Introduction to paid online surveys

Would you like to earn extra cash just by giving your honest opinion? 

Completing online surveys for cash is a great, easy way to earn a little extra money on the side, by giving your opinion on everything from your shopping habits, through to politics, new products, new adverts or even just what you think about companies and brands, but it’s important to know that not all survey sites are the same.

There are hundreds of survey sites out there, but only a few of them are actually worth signing up to. This blog gives you the lowdown on the top online survey sites, based on the Author’s own experience, to help you find the most reliable and best-paying, paid online survey sites.

Before listing them though, here are the top 10 rules and dos and don’ts that you need to bear in mind before you go off and start signing up to online survey sites:

1. Never ever pay to sign up to an online survey site! Sites that ask you to pay to get the ‘best’ surveys are scams. Genuine online survey sites get paid by the companies who commission the surveys. They pass a small slice of those fees on to the people who complete them, as an incentive for doing the surveys. There is simply no legitimate reason for any online survey site to charge you for signing-up, so avoid any that have sign-up fees like the plague.
2. Set up a new email address and use that to sign-up for online survey sites. Don’t use your main email address – you’ll get tons of emails about new surveys and you really don’t want them all going to your main email account! 
3. Check that email address regularly. Most (but not all) survey sites will send you email notifications when a new survey is available. Most surveys have short time limits (typically a few days) and/or only need a certain number of respondents, so get in quick if you don’t want to miss out. 
4. Don’t imagine that you’re going to get rich from doing paid online surveys, or that you’re going to be raking the money in straight away. They’re a great way to get extra cash (and Amazon vouchers), but you certainly won’t be rolling in it. Some sites have low payment thresholds (so you could get a payout in a just a day or two) but for many it could take you several weeks to hit the payment threshold. 
5. Don’t keep cash you’ve earned in the survey sites – cash it out to PayPal as soon as you can. You never know when a site might change its rules, stop operating or close your account for no obvious reason, so don’t be storing cash you’ve earned in your online survey site accounts. 
6. Be honest! Seriously, give your honest opinion and don’t be tempted to lie to get more surveys. Many sites have quality checks that will spot inconsistent answers, and you will get banned if you’re caught, so you’ll lose any rewards that you’ve built up. 
7. Some sites reward you for referrals. Take advantage of this where you can. Some will pay you cash, some will give you extra points, and some will even give you a percentage of all the points earned by people you refer. This can be a great way to earn extra points (and thus cash). Disclaimer Alert: If you sign up using any of my referral links here, you’ll be one of my referrals and I’ll love you forever. Thanks!
8. Don’t worry if you ‘screen out’. This is a perfectly normal part of market research and you will frequently be screened-out of surveys after a few questions. This is because researchers are often looking for people with a certain profile, or sometimes because enough people with your profile have completed the survey already. Most sites will give you a few points, or extra entries into their prize draws, when this happens.
9. It’s best to stick to cash surveys, not prize draw ones. Many sites run monthly or quarterly prize draws and give you the option of entering points you earn for completing surveys as entries in these draws. Unless you’re just doing surveys for fun, don’t bother, use them towards a payout instead. Always check whether a survey you’re about to do is for cash or for draw entries. This should be clearly stated. 
10. Don’t forget that you may need to tell the taxman! Depending on your circumstances, you might need to pay tax on the money you earn from doing online surveys. If in any doubt, it’s best to check with HMRC. Give them a bell on 0300 200 3504.