Green. The color of money. And coincidently, my eyes.
So I thought the font should be green if Imma talk about lazy ways to make money.
Nowadays, there are so many ways to get scammed. But a good thing to remember is that if someone really wants your business, they probably won't make you pay.
Like in modeling. If someone thinks you have enough talent, that agent or company will pay for your photo shoot. Which I wish I knew back in sophomore year.
Oh well.
Back to my point... I thought to myself "hey. I'm online a lot. I mean A LOT. I also give out my opinion FOR FREE. Don't those survey companies PAY people for that?"
If you've ever seen Ellen Degeneres on HBO then you know she has this awesome philosophy. It goes something like "well I could go to therapy and pay them a lot to tell them about my life. OR I could charge YOU to come and listen to me talk about life."
So it seemed to be killing two birds with one stone. Let me tell you that I did my research, yessirree. I Googled. A lot. and then a lot more.
So after many (quick side note - I just realized I say "so" a lot. And "A lot" a lot.) readings and searchings and thinkings, I signed up with some highly recommended sites. And since helpful bloggers helped me out, I thought I would repay the favor. By writing about the exact. same. thing.
So here are my findings:
...Keep in mind that I've only been signed up for these for a week...
I'm gonna analyze these in order that they appear on my bookmark toolbar.
>Greenfield Online seems to be a big disappointment. It came highly recommended and by many. The problems I read about this was sometimes they don't credit you for surveys you take, so you have to keep track of all the surveys and their serial numbers.
I haven't done this because again, I'm lazy. I haven't been paid for a single survey on this site. I never qualify. And when they send me "opportunities" via email, and I click on the link, I got to it "too late" and enough people have taken it, or it's just for a sweepstakes entry which I could do just by going to the site. Lame.
Maybe eventually Greenfield will get better for me. Each paid survey is worth anywhere from a whopping 1-3 dollars.
These emails ended up in my spam folder, but I just told it to unspam it and now they are being sent to my inbox. I think they send too many emails for what little opportunity you actually get.
I suppose since this is a legit site and many people like it, I will give it two stars
**
>Mysurvey is pretty chill. This one came at the top of everyone's list. I like it. This is a points rewards survey site. I actually earn points!
Simple surveys given at the beginning AND initial sign up give you points. If you download the "MySurvey Messenger," they give you another 40 points. Today (Monday, not the technical today) I got an email giving me another 25 points for now becoming a "full member" whatever that means. I didn't do anything. I like that this company just gives you random points for doing things. I have only received one survey through email, but I actually got to take it AND they gave me points, so hoorah. And according to what people say about these sites, 2-4 surveys a month is normal, so I'm pretty pumped about it.
Apparently minimum payout is $10, meaning you need to rack up ten dollars worth of points in order for them to send you a check. This might take awhile. Ten dollars is the equivalent of 1,000 points, which according to my math is 100 points per dollar. I have a mighty 160 points. Which I'm actually quite proud of.
Right now I'm giving this site four stars. Perhaps it will get a complete ranking once I get more surveys, or a check.
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>Survey Spot is fun because after each survey I get to play a little scratch game or slot machine, depending on what I feel like, even if I don't qualify for the whole paid survey. These little games get you 5, 25, 50, or 100 entries for the $25,000 monthly cash sweepstakes. I guess there are other prizes too, but I'm less interested in the big bucks with little to no chance of winning.
It's hard to qualify for surveys, I never know what kind of demographics they want, so it's hard to lie on the qualification questions. And it's rare to come across a money paying survey, but MUCH easier than other sites. They have several surveys a day and if you keep doing them, they will send you back to take more. I can't really describe how it works, but I am told that you should take all the surveys even if the have no cash incentive. That way they will give you more $ survey opportunities.
Surprisingly, I earned three dollars through this one, taking a survey about hair and hair products and healthiness. I was impressed with myself that I got past the qualification round :)
If you choose to sign up for this, go to the questions page and make yourself a password. A big bummer on a lot of these cash earning sites is that it takes 4-6 weeks for the reward to be added to your account, so if you get it, cool, but sometimes these sites don't give you what you've earned (like Greenfield) so you have to remember what you took to earn it. I'm not that uptight about it because it's just spare money, not anything I'm basing my life on. It's just a bonus. I don't know what minimum payout is, but I think you can cash out whenever. Your rewards accumulate, I believe, until you do so.
Survey Spot seems to have two different kind of home pages, and they seem hard to navigate between each other, but if you bookmark the one with the surveys on it, you should be fine. I think the way to get to that one is a link they send you through your email. Besides this, the website is still quite professional.
I'm giving this one four stars because it's fun and there are many surveys to take. And the fact that I earned cold hard cash within a week of sign up, even if I do have to stretch the truth on occasion.
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>Valued Opinions I read a lot about. I think this was one of the sites that you can't sign up through their website, but have to find a banner ad with them "inviting" you to join. But usually if you do a search for "_____ survey sign up" or something similar, you can find sites of people giving you the weblink that sends you directly to the sign up page. I think Greenfield may have been one of these too. I just went to check, maybe Greenfield's not one of those. Anyway, I think the address I gave for that one sends you directly to a "join" page. My cookies have it so it goes to my login verification.
To me, this one is worthless. There are no surveys through the site. I guess you sign up and they send you email when you can take one. I have received a total of two emails: one telling me to activate my account, the second one welcoming me. Maybe I will get more within the month. I hope so. When I first set out for these "pay for surveys" I expected quite a few, but have learned that they come once every few weeks.
It also does not literally pay. You earn a certain amount of money per survey which goes towards a voucher of your choice. I wish there was a Dunkin Donuts one. I would sign up with a survey company so quickly if they offered Dunkin Donuts rewards. I probably spend more money there than I do on, well, anything. Being a poor college student, I generally don't eat lunch, well also we don't have a cafeteria. The only food provided is apparently due to several students starting up a business. So the school has no requirement to feed me. I hate fast food, but have no time to go anywhere else. Therefore, Dunks! Mmmmm. The coffee of New Englanders. Don't ask about Starbucks, the closest one is like an hour away.
Anywaysssz. The options they give you are $25 Marriott gift card (I have NO idea what good that would do anyone), $20 Macy's gift card (I generally don't shop at department stores), $20 Amazon.com gift card, $50 eLUXARY gift card, and $20 fragrancenet gift card. Keep in mind that you have to EARN each of these amounts, so if you chose the $50, it would take you that much longer to receive your gift card. If you wanted to just get a gift card and then unsubscribe, I would highly discourage a high dollar gift card. Seeing as I have no interest in the Marriott or Macy's, the eluxary is too expensive for a site that has $1,500 goods (meaning not for me-if you were saving for something expensive and were looking to shave a few bucks, I suppose this is a good option), my perfume is not discounted on fragrancenet, is less expensive on amazon and would even be cheaper in stores because lack of S&H, AND I just got a new bottle for Christmas (I'm one of those people who find a perfume and stick with that one. Clinique Happy has been my perfume for like five years :) ), my only logical choice would be to go with the amazon gift card. Which happens to be perfect. I shop there frequently, generally for used video games or books or DVDs (the only things I will EVER buy used) so those only cost a few bucks, saving me greatly. Even if I didn't, amazon is still a really good discount website and I've been a member since like 8th grade. Furthermore, it's the cheapest gift card.
I think the amazon gift card may be the only good thing about this site. That is if you ever get a survey to earn it. And if you don't mind getting rewarded by credit at stores instead of moolah.
The website and even the website layout is boring. There are other ones, like Mysurvey, Survey Spot, and GlobalTestMarket (coming up next) that are designed both professionally, and fun. If I had come across any website that had too many options or was hard to navigate, I would not sign up. There was this one suggested by one website that was like "barbie" something that had way to much. A simple website seems to be the case with the more legitimate ones.
I give Valued Opinions one star
*
>GlobalTestMarket (isn't it weird that some are one worded and others aren't?) has got to be my absolute favorite. This survey site uses the point system. But instead of so many points are ten dollars, they give you a set amount PER point, so it seems more worth it and less arduous. I'm sure you could convert both Mysurvey and GTM points to be so many points per ten dollars or so much money per point, but that seems like too much thinking right now.
Mysurvey conversely has 1 cent per point. I decided to figure it out anyway. This is compared to GTM's 5 cents per point. GTM requires 200 points per ten dollars. Yay math. Good job Emma!
Okay, so furthermore, GlobalTestMarket's minimum payout is 5$. Guess how much I've earned? In a week? 140 points. That's $7! Obviously I'm going to wait until like 25$ to cash out. The great thing is, 100 points are pretty much free. There are ten profile surveys that each reward 10 points. That's 50 cents per survey. I mean compared to the other sites this is EASY easy money. It is like for sure, instead of, maybe, if you qualify, we'll throw you some benefits. And the Valued Opinions profile surveys you get to take for free. Yay...
I could only get 90 points because the automobile survey won't work for me. I don't know if it's a bug, something wrong with the website, my profile, or something that they are in the middle of changing, but I check every day to see if it will work and it says "This study has been temporarily closed. Please try again later." I don't know when this will be fixed, but I'm going to keep trying.
It seems to be a company by Yahoo. I think I went through Yahoo to get to the website, I don't really remember. But the Y! is what is in the corner of the tab as an emblem. Or, if you're a IE user, the symbol before the web address. That gives me faith because I trust Yahoo. Good faithful site.
What I really like about this site, besides everything, is that the surveys they send you through email ALWAYS reward you, or so I assume. I liked this one a lot before they sent me an email, so I was EXTREMELY impressed when I got one on Saturday. The email said that I would get 5-50 points for this survey, so I was expecting like 10, because I am new and don't have all the good surveys rolling in like those survey vets. I remember that it wasn't that long, or boring. I think it might've been about shopping. I GOT 50 POINTS! Oh I love this site. That's $2.50 for ten minutes of my time. That's more than minimum wage. Let's see, if I did that consistently, I would earn 15 dollars per hour. I wish that was possible.
So, loving this one. It gets a whole five stars plus
*****+
>Opinion Outpost seemed to have a lot of praise. I give it none. This is one of the websites I hardly ever check. I don't think I have a single email from them besides "welcome." The website has a cowboy theme. I think the idea is the same as Valued Opinions where you sign up and you...
Okay so I just went to the site (while in the middle of typing this, yes, I like to be informed and precise in my information. I really don't like false facts.) and I guess I had a survey waiting. Apparently you don't just sign up and they send you emails. I suppose you visit the site and go to "members area."
I didn't qualify, but I did live in one of the areas they asked about! Sometimes I just lie and say "Boston" because a lot of times that's listed, and being in New England, everyone is really from Boston, right? I mean, in a way? I will probably be living there in a few years anyway. I'm not that far off. But I didn't have to lie this time! I guess I didn't know enough about my house mortgage. Why should I? I'm 18. Also, we literally just bought the house last Friday. Been in the process of it for years. My aunt finally decided to let go. But back to the website. I feel like it's so boring I could fall asleep. Coincidently it is 2am and I stayed up all night last.
But I was from the area they wanted, how come they didn't want my info? Weird. Just because I don't know a thing about mortgages doesn't mean I'm completely in the dark about the housing market. But like I said, I never know what they want when they look for demographics.
Point program again. 10 points per dollar. Nice. The survey I just took was worth 23 points. If I qualified and got to finish. I got no little extra sweepstakes entry for spending time on the weeding out process, so that's stupid.
But there was indeed a survey. I was about to bash that there wasn't an email, but I just checked, I guess I missed it. I can't believe the survey was still open since Thursday. Usually they close up in like 10 minutes. I wonder what that says about their standards of qualification, or popularity.
It did come recommended, but I don't really like it. It doesn't even have the "sweepstakes" surveys like Greenfield, but it did have one more survey than Valued Opinions. I guess that means it gets a star and a half. Since I don't have half a star on my keyboard, I'll just round up to two
**
>American Consumer Opinion or ACOP I heard a lot about. Well, I heard about it a lot, not so much with details. I can't really do that either.
I have two emails, one to finish registering and two "thank you for joining."
There is a link on the site that takes you to "fun surveys" which is a roundabout way of saying "hey, we don't reward you for these, but they might be interesting one question one answer tidbits that you wanna put your voice in." My answer for whose famous wedding I would want to go to was not Charles and Diana, it was Lisa Marie Presley and Michael Jackson, in case anyone was wondering.
The "about" page tells me that surveys pay anyway from $4-50. AND there are "online focus groups" that pay $25 usually. I don't know how you become a part of that, but whatevs. They might also ask you to participate in phone surveys or snail mail surveys but the online way is generally how they do it to it.
They have no real survey link through their website, but it DOES seem to have potential. I am giving ACOP three stars
***
FINIS
I want to give a few tips about all of these websites.
1) None of these have sent me spam. So far. I don't know if they will, but apparently they haven't sold my email address to 3rd party companies. I take this as a good sign
2) I highly suggest to READ THE RULES. I am one of those few who do this for almost everything. But these regulations have some pretty important info. Generally the specifics are no more than one member per household. Probably to avoid people from creating multiple accounts. Which is also prohibited. If they find you are guilty of doing this, they can kick you out without warning or reward. I assume the sites take note of the IP address so I don't know if you can sign in at other locations. I can only guess that would be ok.
3) Take all surveys. I don't know if I mentioned this earlier or not, but it allows the company to know that you are interested and they send you more surveys and more paid surveys. Along those lines, fill out your profile. It may not help weed out surveys not specified to your demographics, but I am told that it again, helps the company to send you more surveys.
4) None of these sites cost a dime. Or a penny. Or a halfpence.
5) Speaking of which, these sites generally only pertain to the US of A. Oftentimes Canadians get the same benefits, but sometimes not and no, it isn't fair. I agree. But I am thankful I live in the most greedy, obtrusive, egocentric country in the world. Countries outside of these two seem to get less than sub par benefits, at least compared to the Northern Americans. England, and maybe greater Europe, seem to have their own survey sites. I got really confused because I found a forum talking about earning Euros and all those high fashion money labels.
The other countries cannot earn actual money, I think. But they can earn vouchers and gift cards. I don't know all the specs, I don't really need to read about the outside countries and am not going back to every site to get a general idea. I know of the other fundamental rules because I read the terms of agreements of each site when I signed up.
6) There are different ways to receive payment. Usually. The common option is by check or through PayPal. I chose the check option. I know a lot of people like using PayPal because they don't have to do anything, but even though I have a PayPal account, I don't know what is involved in using it for this reason, but I don't like giving away personal information, if that is what is needed. Plus I'd rather have a check to take to the bank in exchange for the green, the real deal. The reason in which I decided to do this in the first place.
7) Usually there is a payout amount in which taxes must be filed or something. If I remember correctly, GiftMonkey said any amount over $500. GiftMonkey pays in gifts, however. I do not know the maximum amount for cash/check prizes. Perhaps $50. I would look at each website's details or a government site to find out. (BTW, I didn't talk about GiftMonkey, it was the very first thing I signed up for, but was WAY too complicated)
8) I have not received a single check yet, I only just signed up, but in total from these seven sites, have earned about ten dollars. If you decide to sign up and have a bad experience, I will not be held responsible for any... well, anything legally involved. Just don't blame me is what I'm trying to say. And I think writing that down is a legal contract. Weird how law is.
9) I have found that many of the well praised/legitimate sites don't have those "get rich quick" testimonials. Occasionally they have sweepstakes winners featured in the "winners" or "rewards" links. If a site tells you that "You can make $500 an hour!" especially on the home page, it is probably a scam site.
10) Never send money to sites. You should not pay in order to be paid. Do not pay for sites that give you a list of legit sites. Any of that info you can find for free. Like here, for example. A side note, Survey Scout apparently USED to be legit, but was hacked or something and is now not trustworthy. You might find several bloggers praising it, but disregard this. Always check the dates of when something was written about a site. The date may or may not make the info irrelevant. If you research deep enough, you can avoid being scammed. I spent days reading about these sites and hope to high heavens that they will do what they say. If not, I just have the knowledge that I have not been truly scammed for I never send any money or get ripped off. The only thing I will ever waste is time. Be sure to check multiple sites to see if the info backs itself up. If it contradicts between sites, chances are the site is no good. A great keyword for phony sites is "paid surveys." The first and last two sites I evaluated include this term in their tabs, but not the web addresses.
11) My last bit is just to make your own judgements and go by your instincts.
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