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The Truth About Paid Online Surveys |
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Are paid surveys for real? How does it work? How much can I make doing paid surveys? Can I really make $100 an hour taking paid online surveys?... Our answers to these common questions, and the truth you need to know about paid surveys.
1. Are paid surveys for real and How do they work?
Yes, Paid online surveys are for real! Like I said, there ARE a good number of legitimate market research / paid survey companies that will pay you (consumers) for your time and opinion on products, services, ads, ideas etc.
2. Do I have to pay to take surveys and get paid?
Absolutely NOT! Legitimate surveys companies never ask you to
pay to take surveys. They are always FREE to join, and it cost
absolutely NOTHING to take surveys and get paid! Please be aware the
difference between survey sites and Paid to Sign Up offer sites, the
later pays you for signing up offers, and sometimes you might need to
pay upfront a small amount to try the offers.
3. How do paid surveys work?
You sign up with (join) a market research/paid survey company’s
research panel, provide your contact information (such as email and
home address) and basic (and sometimes a little more detailed)
demographic information such as your name, gender, age etc... When the
survey company has a market research survey that fits your profile,
they will send you an email inviting you to participate. They will
indicate what the reward will be for completing the survey. You take
the survey, if you qualify and complete the survey, you will get paid
by the survey company. Often if you don’t qualify for the survey, you
will still earn a entry to enter in a sweepstakes drawing.
4. Then why so many people think paid surveys are scams?
I think there are four main reasons:
First, there ARE scam sites - they "claim" to be paid survey companies and in-fact they just want to have your personal information and they then turn around and sell it, you will get tons of spam emails but no surveys.
The Second, there are many websites promoting those "scam" paid survey companies just for commission no matter what. Often it is difficult to tell what is real legitimate survey company/site and what is not for survey beginners.
The third. Many paid offers sites advertise themselves (or claim on their own
websites) as paid survey sites. The truth of the matter is, even some
of them do have paid surveys (usually low paying ones), their main
"business" is actually paid offers. This could make people confused and
often give false impression that paid surveys are NOT FREE, and
unfortunately give paid surveys a bad name. Also there are a paid survey directory sites charge people a membership fee to access their sites, and all they offer is just a list/directory of paid survey sites. Many people are confused and think they are a paid survey site that actually pay people for taking surveys.
The fourth, lot of survey starters do not realize that it takes a while to get paid. Two or three weeks after signing up and taking some surveys, you don't see the money coming in and you start questioning this paid surveys thing is just another online scam. Lot of people just give up this way because they don't know if they signed up with legitimate survey companies and completed surveys, they will get paid, however, it takes time- lot of survey companies have minimum payout requirement to cash out reward, and it certainly takes time to reach that requirement. Also, it takes average 2-3 weeks for surveys companies to process payment.
5. How much can I make for taking paid surveys?
The answer really depends on several factors: 1).How many legitimate paid survey sites did you sign up with; 2). Your demographic profile which determines the number and types of surveys you get and qualify; 3). The amount of time you spend participating in surveys, focus groups, etc; 4). How lucky you are when it comes to drawings, rattles and sweepstakes.
I would say if you signed up a number of good survey sites and take the majority of the surveys you are invited, you could make $1000 to $2000 a year in cash, gift certificates and prize combined. After over 3 years doing surveys, currently I personally earn average $200 a month (spend about an hour a day) from taking online surveys (no counting referrals).
Can you really make $100 an hour? - It is possible to make $100 for an one hour focus group discussion, but you won't have this kind of opportunity to fill a whole day's work. The truth is, you are not going to get rich or make a full time salary by doing paid surveys. However you certainly CAN make pretty good extra cash.
6. Are there really 300 or 400 and even 500 paid survey sites that are actually pay?
Absolutely not! I have signed up with over 300 paid surveys sites. Over the course of 4 years, only about 80 paid survey companies have paid me. In fact, half of the sites never even send me a survey! Even till today I have found a little more than 100 legitimate survey sites, but it is still far less than 300 sites!
If you see any websites (paid or free) that list hundreds of paid surveys sites, please be aware! Lot of those websites just promote anything they can, no matter it is scam or spam. Remember, more is not always better!
7. Should I pay a database/directory/list for paid survey sites?
No. With some effort, you should be able to find all yourself. The problem with those database/directory is they usually promote everything they can find for commissions, no matter it is scam or spam, and they can not be trusted. If you are reading this article right now, you have found the best paid survey resource - MySurvey123.com provides the best FREE paid survey lists and honest paid survey reviews!
8. How do I start?
Please follow the step-by-step instructions in my another article Paid Survey Guide For Beginners
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Last Updated ( Monday, 21 September 2009 )
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Paid Survey Guide 
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