Are paid surveys a scam? I have seen this question asked so many times. Let me tell you the short answer first. No, paid surveys are not a scam. You can make extra money by answering market research surveys whether they are though the mail, telephone, or online. The long answer is more difficult to explain.
Basically, things started out well for market research firms. Before the Internet people would take paid surveys either through the mail or through the telephone, and would receive their payment in the mail. Then the Internet came and companies saw a huge opportunity to cut costs by using the Internet to conduct their research.
A research company is only as good as the number of panelists they have. So in order to recruit new panelists they started affiliate programs. Affiliate programs work like this; Company A pays person B, X amount for an action performed by a customer.
Some greedy people got wind of marketing paid surveys, and decided to charge customers to access a list of market research companies. This is the scam part. You can find free lists on many websites including this one. You should never pay anyone for an opportunity no matter how good it sounds.
Paid surveys are not a scam. You can make extra money by taking online surveys. You should not pay a website to find a list of market research companies.
