What to Expect When You Sign-up to Take Online Surveys for Pay
Ye Olde Shell Game
Sounds great. In fact, it sounds too good to be true. So go ahead and click on that link. You'll get a few paragraphs of sales pitch priming you for what, by now, you know will come later: the amount of cash it'll cost you to learn the secrets.
"Regular Price 39.95 - Special Introductory Rate 19.95." (It was probably never 39.95 to start with.)
You'll get in return a list of companies that pay survey takers to take surveys. A compilation no better or worse than any that can be found on the Internet for free. In other words, it's the information broker shell game.
The sellers do deliver the goods, though. Many Web sites make it possible to earn a lot more than $150 per hour, in the form of gift cards and / or merchandise, for taking surveys. Free gas for a year. (Wowee!) Just complete the survey and enter your contact information. But then . . .
Proceed to Step Two and you'll find out the "gift" will not be forthcoming until you sign up for other offers displayed on the site; four from group A, three from group B, two from group C. The process begins to resemble a cellular phone plan. Asterisks everywhere. None of the offers are totally gratis. Free merchandise; you pay only shipping and handling. (Then it's not free, is it?) Nickel and dime stuff you never knew you needed until you saw it. Turns out Group C is all big-ticket items like cruises and satellite TV subscriptions.
The whole site starts looking like a disclaimer, and it'll cost you almost, if not more than, the "free" gift's full value to qualify for it. One might assume the public would catch on. Yet these places don't go away. Apparently, enough clickers make the cost of server space and site maintenance worth it.
Journalist H.L. Mencken once observed that "nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public." And that was over eighty years ago. Well before the Internet.
Published by Tom Sanders
- EBay Auctions: What to Sell and Where to Get ItThis article gives you ideas on some of the absolute best things to sell on eBay, and where to find more products to sell.
Ebates Online RebatesDon't expect quick turnaround on payback, but do sign up anyway!- The Real Truth About Mystery Shopping: What the Companies "Forget" to Tell YouMystery Shopping is great, but it may not be all its cracked up to be. Read about what the MS companies dont want you to know.
The Ultimate Guide to Free (and Legal) or Cheap Music Downloads and SongsLoading your iPod MP3 player with thousands of songs doesn't mean you have to resort to downloading the latest music off of an illegal file-sharing website. Free or cheap song d...
How to Shop Safely Online While Saving Time and a Ton of Money!Online shopping can be safe, time consuming and save you a ton of money - if you know where to look.
- Five Sources for Low Cost Merchandise to Sell
- What to Expect when Running Your First Race
- Three of the Best Computer Network Certification Websites Around
- Information to Seek, Questions to Ask When You Visit a College Campus
- Tips for Those Waiting to Find Out if They're Pregnant
- When Your Teen Wants to Get Their Nose Pierced
- What They Don't Tell You About Building a New Home
- Takeing on-line surveys at home can be profitable.
- Read the fine print.
- Be careful.
2 Comments
Post a CommentI've done surveys online, but the ones that are legit don't pay you very much. I've made....what $20 in a year doing surveys online, if not less. Good article.
Yep, its all true Tom, and when you get desparate you hope its really true this time instead of too good to be......Then what happens is the least likely to be able to afford it get teased into paying out money when what they need to be doing is making money.. Bad business but it is true that people keep hoping, and clicking, and a sucker is born every minute.