Like other sites we tested, InboxDollars is a survey aggregator. So clicking on a survey opportunity typically redirects you to a third-party site. In most cases, I was led to a typical survey setup: starter questions about my age, gender and ZIP code, followed by either a disqualification or questions on a specific topic. A few survey topics I covered include McDonald’s, insurance and grocery stores.
Another important thing is that the points you earn in HCD Research can only be converted to cash. You will never have to redeem your points for prizes/ vouchers. The minimum payment threshold is 1,000 points, which is $10.00. Once you’ve accumulated that amount of points, you can proceed to request your reward, and a check will be sent to you. You can only get your rewards via check by mail; as a result, you’ll have to wait about 6 – 8 weeks before receiving the payout.
You can also watch short videos and earn cash. This is not all about watching boring commercials. The cash TV channel consists of categories like Celebrities, Food/ Recipes, Entertainment, and more; and what you’ll be viewing include movie previews, TV shows, news etc. You can earn by simply using the Inbox Dollars search engine to do your normal web searches. For any four searches you make, you’ll earn $0.01 and three entries into their sweepstake/ prize draw.
In a few cases, InboxDollars directed me to “exclusive offers” instead of straightforward surveys. One required me to give my name, address, phone number and birthdate to earn money and enter a sweepstakes for a Target gift card. Another time, I was prompted to give my email address and choose between Coke and Pepsi in exchange for $1 and a sweepstakes entry. I didn’t want to give my contact information to what appeared to be third-party sites, so I clicked out of these promotions.