Surveys That Pay

I had quite a few people ask me to pass along this information when I posted about getting a free Kindle, so I thought I'd go ahead and share what I know.

I've been doing surveys for a couple of years now to see what works/what doesn't. One of my pet peeves, and there are sites that do this regularly: You start/finish a survey and after spending 20 minutes on it, it will suddenly say, oh, sorry, you don't qualify. Or you finish it and then there's a message on their website that says too many people took this survey, so you've just wasted your time and aren't getting compensated.

So these are the sites that I use, that pay well and pay often, and don't typically waste your time (although I have no guarantees).

Keep in mind that for most of these sites you'll have to fill out profile information/surveys that will take up some time, but it's important so that the site will know what surveys to send you.

Also note that most sites have a minimum balance before they'll pay you. As for qualifying for surveys, every site has their own set up as to how they send surveys out. Sometimes you'll be on the tail end and even though you answer the email right away, you may still not qualify because too many people in your demographic have already taken the survey.

SurveySavvy - I've been a member at this site for several years. There is no minimum balance for payout, so they'll send you a check whenever you request one.

Opinion Outpost - This is BY FAR my favorite survey site. I used to qualify for surveys more frequently - I don't know if I've just been inactive for awhile so I'm not at the front of the line any longer. They have a minimum payout of $5.00 (or 50 points), which you can request as an Amazon gift card, or donate to the Red Cross. At $15, you can get a Citi gift card, at $20 a check. I always get the Amazon gift codes and spend them on books. As a bonus, if you don't qualify for a survey, you can play an instant game where you have a chance of winning $50. FYI, after two years, I have never won (you can also donate to a charity instead of playing the game).

Opinion Place - This survey site is a little different. You can only log on once a week and try to qualify for surveys; but if they send you a special invitation, the week restriction doesn't matter. They will pay you in Amazon gift codes or Paypal credits. When you qualify, they send the codes to you a few days later via email.

MySurvey - These guys are fun because if you get a survey, even if you don't qualify, you still earn 5 points. When you earn 1100 points total, you can cash them out for an Amazon $10 gift card. What I like about them is their surveys are typically more fun, and they give you lots of chances to try out products. Right now I'm doing an in-home survey for them where I'm keeping track of my daughter's snack preferences for two weeks. I'll earn $60 in Citi gift cards by doing this. I really love getting the products in home to try out, and they're great about hooking you up with chances like that.

Valued Opinions - Earning money at this site seems to go a little more slowly, i.e., I don't get surveys all that often from them. But when I do get one, I typically qualify and get paid for it. They have a $20 minimum for cashing out, and also offer Amazon gift codes via email.

MyPoints - I think I've talked about them before, but this is another slow-going site where you can accumulate points over time and they have many different types of rewards. I've received CVS and Wal-Mart gift cards from them in the past; now I'll probably always request Amazon codes (or a Barnes & Noble gift card - there's a complete list of rewards here). They will send you emails and usually give you 5 points just for clicking on the link in the email. They will have small surveys on their main page that are also worth about 5 points. They have offers that if you complete them, will give you more points. They're a shopping portal - which means that if you're going to buy something like flowers from FTD, you'd go to MyPoints first, find the vendor, click on it and then order like normal from the browser window that opens up, and MyPoints will give you points for doing it. You can also print out grocery coupons from their site that will give you points for using them. AND they occasionally send out surveys for you to complete.

A good idea is to create an email account that you use for all your survey sites so that everything's in one place and it doesn't get mixed in with your regular email.

And on an unrelated side note - Connie Brockway just announced that she is forsaking traditional publishing and going indie. For those outside of romance, Connie Brockway is HUGE. And she's best buddies with the genre's top-selling authors. I imagine if she does well (and she expects to) her friends will soon follow. If you're interested, she talks about it here.