Laura’s Top Five Survey Panels (October 2011)

I've changed my “Top 5” format to be a little closer to the other bloggers on this site, since as time goes on, it's clear that my top sites overall may not accurately reflect what's hot currently. So this quarter, I'm focusing specifically on what I was actually paid by all panels just in the last three months. As usual, my ‘real life job' kept me from focusing on surveys certain weeks, so my list reflects my three month totals of taking surveys ‘part time'!This quarter, I was paid $362.10. While most of that came from surveys as usual, I also made an almost surprising amount of cash from on-going forum invites and sweepstakes wins. Like many of the other bloggers have mentioned, I didn't have much luck on invokes until just recently: I just found out I landed a clinical trial that pays $500! I had my first visit yesterday, and am looking forward to the project! My Current Top Five Paid Surveys List (October 2011)

1. 1. GlobalTestMarket
      • Total Earned This Quarter: $50.00
      • Total Earned Since Joining: $62.75
      • Joined: November 25, 2009

Global Test Market has always run in spurts for me, and for awhile I was wondering if I was ever going to cash out – I had been sitting at just a few points of cashing out for months! But suddenly, all that changed, and within the last few weeks, not only have I cashed out, but I'm already well on my way to my next payment! Been a good quarter for Global Test Market for me!

1. 1. Opinion Outpost
      • Total Earned This Quarter: $40.10
      • Total Earned Since Joining: $79.00
      • Joined: November 25, 2009

I'll say it every time I post about this panel – always, always, always keep your profiles up to date! I updated mine immediately after moving this summer, and was slammed with new surveys that I qualified for and completed. Like others have mentioned, I have noticed a slight drop in points offered lately, but overall the time spent is still worth the reward. (FYI – I actually did win a dollar on that slot machine game once last month, too!) The new PayPal payment system allows for lower cash-out levels and is immediate – I had the money in my account in a matter of minutes. Here is a screenshot of my last Opinion Outpost cash-out for $19.30 via PayPal:

1. 1. Toluna
      • Total Earned This Quarter: $40.00
      • Total Earned Since Joining: $140.95
      • Joined: November 26, 2009

As others have noted, the points on this panel keep going down…I'm barely finding any surveys that pay over a dollar (3,000 points), so I'm being very choosy about which ones I take. The only redeeming (for me) quality is all of the quick surveys they offer for a few points – I do these when I'm at work and don't have enough time to take a full-blown survey, but want to make a few extra cents while I'm sitting at my desk. I find that I can make anywhere from 500-1000 points a day on average with those, just by clicking on a few answers while I down my coffee. Here is a screenshot of my last Toluna cash-out of $20 (60000 points):

1. 1. Surveyhead
      • Total Earned This Quarter: $25.00
      • Total Earned Since Joining: $82.20
      • Joined: January 10, 2010

I still have a love-hate relationship with this panel. While Surveyhead by far offers more surveys per day than pretty much any other panel, I'm frequently frustrated by the poor customer support, and the seemingly erratic “invalids” I'm amassing on my account. To be honest, I'm half-way afraid of continuing, as I'm sure I'm only an arbitrary “invalid” away from having my account dumped. So while I do make a fair amount of cash on this panel (in fact, I just got a hefty chunk of change for completing a several week diary on my beer drinking habits, as well as a $50 sweepstakes win from a panel I joined through Surveyhead), I'm finding myself only coming here after I'm done with my more stable top-tier panels. Here is a screenshot of my last SurveyHead cash-out for $25:

1. 1. Synovate
      • Total Earned This Quarter: $15.00
      • Total Earned Since Joining: $25.76
      • Joined: November 25, 2009

While Synovate came in at number five monetarily, don't let it fool you – it's saved me more than double that in product tests! If you're looking specifically for product tests, this is the place to be. I've landed half a dozen great product tests over the last few weeks – everything from frozen dinners and protein shakes, to perfumes and shampoo. I've been really lucky to get to try out a lot of products that have been absolutely relevant to me and my family…and thus saving me a few bucks on my grocery trips! Here is a screenshot of my last three Synovate cash-outs for $15 (15000 points):  Do you have a list of favorite survey panels? Please leave a comment below and let us know some of the survey panels that work best for you.

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