Paid Surveys – Another Earning Opportunity, Or Not?

Paid surveys are questionnaires, or interviews in which you answer some simple questions and earn money for it. Is this real? The answer is YES.

Most companies that offer various products and services are constantly seeking for a way to improve quality of their products and services and that is the reason they value opinions of their customers. Sometimes in order to beat their competition, or just to improve their sales they are always trying to make changes in order to best satisfy the needs of their potential customers.

This is precisely the number 1 reason why they are willing to invest certain amount of money in order to hire market research companies that conduct surveys, so they will know better how to fit their customer’s needs. When they do, the market research company conducts a survey, or surveys where they gather the opinions of customers, or potential customers (people like you and me). Since this is sometimes a time consuming process, they are often willing to offer incentives for filling out these questionnaires in form of money, or various gifts and prizes. This is precisely how the paid surveys work.

Now the next question that arises is: Can anyone participate in paid surveys and earn cash for their opinions? The answer is NO.

Most market research companies perform paid surveys on targeted population. They target population by their profile (location, interests, age, sex, education, income, etc.) For example if some company sells their products only in one country, it will be natural that it is interested only in the opinions from residents of that country. Also if a company sells for example underwear for young women, it would be interested only in opinions from this population and will most likely ask the market research company to conduct paid surveys on young women.

These are only examples, but you should see from them that if someone doesn’t fit the desired population, he/she will probably never or rarely get any opportunity to complete paid surveys. However, since there are many different companies that offer various products and services for different people, you will sooner or later fit the desired profile and have the opportunity to complete paid surveys.

Does it matter where I live? This question adds up to the previous. The answer is YES.

The great majority of the market research companies conduct paid surveys only in developed countries. For example, if you live in the USA, Canada, UK, Australia, etc. you will have more opportunities to complete paid surveys. This is easy to understand since the large companies interested in conducting the market research mostly have customers from these countries. There are also market research companies that accept members from nearly any country worldwide.

I have created a free list of some companies that conduct paid surveys and put it online. You will find the link near the end of this article.

Does it cost anything to become a member of some market research company? The answer is NO. Joining market research companies and doing paid surveys is absolutely free. In fact they pay you to complete surveys!

There are some companies that charge money in exchange for a list of paid survey sites. They ask usually somewhere between $30 and $50 for a list. You may buy this list if you wish, but you should be careful. There are a lot of scams that only seek your money and there are no guarantees that you will fit the required profile and earn anything with paid surveys. Always do some research first by finding positive and negative reviews on such companies and than decide whether you should buy it, or not.

Paid survey sites can easily be found for free and there is no need to purchase a list, at least not before you check paid surveys out and see if they work for you, or not.

How much money can I expect to earn? On average, you can expect to receive one or two surveys per month (sometimes more, or less) from one market research company. If you live in the developed country, you will probably receive more often invitations to complete paid surveys. And you will receive for these surveys on average between $5 and $10. As you can see, paid surveys probably won’t replace your income, but money from them may come in handy.

Just remember that it is possible never to earn anything with paid surveys.