "cash" for participating in surveys from home.  Many of them are legitimate.  You can usually tell these sites by their disclaimer that you will not "get rich" off of them and they normally tell you up front about what you can expect to earn and how you will receive your earnings.

Other sites simply exist to get your information so they can sell it to telemarketers.  If you are taking a survey and frequently directed to different websites where you are asked about receiving a quote for health insurance, do yourself a favor and click out immediately.  In the month that I've been participating in online surveys, I have received (and I'm not exaggerating here) at least 10 calls from people who want to sell me health insurance.  One afternoon I received two calls, fifteen minutes apart, from the same company.  Unless you are really desperate to talk to people on the phone or get e-mail from strangers promising you riches, stay away from these type of sites.

Paidsurveys.com is merely an information gathering website that will give your e-mail address and telephone number to a variety of different companies, all of whom will want to sell you something.  If you are looking for a way to make money online, do so at a legitimate site.  Check out the website, read as much of the information carefully before signing up and beware of any site that promises that you will get rich overnight.  You will not make a living doing surveys at home.  This is merely a way to supplement your income and buy a few extras.  There are plenty of legitimate sites out there.  Paidsurveys.com is not one of them.