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| Sunday, November 12, 2006 |
| Online Survey Sites - How I make a few dollars here and there |
I have been a regular online survey filler-outer for years. Growing up I used to watch my Mother fill out long forms, answering multiple choice questions by coloring in the little bubbles with number 2 pencils. The surveys would then be stuffed into a pre-paid envelope and mailed back to the company. Weeks later she would get another survey from the company, only this time included in the envelope would be a crisp dollar bill or two - payment for her previous work. To this day my Mother still fills out surveys, although now payment tends to be in check form.
Having had that experience growing-up it was natural for me to sign-up for online computer based survey companies. It does not pay very well, just a few dollars here and there, but then it does not take very long, and the steady stream of checks and online payments keeps you motivated.
I have a few personal rules about which surveys I will and won't fill out. First and foremost, I never pay to join a survey company - sign-up must be free. Payment should be cash (or as good as) - not a coupon, not a sample, not a pat on the back for helping some corporation make a better product - CASH. I don't like surveys that "maybe pay" - meaning you are entered into a drawing to win a payment. Over the years I have never won any payment - so I think of these as non-paying surveys and those I don't do. However, I will fill out qualifier surveys. I understand that the sponsor is looking for the opinions of a certain demographic and that requires screening. So some basic questions - sex, age, income, zip code, education level, profession, marital status, etc. are all valid questions and I am happy to answer without promise of a payment.
But once I answer some screener questions and get into the survey I only participate if a cash payment (or payment as good as cash - like an Amazon.com gift certificate) is promised. Another stipulation I have is the payment has to be payable on completion of the survey. I don't like companies that deposit your earnings (or points that are then converted into dollars later) into some special account. The reason I don't like these is generally the points or dollars expire at some point and you have to reach a certain threshold of earnings before you can request a check. For many it is $25, which does not seem so bad, until you realize that you earn $1 or $2 with that company and it takes 6 - 12 months before you qualify and complete enough surveys with them to get that cash out. For me it is too much effort for not enough return.
So what online survey companies do I recommend (given the information above)? Here are my current picks:
American Consumer Opinion (ACOP) - They pay by check via USPS mail. The surveys tend to pay $5 - $50 (online focus groups - IM type things - pay $25). You are notified of available surveys by email (two step process). Generally you answer a screener questionnaire first, then if you qualify a survey link is sent to you in a few days. I have been filling out these surveys for years, they pay steadily, and are highly recommended.
SurveyDirect (changing to MyView) - These surveys generally pay about $2.00 each and the payment is made to your PayPal account. The surveys so far have ranged from magazine covers to movie trailers to voting preferences. They send me Emails and fill out a short qualifier - after filling out qualifier questions you are immediately notified if you go on to paying survey or not - so no waiting for second email link like ACOP. It takes a number of weeks for the payment to appear in your PayPal account - so patience is required. [They seem to be switching over from SurveyDirect to MyView and have suspended sign-ups during this transition - however, bookmark the page and check back in a few weeks if you still want to sign-up).
i.think inc. - A bit of a mixed bag with this company. If the survey they are emailing about has 10 questions or less it becomes a "maybe pay". However, if the survey is over 10 questions they do pay via check ($2 - $10 usually). When you receive the email invite for the survey they tell you whether it is a "maybe pay" or paid survey (and the amount).
Word of Caution: While I participate with each of the above listed companies, my success with them may have to do with my "demographic" - urban dweller, homeowner, female, 30-something, etc. You may have more or less success than me if you fit into a different demographic.
If you are aware of other survey sites that pay on survey completion (no accrued points or dollar accounts) that you participate in and would recommend leave me a comment and let me and my readers know about it!Labels: Making Money |
| posted by Boston Gal @ 11:30 AM *
* Subscribe to Boston Gal's Open Wallet |
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| 24 Comments: |
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Thank you for the links! I signed up for the ACOP one and will see how it goes before trying the others.
I have always wanted to try these online survey things. I have heard of people making money doing this, but beyond that I never knew which company was worth trying or not. There are so many of these things out there.
Keep up the good work Boston Gal! Reading you always seems to benefit me in some way :)
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Thanks for the information, Boston Gal! I've been wondering how one signs up for these surveys. Lo and behold, now I know!
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Pinecone Research is another legit one. They pay $5 per survey via check. They also do questionnaires that are not paid. These are typically to gather info about your household and interests for future surveys. When they email you an assignment, it'll be clear if it's paid survey or unpaid questionnaire.
As all others, frequency of the surveys varies with your demographic.
I just signed up with ACOP. Thanks!
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Are you required to pay taxes on those earning? Just a curios question. By the way, I love your blog.
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I do not receive 1099's for filling out surveys. So no.
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Hey Boston Gal thanks for the Survey information. I signed up for the ACOP and at the end of the survey it asked for a referral email address for a monthly drawing. I used your yahoo addy as my referral. I hope you win the drawing its a $500 purse. Good Luck keep us posted
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Fantastic! Great resources here, Thanks!
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You are still required to pay tax I am sure, 1099 or not?
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Hi Moom,
I am not a tax professional, but if you consider the income provided by filling out online survey questionaires as "self-employment" then you are right and under US tax code if your self employment income is greater than $400 you should report it.
It would be up to you to track and figure out how many of these survey payments you have received in a tax year and if they exceed the $400 threshold. If they did then it is up to you to tell Uncle Sam about it and pay the taxes on it. The survey companies that I have dealt with do not track this for you(and Uncle Sam)and do not provide either with a 1099 form.
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Boston Gal,
Thanks for this--there are two on your list that I didn't know about and I'll certainly sign up. I also enjoy the steady trickle of small amounts of cash. The ones that send a check in the mail go straight into savings, and the electronic ones pile up in my PayPal account. It more than pays for the occasional very small Ebay purchases I make.
The only one that fits your criteria that I know of is Brand Institute, aka Online Global Recruiting. That one is mostly medical related. They have some surveys for the average consumer of health care, but if you work in health care I think they offer even more surveys (I don't, so I'm not sure.)
If anybody is interested in those ones that Boston Gal doesn't do, where you accumulate points and trade them in for cash, I've reviewed a few of them here. My favorite of these used to be MySurvey, but lately Lightspeed is being very good to me. I'm getting just about ready to ditch MyPoints and SnapDollars. Too much effort. I'm going to stay in long enough to cash in one more time on each of them, then bail.
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BTW, Boston Gal, could you email me a referral code for iThink? If I'm going to sign up, you might as well get credit.
Thx.
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Hi Tired But Happy,
Thanks for thinking of me for the referral :)
But I don't think regular members can send one (at least I could not find one in the admin section).
ithink does have a referral area for people who register a non-profit with the site. I believe people who sign-up with a non-profit referral direct their earnings from filling out surveys to the non-profit.
So go ahead and sign-up if you are interested!
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Great leads on survey sites. I've realized that, with the resurgence of internet advertising, there seems to have been the birth of a lot of "get paid to..." websites and it's really quite cool. For example, there's blingo and netwinner which I use avidly. Granted, it's tough to win on those sites. But, a chance to make some money just for searching the net or clicking around a little seems well worth it. Guaranteed money from survey's seems much better, though. I'll definitely sign up.
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I have some that I use listed on my blog sidebar. :) I didn't know about one of your links, but I plan to sign up. Hope that your link is a referral one!
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Thank you for participating in the Carnival of Personal Finance. I am sorry I didn't get you in the initial posting - I certainly meant for you to be. Hopefully you received some visibility regardless
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Hi FDBryant3,
Yes, I do thank you for including me and no hard feelings for accidently cutting me out earlier. I was planning on announcing the carnival a bit later in the week (to give people a chance to visit it after your first rush of traffic from earlier notifications). My email to you must have gone astray :( Not sure I am thrilled with the new yahoo mail beta I am working with... Seems to be causing some communication problems.
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Since I can make money from it, I think I should give it a try. Thanks for the links! ;-)
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Thanks for the info; I'm going to sign up for those tonight!
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Thanks for the reply to my email, I'll keep an eye out for when the transition is over to sign up. I hope it's soon.
Love your blog, keep up the good work.
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I just got a check from ACOP survey for five bucks. I am still afraid to cash it, but I think I would. I just signed up last month and yesterday I got the money.
Thanks for the info.
Gautham CFL
http://jane-do.blogspot.com
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What do you think about epinions.com? I found the site yesterday and it looks credible. But I would like your opinion on it. Thanks in advance.
Dimps
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I have just started doing online surveys and I fugure, every dime counts. Let's see what happens. BTW, your blog is great!
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Do you declare this as income? If yes, what form and how?
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Yes, you would have to report income on a schedule C or C-EZ depending on how much you earn.
However you don't receive 1099s for these survey payments - so reporting the income is on the honor system with the IRS.
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Thank you for the links! I signed up for the ACOP one and will see how it goes before trying the others.
I have always wanted to try these online survey things. I have heard of people making money doing this, but beyond that I never knew which company was worth trying or not. There are so many of these things out there.
Keep up the good work Boston Gal! Reading you always seems to benefit me in some way :)