Paid online surveys are good work at home opportunities because it is an easy and free way to make extra money online. But with so many scam and spam sites popping up everywhere these days, oftentimes it is difficult to determine what is real, especially for beginners. To give a real picture of paid online surveys, I have outlined some of most basic facts about paid surveys in a questions and answers manner.

1. Are paid surveys for real?

Yes, paid online surveys are for real! A good number of legitimate survey companies will pay you just for your time and opinion. They pay you for your feedback on products and services of manufactures and businesses.

2. Do I have to pay to take surveys and get paid?

Absolutely NOT! Legitimate surveys companies NEVER ask you to pay to take surveys and get paid. They are always FREE to join, and it cost absolutely NOTHING whatsoever! Please be aware the difference between paid survey sites and paid to sign up offer sites, the later pay you for signing up offers, and sometimes you might need to pay upfront a small amount (therefore provide credit card information) to try non-free offers.

3. How do paid surveys work?

You sign up with (join) a market research/paid survey company's research panel, provide your contact information (such as email and home address) and basic (and sometimes a little more detailed) demographic information such as your name, gender, age etc... When the survey company has a market research survey that fits your profile, they will send you an email inviting you to participate. They will indicate what the reward will be for completing the survey. You take the survey, if you qualify and complete the survey, you will get paid by the survey company. Often if you don't qualify for the survey, you will still earn a entry to enter in a sweepstakes drawing.

4. Why so many people think paid surveys are scams?

There are four main reasons:

1). There ARE tons of scam sites - they claim to be paid survey sites and in-fact they just want your personal information and turn around and sell it, and you will get tons of spam emails and even telemarketing calls, but no real surveys.

2). There are many websites promoting those scam/spam sites. If you see any websites (paid or free) that list hundreds (300+, 400+ or even 500+) of paid surveys sites, please be aware! Lot of those websites just promote anything they can for commission, no matter it is scam or spam. Remember, more is not always better!

3). Many paid offers sites advertise themselves (or claim on their own websites) as paid survey sites. The truth of the matter is, even some of them do have paid surveys (usually low paying ones), their main "business" is actually paid offers. This could make people confused and often give false impression that paid surveys are NOT FREE, and unfortunately give paid surveys a bad name.

4). Lot of survey starters do not realize that it takes time to get paid. A couple of weeks after signing up and taking some surveys, you don't see the money coming in and you start questioning this whole paid surveys thing is just another online scam. Many people just give up this way. Please be aware: If you sign up with legitimate survey companies and complete surveys, you will get paid. But it doesn't mean you will get paid right away. Some survey companies have minimum payout requirements to cash out rewards, of course it takes time to reach that requirement. Also, it takes average 4 weeks for survey companies to process payments and rewards.

5. How much can I make for taking paid surveys?

How much can you make really depends on several factors:

1). How many legitimate paid survey sites you sign up with - the more you sign up with the more survey invites you get;

2). Your demographic profile which determines the number and type of surveys you get and qualify - for example, you probably will not get a women apparel product test survey if you are a man.

3). Amount of time you spend taking surveys, focus groups, etc.

4). How lucky you are when it comes to drawings, rattles and sweepstakes - people do win!

I would say if you sign up with a number of good survey sites and take the majority of the surveys you are invited, you could make $1000 to $2000 a year in cash, gift certificates and prize combined. I personally make average $200 a month and spend about an hour and half a day taking online surveys, it takes me about 1 year to reach this level.

Can you really make $100 an hour? - It is possible to make $100 for an one hour focus group discussion, but you won't have this kind of opportunity to fill a full day's work. The truth is you are not going to get rich or make a full time salary by doing paid surveys. However you certainly CAN make pretty good extra cash.

6. Should I pay a database/directory/list for paid survey sites?

No. With some effort, you should be able to find all yourself. The problem with those database/directories is they usually promote everything they can find for commissions, no matter it is scam or spam, and they can NOT be trusted.

7. Is paid survey worth my time?

Yes. I personally feel that with the little effort I put in and the rewards I earn, it's worth my time. It's easy work and very flexible, I can do it anytime I want. I enjoy testing new products before they come out of the market and giving opinion on existing products and services to make them better, and the better part is I get paid for doing so.

Doing paid surveys is not going to make you rich, but it's certainly an easy and fun way to make some extra cash. For more information about paid surveys, please feel free to visit my site, you will find free paid survey lists (that only list real legitimate paid survey companies), paid survey guides and tips, as well as my personal first hand reviews on individual paid survey sites.

Copyright 2007 Mei Lynn.