Consumer Information: Paid Online Survey Scams And How To Avoid Them.  How Legitimate Survey Sites Can Help You Make Extra Money By Answering Online Surveys, Joining Focus Groups And Testing Products.  You Just Have To Use Some Common Sense To Avoid The Survey Scams.

Paid Survey Sites: Can You Really Make Money Answering Surveys, Or Are They Just A Scam?

The short  answer is Yes you can make real money, there are quite a few companies on the net that pay you to answer surveys.  They make their money by selling market research information to large corporations.  There are many sites out there that are legitimate.  Among those, some are much better than others.  More..

There Are Several High Quality Survey Companies (That Are Definitely Not Scams) Listed Here With Free Signup So That You Can Try This Without Spending A Penny.  

Some of these are very well known companies like Harris Poll and Neilson Ratings, who have been around for many, many years.

Or, If You Want To Dive In Head First, There Are Reviews Of Some Large Survey Directories, Which Charge A One Time Fee For Membership, But List Hundreds Of Companies On The Internet That Pay You To Take Surveys, Test Products And Join Focus Groups.

Some choices: 

1. Read on 

2. Go directly to the Survey Directory reviews (Sites that charge one time membership fee)

3. Go directly to the Free List of  paid survey sites (No charge at all)

4. Read a more detailed article about why some survey sites are scams.

5. For A Brief (Tongue In Cheek) Article On What A Pain In The Butt It Is Working At Home, Plus Some Home Business Ideas, Click Here.

6. A Site That Lists Lots Of Other Good Work At Home Jobs And Opportunities. .  If you have any desire to start your own business with little or no investment, this is a must read!

    

New! This site is available for free as a downloadable eBook.  Just right click on the link here and choose "save target as".  It's kind of an easy way to bookmark this site.

This will allow you to forward this to friends, or sign up for the free sites right from your desktop.  It's under 100K bytes, so it shouldn't take very long, even on dialup (Less than ten seconds).  Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader (Free) it's available for download , if you don't already have it, at http://Adobe.com .  If you have a PC another reader that is very good (and also free) is Foxit Reader.  It's a much smaller download and works great. To download, go to  http://www.foxitsoftware.com/ . The survey eBook is not updated as often as this site, so check back here periodically.

If you don't happen to know, I'll just mention what survey sites are about. 

Thousands of (many large) companies pay agencies to collect data about consumer opinion.  I remember once, someone in a shopping mall actually paid me $20 to fill out a survey.  

Now, many surveys are taken on the internet.  They might ask you which magazine cover you like the best and why.  Or, they might ask what deodorant you use.  

They just want to know what consumers are thinking.  They are willing to pay for your opinion, because they stand to make a lot more money if they market a product more efficiently, or make it more appealing.

I just finished a product test.  They sent me a box of cotton swabs (free).  After a week, I received a survey request.  The survey took about 5 minutes.  

I have received the check for this and many other surveys.  This is not my main source of income, but it's nice to make a few bucks extra here and there.

A page that lists many good sites that cost nothing to join is here.

You can actually quite a bit of extra money, just filling out online surveys.  I rated a few of the top survey directories for you.  To make a real full-time income, you have to sign up with a large number of survey companies, so that you receive several surveys a day.  Realistically,  most people don't fit the right profiles to get enough surveys to do this as their only source of income.  I don't.  But it's still nice to get checks  I can use to supplement my income.

Some people make barely enough to pay the bills.  Any extra money can really help.

Some survey sites are looking for product testers.  They have you do the product testing and give them feedback about the product.  Product testers get to keep whatever is is their testing.  They also get paid for answering a questionnaire about the product.

They also create focus groups, where people discuss the product together.

As I rate more paid survey directories, I will add their rating.

One note: The paid survey directories that charge you to join vary a great deal in quality.  The best ones frequently update their database to make sure that the sites still exist and that there are no problems with them.  

The three sites that are reviewed here are professional directory sites that receive payment through Clickbank, which has very strict regulations regarding refunds.  You can request a refund from the merchant for up to eight weeks.  If they won't give it to you, Clickbank will.  Also, Clickbank now in addition to accepting credit cards and echecks, also accepts Paypal, which many people already have.  

Paid Survey Directory Reviews

These sites rated below charge a one-time fee for membership, but list hundreds of places to register and take surveys, join focus groups, do product testing, etc.  If you search the net, you can eventually find the sites they list, along with a lot of junk sites, but how much is your time worth?  Plus, the sooner you have the information, the sooner you can start getting surveys and making money.

A word of caution:  These directories list hundreds of sites.  Some (of the sites they list) are better than others.  My suggestion is to pick sites that pay in cash.  Look at the privacy policy before signing up.  If they require you to apply for anything like credit cards, don't bother - unless you wanted to anyway.  

Paid to read sites pay you for receiving emails and actually reading them. They are generally a waste of time - most only pay the equivalent of a few cents per hour (although I have heard rumors that some pay well).  After trying this for a while, I never was paid anything.   I noticed some of (if not all) of the directories I recommend list some information about them.  Since you end up getting bombarded with spam, I recommend you do not sign up for them.  I am only recommending signing up for paid surveys.

You can also do a google search to find out if any of the sites listed are a problem to others.  Some people are very happy with these directories, some are not.  It probably depends on the listed sites that are individually picked.  It also depends on how you fit a profile of the type of information they're looking for.  Also, you just can't please everyone, so don't expect all glittering reviews.

I have seen messages posted on some scam boards that survey scout does not reply to emails and does not give refunds.  I know for an absolute fact that this is not true.  As a clickbank affiliate I am paid a commission for referring customers to survey scout.  Sometimes that commission in taken away because the customer received a refund.  By the way, I do not recommend survey scout because they pay me.  There are tons of sites that pay commissions.  I would not recommend a site that I don't believe to be reputable.  At the moment, I am also giving a good chunk of the commission back to you in the form of a rebate (see next page).

Because of all the idiotic spammers on the Internet, most email services have very picky filters.  In order to receive replies from websites (or surveys), in many cases you must add those sites to your whitelist.  I know how it is.  When all else fails, read the directions.  Most survey sites and paid survey directories has very good information on how to do this.

If you decide to get a refund on any of these and have any problems getting it, let me know - I will help - really.  I do not think I can help after the refund period expires (currently 8 weeks).  

You have to manually type my email in to reach me.  If I just put a link in,  I will be spammed mercilessly.  Also, if you have any comments, good or bad, feel free to contact me.  I don't even really care whether you signed up for these through this site or not. I will still try to help.

  This is from another, local information site I have, but I check it frequently.

Also, if you have any information, good or bad about anything on this site, send me an email and I will post it - unless it's absolutely outrageous.

Lucy Vieira

Contributing Editor

Note: As I have mentioned (at least somewhere on this site), pretty much all of the sites listed in these directories are available for free if you search the net.  These directories just save you time (and some aggravation) searching for good ones.  Make sure you follow the instructions for adding emails from various sites to your whitelist, so that you can receive the surveys they send.

1. Survey Scout

• They list hundreds of paid survey agencies. Well organized site, excellent, responsive  support.  Some of their features:

• Excellent customer service.  They (at this time) have four full time reps just for answering emails.

• Their database has a green check mark next to the best survey opportunities.

• They have excellent instructions on how to do this whole process on the site.

• There is a list of other bonus information and sites for more ways to make money, like getting paid to drive a car (with an ad on the doors).

• I personally have been in contact with them for questions through the member contact form.  They responded within 8 hours (not bad for a large site).

• There is information on the site written by someone who has been doing surveys for over 30 years and currently makes over $2600 per month part time.

• Sign up fee (One time) $34.95 - definitely worth it in my opinion.  It's a lot of work maintaining a database of active sites, plus responding to customers questions.

• Special Offer On This Site Only (For A Very Limited Time):  Survey Scout pays web sites to refer members to them.  So do thousands of other sites and companies.  It's a common practice.  

• Actually if you're interested, it's called "affiliate advertising".  Some good information about doing this yourself is here.  Because they pay me, I can give a good chunk of it back to you.

• After quite a bit of research I have come to the conclusion that Survey Scout is the best paid survey directory available on the net (at this time).If my opinion changes, I'll let you know.

• .  .If you sign up for this (through this web site) and decide it was something you want to do, I'll send you a $10 rebate after the 8 week trial  period (Rebates Through Paypal Only - So I don't have to deal with mailing money internationally).  Just forward your purchase confirmation email to
   

• If you do not have a Paypal account sign up here http://www.paypal.com

• If you were thinking about joining anyway, why not get the membership for $10 cheaper?  The net cost will be twenty five bucks.  And - it save you a ton of searching and trial and error.

Visit Survey Scout

Rating ***** (Highly Recommended)

The next two survey sites are also listed with Clickbank.  I have never actually signed up for these, or visited their members section.

The main reason I am listing them is that they sell through Clickbank.  I know Clickbank is a reputable site.  I also know that even if there is a problem with one of these sites, Clickbank will see that you get a refund (within the 8 weeks from date of purchase window).

2. Survey Platinum

Make $65 instantly with Survey Platinum.  After you sign up you can immediately make almost double your registration fee.  Lists 400+ survey sites.

Get paid to take online surveys and make from $5 to $75 each, or more.

Get paid to participate in focus groups and make up to $150/hr.

Get paid to take phone surveys and earn as much as $120/hr.

Get paid to try new products (and keep the free products too).

Get paid to preview new movie trailers for $4 to $25 per hour.

Get paid to drive a car 

Signup fee: $34.95

Rating *** ( recommended)

Visit Survey Platinum

3. Paid Surveys Online

Similar to the other two directories, they offer a very large list of companies that pay you to take surveys, join focus groups and test products.  They have some nice bonuses for signing up, including a survey that you take right away that pays you $25.

Signup fee: $34.95  Net cost after survey: $9.95

Rating *** (recommended)

Visit Paid Surveys Online

FREE!

Once again, To View A List Of FREE Reputable Sites That Pay You To Take Surveys And Test Products Click Here

Also, you can try this for making more money.

Have a great day!

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