Don't pay for paid surveys

Heath · May 13, 2005, 09:29 AM

I have recently made the mistake of buying a membership fee at one of those paid survey site like surveyscout.com and paidsurveysonline.com

And incase anyone is considering taking paid surveys for money please listen up and I'll tell you how they work.

These paid survey sites make it appear that they will send you all the paying surveys you can handle when in reality all they do is provide you with a list of other companies that send you surveys. The companies they list are the legitimate research companies that will conduct the surveys and offer you compensation for your time. So once you pay your membership fee you then have to browse through their list and sign up with all the survey sites that interest you. And then you sit back and wait for invitations to be emailed to you. As I understand it, some people will receive more survey invitations than others. It depends on the demographics the specific company is looking for in survey participants. So a middle aged mother might get more invitations and higher paid surveys than say a 18 year old single man. But it seems that each market research company is looking for something alittle bit different in participants. So if you sign up with a bunch of companies you increase your odds of getting matched up with a company that is really looking for your opinion and who is willing to pay for it.

Getting paid to take surveys is real and it does work. You just shouldn't go into it expecting to get rich from it. You should look at it as an easy way to make some extra spending money. And you should never pay any site to take surveys. All you will get for your money is information which can be found for free all over the internet. One of my favourite free resource for paid surveys is the website yellowsurveys.com. This free website gives details to over 500 legitimate survey companies. All of the information is freely displayed and catagorized by which country you live in.

I hope I have been of some help in explain how paid surveys work. Please don't make the same mistake I made and pay a membership fee to take surveys, when you can get the same information for free.

NeedKarma · Feb 15, 2006, 11:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jollychick

Why don't you sign up and try it out.

Probably because:
a) I work hard to make sure spam does not reach my inbox why would I want more? (yes I have many throwaway email addresses)
b) I already have a job where I know that I'll actually get paid for the time I spend
c) there is a whole world out there to explore, I don't really want to sit indoors on my computer 24/7 clicking links and possibly not getting paid for that honor

jollychick · Feb 15, 2006, 11:22 AM

All these programs I belong to do not spam me or send me junk mail or share my information with third parties. All of them DO pay. I've been getting paid via paypal. The PaidEmail.com is really good because they only send several paid emails a week so you won't be overwhelmed with them. It doesn't take a lot of your time...Just one click and that's it....you don't even have to read the email...just clicking it will automatically credit your account. I would recommend PaidEmail.com and Inbox Dollars if you don't have time to sit in front of the computer because they don't send a lot of emails.

NeedKarma · Feb 15, 2006, 11:35 AM

As I understand it...
- you get about 5¢ per email link you click
- you get maybe 7 emails a week, so that's 35¢
- but the real money gets made when you refer someone: http://www.paidemail.com/PEinfo2.html

So it's basically a kind of pyramid scheme where you need to get others involved by joining through your referrals.

Is that about right?

alanbur1 · Mar 2, 2006, 01:18 PM

there are many survey scams out there but there are also some that are legit. before you fall into a scam read the reviews from this page wich help me out a lot.

http://www.bestsurveyreviews.com

they are a great source of information.

hopes this helps,

Alan B
www.owlds.com

phillysteakandcheese · Mar 2, 2006, 01:33 PM

Even the smaller towns have at least one market research company in them.

They are always looking for participants, so give them your name and information and they will call on you from time to time to participate in focus groups and other marketing presentations.

I get called on by one of these companies every 3-4 months and make between $40 and $140 for an hour or two of expressing my opinion...

LTheobald · Mar 3, 2006, 06:52 AM

Sorry if I insult anyone here but those "work from home" internet jobs are BAD!

They nearly always involve cold selling, having to invest stupid amounts of your own money and loads of other rubbish.

You don't get something for nothing in this world. If you want something, you have to work for it. I remember reading a really good article on these kind of jobs and what a rip off they were. Shame I can't remember where I saw it

greg_mcree · May 31, 2006, 04:05 AM

The ones that are claiming "big bucks" are usually not the actual survey companies.
Here is a list of some good companies that actually do pay for you participating in surveys:
NFO My Survey
GoZing Surveys
E-Poll
Poll Cast
Lightspeed Panel
Test Spin
Pinecone Research
Opinion Outpost
ECN Research
Survey Spot
Survey Savvy
American Consumer Opinion
NOP World
NPD Online research
Also you should never pay a website in order to be able to earn money from surveys. So in order to help people from paying fee to sites like Survey Scout.com it was created
Online Paid Surveys that collects the best online market research companies that really pay for completing surveys.

Dwayne · Jun 4, 2006, 07:26 AM

My problem with "Paid Surveys" is twofold: 1) In the middle of a survey I get booted out as I may not be qualified for the survey & 2) I don't like to have to pay a small fee for a trial period & have to remember to cancel a membership. My question is twofold: How can I sign up for surveys after completing profile information and not get booted out of a survey & then, what websites may I sign up to take legitimate surveys that do not require you to sign up for "offers" that cost money? I simply want to complete surveys in its entirety, not pay any small costs for a trial period of any "offers" & then, I want to get paid within a reasonable time. What survey sites will do that for me? Thanks ...;-)

UsBlkgal · Jun 21, 2007, 09:17 PM

A month ago I made the mistake of signing on with a couple of PAID survey companies and was informed that I had to pay a fee. Even though I declined I have been inundated with junk emails........I had given up until I saw your information. THANX

ac1 · Aug 23, 2007, 10:57 PM

Paid Surveys - Get Paid To Do Online Surveys. provides a FREE list of links to paid survey companies. There are about 300 on their list. They also provide a FREE list of links to secret shopping companies (over 185). These are direct links that take you straight to the free registration form of each company - a big time and effort saver.

The companies in their directories are free to join. You also receive form filling software to help you register fast. It's all free - they are ad supported. You have to be okay seeing a few ads in their ezine.

AC