Can you really join, FREE, survey companies and get paid? Yes! Is it worth it? It all depends on you. Here's the scoop, in my opinion:
Whether the survey thing is worth doing depends on whether you like to take them. I like to take them and have been a member of some for years, so it's worth it for me. I don't join any survey groups that you have to pay to join. The ones I recommend are free. As for how much money you make, it depends on how many surveys you complete and other factors. I make money doing surveys, yes, but it's not always a whole lot and how often I get paid depends on how often I do them. Some pay a dollar or two, some five or ten dollars. I've been paid in $25 gift card before, too. Some have an account that you have to build up your cash to like $10 or even $50 before you cash out, or they award you points that you can cash out for money or prizes once you reach a certain number of points. Most of them send you a couple of surveys a month and then you answer some questions to see if you qualify for the survey. If you do, you get awarded and if you don't then you're usually awarded a small amount or entered into a sweepstakes. Here's an example of how much I'm making: I made about $85 in survey checks in the few months before Christmas 2005. It was nice extra gift money! In Feb. 2006, I had $20 worth of survey checks in my mail. Not a lot, but nice extra cash to have! Also, I've been sent products to test by two different survey companies and then take a survey about. These are products that were not cheap and I use in my household anyway.
One of the keys is to not get frustrated if you answer some questions and then get a message saying you're not qualified for the survey. This happens all the time, and while it's disappointing to miss out on that opportunity, think about it like this: Say you manufacture dog vitamins but are thinking about making some dog biscuits that have just as much nutritional value but the dogs might like them better, and you'd make more money at it. So you hire a survey group to survey the consumers for you. A list of questions are given to certain consumers that have listed dogs as a pet in their personal profile. One of the questions asks if they give their dogs vitamins. One group says no and the other says yes. You're not going to want to mess with the ones that say no, right? For your money going into paying this survey company, probably not. You're going to want to poll the people who are going to be more likely to buy the biscuits. Because you're seeing whether it would be interesting to them. Whether it's worth your time and money to make the things. You're trying to get an idea of whether you're going to make any money at it. Make sense?
Here's another tip: A lot of these survey companies have surveys that you can complete but not get money or points for. It's in your best interest to complete these surveys, because then they'll know more about what you like and you'll be more likely to get more surveys.
Okay, now here's some more info: The surveys take anywhere from one minute to about 20 minutes. I've never taken one that took more than 15 or 20 minutes, but I also have DSL connection. When I still had dial-up, some took a little longer. The surveys usually range from everything to what type of household you run to whether you like certain foods, etc. or what type of home you have and how you pay for it (mortgage, etc.) Some let you preview ads for products and want your opinion on if they are any good or not. This could be food, clothing, etc. You're not penalized if you don't take a survey, they don't drop you from the group or anything, you just don't get awarded anything if you don't take the ones they send you. If you're online a lot, it may be worth it to you. If you're not, you may not want to mess with it.
Now, here's a list of survey groups that I belong to. I've checked them out and so far they are legit. I've been a member of some of them for years.
Survey Savvy (this one really pays off with referrals -- you get paid not only for your surveys, but the surveys of those who sign up under you, and their referrals!)
NFO Mysurvey.com (I've been sent products to test at home with this one also)
I'm also a member of this one:Pinecone Research, but you have to find a website with a pinecone banner in order to register for it. It's pretty exclusive. You get a $5 check for every survey you complete. (Hint: There's a review site below that has a pinecone link somewhere on the page that you can click on.)
Want more information? Here are some great survey review sites you can check out and get the scoop:
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