Monday, August 24, 2009

Valued Opinions Review

Valued Opinions Review



Introduction

Valued Opinions is an online paid survey site. I use the UK version of the site, although I believe there is an American version as well, and this article will aim to give a simple overview of the site, as well as my own personal review. Valued Opinions are run by a company called Research Now, and unlike several other online survey companies that I have come across they are based in the UK and have UK contact details which should give some extra confidence that they are legitimate for cautious members of the population.


Registering for the site

The registering for Valued Opinions was relatively simple and quick, especially compared with the signup process for some survey sites. I signed up through the website. There was the need to provide the usual details such as my e-mail address and a password as well as a few other details, although most can be done at a later date. It is also possible to fill out some simple personal surveys which improve the chances of getting suitable surveys. I didn't do this at first, and so many of the surveys Valued Opinions invited me to were not relevant and so I was filtered out. However, since filling in these quick personal surveys the paid surveys I receive are a lot more relevant.

Doing surveys

Valued Opinions works like a lot of survey sites. Once signed up for the service emails are periodically emailled to the address used at the registering stage. These emails always contain a unique web link to the unique survey to be completed. The good thing about the emails is they always give an indication of the field which the survey is on. They also give the payment amount, as well as a rough estimate of the time the survey should take to complete. It must be said at this stage that I found the times advised by Valued Opinions to be on average slightly longer than the time it took me to do it, but maybe I have a fast connection or am a faster reader than the average person to do Valued Opinions surveys.

The survey themselves vary in nature. Generally there are a few questions at the beginning which are very basic and are used to determine the eligibility for that particular survey.

If you aren't eligible the survey is exited. Like many survey sites, there is no payment for being screened out at this stage of the process, which can be very annoying. However, sometimes there is an option to take part in other open surveys (which you haven't been invited to by email) and in experience this second invite happens about 50% of the time.

If you aren't screened out, then the survey is started in earnest. This subject matter can vary greatly - I have had such diverse surveys as alcoholic drinks, foods, cars, bank accounts and films. The survey can vary in how it is given, some are mainly watching a commercial and giving views where-as others can be mainly clicking boxes.

Getting paid

Once completing a survey the money starts to show up on your personal page upon the Valued Opinions website. However, at first it is in a pending mode, but within a few weeks it becomes accessible. Once the amount within the accessible part of the website exceeds £10 it is possible to ask for a reward. Valued Opinions do not provide cash, instead they provide vouchers/gift cards. Whilst this may seem quite bad there are a large number of companies to choose from including Tesco, John Lewis, Arcadia, Boots, Argos and Amazon so if you live within the UK it is practically the same as cash. There is also the option to select making a £10 donation to one of the charities listed on the site if you are feeling particularly generous. The company warn that it may take up to four weeks for offline vouchers to be delivered. This was the case with the first reward I ordered, but subsequent rewards have been delivered much quicker with the last one being delivered in only 4 working days so I was very impressed. I have only ever selected to get a Tesco giftcard though, so I am unable to say whether delivery times are longer for other companies, although obviously Amazon is an electronic voucher so near instantaneous.


My proof of earnings from Valued Opinions for a recent period.
My proof of earnings from Valued Opinions for a recent period.

My experience

I have been a member of Valued Opinions for about six months now. At first I did not attempt all the surveys which were sent due to time constraints, and as such I could have potentially earned more money. However, even considering I have only attempted what I would estimate to be half of the surveys which I have been sent I have still managed to claim 3 sets of rewards at £10 each. All of these have been for Tesco giftcards, and delivery has been very good every time. In fact the last set I ordered was delivered in under a week so I was very impressed. All in all I can definately say that in my experience Valued Opinions is definately not a scam site! I would definately recommend signing up for this company if you are from the UK and don't mind doing surveys to earn a bit extra cash.


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