Online Surveys that PAY- Easy Money for YOU.
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Are You Looking for Spare Cash?
This lens is about giving you the information to do that too...for FREE. It can be a jungle out there on the internet while searching for these opportunities, so it's my intent to make it easier on you and to make sure that you know you don't need to spend any money to start making some fun money.
Surveys are not "get rich quick" or even get rich at all - it's about making some extra cash and earning some cool prizes in your spare time. And it's FUN!
Like what you found here?
Online Surveys - Can You Make Money?
Have you heard yet about online surveys and market research focus groups? There are ads all over the Internet for surveys companies. The trick is to know how to tell which opportunities and which are legitimate. Legitimate surveys come from companies wanting to know what consumers think about their products, their new product ideas, what your frustrations are so they can develop products that will sell. Some of these surveys will come directly from the companies, while many companies large and small opt to hire market research companies to conduct the surveys. You will find opportunities for online surveys, telephone surveys, in-person interviews and focus groups.
Legitimate companies do not charge you to join in order to get surveys. There are so many free companies that pay, so there is no sense in wasting your time paying a membership fee or paying for a list of companies.
Online surveys can pay out in checks, PayPal, Gift Cards/Certificates, or points to exchange for cash, merchandise or gift certificates. Get signed up with these companies and enjoy a lot of "fun money" and things. I've gotten everything from cash, Amazon.com certificates, Target gift cards, Starbucks gift cards, gift cards from restaurants and stores, to household items like a Bissel carpet cleaner. Once you start getting checks in the mail, packages and gift certificates in your email you'll be hooked on surveys!
Most surveys are fairly short - 20 minutes or less, and these ones pay anywhere from $1 - $5 on average. The more of these you complete, the more likely you will be to get chosen for a focus group. Focus groups are online sessions that last usually anywhere from 30 minutes to a couple hours and pay up to $150, sometimes more.
How do I get started? See below!
Get Started Making Money TODAY!

1. Open a free email account at Yahoo, Gmail or another service that you use exclusively for surveys. The reason I recommend this is that once you sign up, along with surveys, you may be receiving some "junk" email. While I've found the vast majority of the companies don't send junk mail, as you learn, you may give out your email to a place that sells email addresses.
2. Open a PayPal account. PayPal is an option that many survey companies use for payment. If you don't already have an account, sign up. It's a terrific service that's free. You can also apply for a debit card from them for easy access to your cash.
3. Start a spreadsheet. Not required, but I highly encourage it as it will allow you to see what you're earning and keep track of payments due and/or points you accumulate. Put as much or as little information as you want to track. I do a list by survey date, company, survey topic, payment amount, payment method and date payment received.
4. Keep a PAPER notebook. This is for your login name and password information for your email and survey accounts. It's best not to keep those on your computer incase you ever get hacked.
5. Start signing up for companies! Start with some on the following list, and continue searching the internet for more opportunities. There are many sites and blogs out there that list these companies for free.
6. Check your mail. Once you sign up, you'll receive email invitations to participate in surveys. Many of the companies also have web sites where you can log in, see your points or cash balance, request pay outs and take more surveys. Check your email daily or several times a day if you have time, and log into the sites at least once a week.
7. Get paid! Some companies pay via PayPal per survey, meaning you will get a PayPal payment shortly after completing the survey. Other companies have pay out thresholds where they will pay you when you reach $5, $10, $20 etc. Check each company's policy to see how their pay outs word.
My Favorite Survey Companies
Big Thumbs Up!!
Links to legitimate survey companies - check back, more will be added soon! I will only list companies from which I have received actual payment.
Survey Savvy
Opinion Outpost
Share your opinion at GlobalTestMarket
TestSpin
MySurvey - Take Surveys, Earn Rewards, It's Easy & Free! Click Here
Join SurveySpot and participate in online research studies that match your interests and demographics. Frequent opportunities, average of 24 surveys a month. You'll earn prize draw entries every time you participate in a survey for a chance to win up to $12,000! Click Here
Ipsos Survey Panel

Find reviews of some of my favorite companies below!
MyPoints
They also send survey emails for which you can receive more points. You can also refer friends to receive points. If you do your online shopping through MyPoints, you get points for every dollar you spend. Shop at popular online sites to rack up the points. They also offer a MyPoints Visa card where you earn points for every dollar you spend.
MyPoints has been completely reliable. I highly recommend this company!
The rewards are awesome! The reward partners change from time to time, but I have received gift cards from Target, Starbucks, Baja Fresh, Red Lobster, Kohl's and many other of my favorite stores.
*****NEW!! MyPoints now has an option to cash out for funds in your PayPal account!!*****
I tried out the PayPal redemption option and it was a fast turn-around. I had the cash in my PayPal account within 14 days of ordering. That's a shorter time than it sometimes can take for the gift cards to come. I was very pleased!
Join MyPoints
MySurvey
Lots of checks or prizes from this one!
They send survey invitations quite frequently and they pay out very quickly. With MySurvey you can elect to receive a check in the mail, or you can trade in your survey points for many different prizes like iTunes gift cards, iPods, electronics and other fun stuff.
MySurvey is also one of the fastest to pay when you cash out. Cash out is low at just $10 and when you request a payout the checks come quickly!
Ipsos i-Say
* Earn reward points for taking surveys - Points will be deposited one to two days after survey completion.
o Once you've earned 50 (or more) points, you can redeem your points for merchandise and gift cards offered by popular retail merchants.
o Click on the link below to view your reward points account, redeem rewards or to see what you can get for the points you earn.
BzzAgent
Not a survey company, but a fun way to get free stuff!

This is FUN! I've been a BzzAgent since 2004 and have gotten to try tons of new products for free and in exchange, I tell people about them. I share in person, on my blogs, on Facebook etc. Not only do I get to try products for free, but when I share the information with folks and submit a BzzReport, I get points from MyPoints for doing so! It's a win-win situation. Free stuff and then MyPoints points for MORE free stuff. Doesn't get much better than that, does it??
Win Cool Stuff with SWAGBUCKS!
Not a survey company, but just as fun!
Someone recently turned me on to Swagbucks. It's easy to win. You use their search engine to look for things online and you're awarded Swagbucks which you can redeem for gift certificates and prizes! Check it out!

I am stashing away lots of Amazon gift cards from here to use for holiday shopping. This is a great program and SO easy!
How Much Can You Make?
Inbox Dollars
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Check Updates
my spare cash
I will try to record all of them as they come and update often.December 2011
Just got an unexpected $20 from Opinion Outpost today! Truth be told I have WAY slacked off on my survey taking, yet the little time I spend has had some nice results. Lots of points at MyPoints - recently got a $10 Starbucks card and $25 to Walgreens. Another $5 Amazon cash from Swagbucks. Every little bit helps, eh?
August 2011
Another $25 in PayPal cash from MyPoints, $22 from Opinion Outpost. Yay for Spare Cash!!
May 2011
Cashed out $10 in Swagbucks Amazon gift cards, $50 in MySurvey PayPal cash, $25 in MyPoints PayPal Cash. Woo hoo!!
APRIL 2011
Over the past few months cashed out several $5 Amazon gift codes with Swagbucks, got another $15 check from SurveySavvy, a few $20 PayPal payouts from MySurvey, racked up a bunch of MyPoints soon to be cashed out for either $50 PayPal or $50 Walgreens gift card...can't decide! Oh, and another check from Opinion Outpost for $22. Love it.
JANUARY 2011
Today I got a $13 check from SurveySavvy and with my SwagBucks, I converted them to Amazon.com gift certificates ($60 worth!) and just ordered a fabulous new CrockPot!!
2010 (I didn't update all of my checks and points - sorry! But it was a bunch!!)
April - May 2010 - $30 in Swagbucks Amazon.com gift certificates - woo hoo! $20 from MySurvey, $25 Walgreens Gift card from MyPoints, $10 Starbucks gift card from My Points, $10 Panera gift card from MyPoints, $17 from Viewpoint Forum, $15 from SurveySavvy. Good times!
December 2009 - March 2010 - Sorry I haven't updated, but looking at my totals from those months - got a $25 GC for Starbucks from My Points, $50 from MySurvey with another $20 on the way, $21 from Opinion Outpost, $15 from Viewpoint forum and $30 in Amazon.com from Swagbucks. Yay!!!
November 2009: $10.40 from Viewpointforum, $10 from My Survey $25 gift certificate for Panera Bread from MyPoints.
October 2009: Another $20 from MySurvey. Yay!
September 2009: Just got a $30 check from MySurvey. More to come!
August 2009: Did really well with Swagbucks and got my son an iPod for his birthday with the Amazon gift cards! Also got $23 from Opinion Outpost and $20 from My Survey. Yay!
July 2009: The month has barely begun and I've gotten $10 in Amazon.com gift cards from Swagbucks.
June 2009: $40 from My Survey. LOVE them.
May 2009: I was literally sick for a month and a half - April into May. I don't think I did a single survey during that time. I did, however, earn bunches of Swagbucks and cashed them in for Amazon.com gift certificates!
April 2009: $25 Opinion Outpost, $10 My Survey
March 2009: $20 from My Survey, $11 Survey Savvy,
February 2009: $29 from Opinion Outpost, $20 from My Survey
January 2009: Got $50 from MySurvey, $10 from SurveySavvy, $10 from SurveySpot
December 2008: Still skipping a lot of surveys because I have no time! Still, got $30 coming from MySurvey and $27 coming from Inbox Dollars!
November 2008: Received a $19 check from Opinion Outpost and $20 from MySurvey and $11 from SurveySavvy!
October 2008: Boy, I've skipped WAY too many surveys. I have my email set to put all survey invites in a folder and there are 400 unread in there! Still, got $50 in October - $30 from MySurvey and $20 from SurveySavvy.
September 2008: Got $14 from SurveySavvy and have $20 on the way from MySurvey. Because of the DNC here in Denver, I've been really busy and have skipped a ton of surveys in August, but I expect next month's payouts to be pretty good since I have more time now.
August 2008: Got a $30 check from MySurvey today. Another timely payment from them. Waiting on checks from Lightspeed and Opinion Outpost - will post when I get them. Happiness!
July 2008: Got a check yesterday for $60 from MySurvey. LOVE them. I requested it last week and it came really quickly. Just need $1 survey before I can cash out for yet another Amazon.com gift certificate from TestSpin. Also got $6 this month from Pinecone. I have survey $$ in several of my accounts that I haven't bothered to cash out yet. When I do, I'll update the totals. It's looking to be a good month!
June 2008: Ok, so I've been bad about updating my cash. Over the past few months, I've received payouts from Opinion Outpost, MySurvey, GlobalTestMarket, Lightspeed, SurveySpot and Greenfield Online to the tune of several hundred dollars. Do surveys - it's worth it!!
March Total so far: $48.53
Been a lazy survey month. I've skipped a LOT. Still, I have gotten $28.53 from Viewpoint Forum and $20 from MySurvey. More to come!
February Total so far: $76.70
2/7/08
$10 Check from MySurvey
2/2/08 - In the past month I've deleted way more survey invites than I clicked on and still received:
$20 PayPal from Lightspeed
$15 PayPal from Pinecone
$5 Check from Buzzback
$10 Check from Synovate
2/22/08
$11.70 Check from Opinion Outpost
$5.00 Check from Buzzback
Scammer Paybacks on YouTube
Just For Laughs
Well, now some of those scammers are getting scammed themselves and thanks to the internet, 419eater.com and YouTube, we can watch it from the comfort of our own homes.
What do you think?
Has this information been useful?
Let me know what you think! Share your online survey stories!
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Lani
Jan 29, 2012 @ 3:28 am | delete
- Hi there! Thanks for posting about this! I've been looking around trying to find which sites are legit, so this is really helpful. I'm planning to try this all out. I was just wondering though, when you receive cash through Paypal, are there any deductions? Like doesn't Paypal charge you when you receive money?
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Velvet
Feb 3, 2012 @ 11:01 am | delete
- No. I've received payments for a year and Paypal doesn't charge me to receive the money. They must charge the company for sending it but not us for receiving it.
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EclecticWAHM
Jan 20, 2012 @ 11:32 pm | delete
- @chwwalker - yes, many companies do let you choose the gift cards. For example, MyPoints has TONS of gift cards to choose from. I'm just a coffee addict, so I love the Starbucks. I love the PayPal ones too, because I'm saving up for a vacation!
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chwwalker
Jan 10, 2012 @ 11:09 am | delete
- Thanks for an awesome lens! I'm wondering about the gift card prizes--do the survey/get paid to companies let you choose which store you want a gift card to? I ask because you mentioned Starbucks gift cards several times and I don't drink coffee or ever go there for anything else.
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BlueTrane
Jan 7, 2012 @ 9:02 pm | delete
- I will check out some of the sites you list. This can be very time consuming for very little return.
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by EclecticWAHM
Welcome! My name is Becca, I'm an avid coupon clipper, always looking for a deal and exploring the various ways one can earn income from home. more »
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