A waste of time?

I know that I've mentioned survey sites before. It's hard to find the company that will work for you or even to find which ones are worth it. Some take time before you see any results and others you may begin to see right away. There are also specific sign up periods for some, which means you may have to wait and meet certain criteria. Occasionally they will ask you for your social security number, but that is due to the fact that if you make over $600 a year from their site it needs to be reported.



So what are the benefits you ask?

• You can share your opinion
• Have influence over what is on shelves
• Make money while being honest about your opinion
• FREE products to review.

Now, please understand you will not have a new product to try every week and you won't make anywhere near what you do at a full time job. Most survey sites pay a flat rate per survey or allow you to earn points to put towards a reward of your choice. Each site has their own way of doing things, so it's important to find which works for you. Some may send you only one or two surveys a week, others will send you multiple surveys a day. You may also come across where you don't qualify for many surveys right away, this is because they are looking for certain criteria that you either don't meet or that they have already filled their quota. Don't give up though!



These sights will require you to keep confidentiality. This means that you cannot run and tell everyone what you are sampling or even the brand (which isn't always known). They send you a product to test because they trust that you will follow their rules and be completely honest about the way you feel. Companies do take this seriously and will discontinue your membership if they find out that you break your agreement with them. However, sites such as smile.ly do the opposite, they want you to get the word out and share your thoughts with others.

Personally, I have one e-mail account set up just for survey sites, which allows me to not have my daily e-mail bogged down by the ones who send multiple invites a day. It is also important to remember that you can choose to stop your 'membership' at any time. And NEVER pay a fee to join such a site or to receive samples!

Some sites that I use and have had great results with (received pay, rewards, test products, etc.) you can follow this link. Certain sites like PineCone and Lightspeed have specific sign up periods which I will post when they become available. I will also post as I come across more sites that have positive results (I do not want to suggest a site to anyone and later find that it is a scam).