Business Reviews

Are paid surveys evil?

This review covers the industry, not just a specific place. I’ve spoken with two people in the last week who tried this (it came up in conversation) and I’d like to share with you the real expectations of doing this. Most survey places charge a fee to get involved, and then they hook you up with places to take them. One thing to watch out for is that they usually do an initial questionaire to find out all your interests, and many of the surveys you won’t be able to take based on gender or other interests.

The people I’ve personally spoke with averaged $2.12 an hour taking these. Also most put a cap where they’ll only send you a check when you earn enough (like $50 or $100) taking these. Even after you start, you’ll have to keep grinding at a little over $2 an hour to get them to send you any money. Most do it as long as they can to get a check, some have given up.

The real reason a person in the U.S. for example can’t earn a living wage with this type of business is that in a place like Cost Rica, or many other third world nations, you can hire a full time employee to do this for $2,000 a year. There’s simply other countries where the cost of living is so low they’ll do this work and you can’t compete. It just is the fact and the problem for you is they never mention this. The sales copy at all these places is “make $100-$200 a day taking surveys” and it’s just not going to happen.

Let me give you an example, using logic. So, you have surveys that can be taken for an average (they claim) of $150 a day. Hire some temps, or go to Mexico and start a data center where people work for $4 an hour, or the example in Costa Rica. Why wouldn’t a place do this instead of recruiting? The answer is that you can only realistically make $2.12 an hour so they promise the sky and get as many people as they can to try it. Most won’t keep grinding to meet the quota of their first check so that’s never even paid.

I really wish I had anything positive to say about this, but I’m not going to put lipstick on a pig. This is right in the same category as mystery shoppers and type at home programs (though for that, there are good options if you work locally and have specialized skills). If you really want to see their site and decide for yourself, or want to give it a try, probably the biggest one is at this link and another called Express has the slickest web site here.