Is getting paid to take surveys just a scam?

[Massacure]

There is so much crap out there. Some people tell you "Give me X amount of $$$ and I'll tell you to get rich", while other sites want you to click on ads and refer people in a huge pyramid scheme. I can see a company offering money for people to take surveys, but I think it is probably more prone to be done randomly rather than you getting to sign up for as many as you want and earn hundreds of dollars an hour as some sites claim.

Does anyone have experience with it?

[Captain Hilts]

1. No reputable polling firm offers money. nt

[eyesroll]

2. Are we talking political or consumer polling?

I've been paid to talk about the environment, evaluate cosmetics, and taste-test candy, by reputable market research firms. Companies contract with these firms to get consumers' opinions about their product.

As far as political polling -- "do you approve of Bush's handling of the Iraq war?" -- that's usually not paid if it's over the phone, although if you attend a focus group or get stopped in the mall, there should be some compensation.

[Montauk6]

3. One of the cool things I noticed when I moved to NY 10 years ago

was that there are these focus groups that will pay you to sit and give your opinion on a variety of things. At first, I would get offers for IT related items (as that's my profession), but later on, they started getting more fun. In the past 5 years, I've sat in on groups discussing cologne, Napster, cellphones, etc. It's an easy 75-100 bucks for 2 hours of your time. But in order to get in on this, I did have to sign up at their website. I can't vouch for the site you may be looking at but, for me, the worst case scenario has been that I get a group offer, fill out the prelim questionaire, and not get picked (for the $200+ ones, that's kind of a heartbreak).

But that's MY experience with it; I'm sure there are scammers out there that you have to look out for. What you might try is to simply Google the name of the outfit you're looking at and include "scam" or "fraud" in the query and see what comes back.

[Captain Hilts]

5. YES, focus groups pay because they take 90 mins. of your time. nt

[Akoto]

4. As someone who's been through the hoops, let me say ...

Never give your money to any site that offers you a list of surveys in return. While there ARE surveys that will pay you a few bucks, you can find free lists without having to fork over any cash.

This is not to say that all opportunities on the internet are scams. I run my own business largely over the internet, which started based upon an offer from a highly reputable company. It just takes research.

[IronLionZion]

6. Anything you have to pay for is probably a scam

but there are legit sites where they pay you. Gratis is a legit organization. A lot of DUers doubted me when I posted I was doing it, but I got my free ipod 1 month later with free shipping too.

Always google the organization and see what turns up.

[TheFarseer]

7. I was a secret shopper for an online company

so I know that's real. Even in the late 90's heyday of the internet, when you could make money off some seriously stupid stuff, I never saw sites paying actual money for surveys. There was a survey site that offered cheep crappy merchandise that someone was apparently overstocked on for filling out surveys. I got some posters and junk out of that. I tried to look into surveys and secret shopping a couple months ago, and hopefully I'm not telling you stuff you already know, but they all want you to sign up for special offers and most if not all cost you money, like 'order our teeth whitening system for only $19.95' or 'learn spanish online for $9.99' - that kind of stuff. Most, but not all, want a fee up front. Most if not all want your banking info for direct deposit - which is scary stuff to be giving out to the likes of them. Then who knows if they will have surveys "available for your demographic" although they had plenty of secret shopping jobs back when I was doing that so who knows?

[bemildred]

8. Surveys are a scam.

Getting paid to take them is even more of a scam.

[Progressive4Life]

9. If you have to pay, it's a scam; however...

There are a few free-to-join sites that I have had a good experience with. Most of them allow you to accumulate points that you can exchange for cash, gift certificates, or other prizes (for example CDs or DVDs). Others will pay cash outright. I have received small cheques--ranging from $1 to $10--for participation. Not megabucks, but where I live, $1 will buy 3 boxes of generic macaroni and cheese, so it's something.