The Myths about Paid Surveys – Rumors or Reality? Part I

What some survey takers acknowledge as simple truth, others try to challenge. Are paid surveys really worth it? Are surveys fun and simple as survey sites promise? Do you really get paid, or is taking paid surveys a waste of time?

These are some of the questions that newbie survey takers ponder, weighing the true benefits of taking paid surveys against the possible drawbacks. However, how can a newly recruited survey respondent really evaluate the true advantages of paid surveys, and appreciate all the benefits that becoming a regular survey respondent bring? Here are some myths about paid surveys that draw the line between survey rumors and survey reality.

Myth 1: Paid Survey Sites are Scams.

There are hundreds of legitimate paid survey sites that recruit survey respondents, grant them free access to their paid survey resources, and help thousands of people earn extra income with paid surveys. These legitimate survey sites are well known among seasoned survey takers. New survey sites are launched every week, trying to capture the growing demand for survey takers, as well as the skyrocketing interest in completing surveys as a hobby or a part-time job. Online survey databases operate with hundreds of survey sites, matching companies in need of survey respondents with volunteers to make some extra cash without qualification requirements and within short time limits. Of course, scam artists do not leave the success of paid surveys sites unnoticed, and try to imitate them in order to beguile users to register and then take money away by either asking for some fees, or requiring upfront investments. Every successful project lures many scam artists to create schemes to earn profit by cheating people. However, without doubt, there are many legitimate survey sites that operate in good faith, and provide quality services to both market research companies, and the ordinary people – the survey respondents.

Myth 2: Paid Survey Companies need Experienced Survey Takers

There is no such thing as "experienced" when it comes to answering questions about tastes, product choice, preferred service features, or past purchases. Everyone is a consumer, and therefore, everyone qualifies to take paid surveys. Online marketers need reliable, spontaneous, truthful and unique feedback, as product companies base their improvements upon consumer survey responses. Therefore, there isn’t a way how to be prepared to answer a survey in a particular way – first, the questions always vary; second, the survey questions ask us about our tastes and choices – information we can provide spontaneously, without training.

However, it certainly pays to take paid surveys regularly and become experienced in the process of responding to survey invitations, filling in surveys, finding out new survey opportunities, etc. Survey companies have huge pools of potential survey respondents, but they tend to drop off those that do not respond to their survey invitations, are unavailable, or inconsistent in returning surveys. Therefore, every survey newbie who wants to make decent money with paid surveys, need to take it seriously, and build a good reputation with one’s preferred survey companies. Moreover, survey companies tend to send the highest-payout surveys to the survey takers on their list that have been most consistent and reliable with the other surveys they completed.

To learn more about the myths and reality of paid surveys, read Part II of The Myths about Paid Surveys – Rumors or Reality?