How Opinion Place Works

To take a survey with Opinion Place, simply sign up for an account at their website by clicking the “Get Started” button. It will take you to a page where you can sign up for a new account or log in with an existing account. If you have an existing account, you will also receive emails once in a while (I rarely get them, though) inviting you to take a survey. I find it easier just to log into the website and take a survey that way when I have the extra time.

Before taking a survey, the website will ask you what reward you would prefer for qualifying for and finishing a survey. The reward options include Amazon.com gift cards, PayPal credits, AAdvantage miles, or sweepstakes entries. I usually opt for PayPal because the cash amount for each survey is usually only a few dollars or less. After choosing your reward and making sure your demographic information and email address is correct, click “Take a survey now” to try to qualify for a survey.

You will then be asked a series of demographic questions to see if you qualify for any surveys Opinion Place is offering through other survey companies. These can include a variety of topics including what financial products you may own, what medications you use, or what personal care products you buy. Usually you will go through a few pages of questions before Opinion Place can match you with a survey. It can be a little time-consuming at times to get through all the qualifying questions. Sometimes it will not be able to find a survey that matches your qualifications, so you may have to try again the next day to see if anything new comes up.

Taking Surveys

If you do qualify for a survey, Opinion Place will send you to the survey page. The survey is usually hosted elsewhere through another survey company. Once you have answered all the questions in the survey, you will be taken back to Opinion Place’s website. It will ask you to click “Finish” to complete the survey and earn your reward. You will then get a survey confirmation receipt with the date, study number, and reward amount (and type) listed. You can print this page or take a screenshot of it for your records in case you don’t get paid. I have never had an issue receiving payment and usually get paid within a couple of weeks.

One warning, though: with Opinion Place, you cannot dawdle while taking a survey. If you spend too much time on one, you will not earn a reward. A screen will appear either during the survey or at the end telling you that too much time has passed and to try again in 15 minutes. Usually, you cannot get past this screen and cannot go back to the survey to earn your reward. Therefore, I highly recommend NOT letting the survey sit for too long.

Also, as mentioned before, you can only take a survey once every seven days. Therefore, after you complete one, you have to wait seven days before you can attempt to qualify for another one. This is the main downside to Opinion Place. Also, if you happen to not qualify for any surveys on any particular day, you have to wait one day until you can attempt to qualify again.

Rewards

Surveys can pay anywhere from $1.00 to $5.00 depending on survey length. Some surveys tend to be longer than stated and the questions can be on the repetitive side. It really depends on the topic. Some of the financial surveys can be really long and boring, so I try to avoid those, if possible. Some of their personal care product surveys are fun, though, and may even lead to a product test if you’re lucky.

Conclusion

Opinion Place is a good survey website if you don’t mind waiting every seven days to try to qualify and take another survey. You definitely won’t make a ton of cash with them. They are reliable and do pay, though, so I recommend them as an additional source to use with other survey panels. Just remember to bookmark their website and sign up for their emails so you don’t forget about them (which I admit can be easy to do with their once-a-week survey limit).

I earned most of my money this month (over $200.00) from other lesser-known survey panels where I took part in a couple online focus groups and two webcam interviews that paid $50.00 each. I wish these opportunities popped up more often, but this month was unusual and, for that, I’m thankful.

Once again, I also received a good number of product tests this month including food, cosmetics, lotion, body wash, toilet paper, paper towels, and cat food. Most of these product tests came from other survey panels besides the ones listed in my top five and did not pay very much (except for one that paid $20.00).

Rankings are based mainly on what I earned for the month from each survey company, as well as the number of survey invites.

Here are my current top earners for April:

1. Global Test Market

   • Total Earned Since Joining: $500.00
   • Total Earned in April: $25.00
   • Last Payment Requested: $50.00 check on April 30, 2012
   • Joined: September 21, 2008
   
   

   I did really well with Global Test Market again this month. I’m still getting a steady stream of surveys from them, most of which I qualify for. My only issue with them is that some of those 60 to 80 point surveys can be really long and tedious. I’m looking forward to cashing out with them again soon.

2. Valued Opinions

   • Total Earned Since Joining: $510.00
   • Total Earned in April: $15.00
   • Last Payment Requested: $20.00 Amazon.com gift card on March 13, 2012
   • Joined: September 5, 2008
   
   

   I’m still doing well with Valued Opinions, although they are taking forever to credit some of the surveys I’ve taken with them. I think I have about $35.00 pending with them right now. I am very close to cashing out again with them, though. I just need a couple more dollars credited to my account.

   

3. SurveyHead

   • Total Earned Since Joining: $750.00
   • Total Earned in April: $12.00
   • Last Payment Requested: $25.00 PayPal on April 24, 2012
   • Joined: August 15, 2008
   
   

   SurveyHead has also been pretty good for me lately. I do disqualify from a lot of their surveys, though, which can be frustrating. I did okay with them this month. Hopefully next month will be better.

   

4. MySurvey

   • Total Earned Since Joining: $625.00
   • Total Earned in April: $10.00
   • Last Payment Requested: $25.00 Amazon.com gift card on April 24, 2012
   • Joined: October 22, 2008
   
   

   MySurvey has been sending me more surveys this month, so that’s been nice. I don’t make much money with them, though, at least compared to previous years. I was able to cash out with them recently. Hopefully I will be able to cash out again next month or in June if the amount of surveys they send me keeps up.

   

5. Ipsos i-Say

   • Total Earned Since Joining: $210.00
   • Total Earned in April: $8.00
   • Last Payment Requested: $10.00 Amazon.com gift card on March 3, 2012
   • Joined: September 16, 2008
   
   

   Ipsos i-Say is a bit of a mixed bag for me. Some months I get a lot of surveys from them, while other months I barely get anything at all from them. I wish their surveys paid more. Some are really long and tedious to take. I’m very close to cashing out with them again, though, and I like that their Amazon.com redemptions are immediate and arrive in my email inbox within minutes.

   

What are your favorite survey panels? We’d love to hear from you!

David Bakke writes about smart shopping tips and small business opportunities on Money Crashers, a personal finance blog that helps readers improve their financial fitness and find useful tools including tax software and the best cash back credit cards.

When it comes to paid survey websites, let’s face it – you’re not going to break the bank. But that’s not to say you can’t generate a moderate amount of income. The key is to maximize your time: If you can filter through the scams and focus on websites that will pay out real cash, you can put some decent money in your wallet from the comfort of your own home.

However, you must be constantly alert and aware, as there are many more scam survey sites than there are legitimate ones. Here are some red flags to watch out for.

Survey Website Red Flags

1. Payment Required

   Any website that asks you to pay money for a subscription, account activation, a start-up kit, or anything else should be avoided. All truly legitimate survey websites are 100% free.

2. Excessive Personal Info Required

   While you’ll need to enter some personal information in order to sign up, know where to draw the line. Never enter your social security number, and never enter your credit card information. Most legitimate survey sites will only ask for your name, address, email address, age, gender, and maybe a few other details. This information is needed to match you with appropriate surveys.

3. Unsolicited Emails

   Always initiate the sign-up process by visiting the survey website directly or through a referral link from a legitimate website (like GetPaidSurveys.com) or a referral link from a friend. Never click on anything sent to you through an unsolicited email. These usually come from phishers who will direct you to a fake website and ask for personal information.

4. Free Trials Offered

   Some websites will offer to supposedly pay you money by completing surveys and signing up for offers. These typically include free trial magazine subscriptions or other products. What these websites bank on, however, is that you sign up for a “free” trial and forget to cancel, so that your credit card gets billed.

5. No Privacy Policy

   Many of these websites have no privacy policy whatsoever, which is another red flag. Most likely, this means the website will sell or share your information. But even if you see a privacy policy link, be sure to click on it and read the fine print. I have visited several scam websites that had a privacy policy link, but nothing came up when I clicked on it.

6. Seems Too Good to Be True

   Any email or website that offers something like a $100 Walmart gift card for a single short survey is simply not legitimate. While there are a few higher-paying surveys out there, they are rare and usually for special surveys lasting several hours or more. If it looks too good to be true, then it probably is. Remember, the average pay out for completing a survey is about $2. Anything significantly beyond that is likely a scam.

Websites to Avoid

Here are few websites to avoid. Though these aren’t necessarily scam sites, each one charges a fee. Plus, each seems to present an inflated idea of how much money you can make completing surveys.

• Site #1: This site charges a $35 membership fee, but claims that your first survey is worth $25. The site says you can make up to $100 participating in focus groups. Though this is possible, it’s certainly not the norm.
• Site #2: Access costs $27. The site claims you can make up to $3,500 a month filling out surveys, which is highly unlikely.
• Site #3: The membership fee is $4.99 per year. The site claims you can make up to $100 payouts for online and phone surveys, and up to $50 to view movie trailers.

Final Thoughts

If you’re unsure about the validity of a website, you can check it out with the BBB or by seeing if it is affiliated with CASRO (Council of American Survey Research Organizations, the ethics organization for market research). This should tell you whether it is for real.

Whichever legitimate route you decide to go, be sure to answer all questions in full. These sites are very keen to automated survey submitters, and if you’re identified as one, your account will be canceled.

Completing paid surveys is a great way to put some extra cash in your pocket, just know what you’re getting into and understand which sites are the real deal.

About 20% of my earnings are from product tests and Invoke Interactives. I do not keep track of prizes or free products, but I do include contest wins. I only add in points accumulated after they have been redeemed due to the difficulty of calculating point values. This month’s product tests include toilet paper, tea bags, body wash and puppy pads.

1. SurveySavvy
   
   
   • Total Earned Since Joining: $362
   • Total Earned This Month: $62
   • Monthly Average: $7.24
   • Last Payments Received: $10 on April 6
   • Last Payments Requested: $20 on May 4
   • Joined: February 2, 2008
   
   

   Since SurveySavvy does not have an online survey history it’s difficult to know how many surveys I completed, but I did complete a phone interview on kidney transplantation for $50 while on dialysis using my smartphone from Straight Talk that is paid for by survey earnings ($45 per month). I was also recruited for an online Business Community that pays $20 per month in Amazon gift cards and that is ongoing. Surprises like these are the main reason I stay with this panel, which hasn’t been in my Top Five list for quite awhile.

   


2. Global Test Market
   
   
   • Total Earned Since Joining: $1238.40<
   • Total Earned This Month: $26.75
   • Monthly Average: $23.82
   • Last Payment Received: $50.50 on April 14
   • Last Payment Requested: $50.50 on May 4
   • Joined: March 1, 2008
   
   

   In April I completed 13 surveys for 495 points ($24.75). That is an average of $1.90 per survey completed. I was able to complete one survey for 75 points ($3.75) on April 12, which was the highest paid survey from GTM last month. In my opinion Global Test Market has earned me the most over the longest period of period of time in the easiest most consistent manner. It’s too soon to tell what is going to happen with Opinion Outpost, but I think I prefer GTM so far.

   


3. Valued Opinions
   
   
   • Total Earned Since Joining: $563.70
   • Total Earned This Month: $25
   • Monthly Average: $11.27
   • Last Payment Received: $30 Visa® Promocode on April 28
   • Last Payment Requested: $20 on May 3
   • Joined: March 1, 2008
   
   In April I completed 11 surveys for $25. That is an average of $2.27 per survey completed. I completed a $4.50 survey on April 20, which was the highest paying survey from Valued Opinions last month. I thought I would get a $30 Visa® Promocode last month to see how I liked it. The only problem is that I still ended up using it on Amazon and there is no way to tell how much is left in the account after you have downloaded it.


4. Opinion Outpost
   
   
   • Total Earned: $1382.40
   • Total Earned This Month: $24.50
   • Monthly Average: $27.11
   • Last Payment Received: $50 PayPal on April 16
   • Joined: February 4, 2008
   
   

   In April I completed 19 surveys for 245 points ($24.50) out of 64 attempts. That is an average of $1.29 per survey completed. I think you can see that I had less time to take surveys with Opinion Outpost last month due to concentrating on other higher-paying opportunities. I still did quite well considering how little time I spent on this panel. Increasingly, I abhor doing the $1-$1.50 surveys from Opinions Here that are slowly infiltrating all of the survey panels, but especially Opinion Outpost.
   

   



5. MySurvey
   

   • Total Earned Since Joining: $945
   • Total Earned This Month: $16.27
   • Monthly Average: $18.53
   • Last Payment Received: $10 on April 6
   • Last Payment Requested: $20 on May 4
   • Joined: February 2, 2008
   
   

   In April I completed 14 surveys out of 14 attempted for 1790 points ($16.27). That is an average of $1.16 per survey completed. Five (5) points ($0.05) are awarded for survey disqualifications. Only six of the surveys I completed were for more than $1; however, I am doing the Business Diary for 2000 points ($18.18) again. The product tests are the main reason I stay with this site.

   

Topics

Most of the E-Poll survey topics have to do with entertainment and advertising. Some of the surveys will ask you if you watch particular TV shows (particularly cable shows), so if you’re a big TV-watcher, you will probably do well with E-Poll. I watch a lot of reality TV and talk shows, so I’ve gotten a lot of surveys related to those topics. The most fun surveys will ask you to watch a TV show and then voice your opinion about it after it’s over. Although these surveys are long (ranging anywhere from 30 minutes to one hour), they are entertaining and you get to see some TV shows before they actually air on TV. Other times, they will ask you to watch a TV show at home on your television when it airs. After you watch it, they send you a survey the next day or so for you to take and review the show. Sometimes they will also send you a DVD of a TV show or movie to watch at home, but that’s only happened to me once or twice.

Other surveys can be on the tedious side, however. These involve being asked if you’re familiar with a particular celebrity, character, or TV show. If you say you’re familiar with them, you will usually then be asked a long series of boring, repetitive questions about how you feel about the particular topic. The questions that ask you to assign certain personality characteristics to each person or TV show are the dullest, in my experience. These particular surveys can be pretty long depending on how familiar you are with the topics being discussed and sometimes I just skip them entirely because they don’t reward you very much for taking them.

Invitations

Survey invitations are sent to your email address when there is one available to take. They list how much the survey is worth and occasionally list the topic. The frequency of survey invitations really depends on the person and their demographics. For myself, I receive at least a couple surveys a week from them. Sometimes it’s more, sometimes it’s less. Surveys that have you watch a TV show and review it are rarer and I usually get those every couple of months or so. Surveys fill up quickly, so it’s best to take them as soon as possible. Most surveys range from 10-15 minutes to an hour or more if there’s a video to watch.

Website

The website itself is straightforward and easy to navigate. There is a simple profile section that you can update whenever you like. The questions are short and include your gender, marital status, ethnicity, education, income, and employment status. You can view your survey and reward history by clicking on the “activity summary page” link on the main page or the “Order History” link on the “E-Poll Rewards” page.

Rewards

E-Poll uses a points system to reward survey-takers. Most surveys are worth 500-1000 points. Some pay less and some only reward you with sweepstakes entries. Points are added to your account immediately after completing a survey, which is a plus. You can view the number of points you currently have by logging into the E-Poll website and clicking “E-Poll Rewards” at the top of your account.

Rewards include gift cards and PayPal. Gift card options include Amazon.com, Best Buy, Target, Home Depot, and restaurants. A $5.00 gift card (or PayPal deposit) is worth 3500 points (the lowest amount you can cash out for), while a $30.00 gift card (or PayPal deposit) is worth 17250 points (the highest amount you can cash out for). Unfortunately, it takes 6-8 weeks for rewards to be processed and sent. This is one of the drawbacks of their reward system. In my experience, it does take a few weeks to receive your reward. Other than it taking a while to receive a reward, I haven’t had any issues cashing out for Amazon.com gift codes or PayPal deposits.

Support

Technical problems are rare in my experience. I usually use Firefox to take their surveys and watch any videos I need to watch. I haven’t had any issues so far with that. A fast internet speed is pretty much required to watch any of the longer videos. If you experience any problems, you can email their support department and they will usually respond within a couple of days or less, in my experience. There is also a Help Center with various FAQs sorted by category if you need an answer to a general question.

Conclusion

All in all, I recommend giving E-Poll a try, especially if you watch a lot of TV shows and movies. Having cable will also help a lot since many of the TV shows asked about only air on cable. Although they don’t pay as much per survey as other survey panels, most of their surveys are generally fun to take, especially the ones involving reviewing new TV shows or advertisements.

For current members of E-Poll, how is your experience with them? Any comments and tips are most welcome.

Mindfield Online has completely revamped their site and now offers checks, PayPal and Amazon gift cards and is much easier to navigate. Beginning May 1st, 2012 the threshold to cash out your account using the Standard Check option was increased to $10. The cash out threshold using the Standard Check option will be further increased to $20 on July 1st, 2012. Most survey panels are now realizing that the cost savings of using PayPal outweigh tedious and time-consuming check cashing policies. The minimum cash out threshold for Amazon gift cards or PayPal is still $5.

There are 11 Profilers that I recommend updating at least once per year. Mindfield does not remind you to do this, so you should be proactive in doing so. They have an excellent Survey History, so there is generally no confusion concerning completed surveys. Although I have challenged them in the past, they usually are correct.

Mindfield Statistics

Since February 18, 2008 I have attempted 449 surveys, about nine per month. Of those 449 attempted surveys, 347 were not credited for various reasons, leaving 102 completed and credited, about 23% completion rate, or about two per month. I was disqualified from 168, about 38% disqualification rate. The surveys had reached their quota 116 times, about 26% over quota rate, which usually means you did not start or complete the survey before your demographic was filled. 55 surveys were recorded as ‘Did Not Finish’, about a 12% incompletion rate, which I find rather difficult to believe. Eight surveys were closed before I began them, less than 2%. My conclusion is that the qualification and completion rates on Mindfield are much lower than on other sites, which mostly explains why Mindfield Research Online, in spite of an excellent new website and great customer support, will never be more than average, with regards to earnings, for me personally.

Mindfield Research Online also has a Transaction History page which shows only completed and credited surveys. I have 102 recorded as having been completed and credited on the Survey History page. 50 of these were for $1, 23 were for $2, 12 were for $3, three for $4, four for $5, three for $6, four for $7 and two for $10 with one survey ‘Pending’ for $1; therefore, the average amount for surveys completed is $2.26, which is not too bad considering that very few Mindfield surveys run more than 30 minutes.

On the Check History page, it notes that I have cashed out 25 times, mostly for $5 or $10 checks until PayPal was added in February 2010. The Amazon gift card option was added on July 26, 2011 and I have used that once. My recommendation is to cash out via PayPal as soon as you reach $5 because there is no real advantage, other than simplifying your bookkeeping, in waiting longer. My best monthly earnings with Mindfield are $20 in February 2009, $17 in May 2011, $12 in both June and November 2010, $16 in April 2012 and $10 in January 2012. The monthly average for my earnings over the past four years is $4.51.

Conclusion

The most frustrating aspect of Mindfield Online, aside from not qualifying for very many surveys, is waiting for the incentives to be credited to your account, which generally takes from six to eight weeks and sometimes longer. Currently, I only have one pending survey from March 26 that I am waiting to be credited, so they have improved in this respect. All in all, Mindfield Online is one of the best panels in terms of having a great website that allows you to track your surveys, earnings and checks/PayPal disbursements very easily in a number of ways, great customer service that always replies quickly with accurate helpful information and surveys that are well-designed, easy to navigate, not too long and fairly compensated. Mindfield Online is considered a ‘keeper’ by virtually everyone that takes paid online surveys.

Do you have any comments about Mindfield Online? We’d love to hear them, leave your thoughts below!

About 15% of my earnings are from product tests and Invoke Interactives. I do not keep track of prizes or free products, but I do include contest wins. I only add in points accumulated after they have been redeemed due to the difficulty of calculating point values. This month’s product tests include a $300 brand-name printer with 16 ink cartridges that I get to keep after four weeks.

1. MySurvey
   
   
   • Total Earned Since Joining: $925
   • Total Earned This Month: $36.86
   • Monthly Average: $18.50
   • Last Payment Received: $15 on March 15 and $20 on March 21
   • Last Payments Requested: $10 on March 26
   • Joined: February 2, 2008
   
   

   In March I completed 13 surveys out of 14 attempted for 4055 points ($36.86). That is an average of $2.34 per survey completed. Five (5) points ($0.05) are awarded for survey disqualifications. Only five of the surveys I completed were for more than $1; however, I did complete the Business Diary for 2000 points ($18.18) on March 10 and the AdSelector survey for 1000 points ($9.09) on March 7. The product tests are the main reason I stay with this site.

   
2. Opinion Outpost
   
   
   • Total Earned: $1332.40
   • Total Earned This Month: $44
   • Monthly Average: $26.65
   • Last Payment Received: $50.50 check on March 9
   • Joined: February 4, 2008
   
   

   In March I completed 39 surveys for 440 points ($44) out of 132 attempts. That is an average of $1.13 per survey completed. Opinion Outpost has merged with SurveySpot, which means that all of the surveys now come from the same company; however, Opinion Outpost has added PayPal and also allows you to cash out at 1000 points ($10) now.

   
   
   
3. GlobalTestMarket
   
   
   • Total Earned Since Joining: $1137.40
   • Total Earned This Month: $26.75
   • Monthly Average: $23.21
   • Last Payment Received: $50.50 on March 8
   • Last Payment Requested: $50.50 on March 4
   • Joined: March 1, 2008
   
   

   In March I completed 15 surveys for 535 points ($26.75). That is an average of $1.78 per survey completed. I was able to complete one survey for 60 points ($3) on March 28, which was the highest paid survey from GTM last month.

   
   
   
4. Toluna
   
   
   • Total Earned Since Joining: $862
   • Total Earned This Month: $20
   • Monthly Average: $17.24
   • Last Payment Received: $20 check on March 7
   • Last Payment Requested: $20 on March 7
   • Joined: February 11, 2008
   
   

   This site requires the most amount of time and effort relative to my earnings. I am now skipping all surveys for less than 3000 points ($1). I guess I am only willing to do enough work to earn $20 per month or so.

   
   
   
5. Surveyhead
   
   
   • Total Earned Since Joining: $733.85
   • Total Earned This Month: $14.60
   • Monthly Average: $19.70
   • Last Payment Received: $25 PayPal on March 2
   • Joined: February 2, 2009
   
   

   In March I completed 12 surveys for $14.60. That is an average of $1.22 per survey completed.

   
   
   

Do you have a list of favorite survey panels? Please leave a comment below and let us know some of the survey panels that work best for you.

I did about average with most survey panels this month. My top earners were SurveyHead, Global Test Market, Valued Opinions, MySurvey, and Toluna. I think my current personal favorites are Global Test Market and Valued Opinions because I get the most surveys from them and qualify for most. SurveyHead has also been worthwhile for me.

I also received a good amount of product tests this month including popcorn, crackers, tissue, toilet paper, personal care products, and cat litter.

Rankings are based mainly on what I earned for the month from each survey company, as well as the number of survey invites.

Here are my current top earners for March:

1. SurveyHead
   
   
   • Total Earned Since Joining: $725.00
   • Total Earned in March: $18.00
   • Last Payment Requested: $25.00 PayPal on March 22, 2012
   • Joined: August 15, 2008
   
   

   I did pretty well again with SurveyHead this month. I took part in a few surveys worth $4.00 to $5.00 each and also participated in an in-store survey using my iPhone that paid $10.00. Although survey rewards can remain pending for a long time, I still enjoy participating in their surveys. I like that they don’t use a point system; it makes things less confusing because I know exactly what I will be paid for each survey right off the bat.

   Here is a screenshot of my latest SurveyHead redemption:

   

2. Global Test Market
   
   
   • Total Earned Since Joining: $450.00
   • Total Earned in March: $15.00
   • Last Payment Requested: $50.00 check on February 29, 2012
   • Joined: September 21, 2008

   I’m still really loving Global Test Market. I’m already very close to cashing out again, which is awesome. I continue to get a lot of surveys from them each week and I’ve noticed more higher-paying ones have popped up recently that I’ve qualified for. I really can’t complain about them at the moment as they’re doing very well for me. I can’t wait to cash out again with them.

3. Valued Opinions
   
   
   • Total Earned Since Joining: $490.00
   • Total Earned in March: $12.00
   • Last Payment Requested: $20.00 Amazon.com gift card on March 13, 2012
   • Joined: September 5, 2008
   
   

   I’m still doing pretty well with Valued Opinions. I receive a lot of surveys from them each week and qualify for most as long as I get to them on time. Their surveys can fill up really fast. I have a lot of survey money pending with them right now, but I’m hoping to cash out again very soon.

   Here’s a screenshot of my latest Valued Opinions redemption:

   

4. MySurvey
   
   
   • Total Earned Since Joining: $600.00
   • Total Earned in March: $10.00
   • Last Payment Requested: $25.00 Amazon.com gift card on November 25, 2011
   • Joined: October 22, 2008
   
   

   I honestly haven’t been getting many surveys from MySurvey lately, which has been disappointing. I used to get a lot from them each week, but the number has really dwindled the past couple of months. Although I took part in a couple product tests from them this month, I didn’t earn very much from them. I also haven’t cashed out with them since last November as my focus has been on other survey panels.

   Even though they’ve been slow, I still enjoy taking their surveys for the most part. I will be cashing out with them very soon.

5. Toluna
   
   
   • Total Earned Since Joining: $920.00
   • Total Earned in March: $8.00
   • Last Payment Requested: $20.00 check on March 23, 2012
   • Joined: August 15, 2008
   
   

   I’m still not a big fan of Toluna, but I do go there to look for higher-paying surveys, product tests, and those hard-to-find online focus groups. It can just be frustrating and time-consuming to sort through all the surveys on their website that pay very little for the time invested. I did cash out with them recently, though. It took quite a while to earn that $20.00 check because they’ve been so slow for me lately, but I managed to do it. Here’s hoping some high-paying Invokes pop up next month.

I did make a little over $100 this month, despite not spending much time on surveys. This was partly due to two research panel opportunities, which paid $30 between them. Sadly, there were no product tests for me this month.

My top five survey panels for March were:

1. SurveyHead
   
   
   • Total Earned in March: $21.50
   • Total Earned since Joining: $105.90
   • Date Joined: November 2, 2011
   
   

   The two things that I really dislike about SurveyHead are that they take a LONG time to move surveys from “pending” to “earned” and that they change “pending” to “invalid” with no explanation. Any contact with support gives a message that their customers are allowed to throw out surveys that don’t meet their needs, but it is very frustrating to spend a lot of time on something and then not get paid when you know you did the work correctly. Of course, this only seems to happen on the long surveys worth $3 or more, which makes it very frustrating. On the other hand, this doesn’t happen often, and the number of surveys that I do qualify and get paid for definitely adds up quickly. When I actually spend time on their site, I can easily earn $25 or more in a month. One of my highest earning sites for sure.

2. Opinion Outpost
   
   
   • Total Earned in March: $15.50
   • Total Earned since Joining: $353.60
   • Date Joined: December 13, 2010
   
   

   Opinion Outpost has rapidly gone downhill in my estimation. A few months ago, I was earning $40-60 a month with them, and now I’m lucky to get $20. The majority of the problem is that they’ve reduced the points values on their surveys, so that half-hour surveys are now sometimes only worth $1 instead of the $3 I would have expected a few months ago. Besides that, I run into technical glitches, survey errors, etc., more often, which leaves me taking many screenshots and having to contact support to get each and every one resolved. Support usually does do a good job in resolving the issues and crediting me for the points, but having to do this takes up my time and leaves me not really wanting to spend time at their site.

3. Valued Opinions
   
   
   • Total Earned in March: $9.00
   • Total Earned since Joining: $27.50
   • Date Joined: November 7, 2011
   
   

   I still have not cashed out with Valued Opinions, despite having earned enough. The problem is that most of my funds are still “pending.” I’ve also experienced some issues with “pending” amounts disappearing without a trace. Support is lacking as I am having a hard time getting a response. I sent a message two weeks ago, and got an autoreply saying that they’d get back to me soon… no response yet. I’ve tried calling twice and only got a message. I left a message this time, we’ll see if I ever get a response. It’s a shame, as the amounts that Valued Opinions pays for a completed survey make them worth the time… if they don’t disappear!

4. Ipsos I-Say
   
   
   • Total Earned in March: $6.25
   • Total Earned since Joining: $74.05
   • Date Joined: January 26, 2011
   
   

   I-Say is one of my least-favorite survey sites, as their survey values vary dramatically. Some surveys are worth the effort (I once had a 1-hr survey for $11.00), but a lot are not (such as the many half-hour surveys for $0.90). I’ve been picking and choosing so that I only take the surveys that are worth my time. The nice things about I-Say are that many (not all) of the surveys you disqualify from give you 5 points ($0.05), and they also award bonus points for completing a certain number of surveys. The more you complete, the higher your bonus gets.

5. MyView
   
   
   • Total Earned in March: $4.00
   • Total Earned since Joining: $58.50
   • Date Joined: September 21, 2011
   
   

   I only took a few surveys here this month, as I was busy. That may change next month.

Over the next couple of months, I plan to cut the number of survey panels I use dramatically, and focus on the top few money makers. I think that will let me use my time more efficiently, and also help reduce the survey burnout that’s been building up.

My highest moneymaking panels have been OpinionOutpost, CVSResearch, SurveyHead, GlobalTestMarket, and PineCone Research. We’ll see what happens!

Where do you go from here?

We have now reached the final day in our course. We want to leave you with the tools you need to continue your survey-taking journey.

Course Review

• Day 1: Complete Your Profile Surveys
• Day 2: Get Organized with Free Resources
• Day 3: Understand Survey Disqualifications
• Day 4: Fit Surveys Into Your Daily Routine
• Day 5: Take Advantage of Special Survey Opportunities
• Day 6: Maximize Your Earnings

Join Additional Survey Panels

Even though you’ve signed up with all six survey panels we recommended, you may still have days where you may not have enough surveys to fill your time, or you may want to earn additional income. If that is the case, we recommend that you join a few additional survey panels.

You shouldn’t join too many at once, as quality, not quantity, is the key to making money with paid surveys. You can also become overwhelmed and inundated with email if you add too many survey panels at once. It is better to gradually add a few more panels as needed so that you can keep better track of which survey panels work best for you.

When it comes to finding additional panels to join, the internet is full of survey companies and companies offering “special opportunities.” Unfortunately, the harsh reality is that a lot of these sites are scams or just simply not worth your time. So, how can you tell if a panel is legitimate? We offer some guidelines for choosing legitimate survey companies, but we’ve also already done the work for you.

GetPaidSurveys.com Panel Reviews

Every single panel listed at GetPaidSurveys has been scrupulously examined by our staff. We have joined the panels as survey-takers like you, have taken surveys and have been paid. We also ensure that the panels we list have stated privacy policies and have been verified to pay their members. Most are also affiliated with a respected trade group like the BBB (Better Business Bureau) or CASRO (Council of American Survey Research Organizations), which require their members to meet certain ethical standards.

To see our latest list of great survey panels, click your country’s link below:

• United States Paid Surveys
• Canada Paid Surveys
• United Kingdom Paid Surveys
• Australia Paid Surveys

You’ll notice that each of our listed panels has a review section, where survey-takers like you can leave reviews documenting their experiences with the survey panels. We have over 800 individual reviews (and growing). As reviews are added, the rating given to the panel affects its position in the recommendation list, so the more popular and better surveys rise to the top.

We give away three $10 prizes each week for the best reviews, whether positive or negative, about the panels we list. After you have had some experience with your survey panels, we highly encourage you to return and leave a review for the panels you have joined. Your feedback helps make our site the best, and we want to reward you for that.

More Resources

We hope that our course and our free resources have been useful to you. If you want to learn more about which panels are doing the best for other people, read our experts’ monthly reviews, where individual survey-takers show you which panels worked best for them each month. If you still have questions about survey taking, you may want to check out our FAQ or read some of the tips our expert reviewers give in our blog.

We want to thank you for visiting our site and viewing our seven day course. We hope that you find our suggestions helpful, and that in addition to making a little extra money, you find that taking surveys online can be fun and insightful. You will realize how much your opinions count when you eventually see products from your surveys appear in TV ads or on store shelves. Your survey responses will create products you and others enjoy.

If you have any suggestions, questions, or simply want to reach out to us, we encourage you to contact us.