Want to earn easy money with surveys from home? In this Survey Junkie review we look at whether Survey Junkie can you help you do just that.
With more than 20 million members worldwide, Survey Junkie is one of the most popular paid survey sites. If you like to share your thoughts about products and services and want to make extra money, could Survey Junkie be the right choice for you?
Quick Verdict
Like all online paid survey sites, Survey Junkie isn’t a career choice. It’s not going to replace your job, but it could be a good option to make a few extra pounds in your spare time.
Take surveys on the train or while you’re watching your favourite soap – it could be a fun (and easy) way to pay for a night out.
What Is Survey Junkie?
Owned by DISQO, a consumer insights company, Survey Junkie is an online market research platform. It invites its members to take surveys, and shares the results with its clients. It has been available in the United States for several years, and recently came across the pond to the UK.
When you complete a survey for Survey Junkie, you are paid in points which can then be redeemed as cash.
How Does Survey Junkie Work?
The first thing to note is that you won’t be deluged with survey requests. These are tailored to your unique likes and shopping habits. The process of discovering what surveys the site will invite you to complete starts when you set up your account.
It’s easy to sign up. Simply provide some basic details – your name, email address, post code, and date of birth. Then confirm your email address and log in. You’ll then be asked to complete an online profile. This is used to match you to appropriate surveys, so you should always be answering questions about things you like or use.
You will have a personal dashboard with Survey Junkie. This contains details about your points earned as well as providing your daily survey matches.
Is Survey Junkie Safe to Use?
You might be apprehensive about what Survey Junkie knows about you, but in truth this is less than Google or Amazon knows. Be assured that the information you provide to the system is all it knows about you in the UK, and you can elect that it doesn’t share this information with others.
How Do You Earn Money on Survey Junkie?
In the United States, Survey Junkie members can earn from the site in a variety of ways. This includes signing up for SJ Pulse (which monitors your online activity for passive income), product testing, online and in-person focus groups, and telephone surveys. These money-making methods may come to the UK in the future, but for now Survey Junkie is concentrating on its core business of paid online surveys here.
After you have set up your account, you can begin to take surveys immediately. The surveys you are invited to ask focused questions – hence the need to add a detailed profile. You’ll be able to share your opinions. These help companies to create better products and services for their customers.
You select surveys to take from your dashboard. You’re not left in the dark, either. Each survey invite includes an estimate of the time the survey will take and how many points you’ll receive when you complete it.
How Much Can You Earn on Survey Junkie?
You start to earn points as soon as you create your account. You’ll be awarded 25 points for becoming a member and 50 points for creating your profile.
To create your profile, you’ll be asked to answer 15 questions. These cover personal details like your marital status, ethnicity, your children, education, income, and so on. This only takes a minute or so to complete. As soon as you have, you’ll see your dashboard.
I had 30 survey matches. These ranged from 15 points to 85 points. You’ll notice on the screenshot below that each survey match includes:
- The total number of points
- An estimate of the time it will take to complete the survey
- An approximation of points per minute
When you click on a survey, you’ll be taken to a third-party site and asked to answer a couple of questions to confirm your eligibility to take the survey. If you’re not a match or the survey has been filled, you will be awarded two or three points for your efforts. Here’s my dashboard a couple of minutes after signup:
As to how much you can earn, here are the calculations:
- 500 points is worth £5
- 1 point = 1p
- Should you complete surveys that are worth 3 points per minute, this equates to an hourly rate of £1.80
How Do You Get Paid?
When you reach 500 points, your dashboard’s home page will display a cashout wheel. Click on the ‘Redeem’ button to redeem your points as cash to your PayPal account. It will take between three and five working days for your Survey Junkie cash to appear on your PayPal account.
(In the future, you may be able to exchange your points for gift vouchers as well as cash.)
What About Member Support?
The website is so easy to use that you’re unlikely to need much member support. However, to help you get started and throughout your survey-taking journey, you can access a wedge of information covering membership through to technical issues in the form of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).
If your query isn’t covered in these FAQs, you can contact the support team by sending them a message directly from the website.
The Pros & Cons
If you love to share your opinions, want to earn a few extra pounds, and have 15 to 30 minutes to spare each day, then there are more pros than cons to Survey Junkie:
The Pros
- It’s easy to sign up and create an account. It takes only a few minutes before you can get started on earning through taking surveys.
- You’ll earn points for signing up and creating your profile.
- Even if you don’t qualify for a survey, or the survey has been filled, you’ll earn points.
- Redeeming your points is easy.
The Cons
- Theoretically, you’ll be able to complete as many surveys as you wish. However, in practice this isn’t the case. The surveys you are presented with are targeted to match your profile.
- Payouts vary per survey. While you’ll have the details to hand before you take a survey, it’s an extra consideration to make.
- The amount you can earn on Survey Junkie is never going to set the world on fire! But Survey Junkie itself is upfront about this. It says: “You will NOT get rich by taking surveys. The rewards for each survey will vary, but with commitment and regular participation, you’ll have the opportunity to earn extra cash each month.”
Alternatives to Survey Junkie
Paid online surveys are becoming big business in the UK, and Survey Junkie is a relative latecomer to the UK market. Alternatives include:
Branded Surveys
- Pay per survey ranges from 30p to £5
- The minimum cashout is £4.50
- You can cash out to PayPal, prepaid Visa cards, by direct deposit to your bank account, or gift cards
- Other features include competitions and a 100-point welcome bonus
Inbox Pounds
- Pay per survey ranges from 20p to £2.50
- The minimum cashout is £7.00
- You can cash out to PayPal or gift cards
- Other features include earnings opportunities such as browsing the web and playing online games
Lifepoints
- Pay per survey ranges from 30p to £3
- The minimum cashout is £5.00
- You can cash out to PayPal or gift cards
- Other features include a very user-friendly interface and fast payouts
PrizeRebel
- Pay per survey ranges from 20p to £2
- The minimum cashout is £3.50
- You can cash out to PayPal or gift cards
- Other features include daily earning opportunities
The Bottom Line
I’m always sceptical about these types of money-making opportunities. They never seem to pay well, and Survey Junkie is no exception to this rule. However, this isn’t the point of the website.
If you want to make extra money without too much effort, and you enjoy doing surveys and sharing your opinions, then Survey Junkie is as good as other paid survey websites. You could complete surveys while commuting on the bus or train, or do a couple while sat in front of the television.
Think creatively and take surveys when you get the chance. I’m a keen course angler. Providing I have internet connectivity, I could see myself doing a few surveys while waiting for my bite alarm to buzz and let me know I have a British record carp to play and land (here’s hoping!). What I earn on Survey Junkie would pay for my bait.
One thing I would say is that clicking on a survey and answering the qualifying questions, only to be knocked back is infuriating.
However, at least you are awarded compensatory points for this effort. It’s also a bugbear that you must have a PayPal account – I have one, but many won’t.
On the upside, and looking to the future, I would hope that DISQO upgrade the UK version of Survey Junkie to offer more earning opportunities. Such an evolution would put it firmly above its UK competition.