ALT-4 Paid Surveys
It’s safe to say that not all paid surveys are scams, but there are many that aren’t worth the time or the effort. What the panellist quickly finds out is that even those that pay don’t pay very much, and the survey companies are the ones that make the profit. The average participant will be offered somewhere between fifty cents and five dollars to complete a survey, but these will take anywhere up to an hour, so it is virtually impossible to earn even a minimum wage in this line of work.
Many people have migrated to this concept, thinking it might help supplement an income, and in recessionary times the idea of getting paid to sit at home doing surveys seems like a worthwhile thing to do until a real job comes along. The reality check tells us that most of these people would be well advised to concentrating on finding a job because surveys are just a way to waste time that should be spent pounding the streets.
The survey business, like any other, has been impacted by the recession, and even the best known companies have adjusted their reward systems to reduce their costs. The vast majority have increased the number of surveys that offer sweepstake tickets for participants, and while a well known outfit might offer a hundred chances for a quarterly draw of $10,000, their surveys can be worldwide and the odds of winning can be astronomical. Think very carefully before you decide to spend half an hour of your time. It’s possible you might have a better chance of winning by paying $2 for a national lottery.
Companies now offer points instead of cash, although some will pay out once your points reach a certain threshold. Inevitably it takes thousands of points to get some real money. Others offer merchandize or gift certificated, but it takes many hours of participation to get something of real value by this method. The best chance to make money in this type is to get the reward and perhaps sell it on through eBay, but don’t hold your breath.
Beware of companies that offer surveys only to find out that you don’t qualify after you’ve answered most of the questions, or that don’t tell that it’s restricted to American participants until that dreaded zip code requirement drops on you in the classification process at the end. By that time you’ve answered all the questions and now you’re toast.
Everyone understands that surveys generally have a target audience, and respected companies will ask a few questions at the outset to zero in on that demographic. It once was that they would tell you the survey had another group in mind and that would be fine, but there now seems to be a new slant that eliminates panellists at various points in a survey, and that is very suspicious: unethical perhaps.
In the last few months the screen of death tells you that “the quota for this survey has been met”. When once a message said that you do not qualify now the most common event is that the quota is full. This usually implies that an answer has put you into a negative category and your participation is ended. That’s generally accepted, and the tell tale sign was a significant delay in processing an answer. It’s now more common to get the quota blurb which basically allows the company to tell a participant that they don’t fall into the right slot. That’s lazy, but It probably eliminates those folk who might challenge being rejected. Many surveys ask panellists to commit to serious and honest answers: it’s too bad so many surveys don’t reciprocate.
In the end, if you are inclined, establish a relationship with a few respected companies, but understand it to be nothing more than a hobby to pass a little time now and again. Surveys fall quite easily into that realm of “if it sounds too good to be true it usually is”.
