Anyone looking to generate side income can participate in paid online survey sites — some of them are even reputable. Paid online survey sites are pretty straightforward: Participants answer some questions or fulfill some task online and earn money in exchange for their time.
But is it easy cash? Unfortunately, no. Some paid online survey sites may be worth your time, however, if you keep a few rules in mind:
1. Never pay to use an online survey site. You’re the one who is supposed to get paid. If you have to spend any money to join these sites, you are probably being scammed. Shopping at a retailer through these sites is obviously fine; in those cases, you’re buying products.
2. Don’t depend on the income from survey sites. There are better side gigs. These paid online survey sites work best if you get some enjoyment by trying to score good deals and earn extra cash — and if you don’t mind spending a few minutes filling out a survey, only to be told you don’t qualify because you fall into the wrong demographic.
3. Be realistic about the time investment. Filling out a survey sounds like something that will take just a few minutes. Don’t be fooled. Sometimes they can take as long as 15 or 20 minutes.
4. Don’t expect to get paid quickly. It can sometimes take days or weeks before you earn enough points or money to cash out.
5. Don’t invest significant time on survey sites. If you’re having fun earning a little extra money, great. If it feels like work, you should try to find some work that actually pays decent money.
With those caveats in mind, here are some of the best paid online survey sites that can help create extra income.
Branded Surveys
You can sign up or join through Facebook. You create a profile and answer a few questions about your life. The more personal information you give, the more the company knows about you — you really shouldn’t use any of these sites unless you’re OK with businesses knowing personal things about you — so it can offer surveys tailored to your interests or lifestyle.
You earn points from completing surveys for market research clients of Branded Surveys, which are being done for Fortune 500 companies, and you can redeem the points for cash.
The average payout is up to (note the “up to”) 300 points per survey, and you can cash out once you hit 500 points, which equals $5. According to Branded Surveys, 100 points equal $1. You can get paid via PayPal, gift cards, PayPal or a Branded Pay account.
[READ: 10 Legitimate Ways to Get Free Money Online.]
Google Opinion Rewards
Google is everywhere, including in the paid online survey site industry. You download an app and answer some questions about yourself, then based on that information you’ll receive surveys “around once a week, although it may be more or less frequent,” according to the Google Opinions Rewards website.
These surveys, conducted by market researchers, are typically short, and you may be finished in less than minute. You’ll get a notification on your phone when a survey is ready, and for offering your opinions, you’ll receive between 10 cents and $1. You’ll be paid every time you hit $2 in your Google Opinion Rewards account, and payment will come via PayPal.
Harris Poll Online
This is a respected company that’s been around for decades, and if you sign up to fill out its surveys, you’ll get email invites to take them. If you qualify for them — based on things like your age, gender and profession — you can participate. You receive “HIpoints” when you fill out these surveys, which you can eventually redeem (after 1,250 points) for gift cards to places like Starbucks or Amazon. You can also donate your points to charity.
InboxDollars
For taking surveys and watching videos that typically take three to 25 minutes to complete, you’ll receive cash, generally from 50 cents to $5 a survey. You can cash out once you hit $15 — and after that, $10 or higher payments. You’ll can get paid through PayPal or you can accept gift cards instead.
LifePoints
Every time you fill out a survey, you’ll get points you can redeem for things like e-gift cards and PayPal credit. Reportedly, you can finish most of the surveys in about 10 minutes or less.
You won’t get rich doing this, but if you do a survey here or there and you find the process painless, it may work out well.
MyPoints
You can earn gift cards for answering surveys, watching videos, taking polls and other activities, such as shopping, at MyPoints. There is also a $10 welcome bonus in the form of an Amazon or Visa gift card.
But keep in mind that you’re really getting 1,750 points that are worth $10. Also, to get those points, you have to spend $20 or more on the site, not counting taxes and shipping, on a merchant through the website or through MyPoints emails in your first 30 days of membership.
Still, if you’re buying something you were going to buy anyway, that’s not a bad welcome offer — and you can redeem the points for cash via PayPal.
[READ: 10 Legitimate Ways to Get Free Money Online.]
OneOpinion
After registering with OneOpinion, you can earn points for completing surveys. Note that 1,000 points is worth $1 (so, if you earn 500 points, you’ll get 50 cents). Once you hit 50,000 points, you can redeem them for cash via PayPal or Visa gift cards.
You get points for each survey you take and generally, you can expect to make 10 cents per point. As with all of these sites, you won’t make much money, or at least not very quickly.
Opinion Outpost
After registering on the site, you earn points for each survey you complete. You can typically expect to make 10 points per survey, and 100 points will get you a $10 Amazon gift card.
Survey Junkie
You take surveys, collect points and get money. In the website’s FAQ section it says, “You won’t get rich taking surveys.” But if you’re 18 or older and live in the U.S., Canada, United Kingdom or Australia, you can take surveys and earn points.
You won’t get rich, indeed: Survey Junkie estimates that if you complete three surveys every day, you might earn “as much as $40 monthly.”
Swagbucks
This is one of the more well-known websites where you take surveys to earn Swagbucks points. Earn enough and you can redeem them for cash or gift cards. The Swagbucks website says that while some offers pay in the neighborhood of $50 to $250, most members should be able to earn $1 to $5 a day — or $365 to $1,825 a year.
One Swagbuck is worth only 1 cent but if you’re up for answering surveys, watching videos and just looking around the site to see what points you can get and what coupons and free samples are to be had, you may find it worth it — and even fun.
Toluna Influencers
You can access Toluna Influencers surveys on the website or have them emailed to you. If you qualify for a survey, it will probably take between 15 and 20 minutes to complete. You’ll get points — anywhere from 15 to 50,000 — and you’ll have a dashboard, which you can use to see how many points you’re accumulating.
Some users have suggested that you’ll likely make less than a buck an hour, so like so many of these sites, it may be interesting and fun rather than a good way to earn money.
Valued Opinions
You’ll be asked to complete an online survey, you may be asked to do a diary study (where you keep track of your habits and behaviors) or even test products at home. For your trouble, you’ll receive “up to” $7 per survey” in the form of a credit you can exchange for gift cards to places like Amazon, Macy’s and Target.
Once you earn $10, you can redeem your credits.
[SEE: 15 Best Websites to Make Money Online.]
KashKick
You’ll be asked to take paid online surveys as well as games and apps, and you’ll be paid for it. Reports suggest you’ll earn 75 cents to $2 per survey, though there are opportunities to earn more. KashKick’s website says you can collect your cash once your account has $10 in it.
Ipsos iSay
This is another paid online survey site that’s refreshingly upfront about your earning potential: “As a member of Ipsos iSay (and most other legitimate market research companies) you will not earn big money by taking surveys, but you will earn rewards and your opinion will heard by top decision-makers.”
When you complete a survey, you’ll get points you can eventually redeem for cash or gift cards — or you may be entered into a prize drawing.
Are Online Surveys Worth It?
We’ll go with a squishy — maybe. It’s really in the eye of the survey taker. Some people are going to think it’s worth it, and others won’t.
Don’t expect to earn big.
“I have done a few of them. I don’t really keep track as I just do them here and there when I see one that interests me or think that it is one where they want an opinion from someone like me,” Bob Chitrathorn, certified public fiduciary advisor, chief financial officer and vice president of wealth planning at Simplified Wealth Management in Corona, California, says.
“I think they are worth it here and there if you have extra time and aren’t doing anything. I’ve done a couple that were 15 minutes or so while I’m waiting for people to get ready or things of that nature,” he adds.
Chitrathorn says that some pay $10 in gift cards and some pay $25. “I’ve done a few that paid over $100 here and there.” But those are rare cases.
Don’t forget that it takes some time to accumulate rewards.
“I’ve personally participated in e-Rewards (an invite-only survey site) surveys from time to time,” Emily Ashley, account director at San Diego, California, public relations firm Lumina Communications, says.
“I have mainly cashed in the rewards for airline points and estimate I’ve earned about 4,500 airline points since 2018. Accumulating rewards points takes a long time, but I only do the surveys if I’m waiting in line somewhere or sitting in the waiting room at the doctor’s office. I figure it’s a slightly better use of my time than just mindlessly scrolling social media during these times,” Ashley says.
Only do it if you think it might be entertaining. In other words, get something out of it.
“A few years ago, I used to use survey sites regularly – partly to see what I could make, partly to test them out for my readers,” Yasmin Purnell, creator of a lifestyle blog called The Wallet Moth. “In summary, no, you can’t make much meaningful money from them.”
Purnell says she has earned as much as $5 a survey, “but you’ll often receive a far lower rate than that,” and some of these surveys take up to 10 minutes to fill out.
“And sometimes you’ll get to the end and be told you’re not eligible. For some people, taking surveys might be a fun way to pass the time in the evenings but they certainly should not be considered a good way to make money on the side,” she says.
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Paid Online Survey Sites That Will Earn You Extra Money originally appeared on usnews.com
Update 04/03/23: This story was published at an earlier date and has been updated with new information.