I am not a fan of these sites which claim to show you how to make an income from filling in surveys online.
One famous site claims that you could:
“…make $25 in 8 minutes, over and over again, sitting at home in your pajamas…”
It’s all a load of hot air designed to make your get your wallet out and spend $39-$100 for a list of links.
In fact, I got an email from a subscriber today which confirmed that paid survey schemes should definitely be avoided unless you want to earn pin money:
Hi Ben
The competition is a great idea, I thought my experiences in the world of Filling in Surveys would be a good entry, as I am still smarting about it.
Particularly as they seem to be doing the rounds again.
I paid about £60 to a company and received links to about 300 websites
Of these, around 60-70% were American and of little or no use. Around 20% seemed to be ok and I spent a few weeks filling in surveys, but either my profile didnt fit or the rewards were just not worth the time.
But worst of all, around 10% were in fact, porn sites masquarading as survey sites, and although I got a warning once I had entered and didnt open up the porn, I inadvertantly infected my computer with a virus.
This resulted in it being necessary to strip out Windows and AOL and have it reinstalled at a cost of £150.
So members should be warned if they are considering this method of making money.
As far as I am concerned – ITS A SCAM.Regards Mike
Thanks for the contribution Mike.
Please take heed – online paid surveys are not the huge “cash cows” that they are made out to be!
Whilst I agree in principle with your online survey report, there are two excellent UK surveys that are worthwhile.
Both pay, but not massive amounts, however they do allow you to express your views which are considered by UK (and some US) marketers.
YouGov is one. It pays 50p to £1 per survey taken and pays out by cheque once your total reaches £50. I have just had my first £50 cheque from them. It takes a while to get there, but it is a genuine site. Some of the surveys offer free prize draws rather than a payment and you can choose which surveys you take. No spam, no porn.
The second is Lightspeed. Again a payment is made for taking a survey, in the form of credits. You can choose how you would like your money paid re a number of different vouchers for high street stores. I have had numerous book tokens via this site. Again, no spam and no porn.
regards,
Katie
Comment by Katie Rich — 18th November 2006 @ 11:29 am
Congratulations Katie on winning 3rd prize, but I cannot accept the remarks you make about Paid Online Surveys.
Firstly, I did indeed join both sites you mention, and found that like all the others, if your profile does not fit their requirements, its a waste of time. In my case, I can only assume that, as in the jobs market, age is of prime importance, after a certain age, they simply do not want to know.
Secondly, it would seem to me that the financial reward from just 2 sites, is a complete waste of time and effort, if you are ok with it, fine, but I expect am looking for more return than that.
Regards
Mike
Comment by Mike — 9th December 2006 @ 1:07 pm