Make Extra Money: Best Survey Sites

When Chris first started medical school, I was looking for ways to earn a little extra spending money. Though I was skeptical about it, I decided to give taking surveys a try. Over the years, I have been a part of some really terrible survey sites, but I also have some sites that I absolutely love.

My criteria for a great survey site:

1) The money is worth my time: When I first started taking surveys, I would take practically every survey that I received. Huge mistake. Now, if a survey says it will give me 50 cents for 30 minutes of my time (or even 10 minutes for that matter), I automatically click the delete button.

2) Don’t spam me: Some sites have good surveys, but I end up getting sick of them because they send me 20+ emails a day. I prefer websites that send out one good survey a day (or once a week). In general, these surveys pay more, and I don’t have to sift through a bunch of surveys to pick out one I want to do.

3) Interesting topics: Don’t ask me to take a survey on credit cards or fast food restaurants. I’m just not interested. In general, if the survey is short enough and about a topic that excites me, I enjoy taking the survey (weird, I know).

My current favorite survey sites:

Pinecone Research
It is terrible of me to have my number one survey site be a place that is difficult to get in, but I could not write a post on my favorite survey sites without mentioning Pinecone. You can choose how many surveys you want sent to you per week, and you receive a flat rate of $3 per survey. The surveys take me about 10 minutes to complete, and they are usually about interesting product concepts. Sometimes, they will let you test products that are not even on the market! You can’t sign up for Pinecone through their website, but they do advertise sign ups on other sites several times throughout the year. If you are interested in joining, goggle “Pinecone Research Sign Ups,” and there is usually a website offering sign ups.

American Consumer Opinion Panel
The American Consumer Panel is open to new members and is another great site. I get a survey about once every two weeks, and I usually love the topics. The pay is fair, and I have completed some fun product tests through this site.

Consumer Opinion Institute
I like Consumer Opinion Institute because they mail you one or two surveys a month with $5 already in them. The surveys can be a bit boring, but I like that I already have the reward, and they don’t take me long to complete. They pay well for the amount of time it takes to do the survey.

I could write about many more sites so I am considering putting together a second tier survey list if people are interested. I am also thinking of writing a post on some of the worst survey sites I have tried so your feedback is appreciated!

Do you take surveys and have a favorite survey site? I am always up for trying other options!