IOCS is a not-for-profit research organization that conducts studies and experiments on shopping-related behavior – things like how we, as consumers, evaluate products, how we make the buying decisions, etc. Although the focus is mostly on shopping related behavior, some of their experiments and studies include broader areas of marketing, psychology, and economics.
I agree. It does take awhile to build up money, especially when doing surveys and paid emails. I shop a lot online and it adds up much quicker when you link it through inboxdollars. Also, I do print up the coupons and receive (it does take awhile to process) .10 per coupon. It has taken me 2 years but I have over $206.00 to claim. I, previously, have claimed and received $53.00.
The survey sites online fall into three broad categories: (i) those that are outright scam sites that will only waste your time and not pay you after taking the surveys (ii) those that will pay only paltry amounts that do not justify the time spent on the surveys (iii) those with which you can earn decent additional income and get paid instantly through Paypal.

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.
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.

Hi, I live in South Africa and have made quite a few US dollars from various sites over the past few months. For me, Toluna is definitely the best, and they offer nearly daily surveys. You don’t always qualify, but when you do the survey reward is quite substantial. I have never had problems from them and at regular intervals receive money in my PayPal account. However, I cannot say the same of Panel Station. Even though I have sent various requests asking why I have not been paid they do not even have the courtesy, so far, to answer any of my mail – whether they were submitted on the site or sent via e-mail to their “South African” address. I must say that I am very disappointed with them, as they are recommended by quite a few other sites, as well as your own.


Apart from the surveys, you can earn points by completing some daily polls that you’ll find when you log into your account. These are quick polls that’ll earn you 5 points. There’s also a referral program that can earn you between 50 – 200 points for each referral you make. Lastly, there’s an incentive to be very active in the site in completing surveys. This is because at the end of every month, Branded Surveys rewards the top 100 active members with an additional 100 points.

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Apart from the surveys, you can earn points by completing some daily polls that you’ll find when you log into your account. These are quick polls that’ll earn you 5 points. There’s also a referral program that can earn you between 50 – 200 points for each referral you make. Lastly, there’s an incentive to be very active in the site in completing surveys. This is because at the end of every month, Branded Surveys rewards the top 100 active members with an additional 100 points.


Pay per survey is typically between $0.25 and $2.00, with each lasting about 10-20 minutes. I’ve done InboxDollars surveys for topics ranging from my hobbies to how I prefer to travel to my preferences on AntiVirus software. Surveys also span a variety of types, including profile surveys to help InboxDollars learn more about you to match you with the best surveys in the future.
How it works: Opinion Outpost sends survey opportunities to your email address at a fairly significant pace, but you won’t qualify for all of them — as with most other survey sites, you’ll have to answer a few pre-screening questions to make sure you fit the demographic profile the company is interested in learning about. You can also log on to the website and view available surveys without having to sift through emails. 

For every survey invitation, you’ll be told how long it’ll take, as well as how much you’ll earn. Apart from taking surveys, you can also earn via product testing. Once in a while View Banks send out product that you’ll use and give your opinion about. You earn cash for the test, and you also get to keep the product. You can also earn from their “mystery shopping” assignment where you can be tasked with shopping around for insurance quotes or calling your bank. These are high paying tasks, which can net you as much as £130.
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.
How it works: LifePoints is the survey platform of a company called Lightspeed, which is owned by Kantar (one of the world’s largest market research and consumer data analytics firms). The platform was formed as a merger of two of the company’s other products, MySurvey and Global Test Market, and gives users a variety of ways to earn points that can be redeemed for cash:
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