Is being a junkie for surveys a good thing? It’s no secret that there are about a billion ways to earn money online, and taking paid surveys is one of them, but is it worth your time?
If you’ve visited Young Retiree before you know that I’m a survey skeptic, but that I also use them regularly, and make $1,000+ in extra cash every year off of them. Paid surveys are NOT a replacement for an income source, or a real business. For true money earning opportunities online you’re better off looking into things like blogging, e-commerce selling, and freelancing. But paid surveys CAN be a good way to make some extra cash fast, easy, and with a very small time investment.
The problem with paid surveys is half of them are time vampires. They suck away your valuable time, and pay you mere pennies for it. So how does Survey Junkie stack up? Is Survey Junkie worth it? I’ve been a member for about 4 months now, and here are my recommendations…
The Pros Of Survey Junkie
Even though I decided to write this review because I got very frustrated with Survey Junkie today, and I wanted to warn ya’ll about the downsides, I’ll start with some of the big positive factors.
Survey Junkie is generally regarded as one of the more legitimate survey sites. They’re not out to scam you, or sell your information. They can be trusted not to sell your email to unscrupulous schemers (and trust me, they’re out there…. 5 hours before writing this review I got a series of emails from a Turkish company, whose address brought up an empty lot on Google maps, and whose website is a giant grey wall with the words 403 Error on it, urgently asking for my company’s bank info. They didn’t reply back when I asked for photo evidence of their ID)
Survey Junkie surveys will also tell you how long they should approximately take to complete, and how much they pay! This helps you find only the surveys that are a reasonable length, and pay well for your time.
Many of the Survey Junkie surveys also PAY REALLY WELL! There are always surveys available to take, at all times of the day, and they will frequently pay $2 – $5. Survey Junkie will even pay $20+ for product tests and research group gigs! The other upside is that they will pay you directly to your PayPal (even available for non-U.S. residents), instead of just paying in gift cards.
Survey Junkie also has one of the lowest minimum redeemable balances that I have ever seen on a survey site. Many survey sites require you to reach at least $25 or $30 in earnings before they will let you cash out. Survey Junkie only asks you to reach $10. That’s good news if you decide it’s not for you, and want to take your money and run.
Another big pro to Survey Junkie is that it has one of the most user friendly, intuitive websites of any survey sites that I’ve used. It’s very easy to navigate, and won’t bombard you with confusing messes to sift through as you’re trying to find a survey. As someone who has braved the depths of survey websites that looked like they were written on ancient scrolls of papyrus, and then thrown into a blender, I can promise you it’s a nice change.
Finally, I like that Survey Junkie will pay you some bonus pocket change for surveys that you don’t qualify for. If you’re going to bother taking the demographics quiz at the beginning of a survey, you should at least be compensated for that time, even if you don’t meet their requirements for the survey. Survey sites that don’t offer this are spectacularly lame.
So What Are The Cons Of Survey Junkie?
I think that Survey Junkie can be worthwhile for someone desperate for some quick and easy spare cash (we’ve all been there, and there’s no shame in it). I just wanted to throw that out there first, because I’m not hating on it at all. BUT…. these are a few of the red flags that I have found with my Survey Junkie experience to keep in mind.
Survey Junkie does not conduct surveys on their own site. Unlike Product Report Card, or PaidViewpoint, the surveys on Survey Junkie will all redirect you to other data collecting companies. This is something that a lot of survey sites do. GrabPoints, Inbox Dollars, Swagbucks, and many other popular survey sites all do this, but it’s still annoying. Not only does it require you to answer repeat questions multiple times, but it will also compel you to join additional survey sites, and no one needs yet another survey site emailing them 100 times a day.
Even though Survey Junkie graciously tells you how long they estimate a survey will take, because they do not actually conduct the surveys themselves, the time estimates are often completely inaccurate. While Survey Junkie may claim that you are getting into a simple 10 minute survey, upon arriving at the actual website with the survey, they eventually reveal that you’ve commited to 20 minutes or half an hour of your life. Time is money, and most survey sites that long aren’t worth it. Period.
This may just be a matter of my personal demographic, but surveys on Survey Junkie are nearly IMPOSSIBLE to qualify for! I have often spent over 10 minutes trying one survey after another, and getting rejected for every single one. This is a waste of time, that could just be avoided if they pre-screened tests based on your profile like Pinecone Research would do. What’s the point of filling out a profile when you sign up, if they still ask you dumb profile questions at the beginning of every survey?
Finally, Survey Junkie has an annoying habit of kicking you out of a survey that you’re in the middle of for allegedly going too fast. Because God forbid that you answer the questions quickly, to make the best use of your time, and go back to your life. I can understand why they want to protect the quality of their answers, but if survey takers are answering honestly, and thoughtfully, they need to stop booting every test taker who tries to answer quickly.
Which brings me to my #1 rule when it comes to survey sites!…
Your Time Is Valuable
This applies to marketing, freelance work, and every other kind of money earning opportunity in existence. Your time is valuable! Time is a limited resource, and no one (not even Retirees) can afford to spend boatloads of time on surveys that pay next to nothing.
If a survey site is going to waste your time, or not pay you adequately for it, then kick it to the curb. If you need some tips on good, high paying survey sites, check out my list of the best survey sites to try!
List Of Best High Paying Survey Sites On The Internet!
If you’re looking for survey sites that offer better survey opportunities, or more diverse ways of making money, my top recommendations are options like PaidViewpoint, and Swagbucks.
If you have any more questions about the Survey Junkie experience, or if you’re looking for other, better ways to make money online, let me know here in the comments! Or connect with me on Facebook or Pinterest. I’m always willing to give tips, and would love to hear your ideas too!