laura

I’ve changed my “Top 5″ format to be a little closer to the other bloggers on this site, since as time goes on, it’s clear that my top sites overall may not accurately reflect what’s hot currently. So this quarter, I’m focusing specifically on what I was actually paid by all panels just in the last three months. As usual, my ‘real life job’ kept me from focusing on surveys certain weeks, so my list reflects my three month totals of taking surveys ‘part time’!

This quarter, I was paid $362.10. While most of that came from surveys as usual, I also made an almost surprising amount of cash from on-going forum invites and sweepstakes wins. Like many of the other bloggers have mentioned, I didn’t have much luck on invokes until just recently: I just found out I landed a clinical trial that pays $500! I had my first visit yesterday, and am looking forward to the project!

My Current Top Five Paid Surveys List (October 2011)

  1. GlobalTestMarket
    • Total Earned This Quarter: $50.00
    • Total Earned Since Joining: $62.75
    • Joined: November 25, 2009
  2. Global Test Market has always run in spurts for me, and for awhile I was wondering if I was ever going to cash out – I had been sitting at just a few points of cashing out for months! But suddenly, all that changed, and within the last few weeks, not only have I cashed out, but I’m already well on my way to my next payment! Been a good quarter for Global Test Market for me!

  3. Opinion Outpost
    • Total Earned This Quarter: $40.10
    • Total Earned Since Joining: $79.00
    • Joined: November 25, 2009
  4. I’ll say it every time I post about this panel – always, always, always keep your profiles up to date! I updated mine immediately after moving this summer, and was slammed with new surveys that I qualified for and completed. Like others have mentioned, I have noticed a slight drop in points offered lately, but overall the time spent is still worth the reward. (FYI – I actually did win a dollar on that slot machine game once last month, too!) The new PayPal payment system allows for lower cash-out levels and is immediate – I had the money in my account in a matter of minutes.

    Here is a screenshot of my last Opinion Outpost cash-out for $19.30 via PayPal:

    Opinion Outpost Payment October 2011

  5. Toluna
    • Total Earned This Quarter: $40.00
    • Total Earned Since Joining: $140.95
    • Joined: November 26, 2009
  6. As others have noted, the points on this panel keep going down…I’m barely finding any surveys that pay over a dollar (3,000 points), so I’m being very choosy about which ones I take. The only redeeming (for me) quality is all of the quick surveys they offer for a few points – I do these when I’m at work and don’t have enough time to take a full-blown survey, but want to make a few extra cents while I’m sitting at my desk. I find that I can make anywhere from 500-1000 points a day on average with those, just by clicking on a few answers while I down my coffee.

    Here is a screenshot of my last Toluna cash-out of $20 (60000 points):

    Toluna Payment October 2011

  7. Surveyhead
    • Total Earned This Quarter: $25.00
    • Total Earned Since Joining: $82.20
    • Joined: January 10, 2010
  8. I still have a love-hate relationship with this panel. While Surveyhead by far offers more surveys per day than pretty much any other panel, I’m frequently frustrated by the poor customer support, and the seemingly erratic “invalids” I’m amassing on my account. To be honest, I’m half-way afraid of continuing, as I’m sure I’m only an arbitrary “invalid” away from having my account dumped. So while I do make a fair amount of cash on this panel (in fact, I just got a hefty chunk of change for completing a several week diary on my beer drinking habits, as well as a $50 sweepstakes win from a panel I joined through Surveyhead), I’m finding myself only coming here after I’m done with my more stable top-tier panels.

    Here is a screenshot of my last SurveyHead cash-out for $25:

    Surveyhead Payment October 2011

  9. Synovate
    • Total Earned This Quarter: $15.00
    • Total Earned Since Joining: $25.76
    • Joined: November 25, 2009
  10. While Synovate came in at number five monetarily, don’t let it fool you – it’s saved me more than double that in product tests! If you’re looking specifically for product tests, this is the place to be. I’ve landed half a dozen great product tests over the last few weeks – everything from frozen dinners and protein shakes, to perfumes and shampoo. I’ve been really lucky to get to try out a lot of products that have been absolutely relevant to me and my family…and thus saving me a few bucks on my grocery trips!

    Here is a screenshot of my last three Synovate cash-outs for $15 (15000 points):

    Surveyhead Payment October 2011

    Do you have a list of favorite survey panels?

    Please leave a comment below and let us know some of the survey panels that work best for you.


     
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{ 4 comments }

Howdy, all!  Sorry to be MIA for a few months – I just got married in May!  I put off doing my quarterly review back in March since things were so hectic (plus, I mean, I really didn’t have time for that many surveys while planning my big day), but I’m back with my latest top 10.  Currently, I’ve been paid $1146.50 since starting surveys in late 2009.

Without further ado, here’s my latest top ten list:

  1. SurveySpot
    • TOTAL EARNED: $329.00
    • Direct Paid: $48.00
    • Direct Pending: $1.00
    • Indirect Paid: $280.00
    • Joined: 11/26/09
    • Last position: 1 (change = 0)
  2. SurveySpot had been pretty dry for me over the first part of the year – I wasn’t getting a lot of paying invites, and the few that I did get were mostly for $0.50.  However, I’m still racking in quite a bit of money for some communities that I was invited to join through the panel – including a $75 project that I completed last month.  So with that in mind, SurveySpot is still my most lucrative panel to date.

  3. Toluna
    • TOTAL EARNED: $111.37
    • Direct Paid: $85.00
    • Direct Pending: $11.37
    • Indirect Paid: $15.00
    • Joined: 11/26/09
    • Last position: 2 (change = 0)
  4. Toluna’s paying surveys have really slipped up for me lately; I barely find any surveys that are worth my time.  Most surveys are for a dollar or less, for upwards of 30 or so minutes – just not quite worth it for me unless I’m really that bored.  The only thing going for this panel right now is the huge numbers of sponsored polls on the site – I log in daily and take those, and that’s what’s keeping a steady income for me on this site.

  5. Ipsos
    • TOTAL EARNED: $68.40
    • Direct Paid: $40.00
    • Direct Pending:$14.40
    • Indirect Paid: $14.00
    • Joined 11/24/09
    • Last position: 3 (change = 0)
  6. Ipsos also slowed for me in the beginning of the year, but has rebounded in the last few months.  I don’t feel like I’m qualifying for quite as many surveys as before, but at least most surveys pay a few cents for attempts.

  7. MySurvey
    • TOTAL EARNED: $65.83
    • Direct Paid: $10.00
    • Indirect Paid (Lightspeed): $50.00
    • Direct Pending: $5.83
    • Joined 11/25/09
    • Last position: 5 (change = +1)
  8. I’m not quite as thrilled with the MySurvey / Lightspeed merger as others have been.  Granted, I was totally sick of Lightspeed’s customer service (especially after loosing about $10 worth of incentives when I wasn’t credited for a week-long diary project.)  I’ve noticed that MySurvey is sending me a lot more invites lately – but I’m qualifying for much less of them overall since the merger.  At least I’m getting my 5 points per attempted survey, so I’m still slowly creeping up on another payout.

  9. Surveyhead
    • TOTAL EARNED: $57.15
    • Direct Paid: $53.60
    • Direct Pending: $3.55
    • Joined: 1/10/10
    • Last position: 4 (change = -1)
  10. Surveyhead has been really dry for me.  It seems like half the time either the server is down, I can’t qualify for any surveys, or that I don’t receive credit for the few surveys I do complete.  I’m currently waiting on customer service to respond to a 30 minute $3.00 survey I didn’t get credited for recently – good thing I’m taking screen shots of all my completed surveys these days!

  11. Opinion Outpost
    • TOTAL EARNED: $48.40
    • Direct Paid: $38.90
    • Direct Pending: $9.50
    • Joined: 11/25/09
    • Last position: 7 (change = +1)
  12. Opinion Outpost has been the steadiest panel for me lately; I’m staying clear of the OTX surveys, and finishing a fair amount of the rest of the invites.  I’m kinda bummed they raised the cash out limit for checks, but I understand with the cost of postage it’s necessary.

  13. MyView
    • TOTAL EARNED: $38.45
    • Direct Paid: $30.00
    • Indirect Pending: $8.45
    • Joined: 1/18/10
    • Last position: 6 (change = -1)
  14. Like many I mentioned before, MyView slowed up quite a bit for me for the first few months of the year, but came back with a vengeance recently; in fact, most of the points I’ve earned lately have been in this last week alone!  So I’m happy I’m back on track with this panel.

  15. Springboard America
    • TOTAL EARNED: $30.75
    • Direct Pending: $30.75
    • Joined: 12/5/09
    • Last position: 9 (change = +1)
  16. Springboard America has also been pretty consistent over the last six months – I’ve been finishing a fair amount of surveys for the ones I’ve attempted, and have found them overall to be more enjoyable than a lot of the other panels I’m with.  I can’t wait to cash out soon!

  17. GlobalTestMarket
    • TOTAL EARNED: $30.00
    • Direct Pending: $30.00
    • Joined: 11/25/09
    • Last position: 8 (change = -1)
  18. Ugh, Global Test Market has been really slow for me for even more than the last six months (this is the second time they’ve dropped a rating on my list).  I’m receiving a lot of invites, but at least half of them are for sweepstakes only, and I’m barely qualifying for the rest.

  19. Synovate
    • TOTAL EARNED: $25.56
    • Direct Paid: $20.00
    • Direct Pending: $5.56
    • Joined: 11/25/09
    • Last position: 10 (change = 0)
  20. Synovate’s still one of my small but strong panels.  Not a lot of invites, but I complete quite a bit of the ones they do send – and you gotta love their low cash-out threshold.

Do you have a list of favorite survey panels?
Please leave a comment below and let us know some of the survey panels that work best for you.

{ 6 comments }

It’s been a little over a year since I first started doing online surveys in my free time.  Over the last twelve months, I have been paid $858.00, with $25.50 requested.  Now, if you compare this list with my list from September, you’ll notice that it’s not as huge of a jump as my previous 3 months – the truth is, my boss resigned at my ‘real life job’ (which is supposed to be a part time freelance position), so I got thrown 60+ hours a week from October until just before Thanksgiving!  So these numbers really only reflect about a month’s worth of survey attempts.

However, since this is my one year anniversary post, I also sat down and calculated all of my pending amounts from the smaller panels that I haven’t reached the payout level yet.  In addition to the $981.03 already calculated in payments, payments on their way, and the pending amounts below, I’ve also earned $148.18 from those other, smaller panels.  Which brings my grand total yearly earnings to $1129.21, or approximately $94.10 a month.  Not bad for something that I just spend a few hours of free time on each week!

Without further ado, here’s my latest top ten list:

  1. SurveySpot
    • TOTAL EARNED: $221.50
    • Direct Paid: $38.00
    • Direct Pending: $8.50
    • Indirect Paid: $175.00
    • Joined: 11/26/09
    • Last position: 1 (change = 0)
  2. I didn’t get a chance to spend a lot of time with Survey Spot this quarter, but I still managed to rack up a fair amount of change with one of the Communispace communities I qualified for through this panel!

  3. Toluna
    • TOTAL EARNED: $95.60
    • Direct Paid: $65.00
    • Direct Pending: $15.60
    • Indirect Paid: $15.00
    • Joined: 11/26/09
    • Last position: 2 (change = 0)
  4. As busy as I was over the last few months, those little sponsored polls on Toluna’s website were more than enough to keep my point balance on the rise.  On average, I can make anywhere from 500-1000 points a day – meaning I can reach the cash out point within 2-3 months without doing a single ‘real’ survey!  This is the perfect way to spend those few minutes of downtime at work without committing to a full-length study.

  5. Ipsos
    • TOTAL EARNED: $58.45
    • Direct Paid: $40.00
    • Direct Pending:$4.45
    • Indirect Paid: $14.00
    • Joined 11/24/09
    • Last position: 5 (change = +2)
  6. Ipsos seems to have kicked up the online surveys, leading to a lot more profit this quarter.  I’ve also noticed a bit of an increase in mailed surveys from their sister panel, Ipsos Home Testing Institute.

  7. Surveyhead
    • TOTAL EARNED: $55.65
    • Direct Paid: $53.60
    • Direct Pending: $2.05
    • Joined: 1/10/10
    • Last position: 4 (change = 0)
  8. Surveyhead remains constant, though I didn’t get much time with this panel this month.  I did receive my latest cash-out request; still taking 8 weeks on the nose to receive payment.

  9. Lightspeed
    • TOTAL EARNED: $48.70
    • Direct Paid: $45.00
    • Direct Pending: $3.70
    • Joined 11/24/09
    • Last position: 3 (change = -2)
  10. Lightspeed dropped two points in position this quarter after I failed to receive $10.00 worth of points for a 10 day diary program I participated in.  I’ve yet to get a response from customer service from either Lightspeed or Perks after multiple emails.  I’m very disappointed to have spent so much time on a huge project and not be compensated.

  11. MyView
    • TOTAL EARNED: $37.23
    • Direct Paid: $30.00
    • Direct Pending: $7.23
    • Joined: 1/18/10
    • Last position: 6 (change = 0)
  12. MyView has also been a constant earned, but I logged in the other day to notice that their $15 Amazon gift code option has been removed.  I’m very disappointed in this change, since now we’re back to waiting to hit the $25 Visa gift card cash option as the only real decent reward offered.

  13. Opinion Outpost
    • TOTAL EARNED: $33.90
    • Direct Paid: $23.40
    • Direct Pending: $10.50
    • Joined: 11/25/09
    • Last position: 8 (change = +1)
  14. Opinion Outpost did very well for me this quarter – I earned over $7 within an hour after logging into the panel after my break!  I’ve noticed that Opinion Outpost is also labeling their OTX surveys as such now, so that if you wish to avoid them, you can.

  15. GlobalTestMarket
    • TOTAL EARNED: $28.50
    • Direct Pending: $28.50
    • Joined: 11/25/09
    • Last position: 7 (change = -1)
  16. Lots of invites as usual from GTM this quarter, but I didn’t have time to take advantage of most of them.

  17. Springboard America
    • TOTAL EARNED: $27.50
    • Direct Pending: $27.50
    • Joined: 12/5/09
    • Last position: 9 (change = 0)
  18. Springboard America doesn’t send out many invites, but I still find that I complete a fairly high ratio of them when available.  Still inching towards that $50 payout!

  19. Synovate
    • TOTAL EARNED: $19.96
    • Direct Paid: $15.00
    • Direct Pending: $4.96
    • Joined: 11/25/09
    • Last position: 10 (change = 0)
  20. Synovate continues to be small but steady.  I qualify for most surveys sent, and find the time spent is always worth the incentive offered.

Do you have a list of favorite survey panels?
Please leave a comment below and let us know some of the survey panels that work best for you.

{ 1 comment }

Laura’s Top Ten Survey Panels – September 2010

Thumbnail image for Laura’s Top Ten Survey Panels – September 2010 September 6, 2010

Since the end of last year, when I first began to take online surveys, I have been paid a total of  $709, with an additional $67 that has been requested and is on it’s way.  Here are my top earners, currently.  (Indirect payments indicate earnings from special invokes or community invites from that panel.) SurveySpot [...]

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Laura’s Top Ten Survey Panels

Thumbnail image for Laura’s Top Ten Survey Panels June 8, 2010

I was laid off from my full time job in November of 2009.  While job searching I stumbled into the world of online income, and began taking surveys in my free time – a welcomed break between job interviews and emailing resumes!  Even when I found a new job in February, I continued to participate [...]

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