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Every week I’ll pose a question for you to share your experiences and tips. If you have a question that you’d like me to post, I’d love to hear from you!
A popular way to earn some extra spending money — whether it’s to fund your Starbucks habit or save for the holidays — is to participate in online surveys. I’ve mentioned some of the most popular survey sites here before, but I don’t have experience with all of them, so I wanted to hear about your experiences.
What are your favorite survey sites? Which one has the best rates? Which one has the most frequent surveys? Have you had any negative experiences? How do you figure out what’s legit…and what’s not? (Please note that affiliate links will be removed from the comments.)
Join the discussion — add your two cents to previous Ask DSM Readers questions too!
Renee
My favorite is PineCone Research Surveys, they have a good amount of surveys and send the checks pretty quickly. My Other favs are Surveyhead and Mindfield surveys. The only problem I have really had is sometimes during a survey there’s a glitch and I can’t continue.
Jen
mysurvey.com
https://fun.mysurvey.com
Michelle
I love http://www.mysurvey.com I have been a member for years and actually used to work there doing surveys over the phone. They have the best rewards & surveys! I also like NPDOR and won $100.00 cash a few months after joining.
Madalina
PineCone is by far THE BEST. I haven’t really tried others, they seem to not be worth my time collecting points or pennies per survey.
Mel
I agree. I get about a survey a week and get paid the next day. It’s not loads of money or anything, but it is actual money and not points. I think it adds up to more, too.
Maura
I recently tried Global test market. They send surveys daily, but a lot of them just give you credit for their sweepstakes, rather than for points. You have to earn 1000 points to get a $50 check. Most surveys for me have been 35 points. The problem is that more often than not I get “screened out” of surveys, so I just waste my time answering a few questions, not finishing it or getting credit and I’ve about had it with this site. I’m going to go try PineCone now. Thanks ladies for the advice!
Lindsey
I love Toluna. They have lots of opportunities, they don’t bombard you with emails, you can take short quick surveys on their site daily to earn a few points here and there, and they seem by far the most professional.
I also do Vauled Opinions occasionally as well
ashley
I have had the most luck with lightspeed panel and opinion outpost
Heather
I am looking for ways to make money at home. I have heard about PineCone Research – but, how do you join?
Claire
Heather – you have to be accepted to join. They only accept requests periodically though, so watch the blogs as they always post when they are looking for new people.
Amber
I hated lightspeed. It seems you take all these surveys & get nowhere with your “points”…
Carrie
I have to say that my experience has been different. I’ve gotten about $30 in amazon e certificates this year from lightspeed.
brenda
I do ok with lightspeed. I have been using it for more than 5 years I think. And it seems the greatest benefit is participating in the product trials.
Liz
How do you sign up for Lightspeed?
csemom
Pinecone is the best. $3 for surveys that you are pre-qualified for. Survey Savvey, not so good. Usually get screened out/disqualified for their surveys.
The Tight-Fisted Penny
Pinecone is the best. Unlike other sites where you answer a multitude of questions and the you don’t qualify, Pinecone surveys are short and I haven’t ever gotten a sorry you didn’t qualify message. They send your $3 check immediately!
Jenny
MyView, is my favorite! I have earn 250$ in virtual Visa gift cards from them since January. I have also been accepted into two Market Research panels from them earning 75$ and 10$ respectively. They post rewards wuickly between 3-5 days. The cards are “virtual” but I just use it to order a Walmart/Sams Card online because they ship GC’s for free! So it all works out. I love MyView. Survey head is a good earner but VERY slow in paying. I have been waiting 4 weeks for a payment of 26.50$ and have another 47.50 pending but still have received nothing and no response from customer service.
Maura
Jenny, where did you find a link to sign up for MyView? I just went to their site and they said its a closed community and you have to find a link on another page. Any advice? Thanks!
Maria
I would not recommend Surveyhead to anyone. You have to accumulate $25 to cash out. This can be done very quickly, if you take at least 1 survey a day worth $1 in less than a month you have your $25. However, a customer service rep has to confirm the survey and this can take between 4 to 6 weeks. Ounce you have $25 worth of confirmed surveys you can request to cash out. I got paid nearly 9 weeks after i requested to cash-out. I filed a complaint with the Better Business Beurau and with the California State Attorney’ office against Surveyhead and only then i got paid. I encourage everyone to read the BBB reviews on this company or any you’re considering before investing your time.
Terri
I like Pinecone also. They are very fast with sending payment.
jess
I get the most out of Pinecone and Opinion Outpost.
Jennifer
These are my two favorites!
Jennifer
These are my favs too! Although I sometimes get mad at OO for making me think I’ve been taking the survey just to get a “you do not quilify” note!
Angie
Although it’s not cash money my two favorite sites are harrispollsonline and e-rewards. Harris polls you earn points for prizes and e-rewards you earn dollars which get transferred to your upromise account which in turn is applied to college/student loans!
Denise
I’ve only done Pinecone. I got one check in the mail, and then, recently opted to get my $3 via PayPal. My pay-pal account shows 5 payments since April 28. So, $15 total in about month. My plan is to use it to pay for my newspaper with it. You have to wait for them to send you a survey, so there’s not really a way to maximize your savings. You’re not going to get rich!! (each survey takes me about 10 minutes)
Michelle
My favorite is mysurvey.com (NFO) they have great prizes with your reward points and I used to work there!!!
Olivia
I am a big fan of Lightspeed. I get accepted for about half of the surveys and usually get about 150 points per 20 minute survey (most usually don’t even take that long). 550 points is a $5 Amazon gift card.
I used to love Pinecone, but then I stopped doing the surveys for a while and got dropped from the program.
Shelly :)
I only have experience with Lightspeed. I actually qualified for their beverage study and they sent me a palm pilot to record everything I drank for 2 weeks. They sent me a $10 VISA G/C upfront and another $50 at the end (I think those were the amounts). It was really easy and kind of fun. :)
It’s really random though because I’ll get a ton of surveys all at once then go a couple of weeks with out seeing any. I haven’t tried to redeem points yet, so I can’t speak to that process.
Ashley
Pinecone is definitely the best I’ve experienced and while it isn’t a lot of money, they do pay very quickly. Opinion Outpost is maddening -they bombard you with e-mail survey opportuntities yet once you invest the time and start the survey, you very rarely meet the criteria.
Abbygail
My TOP 3 (and one more)
Mysurvey.com- I have been with them for about 8 years and a good variety of surveys and pay cash.
Pinecone- I’ve only been with them for about 6 months, but they pay $3 paypal for every survey and I get at least one survey a week.
Valued Opinions- I’ve been with them for about 2 years and they have lots of opportunites for me to qualify and they pay in Visa GCs.
Mindfield- It’s ok and I’ve been with them for about 2 years. I don’t qualify for many surveys that I get emails for, but they do pay cash.
I have tried almost every survey company out there and the worst are Greenfield Online (or whatever they changed their name to) and Opinion Outpost. I got about 20 emails a day, but NEVER qualified for the surveys- sometimes after making it half way through. BIG waste of time. I am lucky enough to work at a job where I have time to do them. I recently cashed in my points and got about $145 worth of cash/ gc. It’s not a lot, but 3 weeks of groceries means I have more $ to pay on my debt snowball.
Abbygail
I forgot to mention Lightspeed. I have been with them for about 8 years and while I don’t qualify for a lot of surveys, I make about $100/ year with them.
Abbygail
And I get a lot of product trial opportunities from mysurvey. 2 packages of wipes, a pack of pampers, Pantene, Propel water
brenda
My new favorite is Ipsos/Isay. My friends had a horrible time with it in the past but they recently revamped their whole program. Now it seems like the points add up super fast. I got a $30 american express gift card in just three months and am well on my way to another.
Synovate/global opinion panel I get good product trials from. Lots of food, personal care etc. I trade in my points for a $25 check once or twice a year.
Zoompanel it seems like it takes for ever to earn points. i would say it takes about a year to earn enough points for a gift worth about $20.
cwaltz
Research 20/20
The compensation for participating if you get chosen for their projects is phenomenal and the projects are FUN. Last year I received $150 in Amazon GCs for participating in a one week forum. The beginning of this year I was asked back and received $100. Participating in the project was a blast and I am looking forward to the day I get to see a product on the shelves I helped put there.
Pinecone
I’ve only been doing them a short time but so far since February I’ve had 6 surveys that I have gotten compensated for. The surveys are short and the prequal reasonable.
Panelpolls
This survey site is specifically for people with kids 6-18(It’s a Nick survey site). I haven’t requested compensation yet but have $40 worth of credit.
Global opinion
Its been slow going but they even compensate you for prequal and the surveys aren’t too arduous. I’ve got $15 worth of compensationso far.
Toluna
They revamped their site when they merged wth Greenfield so its a bit of a pain to qualify and the payout is $20 which is a bit high. However, the site itself has quickpolls wch earn you ponts. I’ve got $20 worth of credit and am working towards $40.
I also do Swagbucks and Mypoints which aren’t survey sites but definitely help supplement things.
cwaltz
I forgot to mention Epoll-I’ve managed to get $10 worth of credit there over 5 months. Definitely not a huge moneymaker but the surveys are super easy.
Chelsea
My two faves are Survey Savvy (They typically send 1-4 a month and are worth $1-$4 on average, as well they offer a lot of surveys in which you get to test product and receive paid surveys after trying the products) and Opinion Square you collect points at about 200 points a survey. If you don’t qualify though you usually get a “token” to play a game and spin for points. They add up quickly and they have a huge catalog of rewards to save up for. I’m saving for a dooney and burke purse!
Chelsea
I love Panel Polls, Opinion Square and my fave is Survey Savvy. Survey Savvy is great, not a lot of emails and they are worth from $1-$4 usually and a lot of times I do product trials that come with surveys at the end. As well American Consumer Opinion.
Corrie @ "Cents"able Momma
My favorite site is definitely Pinecone Research Panel. But there are a lot of other ones that I enjoy too. HCD Survey doesn’t pay a lot, but they have fun surveys related to current events. I’ve gotten a lot of trial products through My Survey and some through Valued Opinions.
Marissa
MySurvey, Opinion Outpost, Lightspeed and Valued Opinions are my favorites. These sites have gotten me the most GC’s and checks. I have been doing survey sites for about two years. My goal is to pay for Christmas with the monies and GC’s. I figured that the survey sites paid for 80% for Christmas last year. These are not going to get you rich but the extras really do help out!
Tina Swift
The only one I have done consistently is Pinecone and I can not say enough nice things about them!!! They pay you quickly and I have also done a fun product test!!!! LOVE THEM!!!:)
Jill
I definitely like Valued Opinions and Lightspeed Panel the best. Lightspeed pays in points, but they add up really fast and you can get amazon.com gift cards. Valued opinions pays cash, and the rewards are fair considering the time requirement.
Liz
Inboxdollars.com
I have only done couple survery and clicked on few emails and already earned $7.5 in a week! They send check when you reach $30… So, we’ll see!
Panda Research is another good one!
If you don’t utilize Swagbucks you are missing out!!