No.1: InboxDollars (Table of Contents
(Updated January 2019)
Looking for a way to make money through the internet from the comfort of your house might not be as difficult as it sounds, although some methods work better than others.
In the case of online paid surveys, it is difficult to know which websites are worth the time and effort of joining and completing studies in order to earn money, and which are just a scam to make people spend hours of their lives trying to achieve something that is unattainable.
It cannot be denied that there are some market research panels out there that pay well in exchange for your opinions about certain products and services. Nevertheless, how can you recognize these sites and ignore the rest that will waste your time?
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The easiest way to do this is reading users’ experience with the panel and what they have to say. In this article, we will be reviewing Valued Opinions Panel and what you can earn with it so you can decide for yourself if you want to be a member or not.
Basic Facts About Valued Opinions
Is it legit? That is the first and the most important question about any survey site. When we determine if they are legit or not, we will dig deeper to show you what do they offer to their members. Comparing their offer to other survey sites should provide a clear picture of their strengths and flaws. Hopefully, it will help you decide whether to put them on your list or not. Valued Opinions started out in 2004. They are owned by Research Now a reputable global market research company. In 2017, Research Now merged with another market research company called Survey Sampling International. In 2019, they were renamed to Dynata. Dynata operates 17 survey sites other than Valued Opinion. Obviously, Valued Opinions is legit and recognized. Furthermore, they operate in the US, UK, Australia, and about 20 more countries worldwide. So, you can rest assured that it is not a scam, but a legitimate business.
Valued Opinions: What is it?
Valued Opinions is an online company that offers a community where its members can share their opinions and earn rewards in exchange from the brands they work with.
On their website, they state that they have over 3 million active users worldwide and that you are always welcome to join. Signing up for a membership is completely free and only requires an email address and filling out a form that demands the usual personal information like address, age, number of members in your household, ethnicity and others.
As soon as you register, you are ready to go and make your first $5 for each survey that you complete. This money can later be redeemed for gift cards (that we will explain with detail in the next section).
At first glance, the website might seem to serious, but the truth is that it is because they stand for what they sell, and the professional image talks on its own. Another particular thing about this portal is that contrary to most paid survey sites, it is available in over 20 different countries worldwide and can be read in over 15 languages!
This means that even if you are not in the United States, you can still open an account and be eligible for filling out surveys and making some extra cash, and this is definitely not something you can do with every other market research panel.
Survey and prize details
Opposite to what they claim on the site (and this is where discrepancies begin), surveys can be worth anything between $1 and $5 and they usually take up to 20 minutes to be completed.
Sometimes you might get survey invites via email that will not be paid and are only meant to collect unique information about your interests and characteristics. Although this might seem like a waste of time, it will definitely help you get more paid surveys invitations in the long run.
The minimum account balance you need to achieve before being able to redeem your earnings is $20. Once you reach this amount, you can obtain any of the following prizes:
- Visa promo codes
- CVS/pharmacy gift card
- net gift card
- com gift codes
- Spa Week gift codes
- Macy’s gift cards
- Amazon vouchers
- Chili’s gift cards
- com gift card
- iTunes gift card
- Southwest Rapid Reward Points (which are airline miles)
One thing to notice is that all these gift cards are electronic and that you will not be getting a plastic one at home. These electronic vouchers are usually delivered within 24 hours. However, if you want to request a physical one via post, it can take up to 28 days to arrive.
In addition to all of this, Valued Opinions has a special program that offers all of its most active members the possibility of collecting badges according to how much they participate. There are five levels in total and can be achieved through mini tasks. From lowest to highest, the levels are: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum and Diamond.
Finally, all members also enter a quarterly sweepstakes to win a Samsung Galaxy Tab. Although this might not be the best thing among prizes, if you join a survey panel to win a sweepstakes entry, it might not be worthy to join in the first place anyway.
Pros
Among the many things that users say are good about Valued Opinions is that they can normally get from 2 to 6 survey invites in a month. This is quite a lot compared to other survey sites where you can spend months waiting for an invitation.
For some, this might not be enough, and members also state that the surveys are good and entertaining to complete, which is something to keep in mind when you are planning on doing it for many hours a day in the long term.
The variety of the surveys is also an advantage. You can get invitations for product testing, mobile surveys via smartphone, and even teen surveys for younger members older than 13. In addition to this, the sweepstakes entries are also a plus, and the badges program allows you to earn even more points.
Valued Opinions recently launched an Android an iOS app, giving the chance to their members of finding out when they are invited to a certain survey as soon as possible to not miss the chance of filling it and earning prizes.
For worldwide users, this is a great portal, as well. Residents of New Zealand, Australia, Canada, and the UK all can participate in completing their surveys without a problem, something that is not common among other paid survey panels.
Cons
The website presents several performance issues. For example, some users have experienced not being able to collect the money after spending so much time filling out surveys. Although these people try to contact customer support, they do not get useful answers or any kind of real solution to the problems that show up.
Another problem that some people seem to have is that, after a while, the system decided that they were no longer eligible for filling out surveys, leaving them without a chance of completing them and earning any money.
Although customer support answers almost all of these complaints saying that they could be generated because of the fact that the user is out of the United States, they usually are not and it is just a glitch on the site.
In addition to that, sometimes you can get an invitation to complete very long surveys (around 5 hours) which can pay up to $35 when finished. However, you cannot postpone them and retake it where you left off the next day. Those who have tried this method find themselves without the survey and without the money, as well.
Moreover, the only reward you can get through Valued Opinions is gift cards. There is no possible way of receiving the money you earned via PayPal or check so if you are looking for a method to make cash, this website is not the place for you.
Also, the money you earn from completed surveys reach your account’s balance almost a month later, and although you can keep track of each survey you finished and when the money is supposed to show up in your account, this can be an excruciatingly long time.
Many users have also experienced the temporary unavailability of the Amazon voucher. It seems that the button sometimes disappears, making members wait several days before reappearing and allowing them to redeem the money for a gift card.
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Users Reviews of Valued Opinions
Users’ reviews about Valued Opinions are mixed, but predominantly positive. There is a downward trend lately, though. In the last couple of months, many users experienced glitches and problems taking surveys or getting their rewards. While some of these problems were resolved, many of them didn’t. Even some very happy, years-long members complained in this period. Is it a temporary setback or a permanent issue it is hard to say. Because of their excellent reputation, I am inclined to believe it is the former.
Conclusions
Valued Opinions is definitely a difficult website to evaluate. Is it a scam? Not at all. It is a legitimate market research panel that will pay you for sharing your opinion with them, and they also pay well.
However, the whole portal has several issues that have not been fixed with time. Glitches and errors, for example, are still present, causing trouble, and many users still complain about them without finding a solution.
In addition to that, you will only be receiving gift cards through this panel. PayPal and checks are not available options so if you are not into gift cards or airline miles, this is not the place for you.
Nevertheless, if you decide to join and it all goes well, you might be filling over a survey a week, which could be luckily worth $5. At the end of the month, you could cash out an Amazon voucher for $20 at the very least.
Do we recommend Valued Opinions? If you have read this review and are still interested, then yes, go ahead and give it a shot, especially if you live in one of the four countries that are eligible for membership.
1 Comment
gh hm
No nice