Interesting read, thanks for sharing. I suppose that online surveys may generate a few extra dollars on the side for some people, but it does require you to qualify for certain surveys online. In many cases you may not qualify, and will result in having to search for more surveys. This can be time consuming and in most cases not as profitable as may be expected.
How it works: Pinecone Research is owned and operated by Nielsen, the billion-dollar data and measurement company responsible for TV Nielsen Ratings. With Pinecone Research, you earn $3 per survey, which typically take 15 to 20 minutes to complete. The downside to Pinecone is that they often have strict demographic requirements, which means that you may not qualify depending on your age, education, race or other profile factors.
MyPoints isn’t as shady as them and isn’t as difficult. I’ve been clicking emails for 5-7 years (they offer surveys too but I only click emails) and cannot even remember how many gift cards I’ve gotten from them (a lot in that many years). Not once did they stop sending emails once I got to a certain amount of points. I can quit at any time after cashing out too, unlike InboxDollars who forces you to stay active until your payment is sent.
Rip off. I referred a couple people to Inbox Dollars that lived close to me and they closed out all of our accounts saying we were all in the same location and the same person. We provided IP addresses and even went to as far as asking if we could provide identification to show proof and of course it was negative. Lost a total of about $31. As for my neighbors probably the same or close to the same..Inboxdollars Review
I’ve been a member of InboxDollars for at least a year which is what it took to me to just get to $30. I didn’t mind clicking the emails but once I hit $25 or so, I stopped getting “paid emails”. So I forced myself to do surveys. Once I reached $28 it was 3-4 days before I even saw another survey offered (besides the 4 that are always there “peanut labs” etc). I finally hit $30 and cashed out but if course there was another hoop to jump through, they tell you that your account must “remain active” until a certain date (March 2nd) for me. Who knows what counts as active to them, so I continue trying to qualify for surveys hoping that counts, otherwise in officially done with them like so many. I was just shocked at how difficult they make it.
You shouldn’t expect to make a killing by taking paid online surveys. Instead, you should view them as a way to make a little bit of extra money in your spare time — while you’re in line or when you’re stuck in a waiting room, for example. In cases like these, surveys can be a decent way to monetize your time. And while the payouts aren’t huge, even a few dollars per month can add up in a savings account and help you start to build a more solid financial foundation.
Not counting the profile survey, I attempted 38 surveys and qualified for seven of them. That’s an 18% success rate, which is on the low end among the 12 sites we tested. Most of the time, I’d immediately receive a disqualification notice with a link to a new survey opportunity. For a few surveys, I answered questions for a couple minutes before getting the boot.
I do not know for sure and they are always subject to changes in their policies. You would have to check out the websites you are interested in to find out. Look for their payment policies or their regular policies as that may answer the question. In addition, you can look at their terms and conditions or FAQ’s. If that doesn’t tell you, look for their contact information so you can ask them directly.
They don’t give a reason for this, but I assume it has to do with taxes. You see, if you pay someone $600 in any given year, you are required by law to report that earning and send them a tax form at the end of the year. And since 60,000 equals to $600, I assume they have that rule in place so they don’t have to deal with all that paperwork come tax time.
In addition to the free offers, there are “paid” offers, too. i.e. Buy a bouquet of flowers through an online florist, get $7.00 back in your InboxDollars account. Lots of similar cash back offers for subscription box services and eCommerce sites. If it’s something you were already interested in, it’s not bad. Otherwise, no point in spending (read: losing) money in order to make money.
Most of the surveys on Inboxdollars actually range up to $5.00 on surveys depending on the survey provider. Please note that InboxDollars works with Market Research companies (survey providers) who create, provide, manage and credit the surveys. InboxDollars does not make any requirements or qualifications for a survey. Each advertiser may be looking for a particular demographic to get the information they need for their services/products/etc so they will have qualification questions when this occurs. Our minimum requirement is $30.00 as a minimum and members can get there pretty quickly if they do a variety of activities on the site. We have some members who cash out once a month but again this is due to how often they are on and how much they do.
They don’t give a reason for this, but I assume it has to do with taxes. You see, if you pay someone $600 in any given year, you are required by law to report that earning and send them a tax form at the end of the year. And since 60,000 equals to $600, I assume they have that rule in place so they don’t have to deal with all that paperwork come tax time.

