What the Tech? Can You Make Money by Completing Online Surveys?
If you think no one is ever interested in your opinions on Facebook or Twitter, you should know there are places online that put a value on your opinion.
They’re survey companies and they pay money to people just like you and me for doing nothing more than sharing our
opinions.
Online surveys became a popular way for people to make some extra money during the pandemic. While offices closed due to people being unable to work in an office, online surveys were always open and available. They’re out there today just waiting for someone like you to register and start answering their questions.
But do they really pay money for opinions? And how many questions do you have to answer to make some real money? Is it something you can do in y our free time while watching TV? I decided to give it a try to see what online surveys are all about.
There are lots of survey companies to choose from. Swagbucks, Survey Junkie, Nielsen, Opinion Outpost, and One Opinion are popular options. I’ve tried them all and found they’re all pretty similar so rather than explaining them all, I’ll boil it down to sharing my opinion with you about Opinion Outpost which bills itself as the #1 online survey company.
To get started you’ll answer a ton of questions about yourself before you even get to the surveys. Registration requires you to share your age, gender, employment, income, pets, education. It’ll also ask about shopping habits, interests, cellphone providers, people in your home, your job title, or role. You name it and they’re asking for it.
Since the actual surveys are conducted on behalf of third-party companies, you’ll need to answer some of these questions again for other surveys.
It can take quite a while before you’re actually taking a survey. And just because you are invited to take a survey and accept doesn’t mean you’ll be qualified. Of about 20 surveys I signed up for, I was only accepted for 6. From what I’ve read in reviews, this is pretty normal.
You will get a couple of points. That’s how all of the surveys work. You earn points for taking the surveys. Most of the surveys are worth 10-points though some (longer) surveys pay out as much as 150 points.
I was invited and accepted to take a survey by JD Power. The survey was about how I use my primary credit card and my opinion of how the credit card company treats its customers. This survey was about 100 questions and was supposed to take 15 minutes but it took over 20. And I earned 10 points or 10-cents.
I also took a survey for 150 points that took a little over an hour. I made $1.50.
Once you take a few surveys, you’ll have to answer more questions for more surveys. And this takes a long time. I had earned $6.50 from Opinion Outpost but to take other surveys I had to answer qualifying questions about which sports I watch and which ones I participate in. Which cellphone company we used and our typical monthly bill. Which streaming services and which streaming devices do we use. Which smart assistants and smart home devices do we use.
Which Bluetooth headphones do I use? And on. And on. And on.
I never did get to the point where I could take more surveys so my 65-points are sitting there in my account.
Most survey companies won’t pay out until you reach 1,000 points or $10 and the payments are in gift cards to Amazon, Apple, Walmart, and others.
The good news is, you can earn money from online surveys. The bad news is, it isn’t very much, and it isn’t very easy. You can’t bluff your way through the surveys just clicking answers because every now and then it slips a question in there to make sure you’re paying attention.
It isn’t something you can do while trying to pay attention to something on TV. Sure you’re only sharing your opinion and there’s no critical thinking involved. But an 8 hour day just answering surveys, might earn you $20-$30.
But there’s got to be a better way to earn extra money.
