Imagine my relief when I opened a recent email from them explaining that the points I had there were getting ready to expire and I needed to redeem them!

I thought a great deal about what to redeem the rewards for and I finally settled on a $10 Applebee’s gift certificate as I thought it would be a great way for me and the hubby to go out to a nicer dinner for cheap as we could get the 2 for $20 deal that Applebee’s has!

It only took a few weeks for the gift card to come in the mail and it was a nice surprise! I’m just glad I opened that email!

Online surveys can be fun and they are often give with a reward for your time of points, cash, or entries into sweepstakes. It is possible to make about cash with surveys but it is impossible to say just how much cash that may be. The only definite thing that can be said about taking online surveys is that they won’t make you rich and you can’t rely on them to pay a monthly bill.

Online surveys can give you a bit of extra spending cash or items you may wish to use.

Times on Online Surveys

Online surveys will often give approximate times to complete the survey such as 5 minutes, 30 minutes, even an hour. Realize that these are usually a great deal longer than you will need, especially if you are a fast reader. 30 minute surveys may only take 15 or 20 minutes.

Types of Rewards for Online Surveys

Cash – Cash is always the best option when searching for online surveys to complete. They allow you to know exactly how much you will be making for your time. For instance, if a survey offers you a dollar and states that the survey will take an hour of your time, you may want to look at doing something else with your time.

Points – Points is another popular option for online survey rewards. Points can be turned in for different items. Items may include anything from music downloads, jewelry, gift certificates, or electronics. Some sites will even let you make charitable donations with the points earned.

Sweepstakes Entries – The third most common reward for online surveys are sweepstakes entries. This is the least of the rewards because your chances of actually making anything are very low.

How to Choose Which Online Surveys to Take

When you find an online survey company, do a search on it to make sure it isn’t a scam.
Look at the minimum pay out for the company to send you your reward. You may have to make up to a certain amount of cash before they will pay you any money or you may have to build up points to earn a prize. Try out each company as you may find that you don’t fit their needs, don’t qualify for many surveys or are not making enough points or cash.

When an online survey is received it is best to look at the time the survey may take to complete and what the reward is that is being offered. Sweepstakes entries are best ignored and cash and points must be considered based on the time it will take to complete the survey.

While online surveys can be a fun way to pass some time, they are not the best work at home job. There are many other opportunities that will make you more money in less time. See our list of legitimate work at home opportunites!

Shoppers Hotline is legit. They do pay and they are easy to use. Shoppers Hotline is a scan company much like Home Scan. Basically, you receive a hand held scanner and you scan the barcode of everything that you purchase. The scanner plugs into your phone line and once a week or so it send your information. You receive points for scanning any items you purchase each week (whether it be groceries, clothes, etc), and often a bonus for doing it every week, and for doing surveys.

I have done Shoppers Hotline for almost three years. It takes time to scan each item when you get home from shopping but it is easy and even somewhat fun. Personally, I do not go shopping every week for groceries and anything else I shop for probably less than once a month. I usually get enough food to last us two weeks so I never qualify for the extra bonus for doing it every week.

Shoppers Hotline also sends out surveys you can take and I do try to take as many of those as I can.

I have made $17 on my Shoppers Hotline debit card after almost three years of scanning! I have made more from survey companies, and pay to click email sites. You may be wondering why I kept doing it for so little but I had not really paid attention as I usually let these type of things just add up until I want something then I cash them in.

Somehow I have missed checking up on Shoppers Hotline until recently, when I once again realized the batteries were dead in the scanner. I’m not sure how such a small piece of equipment goes through batteries so quickly, about every month and a half to two months. This year we have been slowly moving ourselves over to rechargeable batteries. Though cheaper in the long run, these batteries are very expensive upfront, and you have to purchase the charger as well.

I realized it has actually cost me money to be a part of Shoppers Hotline because of the cost of batteries, factor in my time and it just becomes ridiculous!

Once this sunk in I just quit using the machine.

Let me stop here and also explain that Shoppers Hotline is a company run out of India. Let me also say that normally this wouldn’t bother me but the few times I have had to call, two of the operators were very rude and one was very nice. All three made for a difficult conversation as I could not completely understand their accents and they could not understand mine or what I was trying to say. One problem was because they threatened to cancel my enrollment because I hadn’t transmitted data in a month. This was last August when the hubby and I lived without electric or water for a month while the new home was being put in. I explained why I hadn’t transmitted and was told that was fine and they would give me a few more weeks to get settled. I received two more phone calls in the next two days stating I was going to be cancelled for not transmitting. I finally had my husband stop at the gas station for something to scan. Remember, I still didn’t realize this was costing me money.

Back to now. I stopped scanning over two months ago. I honestly didn’t think anything more about it. Last week I received a letter in the mail from Shoppers Hotline. This letter offered an address I could email to request a prepaid return kit for my three year old hand held scanner and if I did not return the scanner I would be sent to a collection agency and charged $270.00!!!! I was shocked and offended. I pride myself on the good credit I have struggled to get for my husband and I and to be told collection activities would be started for me over a survey company was unreal. I looked back over my Shoppers Hotline info and there is some fine print about returning the scanner or being charged and I appreciate they send a prepaid return package but the rudeness of their letter was too much.

If you have had a good experience with Shoppers Hotline please contribute an article with your experience as I do believe in sharing both sides.

I am going to take my $17 and chalk this up to a learning experience and I hope you learn from it as well.

You can expect to work from home and put a little extra cash in your pocket and perhaps some gifts by completing surveys. There are several online survey sites that I take surveys through. Some of these sites give a monetary gift for taking a survey, some give points toward prizes, and others put you in a drawing for a larger prize.

I pick and choose the surveys I take and complete only ones that either give me a monetary value or points to a prize. I look at the estimated time for taking a survey, which I can usually complete much faster than their estimation, before I make my decision on whether to take the survey or not. I also do not take a survey if I think it will be boring or will take too much of my time.

I enjoy completing surveys and will often take them while watching television or surfing the internet. There are many many different online survey sites available. Some are worth your time, while some I have never received anything from. Check out The Frugal Home list of work at home opportunities for survey sites that I use or have used in the past.

Have you had experiences with online survey sites, good or bad, that you would like to share to help others? Are you an expert survey taker and would like to write a column for The Frugal Home? Contribute here!

To Sign Up For Greenfield Online click the link below and start working from home!

www.greenfieldonline.com

Incentives

Monetary Payment
Sweepstakes Entry