Stephanie’s Top Five Survey Panels – November 2011

November was another slow month for me in survey land. I was a bit busier than normal due to school and the holidays, so I didn’t have as much time as I would have liked to focus on more surveys. I could not find any Invokes this month, which is a shame, but I did get quite a few survey invitations that I qualified for. I also received several product tests (mainly a lot of snack foods and some personal care products) from MySurvey, Synovate, Global Test Market, and Opinion Outpost.My top earners for November are MySurvey, Valued Opinions, Opinion Outpost, Global Test Market, and E-Rewards. I have not been earning as much with Opinion Outpost since their merging with SSI (Survey Sampling International), which is a disappointment. However, I am still doing quite well with MySurvey, Valued Opinions, and E-Rewards. Global Test Market sends me a lot of surveys, but I can’t seem to qualify for as many of them anymore, although I still earn a good amount each month. Although November was slow, hopefully I will have more time in December to devote to survey-taking and maybe find some online focus groups if I’m lucky. Rankings are based mainly on what I earned for the month from each survey company, as well as the number of survey invites. Here are my current top five earners for November:

1. 1. MySurvey
      • Total Earned Since Joining: $555.00
      • Total Earned in November: $15.00
      • Last Payment Requested: $25.00 Amazon.com gift card on November 25, 2011
      • Joined: October 22, 2008

Here is screenshot of my last payment request for a $25 Amazon Gift card. I am receiving survey invitations that I qualify for from MySurvey more than any other survey panel recently. Although point values differ from survey to survey, it all adds up in a hurry. I also took part in a week-long beverage survey during November that paid 400 points and I received a couple of snack food products to evaluate. I recently cashed out with them and received the Amazon.com gift card in a week. It was a little slower than normal to cash out, but I think it was because of the holidays, which is to be expected.

1. 1. Valued Opinions
      • Total Earned Since Joining: $416.00
      • Total Earned in November: $14.00
      • Last Payment Requested: $20.00 Amazon.com gift card on November 14, 2011
      • Joined: September 5, 2008

Here is screenshot of my last payment request for a $20 Amazon Gift card. I still like taking surveys with Valued Opinions. They remind me a lot of MySurvey in that their surveys are more enjoyable (in my opinion) and technical issues are rare. I received a lot of surveys from them in November that I qualified for, although many I did not (mainly because I got to them too late and they already had full quotas). I also cashed out with them recently for a $20 Amazon.com gift card. Payment arrived immediately in my email inbox, which I love about this panel. I am very close to cashing out for another $20 Amazon.com gift card, which will hopefully happen in early December.

1. 1. Opinion Outpost
      • Total Earned Since Joining: $643.00
      • Total Earned in November: $12.00
      • Last Payment Requested: $26.50 via PayPal on November 14, 2011
      • Joined: August 12, 2008

Here is screenshot of my last cash request payout for $26.50. Now that I’ve had more time to take surveys with Opinion Outpost since their merger, I can’t say I’m very impressed with them. I get a lot of survey invitations, but they fill up quickly or I don’t qualify. Some surveys offer very little points for the time invested (one survey invitation I received in November listed the point value being 10 points for 90 minutes, which is just plain ridiculous). I also get really tired of answering the same screening questions over and over again (like they have on SurveySpot). Sometimes they ask up to ten questions with multiple answers, which takes far too long to fill out. These should be addressed in profile surveys or at least the answers should be saved so I don’t have to keep answering the same question over and over again every time I want to attempt to take a survey. Opinion Outpost did that at times before the merger, but not to this degree. It’s just very annoying and makes me not want to bother taking surveys with them sometimes because it’s so time-consuming. It’s just frustrating to me. In better news, at least their “Take A Survey” button is fixed on the website and cashing out with PayPal is easy and immediate (like SurveySpot). I was worried because some people were having issues cashing out via PayPal, so I cashed out a little earlier than normal in November just to make sure there would be no problems. I just confirmed my PayPal email address with them and the money was sent to my account immediately. I really prefer PayPal to checks, so at least that’s a good aspect of the new website. It does seem they removed the Amazon.com gift card option the last time I checked, though, which is a shame because I also like the option of Amazon.com gift cards if I need something there. PayPal is probably good enough for me, though. Also, thankfully, the reward structure is the same, so points are worth the same amount of money. I am very glad they didn’t change this and I hope it stays that way. Unless things improve with Opinion Outpost, I don’t see them being in my top 5 for much longer. I think they will remain in my top 10, but not my top 5. I don’t qualify for their surveys that often anymore and don’t receive many high-paying ones, so I am doubtful about my future with them. I know others have mixed feelings about the merger; some love it, others hate it. For myself, I really prefer the old Opinion Outpost. It was a lot simpler to use and I had a better success rate for qualifying for surveys.

1. 1. GlobalTestMarket
      • Total Earned Since Joining: $378.00
      • Total Earned in November: $10.00
      • Last Payment Requested: $50.00 check on November 14, 2011
      • Joined: September 21, 2008

I received a lot of surveys this month from Global Test Market, though it was hard to qualify for a lot of them. At least I’m getting more surveys (even if I don’t qualify for most) since there was a time in recent months where I hardly got anything from them at all. I’ve noticed many are worth more points now, too (many 50-60 point ones are out there). I was also FINALLY able to cash out for a $50 check, which I did recently and am currently waiting on for it to arrive, which usually takes about a month.

1. 1. E-Rewards
      • Total Earned Since Joining: $172.00
      • Total Earned in November: $9.00
      • Last Payment Requested: $25.00 GameStop gift card on November 16, 2011
      • Joined: September 4, 2010

I still love E-Rewards for all the surveys I get from them and the GameStop gift card option. I received a lot of surveys from them in November that I qualified for. I cashed out for another $25 GameStop gift card in November and am close to cashing out for another one in December. I received the gift card within a week; I really love their quick service. If you’re a gamer, definitely check out E-Rewards for the GameStop gift card option. The majority of their surveys have nothing to do with video games, though. For me, the topics mainly include food, restaurants, shopping habits, and electronics. You also get a small amount of money if you don’t qualify for a survey, so that’s a plus. 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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