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Are The Surveys That Pay You Safe?
If you have been looking for a way to make money online from home, you might as well be wondering whether surveys that claim to pay you are safe. With the increase in demand for making money online, the number of companies scamming people has increased as well.
Nonetheless, there are still many reputable market research companies around that will pay you for your opinion. These companies use your feedback to help businesses improve their products and services.
Thus, as long as you use a surveys site that has a good reputation and high-quality reviews, you should be relatively safe.
What Are The Risks?
One of the major risks of paid online surveys is identity theft. Most online survey platforms require you to provide them with your personal information. As such, if the company isn’t trustworthy, your personal information might be used without your consent.
Paid Surveys and Your Privacy
When you participate in paid surveys, you will usually need to provide some details about yourself so the survey platform can identify which demographic you belong to. To some, this may seem like a privacy risk.
In reality, your name is only necessary to verify your identity, and it gets detached from the data you provide. This means that most surveys you take are still anonymous, and your privacy is highly protected.
Thus, it may be a good idea to do some research about how secure a platform is before signing up for an account.
How to Avoid Survey Scams?
Here are a few tips to help you avoid survey scams:
- Do a Google search of the name of the survey site to find out more about the platform’s security features.
- Pay attention to feedback people leave on review websites such as Trustpilot, App Store, or Google Play.
- Check the company rating on the Better Business Bureau.
- Legit survey sites usually pay via PayPal, check, or gift cards. If the platform doesn’t state its payout options, it’s a sign it may be a scam.
How Much Can You Earn Taking Surveys?
How much you can make as an online survey taker can vary significantly from platform to platform. In general, most surveys pay between $1 to $3 and take just 5 to 20 minutes to complete. Thus, you can easily earn up to $9 per hour or more.
Pro tip: Focus on participating in paid focus groups because they can pay as much as $200 per hour.
How You Get Paid for Taking Surveys
Most that provide legitimate online surveys usually offer several withdrawal options for your earnings.
The most common payout methods include:
- Check
- Bank transfer
- PayPal or Venmo
- Gift cards from Amazon, Xbox, Starbucks, and other popular retailers
Nonetheless, some survey sites only offer one withdrawal option. This does not necessarily mean that the survey site is not legitimate. Thus, be sure to research a survey site before joining to find out what their available withdrawal options are.
How to Know if Paid Survey Sites Are Legit?
Here are some ways to determine whether a paid survey site is legit:
- Do a Google search for the name of the survey site with the word “review”. If there are no results or mostly bad reviews, the survey site is likely to not be legit.
- A legit survey site will never ask you to pay for membership. If a survey site asks you to pay to join or access surveys, it is probably a scam.
Are Surveys Worth The Effort?
Generally, participating in paid surveys is one of the best side hustle ideas you can try to earn some extra cash in your free time.
For example, you could make a few extra dollars while you are waiting for your order at a restaurant or just when you have some free time after work.
On average, you can expect to earn between $50 to $100 per survey site per month. Thus, if you use multiple survey sites at once, you can maximize your earnings.
What Paid Survey Sites Are Legitimate? 9 Websites With Safe Surveys
| Survey Site | Earning Potential |
|---|---|
| InboxDollars | Up to $3 per survey |
| Survey Junkie | Up to $75 per survey |
| Valued Opinions | Up to $5 per survey |
| Swagbucks | $50 to $100 per month |
| MyPoints | Around $1 per survey |
| PrizeRebel | Up to $5 per survey |
| Branded Surveys | Between $1 to $5 per survey |
| LifePoints | Between $0.50 to $3 |
| Pinecone Research | Between $3 to $5 per survey |
Branded Surveys
Branded Surveys Summary
- $1 sign up bonus
- Earn $0.50-$5 on average per survey
- Most surveys are between 10-20 minutes
- Pays by bank transfer, PayPal & gift cards
Branded Surveys is a safe and legit paid survey site that allows you to earn some extra cash. The website is incredibly easy to use and you can sign up for an account in under 5 minutes to start taking surveys.
Branded Surveys also gives new users a $1 sign-up bonus. On average, surveys take between 10-20 minutes to complete and will pay between $0.50-$5, depending on its complexity.
Once you have earned at least $5 on the platform, you can withdraw your earnings via PayPal, bank transfer, or gift cards.
Pro tip: Branded Surveys reward you for staying active on the platform. For every survey you complete, you will be eligible to enter daily, weekly, and monthly random prize draws.
Survey Junkie
Survey Junkie Summary
- $0.50-$3 average earnings per survey
- Get 2-3 extra points if you screened out of survey
- Additional ways to earn up to $150
- Install Survey Junkie extension for bonus
Survey Junkie is one of the most well-established websites that offer safe surveys. On average, Survey Junkie pays between $0.50 -$3 per survey.
The platform has a low minimum withdrawal threshold of just $5. You can easily reach this threshold within just 2 to 3 hours.
The platform also offers several cashout methods:
- Cash via PayPal
- Bank transfer
- Gift cards
Pro tip: Focus group opportunities can pay up to $75. Look out for these high-paying opportunities.
Swagbucks
Swagbucks Summary
- 18 ways to earn money and e-gift cards
- $5 sign up bonus
- Up to 10% cashback when shopping online
- $1 minimum e-gift card withdrawal
Swagbucks is one of the most popular online rewards platforms that provide legitimate surveys for money. You can join Swagbucks for free to earn cash or gift cards.
There are 18 different ways you can earn money on Swagbucks, including:
- Shopping online
- Answering surveys
- Referring friends
- Taking offers
- Searching the web
- Playing games
- And many more
In general, you can expect to earn between $50 to $100 per month by spending just 1 to 2 hours per day on the platform.
Once you have accumulated at least $1 in your account, you can withdraw your earnings via PayPal or redeem them for gift cards.
LifePoints
LifePoints Summary
- On average, earn up to $20 each month
- Survey times vary – 10 min to 20 min
- Surveys are available in 40+ countries
- Only $5 minimum payout threshold
- *IMPORTANT – False survey responses = account deactivation + loss of earnings
LifePoints is a free online survey platform that rewards you for sharing your opinion about the products and services that you use.
Most surveys you’ll take through LifePoints require between 10 to 20 minutes to complete and typically pay between $0.50 to $2, depending on its length complexity. The platform also offers other earning opportunities apart from safe online surveys.
| Other Earning Opportunities | Earning Potential |
|---|---|
| Earn on the Go | 50 points upfront + 20 points each month |
| Product Testing | Free product |
| Daily Challenges | 15% bonus on top of your daily survey earnings |
| Behavior Tracking | 1,000 points per month |
| Booster | Varies |
1000 points on the platform are worth approximately $0.90. Once have earned at least $5, you can withdraw your funds via PayPal, gift cards, and e-vouchers. Alternatively, you can choose to donate your earnings to charity.
Pro tip: Keep an eye out for LifePoints Boosters. You can sometimes receive a 20% bonus when you keep your geo-location setting on your phone activated in the app.
Pinecone Research
Pinecone Research Summary
- High minimum survey payout of at least $3
- Get up to $9 for testing new products
- Quick payment, usually within 48 hours
- Low minimum payout threshold of just $3
Pinecone Research is a legitimate market research company that offers paid online surveys and product testing opportunities.
In exchange for sharing their opinions, users receive from $3 per survey. On average, each survey would take only 15 to 20 minutes of your time, and you may even receive free products to use through product testing opportunities.
You also will not have to wait long until you collect your earnings. You can withdraw your earnings through bank transfer, gift cards, or vouchers with just $3 in your account. This means that you can cash out as soon as you complete just one survey.
However, most users on the platform only receive between 1 to 4 surveys per month. Thus, you should consider this when calculating how much you can earn on the platform.
InboxDollars
InboxDollars Summary
- $5 sign up bonus
- Referral program – 30% that referral makes
- Most of the surveys pay $0.01 to $2.50
- 13 different ways to earn money
InboxDollars is a legit online rewards platform that you can join to make extra money. The platform offers 13 different ways to earn money.
The earning opportunities on the platform include:
- Reading paid emails
- Shopping online
- Redeeming coupons
- Watching videos
- Playing games
- Inviting friends
- And many more
On average, you can earn between $0.01 to $2.50 for every survey you complete. You can also get a $5 sign-up bonus when you register for an account. Once you reach the minimum withdrawal threshold of $10, you can cash out your earnings via PayPal, check, or Amazon gift cards.
Valued Opinions
Valued Opinions Summary
- High average payout per survey – up to $5
- 5 membership levels with tailored surveys
- 24 hours turnaround time for e-gift card
- Low minimum cash out threshold of $10
- *IMPORTANT – any attempt to speed through surveys or provide false, or misleading answers will result in the deactivation of your account and forfeiture of all money earned.
Valued Opinions is one of the safe survey sites that offers paid survey opportunities and pays up to $5 per questionnaire you complete. On average, you should expect one survey to take 15 to 20 minutes to complete.
Once you hit $10 in earnings, you can redeem your credits for gift cards from various retailers like Target, Amazon, Domino’s Pizza, and The Home Depot.
Some of the typical topics you’ll find on Valued Opinions include:
- Fashion
- Food
- Movies
- Environmental issues
PrizeRebel
PrizeRebel Summary
- Up to $1 on average earnings per survey
- Earn as much as a few hundred each month
- Rewards are sent in 24 hours
- Up to 30% for referred user earnings
PrizeRebel is a safe and legit platform that collects market data and consumer opinions from market research surveys.
As a PrizeRebel member, you can earn money doing simple online tasks, such as:
- Participating in surveys
- Watching videos
- Completing micro-tasks
- Participating in contests
- Playing games
- Referring friends
- And many more
Although it offers many options to make money online, PrizeRebel mainly focuses on offering paid surveys. Each survey takes between 5 to 20 minutes to complete and can pay you up to $1.
The platform also enables users to withdraw their earnings via bank transfer, PayPal, and gift card. All payments are processed within 24 hours of requesting, making it one of the fastest survey sites on this list.
MyPoints
MyPoints Summary
- $10 sign-up bonus with your first purchase
- Earn $1 on average per survey you complete
- Over 10 different ways to earn money
- Pays by gift cards, PayPal & travel miles
MyPoints is an online shopping rewards platform that also offers safe, paid surveys that you can answer to earn some extra cash.
MyPoints has a wide range of options for making money, including:
- Watching videos
- Playing games
- Searching on the web
- Reading emails
- And more
When you first sign up for an account on MyPoints, you will get a $10 welcome bonus. After that, you can expect to earn $0.27 to $2.13 per survey.
You can also redeem your earnings for Amazon gift cards starting from just $1. Alternatively, you can also withdraw your earnings in cash via PayPal.