The Stumbling Blocks of Paid Surveys
Article by Scott Lindsay
I?d like to provide a few samples of why paid surveys are a difficult way to make money. It?s not impossible, but the road is difficult and filled with stumbling blocks.
Stumbling Block # 1
You may not be dealing with an actual paid survey company. What I mean by that is that in many instances opportunists will find ways to funnel survey takers through a secondary business site that may not be directly affiliated with any actual survey company. The individual respondents will, in fact, take a survey, but the majority of any proceeds may likely go to the owners of the secondary site ? not the survey taker. The respondent is usually awarded opportunities to win in raffle type drawings. This is usually promised by saying something like, ?The more surveys you take the better your chances of winning?.
Some sites provide cyber cash that can be used to purchase items in their online shop. The choices may be limited and require a significant amount of surveys in order to receive the prize you are interested in.
Stumbling Block # 2
You won?t be paid immediately in most cases. Many survey companies create a payment threshold that must be met before they will release funds to you. If, for instance, you successfully complete one survey per week and are paid per survey it will take more than 6 months in most cases to gain release of your earnings. Many survey takers will abandon their earnings rather than wait six months or more for a payday.
The funds placed in your online account will ultimately become the possession of the owners of the site you signed up for. It may not be so far from the truth that you are essentially giving money to those who develop these secondary sites.
Stumbling Block # 3
You might experience a slow down in survey offers. The closer you get to the amount needed to release funds the slower you may find offers coming in. If the sites can cause just enough frustration you will leave the funds behind.
Stumbling Block # 4
You might sign up believing you will always receive cash. Some paid survey collectives offer what they refer to as ?Cash value?. Essentially this means the survey taker may not actually receive cash, but something that has cash value. However, this does not mean it will be personally valuable to the recipient. This could be gifts, discounts or even coupons.
Stumbling Block # 5
You?ve read a lot of information about Paid Surveys and it?s been mostly positive. You have to understand most of the press is either from those who have learned the connections for a first person association with actual survey companies or the information is from companies that have found ways to make money selling you on the idea of taking surveys. For the novice survey taker there is very little about the paid survey market to elicit a strongly favorable response.
Many companies have found ways to exploit the paid survey industry and have developed paid memberships for access to services that are free in almost every case. They have learned to ask members to take surveys for as little as twenty-five cents while receiving several dollars in some cases for providing the survey taker.
Paid surveys are a great idea that somehow got lost in the greed.
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