Paid Surveys: FAQs - How and Why People are Taking Surveys Online

Whether it's a paid survey or focus group, the idea is the same - market research companies want your opinion and are willing to give you cash and free merchandise for you to spend your time filling out their surveys.


What is a paid survey?

A paid survey, or "market research survey", is a series of questions that are presented to either an individual, or group of individuals, to see how they perceive and respond to certain products or services.
), that certain products or services are marketed to.
These online surveys are offered for free as a means to understand certain markets better.
You may or may not know the point of the discussion and they are often hosted by a moderator that will guide the discussion.
The compensation can range from up to , depending on the topic and time involved.
These "advertising campaigns" can sometimes be a complete waste of time and money if the company does not research the market that they are trying to capture.
This is where the market research survey comes in, and this is why your opinion is so important.
if you are going to introduce a new type of tennis racket into the market, but you're unsure if it's needed or wanted, would you rather spend thousands of dollars on advertising, or simply pay 50 tennis players and find out their opinion about tennis rackets?

Okay, so how much can I really make taking paid surveys?

Compensation from survey companies can range from $1 up to $75 per survey, and most surveys take around 6-12 minutes to complete.
You can even be entered into raffles for prizes after completing certain surveys.
The more you take, the more you make.
The money that they tell you the survey is worth is the amount you will receive by check.
Since you will be operating as an independent contractor, you are responsible for filing taxes on all the money you have earned, which most likely means adding the income to your personal filings.
You can offer your opinion every day, all day and get paid for it.
Some companies will allow surveys to be completed by people 13 years of age or older, while other survey companies require you to be 18 years of age or older.
That profile will be used to determine what surveys and focus groups you will be invited to participate in.


What kinds of questions are asked on paid surveys?

You are asked a wide range of questions, such as where you prefer to shop or what kind of shampoo you use.
The questions on research surveys are given to better understand the different markets the company is trying to capture, which is why your answers are so valuable to them.
However, there are a few paid survey directory websites ("paid survey programs") that charge a fee to join.
The one time sign-up fee that is charged by these websites are to maintain their directory and keep their paid survey list up to date and accurate.
In our opinion, they are very worth the money.
For your initial sign-up fee, you get access to every paid survey company in their directory and save you time by weeding out the scams and fraudulent survey companies.
But of course, nothing is that simple.
They want to sign up, pay the money and then go to their mailbox and start collecting checks.
But the underlying point is that these paid survey programs deliver on exactly what they advertise - access to their database listing 100's of market research companies.


In conclusion

It's very important to do all your research and find out all that you can about the paid survey you are going to take, and the market research company that you are signing up with.