I started keeping records of my online paid surveys January 31, 2008. I spend an average of three to four hours per day taking surveys, although some days run much longer than others. I have earned $10,325.05 in 38 months from 28 survey sites, which is $271.71 per month. The average survey site earned $9.70 per month. My actual receipts are $9972.35, which is $262.43 per month. About 10% of my earnings are from product tests and Invoke Interactives. Another 10% is from survey sites that I don’t earn enough per year to bother keeping track. I do not keep track of prizes or free products, but I do include contest wins, writing assignments and forum moderation fees. I only add in points accumulated after they have been redeemed due to the difficulty of calculating point values. 74.1% of all of my earnings comes from my ten best survey sites show below.

My Current Top Ten Paid Surveys List (March 2011)

1. Opinion Outpost
   • Total Earned Since Joining: $763.80
   • Total Earned This Month: $26.70
   • Last Payment Received: $50.10 check on March 7, 2011
   • Joined: February 4, 2008

In February I completed 14 surveys for 267 points ($26.70).  I currently have 198 points credited ($19.80).

2. GlobalTestMarket
   • Total Earned Since Joining: $701.90
   • Total Earned This Month: $23.75
   • Last Payment Received: $51.25 check on January 12, 2011
   • Joined: March 1, 2008

In February I completed 13 surveys for 475 points ($23.75). I currently have 750 points ($37.50) credited.

3. SurveySpot
   • Total Earned Since Joining: $629.00
   • Total Earned This Month: $6.00
   • Last Payment Received: $44.00 PayPal on January 31, 2011
   • Joined: January 30, 2008

In February I completed three surveys with SurveySpot for 600 points ($6). I have one survey completed (Beer drinking study), but not yet credited, for 300 points ($3). I currently have 1200 points ($12). SurveySpot has fallen off dramatically for me since December.

4. Toluna
   • Total Earned Since Joining: $547.00
   • Total Earned This Month: $16.87
   • Last Payment Received: $20.00 check on January 12, 2011
   • Joined: February 11, 2008

I currently have 50,598 points ($16.87). This site requires the most amount of time and effort relative to my earnings. Increasingly, I am simply skipping all of the surveys for 1800 points ($0.60). I have consistently been receiving the following message even before completing any surveys through Toluna:

“Thank you for your willingness to participate and share your opinion in our online surveys. Unfortunately, we have no new surveys available at this time. We expect to have new surveys added shortly so please feel free to try back tomorrow. Thank you again for taking the time to provide honest and thoughtful answers to our surveys.”

5. Surveyhead
   • Total Earned Since Joining: $459.65
   • Total Earned This Month: $9.50
   • Last Payment Received: $25 PayPal on January 12, 2011
   • Joined: August 15, 2008

In February I completed seven surveys for $9.50. I currently have $0.60 in rewards with $18.50 pending. The reason I was not receiving surveys from Surveyhead since Nov. 8, 2010 was because my account was suspended for having four “Invalids” in the past year. I contacted Surveyhead in December and they restored my account due to my long history.

6. MySurvey (merged with Lightspeed)
   • Total Earned Since Joining: $445.00
   • Total Earned This Month: $14.27
   • Last Payment Received: $10.00 PayPal on January 26, 2011
   • Joined: February 2, 2008

In February I completed 36 surveys for 1570 points ($14.27). I currently have 1095 points ($9.95). This survey site is vastly better when the free products are considered. They also moved up in the rankings considerably after I combined my previous earnings from Lightspeed with MySurvey.com.

7. Valued Opinions
   • Total Earned Since Joining: $404.95
   • Total Earned This Month: $10.00
   • Last Payment Received: $20.00 Amazon.com gift card on February 12, 2011
   • Joined: February 12, 2008

In February I completed seven surveys for $10. I currently have $12.95 in rewards with $12 pending.

8. MyView
   • Total Earned Since Joining: $316.00
   • Total Earned This Month: $4.09
   • Last Payment Received: $25.00 Virtual Prepaid VISA Card on November 19, 2010
   • Joined: March 1, 2009

The average survey on MyView is worth about 40 cents and none of them take less than 15 minutes to complete; many are longer. I currently have 5,725 points ($4.09). I’m no longer bothering with the 350-point ($0.25) surveys. I have requested a $15 Amazon gift card on March 13, 2011. They take about a week to arrive via email

9. SurveySavvy
   • Total Earned Since Joining: $239.00
   • Total Earned This Month: $44.00
   • Last Payment Received: $56.00 check on January 24, 2011
   • Joined: April 3, 2008

Survey Savvy does not give you a convenient way to track your surveys completed. I requested a check for $22 on February 4, 2011.

10. Elite Opinions
    • Total Earned Since Joining: $200.00
    • Total Earned This Month: $31.82
    • Last Payment Requested: $15.00 PayPal on February 11, 2011
    • Joined: March 11, 2009

In February I completed two surveys for 3500 points ($31.82). I currently have 225 points ($2.45) pending.

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.