Are online surveys a waste of time? Here is my experience with trying to make money through online surveys. Blogging and online income. Updated in April 2021.
Is completing online surveys for money really worth it?
The short answer to this question is absolutely NOT! Surveys are a complete waste of time! After 6 months of trying, I’m calling it quits on this useless endeavour.
Lost time is never found again. – Benjamin Franklin
I came across a recommendation for American Consumer Opinion and became interested in surveys as an additional income stream.
So, I signed up to test it out.
I even wrote a post about it called Making Money Through Online Surveys. But since doing so, I’ve realized that my efforts would be better exerted on building a cash flow machine.
Here are 4 Reasons why online surveys are a waste of time.
Why Online Surveys are a Waste of Time
1. There are no skills being acquired by completing online surveys
Will you be a better survey taker after completing 100 surveys? Are you going to be able to use those quick button clicking skills in your next role? Probably not. The more I tried out the survey thing, the more I despised it. It was interrupting time I could’ve used to better myself. I could’ve responded to a comment, wrote a new blog post, read one chapter of a book, or invested instead.
Frankly, the only motivation for completing surveys is money and they don’t even pay well. Simply put, that’s just not what Reverse the Crush is about. RTC is about fulfilling work.
2. Surveys are misleading
Another annoyance of surveys is the screening part. They will send you an email announcing you have a new survey to complete, but, there’s a catch. You must complete an unpaid screening survey first to see if you qualify for the actual survey. Sounds fun right? More often than not, you won’t qualify and usually end up wasting what could be useful minutes of your day. It’s really frustrating!
3. They take valuable time
I’ve alluded to this several times now for a reason because it’s important! You could be doing something better with your time. Life is short and unpredictable. We all only get so much of it. So why squander it on something that gets you nowhere? Unfortunately though, most people are fine with giving up their time to do things they don’t love.
4. They pay next to nothing
The worst part is that even if you are in it for the money, you won’t find it here. I’ve found dividend investing to be much more profitable. Maybe it’s because I’m in Canada or something, but most of the surveys are for between $0.50 to $0.75. Really? How can you get excited over that? It’s not even enough to buy a coffee these days. I kept thinking that after a few shitty surveys, they would eventually start to offer better ones. But nope, that’s not how it works. They pay you next to nothing.
Why Online Surveys are a Waste of Time – Final Thoughts
Overall, this my honest review of completing surveys for money.
It’s been brutal over the past 6 months, but now I know. If anything, it should be considered a side/side/side/side hustle.
It’s true that, for the blogger, surveys can be a great way to make money if you’ve got the web traffic. And of course, I’d like to make more money, but there has to be a line. There has to be some skill development or passion for the work.
In conclusion, my opinion is that surveys are a complete waste of time. Maybe they work for someone who has a lot of time to kill. Maybe for someone who wants to earn a small amount of money on the side. However, they don’t offer enough incentive for a person who values their time, and they don’t offer enough skill-development for people that want to build relevant skills for the future.
Now I’d like to hear from you. What has your experience with surveys been like?
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I am not a licensed investment or tax adviser. All opinions are my own. This post may contain advertisements by Monumetric. This post may also contain internal links, affiliate links to BizBudding, Amazon, Bluehost, and Questrade, links to trusted external sites, and links to RTC social media accounts.
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