Can You Truly Make Money Answering Surveys?

I was mindlessly scrolling on Youtube when I found a video that caught my attention: The “penny challenge.” It was a video series of a Youtuber making his way across the country starting with a penny and creatively generating enough income for his daily needs by dog walking, telling jokes, drawing caricatures, and more. At one point, he opened an app called Surveys to Go and explained that he had been answering surveys for some extra cash, and had now made $20. It looked promising and I thought that maybe I, too, could make $20 answering questions about what fast food places I like and why. So, I downloaded the app.

After a month of using the Surveys to Go app, I was disappointed to find out that I had not made a lot of money. To be more precise, I made $11. I kept thinking that maybe I was doing something wrong. I was filling out about three surveys a day for $1-2 each so, in theory, I should have made a bit more.

The real issue is that, after you answer some basic questions, some surveys will say that you’re not qualified to take the survey. Your age, gender, political views, or whether or not you used a public bathroom in the last 10 days are factors that could deem you unqualified! If you are not one of the people whose opinions they are interested in, they give you a generous 10 cents and tell you to look out for more surveys.

Some may say these surveys are still easy money and don’t take much time. The thing is, some of those $1 surveys ended up taking 20 minutes because they test you every few questions to see if you are actually reading them and not clicking randomly. They do this by asking a basic question like, What day comes after Monday? Also, these survey questions are just about the most dull and repetitive questions you will ever be asked.

After doing some research on these survey apps, I have seen some different perspectives. CBS News’ article admits that although surveys do not pay much, they “aren’t as time-consuming as some passive income streams out there nor do they require any financial investments — like investing in stocks or a rental property.” This is true; these surveys do not require much research or critical thinking at all. A child would likely be able to complete them. I did try these survey apps for the first time at age 10, so I can attest to this!

However, does this one “pro” really make it all worth it? One of the most popular websites for surveys, Survey Junkie, tells survey takers that “you can make up to $40 per month if you take three surveys every day.” That would be a little over $1 a day. One Redditor, Rippcurlz, commented that “A person would probably have better luck panhandling on a busy street during peak hours, could probably make about $10 per hour doing that.” This is likely true.

Completing surveys is definitely not a way to make a living and is probably the worst option for side hustle, as well. Can it really be called passive income if answering 40 questions gets you a single dollar? These apps are largely a waste of time if you aren’t a Youtuber doing a “penny challenge.” However, it doesn’t hurt to give them a try if you’re looking for just enough money to buy a small scoop of ice cream.

Works Cited

Surveys for money: What you can expect to earn. NerdWallet. (n.d.). https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/finance/surveys-for-money-site-reviews

Earl, J. (2023, March 1). Paid online surveys: Are they worth it?. CBS News. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/paid-online-surveys-are-they-worth-it/

Reddit Thread. Do people really make good money by taking online surveys as a side hustle? (n.d.). https://www.reddit.com/r/NoStupidQuestions/comments/11lptt8/do_people_really_make_good_money_by_taking_online/ =