Sounds great right?

In this economy many people have to be enticed by the commercials.

Or maybe not.

Maybe you are a skeptic.

Maybe you want to know: “is Big Spot a scam?”

I’ve said it before in a few articles in the past, but having just seen the commercials again the other day, I want to highlight a few things that you should know before signing up with a company that promises to set you up with paid survey opportunities.

Before I get into that, I do want to assure you that there are legitimate market research companies out there who will pay you for your time.  They exist. You just have to know how to identify the legit from the scams.

You will not get rich, but you might make enough to buy yourself a pizza every now and again.

Let’s take a closer look at Big Spot:

Is Big Spot a scam?

• Big Spot does not collect money from you.
• Big Spot collects your name, address and email address.
• Big Spot does not administer surveys.
• Big Spot does provide you with a short list of survey companies that will pay you for your time.

Big Spot is not a scam, per se, but you don’t need Big Spot.  In fact, providing your personal information to a third party in exchange for a list is just not smart.  Neither is paying someone for the same list, which some onlines site have been known to do.

Market research companies, in fact, ask you to report companies that do not provide the information for free.

As I mentioned above, you can make some extra cash taking paid surveys.  But you need to be informed any wary before signing up for anything online.  A legitimate survey company will not provide you with “free offers” for signing up.  They will likely have a detailed form for you to fill out to match you with relevant surveys – this is called demographics – advertisers and brands target certain audiences.  They will administer the surveys themselves and be the ones to pay you or provide you with rewards points you will redeem for cash.

So how do you find these legit companies?

You can search the web.  Read reviews.  Learn which ones are legit and which ones are not.  Do your homework!

I have a list of sites that I have experience with that you can feel safe signing up for.  Read my descriptions for more information about each company.

Big Spot does not pay you to take surveys.  They collect your personal information then give you a list of companies they do pay survey takers.

If you want to read more about BigSpot.com, I have some previous posts I wrote here:

• A word to the wise – Big Spot Surveys
• Big Spot Surveys revisited
• BigSpot.com Do They Really Pay You?

My list:

Legit Free Paid Survey Sites

Good luck!

A commercial for BigSpot.com online survey taking.

“Become an online survey taker and earn cash for your opinion” – I’m paraphrasing but that’s pretty close to what they say in the commercial.

Have you seen these BigSpot.com commercials?

Wondering if it is legit?

Wondering if you can actually be paid for your opinions?

Well, the answer is two-fold.  You CAN be paid for your opinions but all BigSpot.com does not pay you.  They provide a list of companies that do, but not before collecting your personal information.  You give them your name, email and some personal data and they give you a list.  A list very similar to this list:

Online Paid Survey companies

In fact, that list likely has way more companies on it than theirs does and I didn’t ask you to fill out a form first.

Here is their site:

There are two key things, aside from my experience with online paid surveys that indicate that BigSpot.com is not as their commercials imply:

BigSpot.com does not pay you to take surveys.  They simply give you a list of companies that do pay you.  In exchange for your personal information.

Hmm.

If it’s not worth the risk for you, I have my own database of online survey companies that is free and you don’t have to enter any personal information for access.

Free Paid Survey companies database

Also, if you want to read more about BigSpot.com, I have some previous posts I wrote here:

A word to the wise – Big Spot Surveys

Big Spot Surveys revisited

All three of these companies are respected, legit market research companies that I am a member of and have received payments from.  With Christmas coming, who can’t use a little extra spending money?

All three of these companies pay you in cash or points (redeemable for GC’s or cash) for each survey you take.  The sweepstakes entries are bonuses as well.

I was WRONG.

I finally gave it a try last week.

Swagbucks rewards you for doing the things you already do like searching the web.  They give you points called “swagbucks” that you can trade in for prizes or Amazon GC’s.  In a week of searching the web, I almost have enough for a $5 Amazon GC.  Considering I didn’t have to do anything but install the toolbar so it can award me swagbucks as I search, it was pretty easy free money.  They also have surveys and offers that you can do to rack up the swagbucks more quickly if you are so inclined.

Check it out!

Oh and Fridays are the best days because every Friday is Mega Swag Bucks day.  More of a chance to earn them!

So don’t miss out on your opportunity to join, they don’t always take new members, just when they have a specific need!

Pinecone Research

Here’s the survey: http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/WEB22B385KB4BX

I took it, it’s not very long and totally worth the chance to win a $150 GC to Amazon!

Click Here

I’m not sure if there is compensation involved in this one, but sometimes by completing a survey like this, they will invite you to a survey panel where they pay, or ask to send you samples to try.  Worth a shot!

It’s easy and free to sign up and you will make a few extra $$ and who couldn’t use that?

Synovate Global Opinion Panels

This is a legitimate survey opportunity and could earn you some $$ for participating!

Do you love breakfast?  We want to hear about your favorite breakfast foods.  You could win cash just for sharing your opinions!!  Click Here

Today, I happened across Vindale Research.  I had seen them around before but today I finally decided to signup and see what they are all about.  What follows is not a full blown review of Vindale Research, but it serves as my initial impressions upon signup and hopefully helps you make an educated decision before signing up for yourself.

Immediately after registering for Vindale I was met with a screen of “offers” that I could choose to participate in.  This is warning sign #1 when it comes to determining the validity of a paid survey company.  Any company that provides a list of third party offers is not a traditional market research company.

From here, I probably need to define what I mean by a “traditional” market research company.  Legitimate market research companies maintain a database of panelists (you and me) and they are hired by brands and manufacturers to administer surveys to get consumer opinions about products and product development to help them improve existing products and decide how best to market new ones. Most of these companies reward their panelist in some way, shape or form for simply taking an online survey and giving their honest opinions.  The rewards range from sweepstakes entries to cold hard cash.

Vindale Research says the following about their membership:
*Review products and take simple online surveys
*Make a difference by sharing your opinion
*Earn great rewards
*Keep the products you review

One of the main things that Vindale Research seems to offer are “evaluations” of products and services, and they do warn you that there may be “acquisitions fees” that will be refunded to you at the completion of the “evaluation”.  Traditional market research companies will NEVER EVER ask you to buy something, provide a credit card number or sign up for a free trial. 

After signing up, I was immediately offered a “tutorial” evaluation that pays $5.00.  All I have to do is sign up for a “free trial” to receive my credit report for free and enter my credit card number in the process.  Vindale will then administer a very brief survey about my experience.

I need to stop here and say this again.

Loudly.

TRADITIONAL MARKET RESEARCH COMPANIES WILL NEVER EVER ASK YOU TO SPEND MONEY, PROVIDE A CREDIT CARD NUMBER, OR SIGN UP FOR A FREE TRIAL.

Now maybe after reading all this you don’t care that Vindale isn’t a traditional market research company, you just want the $5.  And hopefully, for those who DO sign up, they actually pay out as promised.  They should be, for every $5 credit report they pay out on, they are likely earning $16.  That credit report company they ask you to “evaluate” pays $21 for every lead they get.  So Vindale gets paid $21 when you participate, gives you $5 and pockets $16.  Brilliant.  Totally brilliant.  I have no problem with anyone making money as an affiliate marketer.  I do it.  I often make money off click-throughs and purchases made when someone clicks on a link on my site.

But, from the very inception of my blog, I was determined to help people make smart decisions when it came to joining programs online to earn money, especially ones that aren’t exactly quite what they seem.  Based upon my experience with free paid survey companies, in my opinion Vindale Research pays you for completing offers, and they tack a survey onto the end of it for good measure.  They are not a paid survey company in the traditional sense.  There are plenty of similar companies out there, although some of them don’t pull any punches and tell you up front that you get paid for completing offers.

If you are comfortable with this, and do sign up, or are a member already, I’d love to hear your feedback.  However, if you are not interested in completing offers, and are looking for legitimate traditional market research companies, you can check out my free paid survey sites page.

Note: I cannot provide a testimonial regarding Vindale and receiving payments.  I only have $2 in my account and their payment threshold is $50.