We all would like to earn a little extra cash in our spare time.  The internet, in fact, is a wealth of sites on the internet that rank surveys according to their payout and the kind of survey taker they’re looking for.  You often have to pay in some upfront money in order to join the site but, if the site is legitimate, you will eventually get that money back in returns on your surveys.

So how do you know which is a good site to get paid doing surveys and which are disreputable?  It’s not always easy and you may have to get references from the site and/or read carefully the fine print before going onto working for the site.  You can look up surveys by Googling “online surveys” and picking up individual surveys from companies or you can go to some of the mega-sites that rank hundreds of surveys for you.  It’s possible to get burned by a site that advertises well but pays very little return.

Some of the most advertised sites that offer poor returns include the following sites:
- Paid Surveys Etc.
- Make Money Taking Surveys.org
- Gain Opinion.com

One of the above survey mega-sites claims you can make $3000-$4000 a month just by doing surveys at up to $75 a survey, going on as a member of an online focus group and getting paid up to $150 per hour, trying products provided by the company at no charge and giving your opinion and previewing movie trailers online for up to $35 a trailer.

So let’s break this down: What company would claim that you can earn up to $4000 a month, just by working at home?  Does this seem logical to you?  What about getting paid $150 an hour, just by giving your opinion?  These are the impractical things you need to look out for when looking for a legitimate site for surveys.  You should also be cautious about those that ask you to pay in before taking a survey.

Many mega-sites charge a small fee for belonging to the site because they have taken the time to rank and sort the surveys for you so you shouldn’t be put off by that as long as what they offer seems to be legitimate.  And you might get burned anyway by one of these types of sites.  They may offer few surveys that apply to you or that you are eligible for.  The amount of money you get per survey may be very low and you may find that the surveys are interminably long and aren’t worth the money you get back from them.

Many mega-sites also offer opportunities for mystery shopping and data entry.  Presumably, they’ve screened out these experiences and offers and have found them to be legitimate but you can’t always be certain you’ll be paid what it’s worth to do them.  Sometimes, finding the right site for you is hit or miss and you might have to shop around for a legitimate site before you find the right site for you.

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