Here is an updated application link at Pinecone Research, which is again accepting new members. (May expire at any time, so apply now if you’re interested!) Looks open to all, but only one person per household can sign up. Thanks to reader Chris for the link.
PineCone Research remains one of the better paying and reliable survey companies, with a payout of $3 (check or PayPal) for each 15-minute online survey. The hardest part is getting accepted, as they only take applications intermittently. Some users have reported an increase in unpaid “weed-out” surveys, while others seem to remain happy. I got kicked out a while ago for missing some surveys when I moved, so I’m afraid I can’t comment. It was great for me while it lasted!
The four survey sites that I have been most active with nowadays are NFO MySurvey, Opinion Outpost, BzzAgent, and SurveySavvy. I like it them because they consistently offer me paid survey opportunities, they pay out reliably (important!), and they don’t mind if I don’t do every single survey offered (unlike Pinecone which does).
I shared my thoughts on Pinecone and paid surveys in general here. I call them Bored Money – not terribly efficient but you can do it at your leisure and occasionally get to try some neat things like shampoo, dog food, new soda flavors, and once even got a new $100 Sonicare toothbrush to keep.
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I’ve been a member with Pinecone for about 9 months now, and there was one slow stretch in the fall, but aside from that, the surveys have been pretty regular.
However, I haven’t gotten the opportunity to try any of the new products, so I don’t know if that’s a practice they’ve abandoned, or if it’s just my luck.
How many surveys do you have to complete per week?
I was with them for about 1 year before the switched to $3 from 5 per survey. Back then, I felt it was worth it, but they seem to be testing the limits of how far they can push people for the same amount of money. It seems to me like the surveys are now longer and require more effort and thoroughness to fill out (like a huge grid of checkboxes for different traits you like about different products) whereas before it was just writing words. I just stopped doing them, and I don’t even make that much money. To me, it is literally not even worth the current level of hassle clicking through the required fields and hitting ‘next’, even if I didn’t have to think at all.
I just wanted to chime in since you got kicked out and can’t tell what it’s like anymore.
Matthew,
It’s inconsistent. I’d say it averages a bit over 1 a week, but they don’t come on a regular basis. Half of them are unpaying but you get an entry into their $500 lottery drawing (odds of winning unknown, but I’m guessing way under 1/166) They only give you about 2 days to complete the survey at most though, so I think they kick people out fairly frequently.
I’ve been doing pinecone for almost a year now. My experience has been similar to Sean in that sometime I have a few surveys in a week and then nothing. It was a while before pinecone asked me to test any products. I’ve only done 2 so far.
Surveys used to be open for a longer period, but now they are only available for a limited time. I didn’t realize it was only 2 days.
I’ve done it for more than a year, but the time committment is very minimal — 10-15 minutes every two weeks or so. I don’t do the $500 drawing stuff, despite repeated reminders, because I feel they should pay for that too. But the $500 drawing surveys might be demographic profiles rather than product questionaires, and participating in those might increase your chances of getting sent surveys. The surveys are pretty tedious and always contain the same questions about different products. But overall cash from pincecone is better than “points” from the other places.
Last month I did about a survey a week from Pinecone, nice easy money
Some of my thoughts on Pinecone:
* It’s best for those who don’t have any full-time commitments…
as noted, survey deadlines are usually within 2 days, so don’t blink or you’ll miss them.
* Your demographics and buying behavior will definitely affect how many surveys you receive. ‘Active’ shoppers who buy a lot of different stuff will do better. In any case, don’t expect to pay the rent with your income.
* As noted, surveys are tedious, but shouldn’t take more than 15 minutes. So at $3/survey, that’s a $12 hour rate…probably not worth it if you work full-time, but not so bad if you are unemployed or work part-time. They have paid very quickly.
I found it to not be worth it to me anymore. I’ve been paid a lot more for doing this type of stuff when I was in college.
I used to do Pinecone surveys back when they paid $5 each. I missed several in a row and got kicked off the panel same as you. I tried to get back on but they wouldn’t take me back.
They really don’t tolerate panel members skipping surveys.