If you’re out there trying to find real survey jobs online, you’re not alone. I think it’s fair to say that most of us at one time or another have tried the online survey route for making money online. After all it is free (most of the time), and relatively easy. But are there any legitimate online survey jobs out there?
Well, sure, there are lots of sites that will let you take surveys for free and in turn, give you cash. But are any of them actually worth your time?
Let me share my experience with online surveys…
I’ve tried a few different online survey sites in my day, and while taking surveys online isn’t a scam, I’ve found it to be a huge waste of time. Originally it was a few years ago during my junior year of college, I cannot remember which site I signed up for, but I remember making the mistake of using my actual email address and basically plagued it forever with spam. I pretty much had to stop using it, I think I ended up with 100,000+ unread spam emails in that account.
So, if you do decide to sign up for some survey taking, DO NOT USE YOUR REAL EMAIL! It’s really easy to create an alternate email address so definitely do that beforehand.
Anyway, besides receiving an endless amount of spam, I remember spending hours and hours taking online surveys. The payout for each survey was incredibly low, sometimes just a few cents, and I had to actually wait to be selected to take each survey. Sometimes I had to wait days just to take a single survey that would pay me 50 cents. The surveys that paid more were way more selective, and I never got chosen for any of them. You have to fit the correct demographic in order to qualify, and even if you do, you’re more than likely not going to consistently be chosen for high paying surveys.
So after a few weeks at putting much effort into online surveys, what did I get? I ended up with endless spam and a $10 gift card to Target…
A few weeks of effort and all I got in return was a $10 gift card? Yeah, that was the end of my survey taking days…
Well, until recently at least. A few months ago I stumbled across this new survey site called Paidviewpoint.com. Now, their approach was a bit different–instead of signing up for many different sites and being redirect all over the internet, you simply take their easy surveys whenever they email you a new one. They’re pretty short as they only take about a minute to complete. I figured what the heck, so I signed up (using an alternate email, of course).
So let’s check out PaidViewPoint. Their surveys look like this:
They’re pretty simple and ask you about 10 questions each, take about a minute overall. But they also only pay 10 CENTS per survey (most of them) and they only offer one every couple of days. I think one time I was selected for a special survey that paid FIFTY CENTS. Woot!
They also claim you can earn up to $25 for each person you refer to the site, but that’s only if they stick around long enough to complete $25 worth of surveys too.
And let me tell you, I’ve been there for 2 months and I’ve made a whopping $5.37. How many people will you refer will make it up to $25?
You also have to have a minimum of $15 to cash out. Geeze, it’ll probably be next summer before I can receive my fifteen bucks! A few years later, different survey program, same result.
Paidviewpoint is probably the best survey site I’ve found. There are tons of others, too… Swagbucks is pretty cool. Yes they are legit (mostly) but they just really aren’t worth your time!
Warning: Never pay money to join a survey site! Some actually are scams, so if they ask for your money, run away.
Websites like GetCashForSurveys are complete scams, so do not get fooled into thinking you have to spend money to access some sort of survey database. You don’t. There are plenty of websites out there that offer the same databases of surveys for free. These paid survey sites are out there to take your money and try to upsell you with training that has nothing to do with taking online surveys.
The reality is, you’re never going to make tons of money with online surveys
There are tons of survey sites out there-Mysurveys, Swagbucks, SurveyMonkey, the list goes on and on. Sure they’re all free and easy to sign up for, but remember — you’re going to be putting in quite a lot of time when you will receive very little in return. In fact, you’re working for a whole lot less than minimum wage here. You can go get a job at your local fast food joint a few hours a week and make a whole lot more money for a whole lot less time. However if you enjoy this kind of thing, make it a hobby, just don’t try to make it a job!
Instead, put your time and effort into something that could really benefit you and give you more than mere pennies in return.
What are your experiences with online surveys? I’d love for you to share your story.
Wendy
Owner, SurvivingAfterCollege.com
Hi Wendy. You are right. I wasted the past three years thinking that I would make money online through surveys and I barely made $50. i am going to college now, looking for a job. I wrote a children’s story and 2 advertisements but I do not know how to go about publishing them. I have less than $200 in my bank, which is horrible. Can you help? I want to be on the right path.
Thanks
Yeah I’ve talked to tons of people who have tried online surveys and they all say the same thing! I would recommend taking a look at my #1 recommendation here, it’ll help educate you to the proper way you can go about earning money online. It isn’t a quick easy fix and takes time, but even if you just spent a year working at it, you’d be light years ahead of the 3 years you spent trying to take surveys and getting absolutely nowhere.. you’d probably have a lot more than $50 to show for it too. : )
I did a post on this too. It was one of the first things I thought of hen I was pondering on making money online. I never got anything but spam too. I have unsubscribed a million times and they must just sell my name to someone else. really sucks. Thanks for the post
Yeah I think it’s one of the first things most people think about doing to make money online. It seems easy enough, and I think the majority of people may go in with the assumption it will at least produce some nice part time cash, however the system fails to deliver. Yeah it does seem impossible to get rid of the spam, for me I was basically forced to create a new email account.
Total waste of time Wendy and glad you are bringing this to people’s attention. Better that they spend their time creating content that will last forever via a blog/website. It’s also far more rewarding when you see the work you put together appreciated by so many people.
Thanks for sharing.
Couldn’t agree more, Mike. There’s nothing like having your own piece (or pieces) of real estate on the internet these days. Online surveys waste time and you come out with nothing to show for it.
Thanks for warning folks about these survey scams. I tried this myself and wasting lots of time and made no money!
Yep, I just wanted to be honest about my experience so people know what they’re getting themselves into. Yeah I hear a lot of people say the same thing, it’s a waste of time and money for sure!
Those surveys are, in my experience , a colossal waste of time and effort. You`re right, you make far more than minimum wage doing these. Your time is much better spent on building instead of trading your time for pennies.
Yeah, I just want to make sure people know what they’re getting into with online surveys. I hate to see people go in with false expectations and end up with wasted time and nothing to show for it. You’d actually be better off working a few hours a week at a minimum wage job if it’s just extra cash you’re after.
Hi Wendy! I’ve tried looking into online survey jobs a couple of years ago. What a waste of time! Some will pay money, but for the amount of time spent on it, you may as well start a blog and monetize it. Good luck with this blog and all of your endeavours!
Yeah, exactly. I was basically working for pennies, way less than minimum wage even. If I invested all that energy years ago into programs like Wealthy Affiliate, I can’t imagine where I’d be today!