Paid online surveys Australia

Those reading this blog will have read I decided to test the online survey sites from the perspective of making income. So far the return has been tiny compared to the time involved so I'm not quite sure whether pain online surveys is little more than slave labour. I've heard of legitimate market research companies that pay up to a hundred dollars for an hour or two of your time, so it is possible to make reasonable money, but whether online surveys simply uses people for little return I haven't quite made up my mind.

What I did find particularly interesting is I signed up using SurveyCompare thinking they were a survey site, where in fact they make their money by signing you up to other survey sites. A couple of the sites SurveyCompare put forward are little more than competition sites and to me making money isn't about entering competitions, but about being paid a reasonable rate for your time. 

I then thought what if I use my Australian Search engine I wrote and search for online surveys (http://www.advancedsearch.com.au/SearchAustralia/search.php?q=online%20surveys) and there I found a good range of online survey sites with Australian domains. I've decided if time permits to test each of those sites to see if perhaps they pay better. If you're interested in the sites make sure you can find their Australian ABN on the site, skip the survey software sites and only consider sites which pay you for your effort in either money or vouchers you can easily use. Only testing will determine if any of the online survey sites pay reasonably for your effort. Keep in mind there are a lot of scammers out there and payment for your opinion is a known scam so tread carefully with sites and make sure you do your research on each site first.

At this stage I have a feeling the online survey companies are taking advantage of the desire for people to make some money, no matter how small, and are thus using the internet to reduce their costs and make a profit. One survey I received was aimed at high paid executives and I really can't see how any business would want to use the online survey companies to get quality research results. No high paid executive would waste their time to be paid under a $1 an hour. Somehow I don't think some of the online survey companies are being open with their clients as to how they're getting their surveys answered. Serious companies wanting quality information I believe will pay a fair and reasonable amount. For example Coles offers shoppers a $5 discount each month simply for providing feedback on their shopping experience. That is a fair and reasonable amount.

If time permits I'll write up the results of my online survey investigation as a MyAnswers  olution and make it available to clients. I'm particularly interested in finding online survey sites that offer a fair and reasonable return, and what would be even better is a regular return.

Kelvin Eldridge 
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
Ph: 0415 910 703