Do you want to earn some extra cash? Are you looking for ways that can help you make some extra cash? If so, you need to keep reading this article for more information.
Getting a steady paycheck at the end of every month is always the best option. But having a side hustle that gives you some extra cash can also be helpful. One of the ways you can earn some extra is by taking paid online surveys.
Paid online surveys can give your cash a boost. But are paid surveys online legitimate or are they just a scam? Let’s find out! The legitimacy of an online paid survey depends on the type of survey and the company or website conducting it.
Take Surveys and Get Paid
It is certainly true that several businesses and marketing firms will pay consumers to participate in in-house focus groups. Certain businesses and firms will conduct legitimate paid surveys for the consumers. They would want their audience to be a part of virtual paid focus groups and other online marketing research programs.
However, most of the times, you will get paid to take surveys in the form of discount coupons, points, gift cards, instead of cash.
Survey Scams: How to Avoid Them?
Yes, you will indeed find several survey scams online. Several third-party sites will claim to conduct surveys that will give you ‘easy’ money. But don’t be fooled by the claim!
If you think that the claim made on the website is too good to be true, it probably is. Most scamming websites will vie for your attention. And they will certainly use exaggeration as one of their tactics to get your attention.
Make sure to stay away from such websites thus avoiding scam surveys. To avoid taking scam surveys, you can directly go to the website that is conducting the survey. Skip the middlemen entirely. There are some other ways to avoid the survey scam. Let’s take a look.
- Don’t take a survey that asks you to pay
You will find certain survey websites that will want you to pay before you take part in a survey. They might ask you to pay a membership fee. Don’t take the surveys listed on their website and certainly don’t pay a membership fee.
Most of the surveys that you will find on their website can be searched for using the search engine Google. So, don’t fall for their fancy lists with a membership fee.
- Don’t pay to access survey sites lists
This is another way that most third-party survey websites try to double-dip in your pocket. They will first ask you to pay money for accessing the survey lists and then they will ask you to pay more money to access the survey site lists.
The middlemen sites do this because they want to earn a referral or just want to scoop put more money from your pocket. Don’t fall for these sites at all. They will use exaggeration to get your attention but avoid the temptation to respond at all costs.
What You Can or Can’t Earn
If you find someone earning a lot of money from taking surveys, chances are they are either associated with a middlemen company or own such a company. Because the truth is that most legitimate online survey websites pay the survey takers in the form of goods, services, discount coupons, and such.
If you get a chance to draw out in cash sweepstakes, you will be the lucky one that gets paid. But don’t expect millions as a reward. Most such sweepstakes will reward amounts ranging from $5-$200 in cash or goods.
For survey websites that really pay a good amount, you need to have an invite. If you do have an invite, you need to fit their criteria of demographics and other factors. So, it is kind of like sweepstakes from the beginning.
So, if any website is claiming to give you big bucks for taking a survey or make easy money by survey, those websites are just middlemen, and you will be scammed. You certainly can’t make a living out of taking surveys online, instead, you can get some benefits in form of vouchers, goods, discounts, and more.
Online Survey: How to Get Paid?
- Cash: When you take an online survey for money, you will get paid in cash. But you will find only a few such websites that will pay you in cash. Also, it is worth noting that you won’t be able to make big money by taking online surveys. All you can get is some extra cash on your existing steady income.
- Reward points: Several survey websites will give you reward points that you can redeem for certain goods or services. But before you can redeem the points, you need to gather significant reward points to cash it out for something of significance.
- Sweepstake’s entries: This might be the most disappointing way of getting paid for taking a survey. In fact, certain websites will give you small cash sweepstakes when you have only taken an eligibility test for taking paid surveys. Some websites will give you sweepstakes only when you recruit other survey takers much like a pyramid scheme.
- Discounts and gift cards: Certain survey websites will give you a legitimate discount or gift cards for buying some goods and services.
Your Privacy and Paid Surveys
Legitimate survey websites and marketing firms will ensure that they don’t share your personal information with anybody else. But the middlemen websites will only make a hollow promise of keeping your identifiable information confidential.
They will most likely hide different clauses in the long terms and conditions agreement that you will agree to unknowingly. These websites will sell your information to other marketers and that’s how you start getting spam calls and emails.
Avoid Identity Theft
The potential threat of using an online survey website is identity theft. To avoid this, you must not give any personal information such as your date of birth, social security number, or bank account number on such websites. Before you sign up on any survey website, make sure to search it online using the words ‘scam’ or ‘review’ to get a better picture.
By signing up at a legitimate survey website, you can certainly earn some extra discount codes or goods easily. Hope this information helps you in finding the right survey website.
Happy surveying!