Wednesday 8 April 2009

Surveys that pay

I see a lot of suspicion around online earning sites, usually about PTC, PTR etc.. but sometimes about survey sites too. I use three survey services at this point in time, having dumped 'Ciao' some months ago - not that they are a scam, but their surveys take too long for little pay and sometimes you are answering questions for ten minutes until you are told you are not eligible for the survey.
In one Ciao survey I was sent, I could not beleive the way the questions went:
Question 1: Are you ....(my name).....?
Answer: YES
Reply: Sorry, you are ineligible for this survey!
(they sent this survey URL straight to my email inbox - they KNEW who I was!!)
At least they didn't waste much of my time, but I found that they would habitually send unsuitable surveys even when they were fully aware of my profile. That's enough about a useless service, let me tell you about the surveys that I DO take part in:

YOUGOV: Excellent service that will make sure that you recieve some payment even if you don't qualify for a survey. Payments vary from maybe £0.10 to £0.50 for a survey for your opinion was not required, £0.50 to several pounds for a completed survey. Their surveys are often of a similar type almost always multiple choice, rarely taking up much more than 10 minutes of your time. Payout limit £50 - it may take some time to reach this target - surveys are sent to your email address.
PUREPROFILE: Very similar to YouGov, although they tend to have surveys that you can complete via their website (at least when you first register), they also like you to fill out a lot of your profile so that they can send you relevant surveys. Payout at £25.00 - most surveys arrive via email.
DNEERO: My favourite by far, join by clicking on one of their survey widgets on this blog - their surveys are always VERY short and easy to complete, usually with about five or six multiple choice questions. They are unique in that you can get more earnings by posting a widget on your website, blog or myspace page, plus you can answer questions for small amounts using your 'Twitter' account - payout is just $20 and I think you get three-tier referral earnings too. Twitter opportunities must be sought out, but the normal surveys will be emailed to you.

All I would say is that with the more 'serious' survey services ie. YouGov and PureProfile, you should always be completely honest with your answers or just cancel the survey if you don't want to answer. The dNeero surveys are much more fun-focussed and do not require you to be so precise with your answers, there is more of a social/viral feel to the way in which dNeero carry out surveys.

4 comments:

Linky Love said...

Yougov n Pureprofile: do they mention upfront how much a survey will earn?

DNeero: I read you got paid out, can you break that down, also the time you spend on it?

Thanks :-)

jay said...

Hi Linky
dNeero started out with high-paying surveys, but they degenerated to become fairly cheap.. however they are quick and EASY to complete so that's a bonus! I won't be spending a lot of time on them now I have been paid out... The other two DO say upfront how much they will pay and the both pay you a default amount even if you start the survey but it turns out you are not suitable for the survey - this is MILES better than Ciao...! but takes a long time to reach the high payout figures...
My honest opinion is that surveys are just a step or two better than PTC... OK if you have a lot of time and can wait for payout otherwise may not be worth the effort ;)
If you are going to try ANY of the survey schemes I have tried I believe dNeero is the best overall (you can also earn 5c or so by replying to their twitter messages...) EASY money, but not a money-spinner...

Linky Love said...

Thanks Jay :-)

Am looking for something fast that earns big, something like in the good old PPP days :-)

Maybe I could have earned some money by doing a dNeero in stead of answering you :-P , thanks!

By the way, clicking on the "last comments" in your left sidebar doesn't bring me to the post itself, would be a very user-friendly navigation though.

jay said...

If you click on your name in Last Comments, it goes to the post...
We are all looking for something fast that earns big!! am settling for something slow that earns eventually...