Ultimate Guide to Paid Surveys 2022
Table of Contents
Can you make money with paid surveys?
This is a question thousands of people on the internet have asked themselves over and over again.
The idea of making easy money from the comfort of your home is motivation enough for a lot of us to at least consider taking surveys for money.
However, there is a lot of misinformation and misconceptions about paid surveys. In some cases, unrealistic expectations can lead to disappointment quickly.
Paid surveys can absolutely be a good way to make money online and earn some cash on the side, but you will probably not get rich from it.
If you are looking for tips and information about paid surveys and want to know more about how to utilize your free time to make some extra cash, then look no further.
This guide is for you!
In this article, we want to explain to you the ins and outs of paid surveys. What to look for in a good survey site and what to stay away from.
Why paid surveys?
First of all, there is pretty much no requirement to get started, other than an internet connection. Furthermore, you can always decide when you want to stop or take a break.
While paid surveys won’t magically make you rich overnight, there are still some significant upsides to this approach to making money online:
- Anyone can do it: There is no barrier to entry. No special knowledge required or fee to be paid.
- No boss, no pressure: You alone decide how much time and effort you want to dedicate to your new side-gig.
- You only need internet: A simple internet connection is all you need to start making money from home.
Barriers of entry mean that often you have to have a specific education or require you to invest big amounts of money upfront.
Of course, making money with paid surveys isn’t a magical get-rich scheme. There are limitations, scams, and simply poorly executed survey sites.
With this guide, we hope to help you navigate and identify well-working, high-paying survey sites while staying away from scammers and time-wasters.
Which paid survey sites to avoid?
Scam artists do not just exist in the streets of tourist hot spots. Some more dubious pages are trying to get you to sign up for paid subscriptions or pay an entry fee in order to let you participate.
In the following we have collected some of the biggest red flags that you should definitely avoid:
- Don’t pay to join: Don’t get tricked into paying an up-front fee in order to join a high-paying site. This never works and is almost certainly a scam.
- Don’t disclose your bank details: Never give away your bank details. Legitimate survey sites will pay you with PayPal or gift cards.
- Only founded recently: Scam sites die quickly. If the page you’re looking at has only been up a couple of weeks, you should be skeptical and look for other signs.
- Unrealistic starting bonus: No legitimate site is going to offer a 100$ sign-up bonus. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
- Don’t quit your day job: Some sites might encourage you to quit your job and promise you a full-time living via paid surveys.
Which paid survey sites are legitimate?
In order to choose a good site to make money with paid surveys with you should consider a range of factors.
Survey Rewards
Of course one of the most important things is actually earning the money. In this regard, you definitely want to take a look at average survey rewards. Sometimes the highest-paying surveys take so long that you could easily take 2-3 smaller ones at the same time and earn more.
Payout Methods
The two most popular options for payouts are Paypal and gift cards. Make sure the site you choose has at least one of those options.
The payment threshold is also an important factor. Most people want to withdraw their hard-earned money as soon as possible, so avoid sites that have a minimum payout of 25$ or more.
Payout speed is another often overlooked aspect. Some sites might take a week or more to process your payout, while others pay you in real-time.
Survey Availability
You might sign up to a really good site that pays well, only to find out that you can take only a few surveys each month, severely limiting your money-making capabilities. That’s why you should make sure that the site of your choice can keep up with your appetite and offers enough new surveys every day for you to dig into.
App Presence
In 2021 having an app is a must. A mobile-oriented surface makes it a lot easier to relax in an armchair at home and earn a few bucks while watching your favorite series. Most serious survey sites offer their services on both the App Store and the Google Play Store.
Social Media
An active social media presence is a good sign of a healthy and legitimate survey site. Regular posts signal an active and engaged relationship between the site and its users. Keep an extra eye out for giveaways and promos that might be featured on those channels.
Friend Referrals & Sign-Up Bonuses
A good site will offer you a little gift to get you started. This will typically not be enough to head straight for the payout button, but it’ll be the first step on your road to PayPal cash or gift cards.
Referring a friend will often times reward you with a portion of what they earn with surveys. So if the friend you invited earns 1$ with a survey, you can get an extra few percent of that.
How much money can you make with paid surveys?
Like we previously stated, you probably won’t get rich by doing paid surveys. However, highly dedicated survey-takers can absolutely earn multiple hundred dollars per month.
It all depends on how much time you dedicate to your new side-gig. In the end, one of the best things about paid surveys is that you yourself can decide how invested you are.
Some online communities, like Reddit, like to share their monthly earnings with others and compare who made the most cash from surveys.
So in the end, much is possible. If you treat paid surveys as a secondary hustle that you spend some time with every now and then, you can make probably make anywhere from 5$-150$ a month.
If you’re dedicating a large amount of time to it, paid surveys can even net you several hundred dollars per month. Just be aware that this requires quite a bit of dedication and time.
Our top 3 paid survey sites
To get you started we have ranked and compared our 3 favorite paid survey sites. You can’t go wrong with any one of these and we highly encourage you to check them out.
Poll Pay offers you all the tools you need to succeed with your survey game. Obviously, we’re a little biased, but we truly believe that Poll Pay is the best-paid survey platform available right now!
When logged in, you are shown a selection of fitting surveys, the reward, and the estimated time for completion. This way you are always informed and can make the best choice for your next survey.
What makes it unique: Poll Pay gives you transparency and choice when it comes to selecting surveys. Values are shown in real currency so you always know how much you can earn. On top of that, it features one of the most refined and popular apps on both iOS and Android.
Swagbucks has been around for a long time and is a well-established survey platform. While Swagbucks does offer surveys, you can also engage in other activities in order to gain points.
With a low payout-threshold and solid friend system, Swagbucks is among our all-time favorites.
What makes it unique: Swagbucks offers you lots of activities and ways to earn SB, ranging from surveys to watching videos and getting cash back from shopping.
Pinecone Research has a special place among survey sites. It doesn’t provide you with a lot of surveys, but the ones that you get pay really well.
The biggest drawback is possibly the fact that you cannot simply sign up, but have to be invited.
What makes it unique: While the low amount of surveys and long payout times might initially put you off, if you manage to get an invitation, you actually get a lot of money for the surveys you do. You just won’t be able to do too many of them.
If you are looking for the best-paid survey experience on your mobile phone you can check out our highest-paying survey apps list.
In the end, the choice is yours. Experiment and try different things until you find a survey site that you are happy with.
How do paid surveys actually work?
In today’s world, the design and marketing of new and existing products have to be rigorously tested. Companies want to know in advance how their product might perform.
In order to gain as much information as possible before launching a new campaign or product, they utilize market research surveys.
This is where you come in.
These big companies want to know what you think and how you would react to their ideas. And they are willing to pay for it.
All you have to do to take part are the following 3 steps:
- Find a survey panel and sign up.
- Answer surveys to gain money or points.
- Get paid via the site’s payout offers.
If you’re interested in a more in-depth explanation of market research surveys, check out this article about market research surveys by HowStuffWorks.
10 tips when taking paid surveys
If you’re short on time we have summarized the most important points to keep in mind when doing paid surveys.
- Choose your site carefully.
- Be patient.
- Be honest.
- Don’t give out your bank details.
- Refer a friend.
- Have a Paypal account to collect your earnings.
- Try multiple sites.
- Don’t be disheartened by the occasional disqualification.
- Keep your profile up to date.
- Check for a privacy policy page.
Are paid surveys worth it?
If you have read until here, you probably already know the answer to that question.
Paid surveys can be absolutely worth it!
Answering paid surveys on legitimate survey sites can be a great way to make some money on the side. Thousands of people are doing this on a regular basis.
However, it will not replace your day job!
Paid surveys are a fun way of utilizing some of your free time for some extra cash. The best thing about them is, that you’re never under pressure. You can always choose to opt-out for the day.
We hope this guide was helpful to you! Please let us know what you think and what we missed in the comments!
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