Paid surveys sites are Internet-based platforms that provide rewards or gift cards in exchange for your opinion. The concept of paid surveys has been a cornerstone of secondary income generation long before the rise of gig economy apps like Lyft or Uber Eats. Trusted and well-established paid survey platforms, such as Nielsen or InboxDollars, have continually evolved over the years, improving their interfaces and developing mobile apps to streamline the survey-taking process. Despite these advancements, the core concept of paid surveys remains a reliable and popular strategy to create an additional income stream or receive gift cards.
Understanding the concept of paid surveys and how they work can be the first step towards utilizing them effectively. This blog post is designed to serve as a comprehensive guide for anyone interested in being rewarded for sharing their opinions through paid surveys. Not only will it explain how paid surveys function, but also identify the top ten paid survey sites that offer the best opportunities to make extra cash or earn free gift cards. If you’re a seasoned survey-taker or a newbie interested in exploring paid surveys for the first time, this well-researched and trustworthy list will serve as a valuable resource for you.
Do Paid Surveys Really Pay?
Absolutely! Legit paid survey sites do compensate users for their time and participation. Dedicated respondents can expect to earn an extra $100 to $250 per month, if not more, from these paid online survey sites. Paid survey opportunities may vary in compensation from as low as $0.25 to as high as $5.00 or more.
Reliable survey sites have testimonials from its respondents on the app store and review platforms such as SiteJabber or TrustPilot. In addition, you should be able to find coverage on these sites from respectable finance blogs and news outlets. For instance, Swagbucks has been featured by major media platforms like US News & World Report, Good Morning America, Wall Street Journal, and numerous others.
Although most paid surveys generally pay between $0.50 and $5.00 and take anywhere from 5 to 45 minutes to complete, there are exceptions. Some are short and pay only a few cents (eg: a one-question daily poll), whereas others may offer up to $20 or more.
The Best Paid Survey Sites Ranked
When it comes to earning potential, the best paid survey sites are as follows:
- Swagbucks
- InboxDollars
- MyPoints
- Survey Junkie
- Opinion Outpost
- Branded Surveys
- Pinecone Research
- Toluna
- LifePoints
- Upromise
But not all paid survey sites are the same. For instance, Swagbucks earns top billing for its extensive range of high-quality paid surveys and myriad of other fun earning opportunities. These include engaging activities like daily polls, live trivia games, cash back shopping, focus groups, searching the web, sweepstakes, and much more. Swagbucks also features a high number of special offers where you earn rewards worth $5 to $150 just for signing up.
InboxDollars, MyPoints, and Survey Junkie are other high-performing sites within the realm of paid surveys. Both InboxDollars and MyPoints, much like Swagbucks, feature a variety of money-making opportunities. They provide not only online surveys but also offers activities such as earning cash back from shopping, availing coupons, and rewards for scanning receipts. On the other hand, Survey Junkie maintains a distinct focus on surveys. Its interface might not offer as many earning channels as the others, yet it compensates by presenting a clean, user-friendly dashboard.
Among the rest of the paid survey sites, Opinion Outpost, Branded Surveys, Pinecone Research, Toluna, LifePoints, and Upromise are fairly reputable platforms. However, they rate lower than the above-mentioned sites as they offer fewer survey opportunities and a more limited scope for additional earning.
It’s important to note that Pinecone Research operates on an invitation-only basis and offers decent compensation ($3.00 each survey). Nonetheless, the availability of surveys fluctuates, resulting in some months where no earning potential is possible.
Finally, Upromise deserves a special mention. Resembling the model of Swagbucks or InboxDollars, this site is a ‘rewards money site’. However, rather than earning rewards redeemable as PayPal cash or free Amazon gift cards, Upromise centers around a unique purpose – you’re accruing savings for your child’s college savings fund. Your monthly earnings are automatically transferred to a linked college savings account.”
Are Surveys Really Offering $350 Payouts?
Regrettably, online surveys advertising payments as high as $350 are typically disingenuous. Most surveys provide compensation under $5, with many churning out even less than $1. An ad or webpage that vows to provide $350 per survey could be considered clickbait. If you’re looking for high payouts consider playing mobile games or becoming a game tester.
However, certain in-depth studies or focus groups might indeed offer compensation in the region of $350 or more. These tend to be associated with academic institutions or medical centers, and their legitimacy is often easily validated as they do not resort to misleading advertisements to engage participants.
While it’s misleading to imply that individual legit surveys would yield $350, it’s plausible to accumulate $350 or more by participating in numerous surveys across legitimate sites like Swagbucks. Active users, such as the Diamond-level members, have even earned figures exceeding $20,000 by completing surveys. Hence, the monetary outcome is primarily dependent on the time invested and persistence of the survey taker.
How Much Do Swagbucks Equate to a Dollar?
In terms of the Swagbucks rewards currency (SB), every 100 SB earned parallels $1.00. Users may redeem their first reward once they accumulate at least 1500 SB in earnings, equivalent to $15. Thereafter, a minimum of 500 SB or $5.00 in earnings would need to be reached for subsequent payouts.
This minimum threshold sets Swagbucks apart from other online survey platforms. Many require users to earn between $20 and $30, or more, before allowing them to cash out, making Swagbucks’ $5 minimum payout reasonably accessible.
Swagbucks allows users to redeem their earned SB for a variety of options, ranging from PayPal cash, checks in the mail, a diverse variety of gift cards. This flexibility in payout options is not always matched by other survey sites, as many only offer payment in the form of gift cards.
Does PayPal Do Surveys for Money?
PayPal is one of the most popular rewards for taking paid online surveys. Most online survey sites offer PayPal. Other common rewards include Amazon gift cards, prepaid Visa cards, or free gift cards for other popular retailers.
PayPal is popular among survey takers because it’s like getting paid cash. It’s free and secure to create a PayPal account, and then you can link it to your online bank. But the survey site does not have access to your bank account, giving you that layer of protection.
Does a Legitimate Survey Site Need My Driver’s License Number?
No, legitimate survey sites don’t need your driver’s license number – that screams of scam survey sites. Legitimate survey companies don’t need your driver’s license or bank info. They should have means of paying you (check, PayPal, gift cards) that don’t require your bank account information.
Legitimate survey sites, like Survey Junkie or Swagbucks, may be required to send you a 1099- form if your earnings reach a certain threshold. Most consumers taking online surveys are never required to complete a 1099-form. And this form does not ask you for your driver’s license number.
Are Paid Surveys Safe?
Yes, paid surveys are a safe way to make money online. Swagbucks, for example, has paid its members over $680 million in free gift cards for taking surveys and completing other fun online activities.
There are scam survey sites that do exist. These sites promise ridiculous amounts of money (i.e. $350 for a 10 minute survey) and display glowing testimonials of people who claim you can get rich quick. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. If you see a survey site promising $350 per survey, that’s like a used car dealership advertising a low-mileage, newer model Ford for only $500. It just sounds fake and you know there’s a hidden catch.
How Do I Know the Online Survey Site is Safe and Legit?
A safe and legit online survey site has a mix of good reviews and critical reviews you can read, advertises realistic earning amounts (like $0.25 to $5.00 per survey), and has working customer support that can assist you with questions.
Here are some hallmarks of legitimate survey sites offering legitimate online surveys.
- Realistic earning amounts are advertised. Most online surveys will pay around $0.25 to $5.00 per survey. The highest paying surveys may pay more, but those opportunities are less common and the survey company is upfront in disclosing this. If a paid survey site promises you can get rich or earn a full-time living from market research surveys, this is a scam.
- You can read actual user reviews. Specifically, you can read actual user reviews on third-party sites like Google Play, iTunes, TrustPilot, and SiteJabber.
- There is a mix of good and bad reviews. All glowing reviews are a sign of a scam. Obviously, you want to complete surveys on a survey app that has a great review score overall. However, there will always be unhappy users who leave critical remarks and low scores. If a survey company has only fantastic reviews, be very skeptical.
- You can read reviews that are several months (or even several years) old. Survey scam sites don’t last long before they get shut down. Users realize they aren’t getting paid and move on. A scam site can pay “fake” several dozen glowing reviews or more, but check the time and date stamp. If all the reviews came in over a 2-day window and there are no reviews older than last month, that’s a big red flag.
- There is media coverage of that survey site in legitimate news outlets, finance blogs, and other credible sources. Swagbucks, for example, has been featured in the Los Angeles Times, Forbes, and Refinery29.
- There is social media presence. Legitimate survey sites usually have accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other channels. Because they are real companies that want to listen to and interact with their members in an online community. Scam survey sites often don’t have any social media accounts. Or if they do, they’re quite sloppy. It may be a Facebook page that has almost no followers. Or, an Instagram page that has thousands of followers (suspiciously) but the page went up only a few weeks ago.
- There is functioning customer support. Typically, survey sites have chat support and email support. A scam site may commonly advertise they have customer support and list a toll-free number. But try calling that number. Talk to a chat agent. Try emailing customer support.
Can I Make a Living Doing Online Surveys?
No, you cannot make a living doing online surveys. Market research companies don’t have enough surveys to make this possible. But it is possible to make $50 to $200 a month, or more, taking online surveys. Thousands of people make money online every month by completing surveys.
Let’s take a look at how paid survey sites work.
- Market research companies work with brands and companies to do market research and get consumer feedback. They help brands and companies create thoughtful surveys to get the information they need to make better products and services.
- Then, the market research firm needs survey participants. So they partner with survey companies because they have thousands of willing survey participants – their site members.
- As a survey site member, you can look for paid survey opportunities that match your interests and background. You can see how much the survey will pay and how long it may take you to complete that survey.
- When you complete a survey, the survey site gets paid. They share a portion of the earnings (usually around 50%) with you for completing the survey.
So a brand needs to do research and find a market research company. The market research company needs survey takers, so they work with survey sites like InboxDollars or Survey Junkie. The survey site needs members who want to take surveys for money, so they look for users like you.
How Much Money Can You Make Doing Surveys Online?
Most paid survey opportunities pay $0.25 to $5.00 per survey. Monthly, you can make about $50 to $200 a month taking paid surveys. If you want to make $50 to $200 a month or more taking surveys, you would need to complete a handful of surveys per day and invest at least a couple of hours per day of your time. This is why many people take surveys while they are watching Netflix.
Because just taking surveys can get boring, the best survey sites offer other ways for you to earn money online. Many survey sites offer these other ways to earn points or rewards:
- Cash back shopping: earn cash back rebates when you shop online at participating stores.
- Reading emails: earn rewards for reading emails (sponsored content). On InboxDollars, for example, you earn virtual scratch-off tickets for reading emails. Rewards range from 1-cent to $100.
- Scanning receipts: get paid for scanning grocery store or supermarket receipts.
- Sign-up bonuses: get paid for trying new apps or services.
- Playing games: get paid for playing new apps and mobile games. This can range from a few cents for just installing a game to $100 or more for reaching a certain level of the game within a set period of time.
- Searching the web: some survey and rewards sites will pay you for searching the web. Generally, the search results are powered by Yahoo or a similar top-tier search engine. They want you to complete the searches on their site so they can show you ads. Since Google doesn’t pay you anything for searching the web, this is a great way to earn extra money from a survey club.
Can You Do Surveys and Get Paid Instantly?
With a legit survey company, you can take online surveys and be credited within a couple of minutes per less. But to actually withdraw the funds you have earned, that could take 1-5 business days or more.
Here’s the general flow or timeline from when you take online surveys for money to when you get paid.
- Take a survey.
- Your account will be credited for the completed survey.
- Request payout in your account settings.
- Select your survey payment method from the available options.
- The survey company verifies your account details.
- Your payment gets processed (in batches with other payments being issued).
- Payment is sent to you – by electronic means or in the mail – depending on the method you selected.
The survey company is required to verify your account details to make sure you are a real person with a real email address and a real physical address. This eliminates fraud, like bots in foreign countries or the same person creating multiple accounts.
Keep in mind that you need to reach the minimum survey payout amount before you can request payment. In a best-case scenario, you could complete a handful of relevant surveys today on your computer or mobile device. Or as many surveys as you need to reach the minimum payout amount. Then request payment today. Depending on the survey payment method (i.e. check in the mail vs PayPal), you could have your funds within 48 hours.
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