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.
Above all, thanks for that great article. I really enjoyed reading it all for the last 5 minutes with a mug of coffee! Despite this article being next to perfect, if I can, I’d like to add one of the best survey sites, in my mind, to this list. It would be, “ClixSense”. They’re a really old, and huge, presence in the research industry and have partnered with many of those listed in this very post. So, signing up on ClixSense lets you take paid survey invitations from multiple survey sites and research firms, like Opinion Outpost, Nielson Media Research, YouGov, I-Poll, MySurvey, Toluna and more. Almost half of all of those survey sites are listed here.
The Harris Poll has been around for 45 years, which makes them one of the oldest polls in the world. And also one of the online surveys that pay cash instantly via Paypal in the industry. There’s no doubt about it. Harris Poll is a legit survey panel that pays you for your opinions. First, the Harris Poll is a member of the National Council of Public Polls (NCPP), the Council of American Survey Research Organizations (CASRO), the Council for Marketing and Opinion Research (CMOR), and the European Society for Opinion & Marketing Research (ESOMAR). Also, the Harris Poll is accredited by BBB, and has the highest rating possible by the organization, which is an A+.
I signed up for InBox Dollars, which led to a rabbit hole of sweepstakes and surveys, all of which, had the same 30 questions repeated 2-3 times in a single survey, punctuated by attempts at selling magazine subscriptions. One survey had a couple of telling questions. “Do you believe Trump is the best President America has ever had?” “Do you believe Hillary Clinton should be convicted of a crime?” and “Is Fox your main source of news?” I started getting an ungodly amount of spam emails and I can’t even count the number of spam calls, that are now growing at a rate of about 18 per day. I can’t block them fast enough, though one number has called 21 times in the past 3 days. 11 of those tries were yesterday. Today they only called 5 times… I just started mass spam dumping from my inbox. I don’t even care what’s in the message. If it’s not something I know. DELETE DELETE DELETE! I received a Netspend card in the mail today. Wasn’t able to activate it though.
Once you have accumulated up to 4,000 points you can request a rewards. In Hiving, 1,000 points is the equivalent of $1.00, which means that the minimum cash out is $4.00. Also, points redemption is only available in stages of 4,000. Thus you can withdraw only multiples of $4.00 (that is, $8, $12 etc). You can request your payout via PayPal payment.
The minimum payment threshold is 25,000 points. Once you’ve accumulated that many points, you can redeem them for gift vouchers from major retailers such as Target, Amazon, Walmart, Starbucks, iTunes, Sports Authority, Papa Johns, and more. After the first withdrawal, you don’t need to meet any minimum requirement for further cash outs. You can redeem as low as 1,000 ($1.00) for some e-vouchers.
How it works: With Survey Club, you can take part in some of the highest-paying research, clinical trials and surveys available. There are often location-based opportunities (such as focus groups), and unlike some of the other companies on this list, Survey Club often gives you the chance to test products that researchers will physically mail to you free of charge.
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.
From the get-go, new members will instantly earn their first $5. The process of signing up is extremely easy and simple – enter your email, create a password and confirm your account via email. Then, you will need to answer several basic questions that are on par with every other survey panel (i.e. about your marital status, kids, degree, race, income etc).
The only problem is with this site now to do surveys you have to put your cell phone number in before they will let you (Only once) they shouldn't ask for this for one for two they won't take my number so i'm blocked from doing surveys. I have to say one way it's bad the other way it's worse and all i can say good about this site right now is they do pay.
Some users have also complained how after playing hours and hours of games on sites like Winster, their accounts were not credited, and upon contacting InboxDollars' customer support, were told that “it is not the company’s responsibility to determine playing time but the responsibility of their partners.” Some users have decried how after being inactive at InboxDollars for a few weeks or a month, their accounts were suspended and they were no longer able to receive paid emails.
I started work with InBoxDollars in December 2015. I have done as much work for them as I have Mindspay and InBoxPays ($473.00 +) but they show I have been credited only $23.59. I started keeping my own records and I know I have earned way more than that. None have been rejected but I have yet to get one nickel from them. What takes so long when they say you will be approved in 2 or 3 days. JPSnow
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.
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.
Inboxdollars Andrew Smith
On many forums and review websites, the typical rating awarded to InboxDollars is a meager 2 out of 5 stars. The single biggest problem relating to the website is the incredibly long time taken before the first $30 payment can be attained. Though it is in fact legitimate, the website has been labeled by quite a number of former members as a “scam,” or “spamming” website. We disagree…