How many panels should I really be a member of?

[Guest surveymaster]

Hello, I'm new here and this is my first topic. When I first started taking surveys, I signed up for every survey company that I could because I wanted to get a lot of surveys and I wish to join even more survey panels. Here's the issue:

I'm a member of most likely 30+ panels and almost all of them either pay cash or give me points which I can turn into cash. I even requested and finally requested payout from one panel which I have never requested a payment before. Also, a lot of the panels that I'm a member of get both good and bad reviews and I know to each their own, but still.

How many survey panels do you think I should realistically be a member of? I know that in the end, I'm the one who can decide which panels to stay a member of and which ones to ditch, but I would like everyone's opinion. If it helps, I'll even list some of the panels that I'm a member of if that is okay. i-say, mysurvey, (although I haven't visited this one in a while) Clearvoice surveys, SurveySavvy, Valued Opinions, QuickRewards, MyView, Product Report Card, (Really considering dropping this one because every time I click on a link to take a survey, it always says that I've clicked on the link and I'm being seen as a duplicate) Sprinboard America, Epoll, GtFK surveys, Mindfield Online, Cint Defy Media Panel, Paid Survey Consumer panel USA(also run by Cint) Myopinionnow, Toluna, YouGov, Yourword, and Surveyspot as well as Opinion Outpost just to name a few. There are so many others though, but that's some of them. One of my strategies is try to find out the ones who pay the most the fastest whether by cash or points that add up quickly for cash. Any help would be appreciated and sorry if this is so long.

[truesilver]

Long post incoming~~

That final answer is something you'll have to feel out for yourself. After awhile, it'll come to you. Things to help you make the final approximation:

-How many different survey panels end up offering you the same circle of surveys? If it's a lot, you may want to start trimming the fat based on who pays more for those particular surveys.

-How transparent is the site in regard to its crediting/reward/redemption process? If a site says up front that they take several [insert timeframe here] to credit/reward you, and sticks roughly to that timeframe, more or less, it's worth sticking it out. Heck, even for wildly inconsistent timeframes, so long as the eventuality clause applies (If you know a panel will pay you eventually, it can still be worth sticking with them) they can at least be one of your backburner sites, especially if they pay well and have interesting/wortwhile surveys.

-Does your panel have other redeeming qualities besides its survey pool? If there are other ways to earn points, if disqualifications, quotas, early closures, etc. still give you consolation points, if the payout threshold is low/non-existent, if the support and feedback is pretty decent, these are also other things worth considering.

-Comparative ratios. Time spent versus reward earned. Odds of completion versus reward earned. Odds of completion versus time spent. Things like this can make a site with mediocre to terrible pay look a lot better if it's almost impossible to fail a survey and the surveys are relatively short.

-Recognized dedication. Does your survey panel acknowledge and reward active members? Can you get more points for completing more surveys/producing high-quality responses/being active on the panel for a good while? Sure, the rewards may be underwhelming at first but if you find that sticking it out can really bolster what you get out of a panel, then it might be worth it to do just that.

-Does a panel pay better through smartphone-related activities? Some panels are mediocre in the traditional survey department but apparently amazing if you have a smartphone and move around your city/town/etc. often.

Once you figure out the properties of each panel, you can start categorizing them into primary, secondary, and tertiary panels.

Primary panels indisputably have worthwhile surveys and pay well, promptly, and frequently. You generally do not have to put out work that far exceeds the reward of these sites. I would say that anywhere between 3-5 primary panels is a good approximation.

Secondary panels could be strong in multiple aspects of what makes a good primary panel, but fall flat in others. A site that pays well and has worthwhile surveys but takes forever to pay out might be a good candidate here. Or, a site that pays promptly but isn't so reliable for getting good surveys but does pay well when you successfully complete them. These are the sorts of sites you might participate on when your primaries have little or nothing for you to do. You might have 2-3 of these sites. Too many and you'll get overwhelmed.

Tertiary panels are worthwhile panels that do not pay much but require little to no effort to earn points on. OR, they're panels that offer you very little at first but may be lucrative later on. Their surveys are either short and pay very meagerly or you get points over time from dq's or you find that it's impossible not to qualify for a survey... stuff like that. Either way, a few clicks or a few minutes at a time means sooner or later you'll reach payout (likely later). You can have as many of these as you like; after all, the effort vs. reward ratios here are pretty good.

It's up to you which panels constitute primary, but for me, I'd say American Consumer Opinion, Mindfield, Esearch, Surveyspot, and Ipoll make good secondary choices. Tertiary candidates are Epoll (surveys can be long but you'll never fail one, and you can trim survey length down significantly if you feign ignorance, even if it kills you a little to pretend you've never heard of Kermit the Frog), Paid Viewpoint (Low rewards at first, but 2-3 min surveys that you can't fail and a traitscore system that means your rewards improve as it increases), Brand Institute (6 months and you'll be treated like an actual member, at which case this could become a primary site), and Your Word (depending on how well you do with them it, could either be a decent primary or a decent tertiary site. Their payout threshold is only $5, but you can get there 10 cents at a time if you never successfully qualify for a survey).

[Guest surveymaster]

wow! thank you. That was a lot of information. So, if it is okay to ask, what are some panels that would make good primary panels in your opinion based on the description for them that you gave me?

[truesilver]

It'll vary from person to person. MyView, Pinecone, Darwin's Data, and Opinion Outpost are all common mentions at the top (though Pinecone and Darwin are hard to get accepted by). I've been doing well with Mintvine, but others will describe their experiences differently. GlobalTestMarket, Tellwut, and iPoll get very polarizing responses, with them being either called the best thing ever or complete wastes of time. Personally, none of those three as they are now appeal to me. But you might have better luck. What becomes a primary site for you ultimately boils down to your experiences. I'd say focus on 5 to 10 of the sites you like most, categorize them as needed, and if you feel you can add more to your plate, add from there. Also, keep your eyes open for less well-known but more exclusive panels. Some panels can only be joined through other survey panels, and they tend to be very specialized. It might be that after joining a couple of these panels you stumble upon a few more primaries or replace your primaries altogether.

At the end of the day, it mostly comes down to what you can do without burning yourself out.

[Elwood33]

As the others have said, just stick to how many you can handle. You will find overtime you will join more panels or leave some if they don't offer many surveys or incentives. Some of us get addicted to this and it's hard not to complete many surveys everyday as we always have one panel that's close to a cash-out etc. I'm a member of 30 at the moment myself, but really only 5-10 of them payout fairly quickly and offer a lot of surveys that you don't screen out from.

[janlou]

Of the companies you listed I like Myview and YourWord the best. Never had much luck with Toluna.

[footfree]

Of the companies you listed I like Myview and YourWord the best. Never had much luck with Toluna.

Toluna points expire after sitting 1 year idle.Read the terms and conditions of survey sites.You get to know about them and their policies this way.I personally don't think points should ever expire ,so to me I would never join that company.

[Guest surveymaster]

thank you for the advice so far. Right now since I'm unemployed, I only can do surveys to help get me some money. I'm going to go through my list of surveys and decide which ones I want to keep and which ones I don't. I'm also planning on maybe joining some more survey sites such as Livewire and SurveyU. I thought I was inelligable to join SurveyU because I'm not in college, but was told by the support staff that it is okay. I've tried multiple times to get into Pinecone, but they still won't accept me and I keep on applying, lol. I'm just worried that if I keep applying that they might blacklist me because I keep applying and I won't stop. I used to be a member of theirs before, but I got lazy with the surveys and they kicked me out.

Also, was thinking of maybe applying to Cashcrate and Sunshine rewards for just the surveys: maybe I'll have better luck at those sites then other people have.

[JD]

IF you have time on your hands then do Swagbucks. It will consume your time like nothing else. The pay per time spent is low but you can make a fair amount of money. Some people with the right demographics make $200-$500/month on that site. Remember you have to report to the IRS on income over $600 from a payee. You can literally spend all day on that site to make that kind of money. It will burn you out in the long run IMO. Follow them on Facebook to pick up tips or just Google for information on how best to play Swagbucks.

[NFriday]

I could not see myself signing up for 30 survey companies. Most of the survey companies that I am signed up with do not pay me in cash anyway, and so I usually get Amazon gift cards. Right now I am only working part time, but I am looking for additional work, and if I dealt with 30 survey companies, I would not have time to look for more work. Amazon gift cards will not pay my bills anyway. I was able to put together a $500 stereo system on Amazon this last winter, and pay for it with my GC. I would have never done it otherwise, and right now I am saving up for a new computer. My computer is five years old, and eventually I am going to need a new one. I am over 50, and so I am not eligible for a lot of surveys. I just tried to get into Pinecone for the umpteenth time, and I got denied again. I am sure that it is because I am too old. I have not tried Darwin's Data yet, but I have heard that they are really selective too. I am signed up with Mindfield, and for some reason, I will get denied for 99 out of the 100 surveys I try to do. I get the impression that they are looking for people in the IT field, or for people that are executives in companies. I am self employed, and so that is one of the big reasons I don't get accepted for their surveys. My favorite one right now is my view, even though I got an error message when I clicked on my emails from them yesterday. I also belong to Valued Opinion, My Survey, Inbox Dollars, clix sense, and VIP, which is the one that gives you a chance to win prizes. The only reason I still do that one, is because the surveys are really east. I also recently signed up with mygov, but I have not done any surveys with them yet. I applied for a communispace one, which is by invitation only, and I was deemed eligible, but I have not heard back from them, so maybe they had more people that qualified than they had spaces. In communispace, you are part of a panel, and you just have to comment a few times a month, and you get a $10 Amazon GC for that month when you do. This one I believe is for United health care. I do not know why I am still part of Inbox Dollars. I am not eligible for at least 90% of the surveys, most of which only pay 50 cents, and I make most of my money reading emails. Right now I almost have $80 with them, and they are the only survey company that I am signed up with that pays cash. I might try to get up to $100 and finally drop them.

Have you tried any market research companies? They pay a whole lot more than online surveys do. I live in the Chicago area, and there are a fair amount of market research projects available here. I have not been eligible for one in a while though. They generally pay at least $75, except for one company that does taste tests, and only pays $30-$40, and you usually have to go there twice for the project, and it takes me 30 minutes to drive there. I used to do their projects, but I decided it was not worth it.

[Guest surveymaster]

IF you have time on your hands then do Swagbucks. It will consume your time like nothing else. The pay per time spent is low but you can make a fair amount of money. Some people with the right demographics make $200-$500/month on that site. Remember you have to report to the IRS on income over $600 from a payee. You can literally spend all day on that site to make that kind of money. It will burn you out in the long run IMO. Follow them on Facebook to pick up tips or just Google for information on how best to play Swagbucks.

What exactly do you mean the pay per time spent is low, but I can make a fair amount of money? Does that mean you can take many surveys and they won't run out? I am currently a member of TreasureTrooper and sometimes take their surveys.

[Guest surveymaster]

Have you tried any market research companies? They pay a whole lot more than online surveys do. I live in the Chicago area, and there are a fair amount of market research projects available here. I have not been eligible for one in a while though. They generally pay at least $75, except for one company that does taste tests, and only pays $30-$40, and you usually have to go there twice for the project, and it takes me 30 minutes to drive there. I used to do their projects, but I decided it was not worth it.

Actually, yes. I have joined some focusgroups, market research companies. They haven't contacted me a lot though. I filled out a pre qualification for $50 over the internet to do a phone survey for $50, but I'm not sure if I can participate in it because I haven't gotten a called back.

[NFriday]

A lot of the focus group panels you can find out about on craigslist. 20/20 is a national focus group company too where you can do panels on line or over the phone. I've heard with 20/20 though the most panels they will allow is I believe 2 a year, and they do not pay as much as the local focus groups do in the Chicago area. A lot of the focus groups disqualify you though if you have done another focus group recently. The companies want fresh blood. There is one I did probably five years ago in downtown Chicago, where they were recruiting people for a mock jury. It lasted approximately six hours, and they fed you lunch. A law firm hires them to set up this mock jury, and the people on the jury are given the details of the case that the law firm is involved in, and then the jury members spend the day discussing the case, and then at the end of the day they vote on the case. I got paid $200 for that focus group. I wish I could find some more of those.

[avemaria]

-How many different survey panels end up offering you the same circle of surveys? If it's a lot, you may want to start trimming the fat based on who pays more for those particular surveys.

this is something you have to watch out for.. many panels will send you surveys through routers.. so you'll see a survey through GlobalTestMarket for say $1.75.. and the other company with the router will have the same survey and you'll only get $1 for it, if that.. and if you do it through the cheaper company you won't get it through the better company..

[JD]

IF you have time on your hands then do Swagbucks. It will consume your time like nothing else. The pay per time spent is low but you can make a fair amount of money. Some people with the right demographics make $200-$500/month on that site. Remember you have to report to the IRS on income over $600 from a payee. You can literally spend all day on that site to make that kind of money. It will burn you out in the long run IMO. Follow them on Facebook to pick up tips or just Google for information on how best to play Swagbucks.

What exactly do you mean the pay per time spent is low, but I can make a fair amount of money? Does that mean you can take many surveys and they won't run out? I am currently a member of TreasureTrooper and sometimes take their surveys.

Swagbucks is a survey site and a click to pay site. Most of the earnings come from click to pay. Click to pay is low points for time spent. There are surveys for points as well and if your demographics are what they are looking for those points add up.