Just earned myself a little extra cash

Badly_Bitten_By_Recession

Hey there

Having been made redundant and unemployed since late last year I've found this site and this forum in particular to be so, so helpful, the practical advice is invaluable and I've finally managed to earn a little extra cash!!

I saw a few posts on this site back in November regarding market research/mystery shopping/consumer panels etc so though I would give it a try. I took advice from the post and registered with quite a few companies. I've pretty much tried everything so thought I would share my experience on what to do and what not to....

I'll start with my positive experience.

I had almost given up hope as I hadn't been contacted by any (legitimate) market research recruiters when a very nice lady called from a company called 'people 4 u'
She ran through a questionnaire and then invited me to test a mobile phone for a few weeks...
I'm almost finished it now. It's actually a lovely phone (worth a lot of money) and does so much more than my own phone so it's been quite fun - certainly doesn't feel like 'work' - I would have done it for free!
All I've had to do is make notes on what I think of it and then go for an interview in a few days time.
I can honestly say it's the most enjoyable (and easiest) £100 I have ever earned.
The company was very professional and accommodating, I had childcare issues so they changed around appointments to fit me in, just a really nice bunch of women. I can't recommend them highly enough (don't think I'm allowed to put contact details on here but I'm sure they would come up in a search engine)


Now my not so positive experiences and companies who have 'ripped me off':

In my experience The 'online research' I tried has been totally utterly fruitless.
I haven't earned a single penny or even received a voucher in the 3 MONTHS I've been filling out online questionnaires - I did get some air miles though which will come in handy if I EVER manage a holiday again) LOL.
But seriously, if anyone out there is looking at doing online surveys whereby you have to collect points to get either vouchers or air-miles, take it from one who has spent approximately 30-35 hours in the last few months, it's definitely not the way to go, I found it to be a total waste of time.

Another negative experience and one I feel I should warn anyone about is a so called, recruitment agency who said they would 100% get me "lots of paid for consumer panels and I could earn up to £500 per month", the only snag was I had to pay £30 to join...I did... stupid I know... I have heard NOTHING from them since November last year and they have never responded to ANY of my messages - so I guess if it sounds too good to be true it probably is!

I told one of the women at 'People 4u' about this experience and she said if an agency either promises to put you on panels or asks for money upfront - avoid them like the plague. Apparently there are a lot of those companies out there, taking advantage of people who are obviously looking to earn some extra cash.

She gave me one piece of very important info for anyone who wants to take part in focus groups etc.
Anyone wishing to sign up with a recruiter for market research should ALWAYS check with the MRS 'Market Research Society. Apparently all of the best (and legitimate) companies are registered with them. If they are not registered then they should be avoided,

I hope this has been helpful to anyone thinking of trying out research to earn extra cash.

It would be great to hear of any other companies who actually give you paid work and not rip you off!

Good Luck to everyone in the same position!! Things can only get better

Best Wishes,

Caroline

roger1964

Thanks a lot for sharing your experience. I have recently had my hours cut at work and my wife and I have spent the entire day on the net looking into creative ways to replace my lost income, we have been looking at online research and it does look like they only give vouchers but we need cold hard cash.

We actually came across a company asking for a subscription fee which we were considering until we saw your post! So thanks for the advice regarding the Market research society.
would you be kind enough to pass on a phone number for people for you please? Do you know of any other who pay cash for this type of research?

Thanks again,

Roger and elena Buck

mrsyardbroom

I belong to quite a few online survey sites. I'm retired so I have time to do a few surveys every day. I get paid on a regular basis and I'm currently waiting for a £10 Tesco voucher to arrive from Valued Opinions. There are many sites that are genuine and they provide a small extra income for a lot of people. For example, in January I was paid £40 from Onepoll which was useful after Christmas and I already have another £13 in my Onepoll account. Pinecone Research pays me within a few days for the surveys undertaken. My Voice sent me a £20 Asda voucher before Christmas and I have almost enough points to claim the next one. I could go on as I have quite a list of genuine survey sites but there are many threads already on this forum devoted to the subject. I would say that if you have the time persevere with the surveys and you will get paid.

Antispam

EuraForsethl was spamming forums [now removed]

Badly_Bitten_By_Recession

Hello 'anti spam'

Not sure if you have hit spam referring to me or one of the others who have posted on this thread? Everyone posting here seems perfectly genuine to me

Please think twice before you hit your 'spam' button.
Many, many people are in a situation whereby we need to earn extra cash in these hard times and it's great that we can all share our experiences and help each other on a site like this one!

Thanks,

Caroline

Antispam

Op it was another poster called EuraForsethl spamming various threads including yours there post got removed now you can hit the spam button on individual posts hence why there post went.

james2005

Telemarketing is an easy way to earn money working from home if you can have a conversation with people, you can get all inclusive landline to landline calls from most telephone providers very cheap these days.

Has anyone considered it?

Badly_Bitten_By_Recession

Hello MrsYardBroom

Many thanks for your advice, its good to know there is at least vouchers available for working online - especially for supermarkets! I counted around 20 different companies I've registered with and I haven't received anything at all, only some air miles and discounts for various stores - but it requires me to spend a certain amount of money to get the discounts. Did you get actual gift vouchers?
I'll definitely give the sites you mentioned a try... nothing to lose guess.

I had an email advertisement from people4u saying they need people who shop online to test the website of a well known store (the fee was £50 for an hour which I though was really good, but you have to go to their office in central London ).
Unfortunately they wrote back to say I am not eligible as I am already testing the mobile phone for them but thought I would put it out there in case anyone who lives in London might be interested!

I'll give the online surveys another shot and post again with feedback.

Wishing everyone Good Luck!!

Badly_Bitten_By_Recession

Hi there Antispam, many thanks for explaining!

Badly_Bitten_By_Recession

Hi Roger1964

I do have their details but having checked the rules of the forum I don't think we are allowed to give numbers or names of any companies.

If it helps the 'market research society' - the ones who can tell you if a company is genuine or not, and 'people4u' - the company I did the phone testing with and got £100, both come up in a Google search.

Hope that's helpful.

Wishing you both the best of luck!

Badly_Bitten_By_Recession

james2005 wrote: »

Telemarketing is an easy way to earn money working from home if you can have a conversation with people, you can get all inclusive landline to landline calls from most telephone providers very cheap these days.

Has anyone considered it?

Hi James
No haven't considered that at all.
I have to say I have a pet hate for telemarketers, so I really can't imagine myself joining them...
Have you tried it and what kind of money have you made?
Regards,
Caroline