One way you can earn a bit of extra cash while vaning around is through Online Surveys. It’s not going to earn you a fortune, however it's stress-free and a bit of beer / winee / coffee money never goes amiss. Also, virtually zero ‘online’ skills are required.
What are online surveys?
Most of the companies, businesses, and research institutions around are searching for ways to improve their services and customer experience or provide research reports. Because of this, they spend a lot of money either independently on market research or by hiring experts that will help them get the right feedback.
These experts then put out surveys online, getting feedback straight from the individuals involved and paying a small amount when they complete the surveys. Paid Surveys have been here for some time now and it’s a legit way of earning income while on a vacation. But like everything else, it has pros and cons, and before getting started, you must consider them.
Pros and cons of online surveys
Before getting started, considering these pros and cons will help you know whether online surveys are the best way you can earn some money online.
Pros of Online Surveys
- No Qualifications Required: With online surveys, your educational qualifications are not necessary and you can start taking these surveys whenever you want. Some surveys will have criteria which could be anything; age, gender, work, education etc.
- An opportunity to share your opinions: If you are a real user of a particular product, taking an online survey is a way of giving your opinion about it while still getting paid in return.
- Best use of your time: Whenever you have free time, taking online surveys is a way of spending that time in a useful manner, and instead of doing nothing, you can easily use your phone to take a survey and earn some money.
Cons of Online Surveys
- The surveys are usually area-specific: One of the biggest cons of online surveys is that most of the time, it depends on your location and the country you’re staying in. This drastically reduces the number of surveys you can qualify for, reducing your earning potential and often taking up time trying to find the right ones.
- Low Earnings: With online surveys, the earnings are not large and you have to take a lot of surveys to earn a reasonable amount.
- Time consuming: Whilst it may be a reasonable use of time that pays better than video games, often the better-paid surveys have strict criteria. And the time taken to go through the selection process (only to find you are not suitable) can eat away at any profits.
How to get started earning with online surveys
Now that you’re aware of the pros and cons involved, here are some of the online survey sites that’ll get you started:
1. Swagbucks
Swagbucks certainly deserves its spot as it’s one of the biggest survey sites, has a lot to offer and provides you with several different methods of earning (some of which are actually quite fun!).
With Swagbucks, you can either earn through paid surveys, while shopping online, when browsing the web with your computer, when playing games on the site, by watching videos on Swagbucks, through deals and offers, by inviting your friends to join the site and by doing micro-tasks.
Get paid in gift cards, including Paypal and a signup bonus!
2. InboxDollars
Another of the big survey sites is InboxDollars, with over $80 million in payouts. If you live in the US, InboxDollars has many daily earning options, from surveys to email subscriptions. The payout threshold is a little bit on the high side but processes fast and easy.
InboxDollars has different earning options for its members apart from taking surveys. The payout threshold is $30, and once you reach that amount, you can then get paid via check, PayPal, and their e-card.
With decent earning opportunities in the USA, Canada, or Australia, Survey Junkie is another site worth joining. With Survey Junkie, the main earning opportunity is by taking surveys. You can get paid with PayPal and you can get paid in e-gift cards too, for example, Amazon or iTunes gift cards.
5. CashCrate
With CashCrate, you can either earn through paid surveys, through offers, when playing games on the site, by watching videos and through referrals. When you take a survey on CashCrate, complete an offer, or any of the other earning options on CashCrate, you will earn cash in dollars. Once you have earned $20, you can request a payout.
6. OnePulse (mobile app)
This has a great mobile app and you can easily answer Pulse Surveys on the go. It’s amazing how much cash you can build up and some of the questions are actually really interesting! However, do note that some. Surveys are not paid – keep an eye out for the $ sign!
One Pulse surveys are fast – you have to jump on them quickly to get one. The great thing about these is that when you input all your details eg gender, location etc they only show you surveys that you qualify for. Click here for Android and here for Apple.
7. Intellizoom
These are generally larger surveys that have quite tight criteria and so they pay better. Many of them are related to user experience and website testing, so you’ll need a decent laptop, although there are mobile studies too. This also means you’ll need stable internet connection as your time could be lost if you get cut off mid-way through.
8. Prolific
This is another higher-end survey / research site that takes a bit of time to get setup – they want a lot of information about you. However, once they have it, they send you relevant studies and pay a minimum of $6.50/hr.
9. Clickworker
There are lots of different tasks on Clickworker depending on your profile and reviews/ratings. Many of them are surveys and you do not need specialist skills to participate. The minimum payout is low at only $10.
Participating in online surveys and research studies is a unique way to earn some cash online and it doesn’t involve much work! If you have some free time while traveling or during van life down time, sign up on one of these sites and spend some time earning money!
