Monday, June 29, 2009

Paid For Surveys: Too Good To Be True?

By Andre Peter

Paid online surveys have been around the internet for quite some time, and a lot of people are getting into it in hopes of getting some extra cash, whether to pay for home expenses, everyday needs or buy life's simple luxuries. Companies that are doing marketing research with their products and services are willing to pay consumers who partake in their ongoing surveys and focus groups. There are a lot of paid for surveys in the web and one must be able to discern those legitimate survey sites from the scams.

There is actually some light behind paid online surveys in the web; you get paid for sharing what you think about their products. Companies big or small are aware of how significant consumer opinion is because it is what would help them make betterments on the quality of their products and services and in turn provide better income. These online surveys are part of a bigger marketing campaign that companies are paying a big sum for.

Paid for surveys can tackle about a wide array of topics which can include your favorite restaurants, movies, music, events, food, grocery items and even the latest technology in computers and telecommunication. These surveys are aimed at different age groups, income range, work and field of interests. Whatever category theses surveys are in, they all give companies invaluable data to improve their products and services.

Once you sign-up for paid online surveys, you will be asked to fill-up some basic demographic information like your age, gender, work, and income range. Once these sites determine you are qualified for a particular survey based on the information you have entered, you will be given an email containing an invitation to participate in the survey and a link which directs you the survey site.

The rewards coming from these paid online surveys may take the form of cash, discount coupons, merchandise or points that are convertible to cash and other freebies. Each survey site will have different means of giving you incentives for participating in their surveys; some will directly give you a small amount of cash, and some will require you to earn points and exchange them for a particular gift item.

With the advent of paid online surveys also comes unscrupulous websites wanting to take advantage of people looking for some ways of earning some money. These said sites will usually promote themselves as having a huge database collection of paid for surveys in which you can access through membership in their websites.

Membership of course, comes at a price, varying from $25-$100 or even more. Their websites are filled with a lot of data about their members and how much they have earned after signing-up, even putting up screenshots of the daily or monthly earnings of their so-called members, which we can't even determine if they really exist at all. You will also see many testimonials from their fictitious members saying how thankful they are that they found that particular website.

These fake websites will do everything just to get you to become a member by presenting you with pictures of their fictitious members and the huge income they claim to have earned in just a few days. Sounds good to be true isn't it? And after joining you will discover that what they have are just fake collection of survey sites and links sending you to more fake surveys. You will never hear from them ever again after joining.

Knowing all these, one must be very careful in participating in paid online surveys. For one, they must not require you any amount of fee for completing a survey, as legitimate companies will not ask for anything in return; in fact they are the ones which will give something. Do not get carried away with their too-good-to-be-true promotions and promises. With a little effort, you can easily find yourself some genuine websites offering real paid for surveys. Good luck!

About the Author:

No comments:

Post a Comment