The Surgery

Is there money to be made from online market research surveys?

I was having this discussion a few days ago with a colleague, and thought I’d share a few observations.

On Tech Talk Radio in May (Episode 20-2007) I talked about two online survey organisations which I’d had dealings with.

The first, emailcash Australia, awards points to account holders. Points are accrued by clicking on sponsored links, participating in surveys and buying goods and services from Reward Partners. After you accrue a certain number of points, these can be redeemed for cash. For example, after accruing 3,000 points I was able to cash these points for $30.00. By providing your electronic transfer details to emailcash Australia, they put the money straight into your bank account of choice.

The second organisation, Pureprofile, awards real dollars to account holders. Again, money is accrued by clicking on sponsored links and answering surveys. You can log in at any time to see your balance, and once your balance is over a certain amount, you can have this transferred to a real-world bank account.

As it so happens, I opted to receive a $50.00 balance from Pureprofile just last week. It was quite a painless process and the money arrived in my bank account within a few days. Here’s a bank statement with a previous payment from Pureprofile:

Some observations about online market research organisations:

• Yes, believe it or not, they do actually pay!

• By logging in, answering surveys and clicking links every day, it’s taking me about 6 months to get a $50.00 payout from both organisations. Whether this is on-par, ahead or behind other users, I don’t really know.

• I’ve never actually had to buy anything in order to qualify to receive cash. Clicking on links and answering anonymous surveys is all that has been required.

• The most personal information I’ve been asked is my age, gender, postcode, employment status and marital status. I’ve never been asked my name or address in an anonymous survey. (From memory you are required to provide your name and some additional personal information when you setup an account.)

• I initially setup two independent email addresses, solely for use by the marketing organisations and for receiving mail and notifications. I’ve never received any unsolicited email to either address.

• Is 3 minutes a day, clicking on links, worth the pocket money? I’ll let you make your own decision. My advice would be, it’s good pocket money, but don’t give up your day job.

Dr Ron.

(p.s. I have no affiliation with, or interest in, either organisation, other than as a customer.)