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Are The Surveys That Pay You Safe?
If you have been looking for a way to make money online from home, you might as well be wondering whether surveys that claim to pay you are safe. With the increase in demand for making money online, the number of companies scamming people has increased as well.
Nonetheless, there are still many reputable market research companies around that will pay you for your opinion. These companies use your feedback to help businesses improve their products and services.
Thus, as long as you use a surveys site that has a good reputation and high-quality reviews, you should be relatively safe.
What Are The Risks?
One of the major risks of paid online surveys is identity theft. Most online survey platforms require you to provide them with your personal information. As such, if the company isn’t trustworthy, your personal information might be used without your consent.
Paid Surveys and Your Privacy
When you participate in paid surveys, you will usually need to provide some details about yourself so the survey platform can identify which demographic you belong to. To some, this may seem like a privacy risk.
In reality, your name is only necessary to verify your identity, and it gets detached from the data you provide. This means that most surveys you take are still anonymous, and your privacy is highly protected.
Thus, it may be a good idea to do some research about how secure a platform is before signing up for an account.
How to Avoid Survey Scams?
Here are a few tips to help you avoid survey scams:
Do a Google search of the name of the survey site to find out more about the platform’s security features.
Pay attention to feedback people leave on review websites such as Trustpilot, App Store, or Google Play.
Check the company rating on the Better Business Bureau.
Legit survey sites usually pay via PayPal, check, or gift cards. If the platform doesn’t state its payout options, it’s a sign it may be a scam.
How Much Can You Earn Taking Surveys?
How much you can make as an online survey taker can vary significantly from platform to platform. In general, most surveys pay between $1 to $3 and take just 5 to 20 minutes to complete. Thus, you can easily earn up to $9 per hour or more.
Pro tip: Focus on participating in paid focus groups because they can pay as much as $200 per hour.
How You Get Paid for Taking Surveys
Most that provide legitimate online surveys usually offer several withdrawal options for your earnings.
The most common payout methods include:
Check
Bank transfer
PayPal or Venmo
Gift cards from Amazon, Xbox, Starbucks, and other popular retailers
Nonetheless, some survey sites only offer one withdrawal option. This does not necessarily mean that the survey site is not legitimate. Thus, be sure to research a survey site before joining to find out what their available withdrawal options are.
How to Know if Paid Survey Sites Are Legit?
Here are some ways to determine whether a paid survey site is legit:
Do a Google search for the name of the survey site with the word “review”. If there are no results or mostly bad reviews, the survey site is likely to not be legit.
A legit survey site will never ask you to pay for membership. If a survey site asks you to pay to join or access surveys, it is probably a scam.
Are Surveys Worth The Effort?
Generally, participating in paid surveys is one of the best side hustle ideas you can try to earn some extra cash in your free time.
For example, you could make a few extra dollars while you are waiting for your order at a restaurant or just when you have some free time after work.
On average, you can expect to earn between $50 to $100 per survey site per month. Thus, if you use multiple survey sites at once, you can maximize your earnings.
What Paid Survey Sites Are Legitimate? 9 Websites With Safe Surveys
Branded Surveys
Branded Surveys Summary
$1 sign up bonusEarn $0.50-$5 on average per surveyAverage survey length is between 10-20 minutesPays by bank transfer, PayPal & gift cards
Branded Surveys is a safe and legit paid survey site that allows you to earn some extra cash. The website is incredibly easy to use and you can sign up for an account in under 5 minutes to start taking surveys.
Branded Surveys also gives new users a $1 sign-up bonus. On average, surveys take between 10-20 minutes to complete and will pay between $0.50-$5, depending on its complexity.
Once you have earned at least $5 on the platform, you can withdraw your earnings via PayPal, bank transfer, or gift cards.
Pro tip: Branded Surveys reward you for staying active on the platform. For every survey you complete, you will be eligible to enter daily, weekly, and monthly random prize draws.
Survey Junkie
Survey Junkie Summary
$0.50-$3 average earnings per surveyGet 2-3 extra points if you screened out of surveyAdditional ways to earn up to $150Install Survey Junkie extension for bonus
Survey Junkie is one of the most well-established websites that offer safe surveys. On average, Survey Junkie pays between $0.50 -$3 per survey.
The platform has a low minimum withdrawal threshold of just $5. You can easily reach this threshold within just 2 to 3 hours.
The platform also offers several cashout methods:
Cash via PayPal
Bank transfer
Gift cards
Pro tip: Focus group opportunities can pay up to $75. Look out for these high-paying opportunities.
Swagbucks
Swagbucks Summary
18 ways to earn money and e-gift cards$5 sign up bonusUp to 10% cashback when shopping online$1 minimum e-gift card withdrawal
Swagbucks is one of the most popular online rewards platforms that provide legitimate surveys for money. You can join Swagbucks for free to earn cash or gift cards.
There are 18 different ways you can earn money on Swagbucks, including:
Shopping online
Answering surveys
Referring friends
Taking offers
Searching the web
Playing games
And many more
In general, you can expect to earn between $50 to $100 per month by spending just 1 to 2 hours per day on the platform.
Once you have accumulated at least $1 in your account, you can withdraw your earnings via PayPal or redeem them for gift cards.
LifePoints
LifePoints Summary
Earn $0.50 to $2 per surveySurvey times vary – 10 min to 20 minSurveys are available in 40+ countriesOnly $5 minimum payout threshold
LifePoints is a free online survey platform that rewards you for sharing your opinion about the products and services that you use.
Most surveys you’ll take through LifePoints require between 10 to 20 minutes to complete and typically pay between $0.50 to $2, depending on its length complexity. The platform also offers other earning opportunities apart from safe online surveys.
Other Earning OpportunitiesEarning PotentialEarn on the Go50 points upfront + 20 points each monthProduct TestingFree productDaily Challenges15% bonus on top of your daily survey earningsBehavior Tracking1,000 points per monthBoosterVaries
1000 points on the platform are worth approximately $0.90. Once have earned at least $5, you can withdraw your funds via PayPal, gift cards, and e-vouchers. Alternatively, you can choose to donate your earnings to charity.
Pro tip: Keep an eye out for LifePoints Boosters. You can sometimes receive a 20% bonus when you keep your geo-location setting on your phone activated in the app.
Pinecone Research
Pinecone Research Summary
High minimum survey payout of at least $3Get up to $9 for testing new productsQuick payment, usually within 48 hoursLow minimum payout threshold of just $3
Pinecone Research is a legitimate market research company that offers paid online surveys and product testing opportunities.
In exchange for sharing their opinions, users receive from $3 per survey. On average, each survey would take only 15 to 20 minutes of your time, and you may even receive free products to use through product testing opportunities.
You also will not have to wait long until you collect your earnings. You can withdraw your earnings through bank transfer, gift cards, or vouchers with just $3 in your account. This means that you can cash out as soon as you complete just one survey.
However, most users on the platform only receive between 1 to 4 surveys per month. Thus, you should consider this when calculating how much you can earn on the platform.
InboxDollars
InboxDollars Summary
$5 sign up bonusReferral program – 30% that referral makesMost of the surveys pay $0.01 to $2.5013 different ways to earn money
InboxDollars is a legit online rewards platform that you can join to make extra money. The platform offers 13 different ways to earn money.
The earning opportunities on the platform include:
Reading paid emails
Shopping online
Redeeming coupons
Watching videos
Playing games
Inviting friends
And many more
On average, you can earn between $0.01 to $2.50 for every survey you complete. You can also get a $5 sign-up bonus when you register for an account. Once you reach the minimum withdrawal threshold of $10, you can cash out your earnings via PayPal, check, or Amazon gift cards.
Valued Opinions
Valued Opinions Summary
High average payout per survey of up to $55 membership levels with tailored surveysQuick turnaround time for e-gift cardLow minimum cash out threshold of $10
Valued Opinions is one of the safe survey sites that offers paid survey opportunities and pays up to $5 per questionnaire you complete. On average, you should expect one survey to take 15 to 20 minutes to complete.
Once you hit $10 in earnings, you can redeem your credits for gift cards from various retailers like Target, Amazon, Domino’s Pizza, and The Home Depot.
Some of the typical topics you’ll find on Valued Opinions include:
Fashion
Food
Movies
Environmental issues
PrizeRebel
PrizeRebel Summary
Up to $1 on average earnings per surveyEarn as much as a few hundred each monthRewards are sent in 24 hoursUp to 30% for referred user earnings
PrizeRebel is a safe and legit platform that collects market data and consumer opinions from market research surveys.
As a PrizeRebel member, you can earn money doing simple online tasks, such as:
Participating in surveys
Watching videos
Completing micro-tasks
Participating in contests
Playing games
Referring friends
And many more
Although it offers many options to make money online, PrizeRebel mainly focuses on offering paid surveys. Each survey takes between 5 to 20 minutes to complete and can pay you up to $1.
The platform also enables users to withdraw their earnings via bank transfer, PayPal, and gift card. All payments are processed within 24 hours of requesting, making it one of the fastest survey sites on this list.
MyPoints
MyPoints Summary
$10 sign-up bonus with your first purchaseEarn $1 on average per survey you completeOver 10 different ways to earn moneyPays by gift cards, PayPal & travel miles
MyPoints is an online shopping rewards platform that also offers safe, paid surveys that you can answer to earn some extra cash.
MyPoints has a wide range of options for making money, including:
Watching videos
Playing games
Searching on the web
Reading emails
And more
When you first sign up for an account on MyPoints, you will get a $10 welcome bonus. After that, you can expect to earn $0.27 to $2.13 per survey.
You can also redeem your earnings for Amazon gift cards starting from just $1. Alternatively, you can also withdraw your earnings in cash via PayPal.