Making Money with Paid Surveys - Is it Worth the Time?

Paid Surveys - A good way to make money?

One of the most basic ways you can earn money online is with paid surveys. It doesn't require any skills other than being able to read and fill in an online form. How much you earn is totally dependent on how much time you devote to qualifying for, and filling in surveys.

Most paid survey sites use a point system where, once you earn a certain number of points, you can cash them out for actual money or other rewards. If you're prepared to fill in surveys all day every day, you could conceivably rack up a lot of points very quickly, drawing out cash in a very short period of time. But is it really the best use of your time?

Check out the bold claim at
the bottom of the Survey
Compare Sign Up page.
(Click to enlarge).

I've done these paid surveys before and, to be honest, the frustration wasn't worth the money I made. However that was over ten years ago.

I recently saw an ad on Facebook for paid surveys by Survey Compare that made this incredible claim in it's disclaimer:

*The amount of money you can earn depends on how many companies you choose to sign up for and how long you want to spend completing surveys. For instance, the average survey pays $30; taking 5 surveys a day, 5 days a week gives $3,000/month

Notice the last sentence example. The average survey pays $30.00. Five surveys a day, five days a week, could net you $3000/month.

I'm not disputing $30.00 surveys don't exist, but I've yet to see one. Not when I used to do surveys, and so far (I'm three days in), not since signing up again. I suspect $30.00 survey's are more like unicorns rather than the norm.

Survey Compare's FAQ on how much
you can earn is more like the reality.
(Click to enlarge).

The highest value single survey I've ever come across (in all the time I've done surveys) is $5.00 - and even that was a rarity.

In the last three days I've seen nothing over $1.50.

If you dig into Survey Compare's main UK site and read their FAQs for how much you can earn, you get a more realistic assessment of your earning potential:

We always tell people that doing paid surveys will make you “pocket money”, not a full-time salary. We would strongly advise you to stay clear of any websites that claim you can get rich by taking paid surveys.

I signed up (again) based on their landing page. Not because I actually thought $30.00 per survey would be even close to the average but to see if, at least, the earning potential has improved from years ago. So far, not really.

The one thing they don't tell you is you have to qualify for a lot of these surveys, often by answering the same questions over and over again. Quite frankly these sites would be better served screening people based on their profile info, because often the qualifying question answers are right there in your profile... like your age and gender for example.

The point being, you'll get screened out quite a bit because it's unlikely you're going to be the target group for many of the surveys you sign up to. Particularly if you're not buying a car or planning to travel in the next 12 months. Honestly, if you can afford that kind of swag what are you doing with paid surveys?

Getting screened out five surveys in a row puts a bit of a crimp in that five surveys a day at $30.00 per survey (if you can find 'em). You'll earn a few meagre points for trying (3-5) maybe, which is nothing when at least one site I know of, you need 14,000 points just to cash out $20.00. That's a far cry from one survey paying $30.00 and hours of work!

Pocket money is really what paid surveys will earn you unless you're prepared to really knuckle down and treat it like a five day a week job. It's not hard. You don't even have to spend time seeking out surveys. I've had a steady stream of invitations to surveys daily since I signed up. I'm sure there's probably a strategy to optimise your time too.

Personally I thought it might be something to do in the evenings while I'm watching TV. Instead of browsing social media on my tablet, why not do something that can be earning me a little extra income. I mean it's almost equally as mindless, right?

If you're serious about making money online, paid surveys is not the best use of your time. There are definitely ways to earn far more money in less time for far less effort, that are more mentally challenging and enjoyable.

But, if you've got some mindless time to fill in your day, and you don't mind filling in online forms, paid surveys might be something that can help monetize your down time.

---o ---o--- o---

If you're looking for an alternative to paid surveys try putting the same amount of energy into writing a blog, like this one, about a niche subject that interests you. Treat it like a daily job with set hours and you could grow it into an asset that will earn you far more in a year than the same amount of time spent on paid surveys.

A blog monetised with Google adsense leaves a longtail of recurring passive income, whilst the authority you gain on writing about a subject you know, can lead to opportunities for paid reviews, guest speaking engagements and more. If that sounds appealing check out ProBlogger or Raelyn Tan's Blog for all the info you need to start a blog business.

Comments

Movie Review: A Complete Unknown (2024) No Spoilers

Y ou would think the Bob Dylan story would be 'wind-swept and interesting,' to quote Billy Connelly, however, despite A Complete Unknown being quite an engaging film, it feels like it missed the years that really shaped him as a song writer/performer. The film starts in 1961, with a then unknown, 19-year-old Bob Dylan (Timothée Chalamet) arriving in New York City with his guitar. From there he forges relationships with musical icons on his meteoric rise, culminating in a groundbreaking performance that reverberates around the world. The problem being, according to this film, Dylan arrived in New York, for the most part, fully formed as a folk singer/song writer. In virtually no time he makes a very important connection that puts him on the trajectory of doing the work and becoming a name, before making his world changing performance. While there is some drama behind the scenes with his various relationships, none of it is particularly unique to any number of up and com...

I'm Confused About Why People Prefer to Say Discombobulated?

D iscombobulated. Is a word that I think someone rediscovered about three or four years ago (maybe more because the pandemic years have thrown out my sense of time) and now I hear it a lot. It's not a new word by any means, but when I started hearing multiple celebrities using it in everyday sentences, I actively had to look up what it meant. Define it with as many synonyms as you like but essentially it's just another word meaning 'confused'. Seinfeld Quotes: Quotes.net The words are pretty much interchangeable. He was discombobulated by too many choices. He was confused by too many choices. My confusion is the length of the word. It's unnecessarily long with too many syllables. There are many other words that mean confused, and therefore also mean discombobulated. Most of them are shorter and easier to say. So why not just say 'confused'? Perhaps discombobulated sounds more intelligent, maybe? Hawaii Five-0 Quotes: Quotes.net I've noticed it gets us...

James Gunn's Social Media Monkeys Joke Was a Highlight of His Superman Movie For Me

B efore James Gunn's Superman Movie was released there was a whole rumor going around that the movie would feature monkeys on computers trolling Superman's social media, sparking much outrage. #supersh*t. I didn't know this was even a thing until just prior to writing this article. I did a search to see if anyone had posted a clip of the monkeys scene from the movie and got pages of discourse featuring videos and articles prior to the film. Most of it from Gunn detractors (let's say) seeing it as some kind of childish swipe at them... well not them specifically but, you know, those other people who have every right to hate on anything sight unseen. Anyway, I'm not going to give even one such example a link or air because it's kind of sad watching someone devote so much commentary to a throw away gag that is absolutely a nod to James Gunn's Superman trolls. The whole reason this post exists, is to say I loved the joke, because fourteen years ago, and I...

Movie Review: Hellboy: The Crooked Man (2024) No Spoilers

I would not call myself a comic book fan of Hellboy. I've never read a single comic about him. My sum total knowledge of the character comes from the first two live action films, Hellboy (2004) and Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008), staring Ron Pearlman in the titular role. Essentially I'm a fan of those two films. Particularly Ron's portrayal of the character. I've been wanting to see the two later reboot attempts, in particular, David Harbor's run at the character in, Hellboy (2019), but reviews suggested I'd be disappointed if I spent any extra on them beyond a streaming service subscription. I missed David's Hellboy when it was on streaming, and currently I think you can only rent or buy it. However, Hellboy: The Crooked Man (2024) surfaced, at no extra cost on Amazon Prime, so I decided to give it a go. The poster says it's the fourth installment in the franchise, so I guess these films are loosely set in the same continuity and are all the sa...

Movie Review: Superman (2025) No Spoilers

T he one thing I like about James Gunn as a comic book movie director is that he leans into the comic book nature of the world and the characters. He's not trying to do a realistic take on any of the characters. He's simply bringing the comics to life. It's still his take on the characters, but he doesn't shy away from their comic book origins. James Gunn's Superman is very much a comic book movie in every sense. Nothing is off the table because it's too 'comic-booky' and might look silly in a live action film. To me that's incredibly liberating. It lets James actually tell a proper Superman story that isn't hamstrung by reality, or tip toeing into the fantastical just enough to allow Superman to exist in the real world. Superman begins in the middle of a battle. Metropolis is under attack by a super powered being known as 'Hammer of Boravia', however everything is not as it seems, and Superman (David Corenswet) must work with other s...

I'm Joining the Illuminati Brotherhood By Personal Invitation of Hiltom Rothschild... Wait, What?

How special am I to have finally come of age (53 years young) and am now eligible to participate in building the world alongside other members of the Illuminati Brotherhood... Yes I've received the call by way of an email, which I'm sure is real because I had to translate it from the Dutch language and it was personally written by Hiltom Rothschild, one of the non-existent members of the Rothschild family (or perhaps deep undercover because Google has never heard of them?). A Transcript of the email below: To: etourist From: Illuminati Brotherhood Subject: Illuminati Broederschap (Illuminati Brotherhood) I am Hiltom Rothschild, a member of the Rothschild family, one of the 13 families of the Illuminati brotherhood. I'm here to let you know that you've come of age and are eligible to participate in building the 🌎 world. It is a calling and a privilege to honor him with pride and gratitude as not everyone will ever be chosen by the LIGHT, many are called but few are ch...

Australian Federal Election 2025 - World's Most Boring Government Re-elected by Landside - We're Even More Fine!

Anthony Albanese Victory by ChatGPT and TET. W hen I started writing about the 2025 Federal election the polls were suggesting the world's most boring government was crusing to a defeat . As it turns out, boring is good, and Australia wants more of it, handing the current government a landslide win with a majority vote. Anthony Albanese became the first PM since John Howard to win a consecutive term, and the first Labor PM since Bob Hawke to do so. Some of that comes down to the leadership revolving door both major parties had through the mid 2000s. Although Anthony is my preferred PM over Dutton the irony is Dutton sounds more like a leader with a fairly commanding voice and an ability to speak well, without sounding like he's waffling and dodging questions, even if he is. Anthony, on the other hand, does have the ability (and speech writer) to say a lot of inspiring things but it gets lost in the delivery. He doesn't seem to know when to emphasise a point for effect. In h...

TET.Life (The Extraordinary Tourist Life)

Search This Blog