Making cash from online survey sites - new MSE guide 9 January 2013 at 4:28PM edited 28 January 2013 at 5:23PM in Boost your income 627 replies 272K views

MSE_Jenny

Hi all, we've updated our Survey Sites guide to help you make cash from online surveys.

How did you find the info? If you're a survey stasher, do you have any other sites you'd add?

Thanks for your help!

MSE Jenny

Mags30

That looks really useful, thanks MSE

sammyz1

Very useful... thank you.

libra10

Very useful and comprehensive guide, thank you.

I've been a member of several survey sites for the past few years, and received tokens, vouchers and many payments.

One thing I would change is that if you're not suitable for a survey, companies should screen you out within a couple of pages. It's not unknown to reach the last page, and suddenly you're no longer eligible for the survey.

My favourite survey sites are OnePoll - I received £160 in payouts last year, and have just received another Paypal payment this morning. Their surveys are very short, worth between 10 and 15p, and it's best to log in several times daily.

Populus and New Vista pay higher amounts, but you have to wait till your account reaches £50 to be paid.

I've received several £15 Amazon or Love2Shop vouchers through Toluna, but points can be slow added to accounts, and much slower waiting for payment - can be as long as 6 to 8 weeks.

Pure Profile are another of my favourite sites, they pay quite well and their surveys don't take too long. You need to log into the site daily to see whether anything available.

It is possible to make money through survey sites, but you do need lots of patience as it can become repetitive.

Sparhawke

I did a few of these surveys a while back, never did like them

maggiann

Hi, I've just had an email from OurVoice saying that the site is closing and because I don't have enough points I can enter a prize draw!! As far as I can see I've earned £7.50, I feel as if I'm being ripped off. Does anyone else kmow about this site?

burgesst

I got an invitation to Pinecone, only for the link not to work.
I contacted them, and was told that they were still sending out invitations even though the offer had closed.

How frustrating!

CHRIS_C_2

I did get paid for a LOT of effort put into many, many surveys but it was, at times, tedious work and, eventually, I decided it was not worth it.

Why ?

Because, although paid in cash (cheque) the threshold for getting paid was £50 and typically you might get 50p or £1.50 for a survey that took maybe 20-30 mins to complete diligently. The temptation therefore was to be less than diligent ...

Additionally, despite my agency (one in the USA) knowing my profile, I frequently found that I got eliminated by one of the very first questions, eg what age group are you in ? Answering honestly, by saying 60+, frequently eliminated me at that point in the survey. I got the distinct impression that the target survey group would usually be much younger than me.

Even more annoying was a further occasional situation of answering a host of questions taking perhaps 20 mins and then being eliminated from the survey at that point by the next honest answer. This would then be an incomplete survey and no reward ! Grrr !

I would sometimes receive 3 or 4 surveys in a week and then receive nothing for 2 or 3 weeks. Many I rejected because I had no experience of the products or other subject of the survey. I perhaps responded to 30% overall .. and then got eliminated randomly from some as aforesaid.

In short, there are easier way of making a living but if you are an internet addict anyway you might make some pin money. It was an interesting and varied, though often frustrating, activity.

kentface

I have been an Ipsos panel member since 2010 and have now completed enough surveys to make me a 'Premium Member'. Wow! How many award points have I earned in that time? 1100. A £10 voucher from most of the contributing stores requires 1380. So, it's hardly a way to boost your income significantly.

tinatease_2

Hi Everyone,
I'm just about to sign up to Swagbucks, does anyone fancy referring me for an extra boost to your account?
T

Blitzwing85

These survey sites are very hit and miss it seems. I joined up to many of them in June 2009 and have since made about £3500. I spend about 45minutes-1hour per day monday-friday while on my lunch at work.

Of course that total includes some focus groups offline and online. EliteShoppingForum signed me up to 2 online 90 minute chat sessions paying £60 each and I did win the £100 prize draw with Toluna once.
So there have been a few bigger payments.

The best earners for me though are:
Harrispoll
Globaltestmarket
Valued Opinions
NewVistaLive
Ipsos

That is where the bulk comes from.

Mindmover
OnePoll
YouGov
Toluna
EliteShoppingForum
Indiefield
Saros

These provide some back up.



I have 120 Bluray movies, dozens of PS3 games, a PS Vita + games and 32GB mem card, books, audiobooks, comics and none of it has cost me a penny.

Sometimes it has been tiresome doing them all but once you get used to the layouts you can get through them quickly.
What I did is set myself a daily target with a spreadsheet.

£5 per day. This comes out at about £100 a month as I only do work days. I didn't always hit the £5 through short online surveys but then as I fell behind a bigger payout would get me back on track as I'd split a £50 earner into 10 days worth of £5.

Right now I have about £100 un-redeemed waiting to hit various thresholds and £150 on amazon vouchers in my account.


It's not a massive earner but if you are fast with a mouse and keyboard and set up a little system with a target you can really make some serious pocket money.
I use the extra cash for things I don't need and wouldn't be too fussed about if I didn't have - but it's a hell of a nice bonus to have all this entertainment in the house for nowt!!!


It just seems though you have to fit their demographic. Don't want to stereotype but I imagine certain demographics have a lot higher proportion of people doing surveys than others. I doubt too many people in my demographic bother with them - so to me it's lucrative.