This is the first of a four part series on online survey sites that pay participants in Australian dollars. I plan to post one per week for a month but only if folk show they're interested in this sort of thing by upvoting. If you wish to skip the details, there's a pros & cons summary at the end of this post. Before continuing please note that you will need an Australian postcode to join today's site.
Introduction
Why Take Surveys?
But first, why would you want to spend your time taking online surveys anyway? Well, taking surveys can be lots of fun and surprisingly rewarding in more ways than one! I’ve been taking surveys online since the year 2000 and in that time I’ve seen new products appear on supermarket shelves, governments and businesses change their policies, clubs and volunteer organisations branch out into new fields, and technological advancements made all based upon and/or tailored to the responses that I gave in surveys. On top of that, I've made thousands of dollars I wouldn't have otherwise had. Now not all surveys are that interesting and it can be a slow start, but if you want to influence the future of where the world’s headed, or if you’d just like to see your favourite snack come out in a new flavour, then taking surveys is for you!
Surveys Pay Money
Now, there are plenty of survey companies around. Some only reward you with competition entries or possible future rewards. Joining those kind of sites can be fun if taking surveys all day is your idea of a thrill but you're highly unlikely to ever win any of their contests. Personally, I'd rather be paid with real money, or at least gift vouchers that I can use in places I shop at like Coles and Woolworths. Upvote if you like being paid money too!
Main Article
Site of the Day: Your Opinion
Survey History Page
(click image to enlarge)
Above you can see a partial screenshot from a survey site called Your Opinion. I've marked it with some boxed letters to help you follow my explanation of it. You access this page by clicking Survey History, at E. The list at A goes a long way further down but for privacy reasons I didn't want to show the details of anyone I've refered to this site already. As you can see under H, the reward value for different surveys varies. One benefit of this site is that every survey has a minimum reward of 20 cents, and all figures are in Australian dollars. At D, you can see a negative figure. This is because I redeemed a reward of $20 via PayPal. Redeeming survey rewards from any of these types of companies is colloquially called "cashing out". There are different ways of cashing out which I'll address further down.
But first you should know that Your Opinion is the most recent survey company I've joined. I probably haven't taken as many surveys with them as I could have but I only joined in May this year (2017). I received my first $20 payout in July. So it's certainly possible to make at least $10/month with them regularly. Since then, I've already made $11 and that's in spite of having been offline for a 4 week vacation. You can see on the chart that I took a survey right after I returned on the 19th of September.
Personally, I've only taken part in their short surveys because I don't like how long focus groups can take. If you don't mind spending long periods taking extended surveys, then maybe this is the site for you. My step-mum is also with this site and I know she received $60 for one of the surveys I turned down because of its length. Of course, whether or not you're emailed invitations to those surveys in the first place is entirely up to the site but these things are usually based on how you fill out your profile - so make sure you do a good job of it. (Your profile can be found on the My Account page, about half way down.)
At F, you can see the Refer A Friend button. Unlike most survey sites, Your Opinion's referrals are individualised. It requires you to state your friend's name and email address when sending a referral. Most other sites provide a simple referral link that you can send to anyone or even include in a banner ad. That is NOT the case with Your Opinion. As such, I am not able to earn any referral money by telling you about this site. However, if you appreciate this site recommendation, please upvote this post to show your gratitude.
Back to the screenshot, at C you can see a short poll (which I've already taken). For taking these you can receive Prize Draw Entries which are listed at B. You can also gain entries by being screened out of a survey (e.g. if you say you're 28 on the first page but they only want participants over 50), or you can select to receive entries instead of being paid in cash at the end of any survey you take. Personally I would not recommend this but that's because I'd rather take $1 every time I can than wait in hope that I might one day win the $1000 prize draw. If you're the other way around then the option's there for you.
Now I'm not going to go through every aspect of the Your Opinion website because that would take way too long and I have confidence in your ability to discover how it works for yourself. I will say that it's not really necessary to log in frequently. You can do this if you want as there are some chat/discussion pages you may find interesting if you like to talk about your favourite kind of pasta or whatever the latest topic might be. However if you just wait and check your email every day or so, they'll send you a link when a survey is available anyway.
Cashing Out
The last thing I'll cover is found at G, Reward Options. You basically have 4 choices:
- VISA Card
- $20 Charity Donation
- PayPal
- Flexi eGift Card
(You also have an option to buy more prize draw entries but I don't know why you'd want to do that when you could just take the money.)
Redeeming any of these rewards is as simple as clicking a button.
Cashout values range from $5 to $200 for a Flex eGift Card, and $20 to $100 for a VISA Card (although you will require an extra $3 to pay the shipping cost).
All PayPal withdrawals are valued at $20 and may take up to 10 business days to process. Unlike some other sites, Your Opinion does NOT process PayPal withdrawals instantly.
Should you wish to donate your earnings to a charity, your current options are the Starlight Foundation, Cancer Council, and the Australian Red Cross. (These may vary and I have no way of knowing how long they will continue to be available or which other charities it might be possible to directly donate your earnings to in future.)
My preferred cashout option is PayPal, because in spite of the wait time, I know that I will be receiving cash that I can spend any way I like.
Summary
Pros:
- all surveys clearly state their reward value in Australian dollars so never need to worry about conversion rates
- you will receive something for all survey invitations sent to your email (provided they don't expire before you click the link)
- multiple cashout options including PayPal
- reward options start at very low values ($2 for extra prize draw entries, or $5 for eGift Cards) so you don't have to save up too long
Cons:
- not the nicest sight visually or in terms of navigation
- some surveys are poorly designed, e.g. they may use broken English or not provide a negative option for questions such as "When will you next buy a...?" even if you never plan to buy that thing
- no referral link provided so you must personally know everyone you refer in order to receive the extra $1 reward
- cashouts in fixed increments only
- cashouts via PayPal is a little slower than usual for sites like this
One final note: Like most survey companies, Your Opinion requires you to be as honest as possible. This particular site is pretty lenient in how they police that but I'd advise you, for your own sake, to tell the truth on surveys as best you can anyway.
Thank you for taking the time to read this article. Please be sure to upvote and follow to read more about similar paying sites over the coming weeks.
So you know this is the end, here's a simple puzzle:
Which way is the school swimming?
(click image to enlarge)
Answer in the comments :)
~~~Boring Details~~~
The website linked to throughout this article is: https://www.youropinion.com.au/
I have received no incentive of any kind from any individual or organisation to promote that website. The information contained in this review are entirely my own thoughts and opinions.
The primary image contained in this post is a screenshot from my own account which, according to the best of my knowledge, I have the right to make available for others to see under fair use laws.
The fish image I created and uploaded myself.