First, thank you for providing this extensive list. I wanted to offer a quick follow up. After reading your post I decided to give Survey Junkie a try and I’ve already closed the account. Yes, I can tell it’s well organized and it is definitely a user-friendly platform. The problems I experienced were first that not one of the surveys they emailed me about were available. I did, however, complete several surveys from the site itself and I found them to be lengthy – in itself, not a problem, but 3 out of 5 told me I didn’t qualify after I’d already invested 10 – 12 minutes filling out the forms. They got more than enough information from me to be useful which is an old and highly unethical trick in market research – which happens to be my background. All in all, it was a LOT of wasted time.
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.
Under no circumstances should any information from this blog be used as replacement for professional financial advice. DollarSprout.com is owned by VTX Capital, LLC and neither are licensed by or affiliated with any third-party marks on this website and third parties do not endorse, authorize, or sponsor our content except where clearly disclosed. DollarSprout.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
In my opinion, Inbox Dollars is a scam. After registering and wasting hours upon hours to make a few cents I started receiving a swarm of emails, 83 in one day to be exact, from the companies I was questioned about in the surveys. Not to mention an abundance of calls from unknown numbers. What an invasion of privacy! This is not worth the hassle. Be smart and don’t fall for this one!
The name “inbox dollars” is somewhat revealing – they pay you simply to read your emails. All you need do is check your inbox and read the special offers sent to you, then click the button that confirms that you’ve read the mail, and you’ll be paid. You can get between 1 – 10 cents for every email you read. Active members usually get about 3 paid emails per day. Very often, you’ll be sent offers, and by signing up for these offers, you’ll earn more cash, which can be between $2.00 – $20.00.
Once you have up to $8.00, you can request payment via PayPal. Another way you can get your reward is via Amazon gift cards, but for that you’ll need a minimum balance of $10.00. One of the best things about crowdology is that your rewards are delivered very fast. Most of the time,e – gift vouchers are delivered almost immediately, while PayPal payment is gotten even under 48 hours.
I have been using InBox Dollars for months. I earned my first $30 and cashed out. I referred my Wife and she signed up and started doing surveys. Once I reached $75 and she reached her first $30 we cashed out. The next day both of our accounts was suspended. How convenient. We spoke with a Live chat agent to explain that the accounts are separate but they didn't care. They just hurried us off and ended the chat. Months of work all gone. INBOX DOLLARS IS A SCAM!!!!!!!!! Do not waste your time. They will use you for your services then find some reason to not pay you.
If this is remotely true, it is absolutely the exception to the rule. Yes, they take all of your info, then you spend endless amounts of time filling out the prequal for a survey only to get disqualified. If you do happen to be qualified, well the 15-30+minutes you spend to “make” that 25-50 CENTS is NOT worth the time. Again the user claiming to make anywhere decent amounts of money from this is the exception rather than the rule. Don’t waste your time.
Surveys can be on many different topics, like your TV-watching habits, your favorite places to eat, what material of sweater you prefer in the fall, etc. Many surveys can take less than 5 minutes to complete, although some take longer (and pay more money). Despite the wide array of topics, the end goal of paid online surveys is usually the same: to get a better idea of what consumers are thinking and how they make decisions.
InboxDollars doesn't care to keep you as a customer because they realize most people once they reach the minimum $30 payout won't continue, because the amount of time required to earn pitiful tiny sums isn't worth it, so revoke your earnings as you reach the threshold is an intentional part of their dishonest business model. They offer no explanation and no flexibility and no reasonable business practices.
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.

