If you are looking for an easy way to make money on the internet, then you should try paid surveys. There are hundreds of survey panels that you can sign up to for free, however, there are only a handful that are worth signing up to.
In this guide, we show you how you make money answering paid survey websites, the steps to take to make money fast with surveys and the best survey panels to join.
First of all, let’s look at why there are survey panels worldwide, what is the point of them, why would businesses pay for your thoughts?
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Why do you get paid for your opinions?
As competition in every type of market and industry increases, companies look towards market research to establish trends and the needs of their customers. To gather valuable information in a timely fashion, businesses subcontract their market research to companies who specialize in collecting market information. To get timely research information these market research companies offer small payments in exchange for your opinions. To learn more about market research, see this guide by the Iowa State university.
The companies that offer you payments to answer surveys make a fortune for gathering information. By offering payments to answer surveys will give individuals looking to make extra cash to sign up and partake in providing opinions. When people are given payment it becomes an incentive for those to answer each survey given which means the market research companies get quick results for their clients. Fast turnarounds by market research companies mean they will get a good reputation and repeat customers.
How do I answer surveys to get paid money?
Usually when you sign up for paid surveys you will have to wait for an email with a link to the questionnaire. How regularly you receive surveys very much depend on the survey provider. Some can be regular in that you may receive several or in some instances you may only receive one per week.
Most surveys are dependent on your answers and answers from previous questionnaires to determine whether or not you will be eligible to finish a survey. Surveys do take time no doubt and should not be dependent on as a way to make a living. However at the end of the year they could provide you with that little extra to treat yourself.
When you receive a survey from a legitimate panel, you should always answer truthfully and give your honest opinion. If you give the same answer to all the questions given or finish a survey too quickly, you may get disqualified or even worse, banned from the survey panel!
A quick tip is to join several survey panels. This way you get more surveys to answer which means you earn more cash! You might also find that some panels that you join, will offer you the same surveys. Do not say you are a member of various other panels so that you can answer the same survey twice in some instances. It becomes a means of making money faster!
Click the link for a list of the highest paying surveys
How much money can I make with online surveys?
It is true that you can actually make money from online surveys. The amount of money one can make very much depends on the amount of surveys that one signs up for.
Surveys will not make you rich, nor can you quit your day job for a career of answering questions, it does not work like that. It can help you earn extra cash to supplement your income each month.
How much do online surveys really pay?
The normal practice for such surveys is that you will have to reach a monetary target before you can cash out. It is very rarely that you will find a survey panel that will allow you to cash out once you have completed your first survey. Normally a threshold for legitimate survey panels is around $10 – $50 before you can cash out. The reason for this is to reduce transaction fees, both for you as a member and for the market research company itself. It also helps to improve the quality of the sign ups to survey panels to get better results for research.
When you receive a survey invite, it will likely tell you how much completing the survey will be worth and how long it will take you to answer.
It has been said before that by joining several paid survey sites is the best way in which to gain more money. Some people have made in the region of $50-$800 US Dollars each month or UK Sterling / Euro equivalent.
How do I get paid for answering surveys?
Usually payments made by check,by PayPal or via gift cards. Checks and gift cards usually take around a month for most to send out. It is essential to cash out once you reach the cashout target in case there will be up a problem with your account or a problem with the survey provider.
PayPal is probably the best way to get paid for surveys. It is quick, however, you may be charged a fee as you are receiving the money.
Checks are slower to arrive and may not be the best solution for you if you need to earn money fast.
Gift cards can be in the form of physical or electronic. Gift cards, like checks take time to arrive to your home. Electronic gift cards are quicker to arrive, however they can only be used when shopping online. If this is something that concerns you, have a look at the survey company to join to see if the gift cards are electronic or not.
One of the most common gift cards that are available to members of legitimate panels are Amazon gift cards.
There are also survey panels like Opinion Outpost that offer their members sweepstakes entries when surveys are completed. The prizes vary, but this can be a great little bonus if you are lucky enough to win.
Some survey panels will also pay you bonus credits for referring your friends to join the same panel. There are also survey panels that have sweepstake entries available just for members who refer friends. This can be a fantastic little bonus if you are lucky enough to win!
How To Get Paid For Product Testing
Some survey sites will offer you free samples for you to test and to give your opinion. It is important that you give your correct mailing address so that you get your free item in the mail.
It is likely that you will not receive any products to test until you get at least one cash out. This will also confirm that you live in your address if you received payout by check.
The products that you receive can be anything from an electronic gadget to food to taste. You will get to keep the items that you test. You will also be paid for your honest feedback. Rewards from product testing can vary depending on the survey panel that you are a member of, however, rewards will be better than a general questionnaire.
A quick tip for product testing is to follow the instructions that you receive down to a tee. This way, by complying correctly to the request of the survey panel, you may be promoted to receiving more products to test in the future.
Are Survey Panels Free To Join?
The great thing about paid surveys are that they are free, you do not need any qualifications only to be the age that the service requires.
If a survey site asks for payment upon sign up, it is most likely to be a scam and you should not proceed.
Various sites offer a certain amount of credit per survey completed while others offer cash per questionnaire. The rate paid depends on what the company offers to its members, whether they have different levels of membership based on surveys completed or for the amount of time spent answering the questions.
For many surveys, there will only be a set quota of participants with restrictions on entrants based on age, location or personal circumstances. You may find that some questionnaires will allow all to answer some qualifying questions before being notified that you are no longer able proceed to complete the survey.
6 Steps To Earn Quick Cash With Surveys
The infographic below, outlines some easy steps to help you set up for surveys easier and make money from them quicker! Below the infographic, we go into more detail on the simple steps to help you earn more.
Please feel free to use this infographic on your own site only if you link back to www.moneyjojo.com.
Below are a few steps for your guide to making money with online surveys:
Step 1 – Set up a new email address
It is advised that you set up a new email address if you prefer to keep survey related emails out of your personal inbox. You can expect to receive several emails per day however; the frequency of emails received depends on the survey providers.
Gmail is probably the best solution for creating a new email address because of how it categorizes your emails and survey notifications are less likely to go into your spam folders like it would with other email providers such as Outlook.
Step 2 – Get Notifications to your Smartphone or Tablet
You could be notified of surveys at any time that they become available. It is therefore important that you get notified in a timely manner in order to increase your chances of completing the survey before quotas/spaces get filled.
Step 3 – Research who you are going to sign up for
By signing up for just one survey site means that you could be waiting a long time before you see any money in your account. The best practice is to sign up to 3-5 survey sites so that you regularly get panel invites in order to make the most money that you possibly can.
Most survey websites will offer 1-3 survey opportunities per day and you may miss opportunities to complete questionnaires due to limited spaces. It is therefore important to plan and research exactly what sites you are going to sign up for.
Step 4 – Sign up for 3-5 panels
Once you have your research carried out and who are satisfied regarding the websites that you are going to sign up to proceed with the registration processes.
It is important that you input your address correctly including your zip code/ postcode. This will help you get survey invitations that you will be qualified for.
Once you successfully register, you can wait for invites to answer questions come to your inbox. It is important to stay patient as it can seem a slow process to get invites and start seeing credit added to your account however overtime you will see progress, especially when you have 3-5 survey accounts.
It is also good practice to have the links to the survey websites that you are a member, stored in your bookmarks or even in your drafts in your email account. This gives you easy access to see how much you have earned and to easily check if there are any surveys available to you.
Step 5 – Cashing out
Be aware of what the payment threshold is for each of the providers that you sign up for. Once you reach your target, cash out immediately via PayPal or with a gift voucher. Be sure that you add your email address to your PayPal before you cash out.
Step 6 – Review who offers best value
After a 6 month period, you should review which survey provider is giving you the best value. After a cash out from each, you should review the frequency of invites, completed surveys, the quickest surveys to complete and if you have experienced problems.
If you find the one provider is causing you problems or you see a noticeable lack of value, discontinue your account once you cash out and receive your payment. You can then look for a new provider to continue earning money through this means.
A Bonus Tip – Stay Active
One thing that survey panels do often is delete and suspend inactive accounts. The reason they do this is to ensure that all quotas are filled for each survey they send out. Market research can only be deemed valid if there is a correct variation of opinions. This leads to better outcomes and customers of the market research companies will pay more for the service.
How to Avoid Survey Scams?
Unfortunately there are a lot of scams out there on the internet and surveys are no different. Your information is valuable so people are willing to steal it from you! In other ways scammers are looking to extort money from you.
In some cases, there are scam surveys that may be offering you incredible sums of money just to answer a few questions. These are likely to be fake in order to get your personal information, eg. your email address to spam you with offers, your phone number to call you with annoying sales calls, or your address to send you lots of marketing collateral.
Other survey panels ask you for money before you sign up. This is a scam if you see this! You can pay money, you may get surveys but all proceeds go to those scammers. If you request payment, you will never get your money as you will probably get your account banned and there will be no customer service to help you!
Here are some quick tips to avoid getting scammed:
- Never pay to sign up
- Never pay to get bonus credits or pay to become a “Gold Member”
- Never give your social security number
- Never give details of your credit card or bank account
- If it sounds too good to be true, then it is likely not going to be good!
Look for Accreditations
There are a number of accreditations that survey sites display on the footer of the website, or can be found in their home page or about us page.
AMA and BBB logos can help you identify the best survey panels. These logos prove that the website you are on are genuine and accredited.
What are the Best Paid Surveys to Join?
The best surveys to join, really depends on your location. Moneyjojo recommends the following surveys overall to join for free if you are from the US or Canada:
Opinion Outpost
What are the Best Surveys in the UK?
If you are from the UK including England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland, then the following sites are the best free survey panels for you to join.
Opinion Outpost
Swagbucks
What are the Best Surveys in India?
There are not many survey panels that accept people from India, mainly because of the population. In our research, the best survey panel in India is:
What are the best International survey sites?
It is true, that when it comes to surveys for people outside of the UK, USA and Canada, that the legitimate surveys are rare and few. In our opinion, the best paying surveys for people worldwide are:
What Survey Panels Accept Teenagers?
There are some paid survey panels that will pay teenagers who are aged 13 and up for their opinions.
Teenagers influence household spending through their interest in gadgets and clothing. For this reason, their opinions are valuable for market research companies on product designs and concepts.
There are no survey panels available to children who are 12 or under because of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (Coppa) in the USA and similar acts enforces in other countries. This act protects the privacy of children who are under 13 and regulates how information of persons under this age is collected and handled.
Also be aware if you are a teen, you may also be required to obtain, parental permission in order for you to join.
The top honest survey panels that you can join if you are teenager includes:
Harris Poll Online – 13 if you are a resident of the the USA or Canada.
What is a good survey panel to join right now?
PanelPlace is a Moneyjojo favorite, simply because they are a truly international survey panel and have a really good app, to help you earn money while on the go. Surveys come quick and you get a good return for your effort.
