Paid Surveys - Are They A Scam? Other Ways To Earn?

Discussion in 'General Marketing' started by contemptx, Jan 17, 2007.

  1. #1
    Ok, Im unsure if this is in the correct section,

    As I dont really know anything about this subject...

    My friend has been trying to make money on the internet via Paid Surveys?

    I said that most of these are probably scam sites?

    But I have no clue in this area what so ever, I have my sites and Im happy with them So I have never looked into making money in other ways on the internet.

    Although I said I would ask here to try and find out a little more information.

    Now he is not trying to make $XX,XXX here, He is just looking to earn a few extra pounds each week by doing something constructive on the internet with his spare time.

    As he has no HTML / Other skills to get into professional webdesign or the knowledge to setup a website geared towards generating income at this stage Im sure he will learn as time goes on (although I may be dead before then).

    So I suppose im asking 3 questions here.

    1. Are Paid Survey sites a Scam?
    2. Do you know any good survey sites that actually pay? (please list)
    3. Is there any other way of making a few extra pounds on the internet each week which would be along the lines of paid to post or something simialr. (please list information & links if possible)


    Thank You for your time.
     
    contemptx, Jan 17, 2007 IP
  2. Padawan

    Padawan Peon

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    #2
    A lot of paid survey sites are indeed a scam. Some will ask for payment before sending you a list of other such sites rather than the surveys themselves.

    Others will get you to fill in surveys and then never pay, some will only payout when you have completed x number of surveys but then never send you enough to fulfill your quota.

    In fact a rare few will even try to get you to give them a lot of personal information, bank account details, etc so be very wary of that.

    There are a few genuine ones though - I'm putting a list of them together at the moment for one of my projects and will pm it to you when it's complete if you like.
     
    Padawan, Jan 17, 2007 IP
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  3. charlesgan

    charlesgan Well-Known Member

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    #3
    HI. I would like to comment of item 3.
    yes, there is thousand of ways to earn frm internet. start your own service/product, or selling for others. Clickbank is a good place to start with affiliate marketing, join forums to discuss effective ways for marketing and SEO. give it some times, you will learn your skill as well.
    good luck!
     
    charlesgan, Jan 17, 2007 IP
  4. CountryBoy

    CountryBoy Prominent Member

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    #4
    Paid surveys are not a scam. There are a few good survey sites you can have a look at: Ciao.co.uk, surveyspot.com, surveysavvy.com, acop.com, yougov.com to name but a few. There isn't much money is each individual survey - maybe $1 or $2, and you might only get one or two offers a week, but it all adds up.
    The best idea is to sign up to a few market research companies at the same time - maximises your offers.
     
    CountryBoy, Jan 17, 2007 IP
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  5. CountryBoy

    CountryBoy Prominent Member

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    #5
    Let me just add to what Padawan said because I missed it as I posted. The companies I've mentioned require no payment to join.

    Be cautious - any company that asks for payment IS A SCAM. None of the reputable companies ask for payment.
     
    CountryBoy, Jan 17, 2007 IP
  6. CBDealer

    CBDealer Guest

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    #6
    Check out the Club-Tech link below. There's a section on surveys, with listings of some free survey sites. There's other stuff there you might want to consider, too.
     
    CBDealer, Jan 18, 2007 IP
  7. psyberweb

    psyberweb Peon

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    #7
    i dont know how good online surveys are...but they are not as credible compare to offline surveys...my best suggestion is not to waste time on these..its better to build sites than answering tons of questions...
     
    psyberweb, Jan 18, 2007 IP
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  8. MTbiker

    MTbiker Well-Known Member

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    #8
    Paid online surveys aren't scams but the sites trying to sell you lists of paid survey sites are. Even so, getting $1 for 20 minutes of your time isn't that great, and you can't just sit there all day with endless surveys to complete.

    I wrote a little book about my experience with all that if you want more info - http://levibloom.com/ebooks/paidsurveysexposed.htm
     
    MTbiker, Jan 18, 2007 IP
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  9. Blogsip

    Blogsip Well-Known Member

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    #9
    From my experience you will get little money from them, and will rarely get sent a survey to do.
     
    Blogsip, Jan 18, 2007 IP
  10. MTbiker

    MTbiker Well-Known Member

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    #10
    That sums it up nicely. Although I got quite a few surveys sent to me, I rarely qualified to participate. (which they don't tell you until after you spend 5 minutes filling in your info, and in some cases don't tell you till after you completed the entire survey!)
     
    MTbiker, Jan 18, 2007 IP
  11. cmstheme

    cmstheme Peon

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    #11
    With paid surveys, the money you'll get is not worth the time you spent taking the surveys. It's an easy money though because you just click and click but as I said it takes and waste your time. You may try other ways, there are many of them...
     
    cmstheme, Jan 18, 2007 IP
  12. htmlindex

    htmlindex Prominent Member

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    #12
    I've heard a lot of them are scams just to get you to pay for a list of companies, some out of date or companies that don't pay. There are legit ones surveys there, but you have to find them.
     
    htmlindex, Jan 18, 2007 IP
  13. AnaB

    AnaB Peon

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    #13
    Half of them are really scam. In anyway, I would much rather go with affiliate marketing and other interesting things you can do online than try to make money with paid surveys..not like you'll make a lot with them
     
    AnaB, Jan 18, 2007 IP
  14. rlarouc

    rlarouc Active Member

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    #14
    I made the mistake of signing up for several survey sites a little while ago. OMG! The amount of spam I started to get was unbelievable! Obviously, one (or more) of the sites added me to tons of spam lists and I was getting all sorts of crap. I rarely got a survey; in fact, in about a 30-day period I only got 1 actual survey to fill out. But when I started the survey, I answered a couple of questions ... and then it said I was not in the target group, so no cash for me (at least I only spent like 30 seconds on it at that point ... not 20 minutes!)

    If you want to make $1 or so for 20 minutes (or more) of your time, you are better off checking out the "content" sub forum here and applying for posting jobs. People pay about $.10 to $.15 per post on their forums (to a maximum amount), so you could make a dollar or two in the same amount of time.
     
    rlarouc, Jan 18, 2007 IP
  15. refresh9149

    refresh9149 Peon

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    #15
    paid surveys actually pay a lot more than a dollar per survey. I've taken surveys with survey savvy for $25-$45 and they mail you a check in under two weeks. Survey Savvy would probably be my best recommendation. I actually do a lot of paid surveys. My second would probably be NFO MySurvey. They actually mail you paper surveys if you want. I can send you scans of my checks if you want proof of payment. NFO MySurvey also offers product testing which is really cool.
     
    refresh9149, Jan 19, 2007 IP
  16. CountryBoy

    CountryBoy Prominent Member

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    #16
    I subscribe to few different paid survey companies, and while they don't make me a fortune, maybe 1 survey a week at $2 or $3, it all adds up at the end of the year. By completing surveys accurately and speedily I have been invited to participate in several follow-up focus groups - these are worth about $40 for each hour's work. So these paid surveys, although not making you rich, can lead on to greater opportunities.
     
    CountryBoy, Jan 19, 2007 IP
  17. ssnet

    ssnet Peon

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    #17
    you can get paid a few pounds a week, by posting on our webmaster forum

    http://www.webmastersroom.com

    users get paid for there posts, it aint alot but would easily mount upto a few pounds a week, if you put enough posts in.

    thanks steve
     
    ssnet, Jan 19, 2007 IP
  18. Voyager59

    Voyager59 Peon

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    #18
    my 2 cents. I tried a few surveys...their trick was to send me to another and another and another survey....

    I got no money out of it....waste of time
     
    Voyager59, Jan 19, 2007 IP
  19. devin

    devin Guest

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    #19
    as said by others, 'paid' paid surverys are scams, while the free legit ones don't earn you enough to replace any job. it's more like a hobby.
     
    devin, Jan 19, 2007 IP
  20. Mirage

    Mirage Active Member

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    #20
    My Two Cents,

    In the end while I made about $30, my time could have been spent better doing other useful things. It took a lot of time to earn that $30. I actually tried the surveys because I was pondering offering advertising for the survey sites. I wanted first-hand knowledge of whether or not it was worth while for my users.

    Some people apparently manage to make money on the surveys...but my guess is that they do not answer them honestly. Just my opinion though.

    Tool around these forums and I think you will find at least a half-dozen more useful ideas (both to you and your customers) for getting a return on your investment.

    Again, just one person's thoughts.
     
    Mirage, Jan 20, 2007 IP