Reasons to take online surveys

I know you probably read somewhere about paid online surveys and the biggest question on your mind is: Are they legitimate?

Yes, paid online surveys have been here for some time, and yes, they do pay their respondents. But like any scheme where you can get easy money, there will always be exaggeration of the rewards and possibly, scams. But despite these, there are very good reasons why you should take online surveys.

Like any online job, people tend to be wary when sites offer payment for their opinions, and this is all good. After all, scams really do happen in this internet-based world. But that isn’t enough reason to dismiss free online surveys altogether. For one, there are ways to determine if you are being hoodwinked. Consider these steps:

1.   Do not rely on testimonials and reviews. Posters might not be accomplices to a scam, but still, you need to make sure that the business is legitimate. You can check with the Better Business Bureau to see if any of the sites you are intending to join have existing complaints. Remember also that because a site does not have a complaint doesn’t mean that the business is real; it could simply mean that no one has filed yet.

2.   Guarantees don’t mean much if it is a really unbelievable offer. For example, a site offering to pay $1,000 per hour is most probably a fake offer. This amount is a little too much and you should be thinking as to how they’d pay you that much. While it is true you can earn a lot of money through paid online surveys, it doesn’t happen all the time and unless you meet the characteristics of a high demographic, the least you can expect are freebies, coupons and cash incentives which can be exchanged for other rewards such as free movie rentals and a year’s subscription to their product or service.

3.   Legitimate market research firms offer a list of online paid surveys for free. There is no need to pay for upfront fees. Aside from this, market research firms usually target a certain demographic. This means that surveys are by invitation only. Any site sending you lots of spam might actually be fake.

Now that you know how to avoid paid survey scams, let’s proceed to the question: Why should you take online surveys?

First of all, you can get compensation by just offering your opinion to companies who need it. You can also receive coupons and gift certificates which you can use to claim some items from the companies who are in need of correspondents.

Now say you are a single parent. Of course, you are the only earning for your family and you can be pretty hard up with cash. Paid online surveys are actually a good way to earn while staying at home and watching over your kids. Aside from this, you can complete these surveys in your own time, so the stress level is a lot lower than other home-based work.