If you’re like me, you’re looking for ways to earn extra cash honestly, that does not involve collecting a huge bunch of sellers below you or pretending to be an extrovert at networking events that aren’t your scene but you feel like you have no other options if you want to make money. Right?
Well, no. Among the myth and superstition that centers on earning bucks from home, you’ll find many fads and get-rich-quick schemes, coupled with the internet lore that surrounds scam sites, filling envelopes from home, survey sites and other such opportunities offered. It’s not easy figuring out which survey site to trust and which to avoid, and this series focuses on weeding them out so that your choices are easier to make.
A busy mom of two, there’s always something lurking around the corner that needs cash – which I don’t always have on the 18th of every month. Much like anything in life, getting and completing online surveys includes work – real work – and not just a click-click here and there.
You may find yourself discouraged because you’re not always the right fit for a particular survey (that you thought would make a quick buck), but if you’re relentless and follow through on your decision to earn cash from online surveys, then you’ll do just fine. Remember, too, that online surveys are a digital focus session. And if you’ve ever been to one of those, you’ll also know that you need to have certain qualifying criteria to be a part of them.
Bear in mind that it’s impossible to guess what the answers to the qualifying questions maybe, or even what kinds of questions they may ask to find the right people for their focus session. Just as you are looking for a way to earn cash, so too are the legitimate digital survey collection banks looking to make a difference by giving their clients real, insight-driven analytics. In the long run, those analytics are what customise your online experience and connect you to others just like you.
How Inbox Dollars Works
At this point, I’m sure you can relate to some of the above but are still wondering why InboxDollars would be a good fit to earn money from, right? So, let’s get into it.
Check out this video for a brief overview of InboxDollars and the benefits you can expect to earn:
Take Paid Online Surveys
Most paying online surveys could earn you between $0.50 – $5.00 and take 3-25 minutes to complete. The better a match you are to the desired demographic profiles a survey calls for, the higher your earning potential, and some online surveys could pay as much as $10 – $20 for a couple of minutes.
Clients pay for insight-driven consumer opinion, which results in online surveys that gather data. InboxDollars recruits freelance members like you and me to do online activities that generate insight into consumer behaviour and spending patterns. It’s a fun, interactive way to earn extra money, plus you’ll recognise some of their brand partners.
InboxDollar also offers a few other options if survey sites are not your thing:
Coupon Cash Reward
Most people see coupons as admissions of being poor, but as a single mom, I see it as an opportunity to get some of my hard-earned tax dollars back in freebies. Coupons are simply a piece of paper that proves the discount you’re always looking for. How is 20% off an item shipped any different to a 20% off coupon? The answer is perception.
InboxDollar allows you to access free coupons for groceries or home, baby, beauty, DIY and more, which can be used on everyday purchases but also earn you cashback every time you redeem a coupon.
Cashback for Online Shopping
For me, online shopping is reserved for “luxury” items and customised gifts. A great fan of the free samples and extra discounts I get from top brands, being able to earn cashback while I shop online is an added bonus. Plus, InboxDollar also shares insider savings tips, best free stuff online and many new offers posted to let you save even more while you earn.
Get Paid to Read Emails
Email remains the business tool of choice for communicating with clients and co-workers and shows no sign of being replaced any time soon. Many of us check our emails at least once or twice a day, but what if we could get paid for doing that?
InboxDollars pays cash to read or complete offers sent directly to your account inbox. You’re already online, already in your inbox, already going through and reading your mail. Completing an offer is as easy as responding to an email, and is a great way to earn a passive income without needing any additional software or logins.
Watching Videos
A child of the 70s and 80s, trailers and adverts were big in my day. Going to a movie meant that you would have to sit through them all or miss out on great seats. You never knew what to expect, but boy, you always waited for it to start.
Big brands are looking for consumers just like us to watch short snippets of content, like new products or added features, movie trailers and adverts. You can add to the earnings this option brings by getting or taking surveys and completing short surveys for money or checking your emails for offers while watching videos in a mini-screen.
Get Rewarded for Playing Games
Probably the highlight of any busy mom’s day, being able to play a mindless game in silence after the kids go to bed is a fantastic way to relax and unwind while exercising your brain. To be sure, not every game is everyone’s choice, but classics like Monkey Bubble Shooter, Mahjong Solitaire, Outspell, and Candy Jam not only make it easy to earn extra money but also make it an easy decision to make when trying to figure out which InboxDollars option is right for you.
If the games above are not your thing, InboxDollars partner with GSN Casino, offering you unlimited access to hundreds of GSN games. To make it worth your while, InboxDollars lets you earn 18% cash back for every dollar you spend on GSN games.
It really doesn’t get any easier than this.
Is the cash I earn really “free”?
This, I suppose, is the tricky part that makes some folks question the validity and integrity of online earning portals and taking surveys or watching videos to earn cash: How can the money I earn be free? What’s the catch?
Again, if you’re not in it, you can’t win it. Persevering until you find the right qualifying fit is the only way to earn that cash. And unlike most sites, with InboxDollar, you earn real CASH in your account, not points!
Company Background
As far as operation goes, this company does not work differently from its competitors in the paid survey industry. It is certainly not one of a kind here. So do not expect it to spring up any surprise, if you have ever been a participant in any paid survey online.
Even though there are now lots of buzz around Inbox Dollars these days, it is interesting to note that the company did not start out as a survey panel.
Its parent company, CotterWeb Enterprises, gave birth to it in 2000 originally intended it to be an online rewards club, which offers cashback as members do their shopping online.
In fact, the original plan went so well that led it to think about other earning possibilities, and they eventually included taking surveys, games, referral programs, read mail and get paid, etc… as their other offerings.
Indeed, ID has undergone significant transformation to become a full-fledged online survey panel today, alongside with Send Earnings and Inbox Pounds (for UK residents).
All are fully owned and operated by the same parent company.
How much money can I make from InboxDollars?
The base amount you can cash out from your account is $30, but we recommend cashing out at or above $40 so you waive the $3 processing fee on your payout. Of course, the $5 I earned for signing up and creating an account is a great start towards that cashout!
For some, InboxDollars is not just an extra cash-earning portal, it’s a full-time job. Depending on the options you sign up for, you have the potential to equal or even exceed your current earnings – all from the comfort of your living room or your bed late at night. And if you’re based internationally like I am, the dollar exchange rate in your location is an added bonus when cashing out!
The data and information you enter when you sign up will determine which surveys and offers you are a fit for, so be sure to be real about the information, your answers and preferences you give so that you are correctly matched. A good reputation and being diligent in your pursuit of this earning potential will go a long way to establishing your credibility as a brand influencer.
Is InboxDollars a legitimate company?
The InboxDollars brand and market research partners are well-established, internationally recognised and have trusted InboxDollars since 2000 to deliver relevant insight and trend predictions. In that time, InboxDollars has paid over $60 million in cash rewards to more than 10 million members who have influenced future spend on surveyed products and services. Ongoing contests, giveaways, and promos offer additional benefits for members to earn or win cash online.
Recognized by Inc. 5000 for outstanding growth (2008 through 2012 and 2014), InboxDollars (a division of Cotterweb Enterprises, Inc) is an award-winning company that has also been featured in Forbes, Bustle, and Mashable, to name but a few. The Inc. 5000 listing is an annual list of the 5,000 fastest-growing US-based companies, as compiled by Inc. Magazine, where ranking is based on % revenue growth over a 3-year period.
In May 2019, Prodege, LLC announced that it had acquired CotterWeb Enterprises, Inc., including the successful rewards sites InboxDollars.com and SendEarnings.com in the United States, DailyRewards.com in Canada, and InboxPounds.co.uk in the United Kingdom. The acquisition was expected to expand Prodege’s total consumer-rewards membership base beyond 100 million registered members worldwide by the end of 2019. A+ Rated and accredited with the Better Business Bureau, CotterWeb’s headquarters are expected to continue operating its brands under the leadership of Daren Cotter and his team who are based in Minnesota.
In October 2019, Prodege, LLC acquired Rakuten In-Store Network, a performance-advertising platform for driving in-store traffic and sales with card-linked rewards programs. The acquisition would allow Prodege members to earn cashback and gift cards when shopping in-store at more than 30,000 merchant locations.
In February 2020, Prodege, LLC announced that it had acquired CouponCause.com, a fast-growing coupon and consumer savings site, an acquisition that would further enhance rewards and savings for millions of consumers and members worldwide.
According to press releases at the time, the acquisitions would allow online retailers, advertisers, and market research partners to access both Prodege’s existing and acquired sites, as well as all CotterWeb sites, to “achieve greater scale and performance” that would drive brand growth and adoption like never before. Members of the CotterWeb sites experienced no significant changes and acquired access to expanded opportunities to earn rewards, coupons, and cash, as well as additional incentives and cashback options.
What the members say
On the whole, positive reviews outweigh the negative reviews, no matter how hard you look for them. There will always be disenchanted people who don’t realise or can’t see the value of a specific website or tool. If your decision to sign up with InboxDollars is sincere and for the right reasons, you will find that your experience is a great one. It’s all about the mindset, always.
Obviously, the $3 processing fee on your InboxDollars account is a problem when you’ve done your part and made it to $30 so you could cash out, but here’s the thing… if you’re anything like me and have used services like PayPal or Upwork before, you’ll know that there’s a processing fee and you pay that happily. Why? Well, because that’s just the way it works. And if you’re okay with PayPal taking their cut, why not InboxDollars? The principles remain the same: you’re using a service for a fee.
If you don’t like or agree with the $3 processing fee, well, wait until you have $40. Easier said than done in these tough economic times, I know. Sometimes, balancing the pros and cons of that wait will bring you better clarity and more opportunities to earn while you wait for the money to come into your bank account or PayPal account.
The other aspect that came up a lot in conversation with my friends was the fine print. In this day and age, who doesn’t read that first? Also, claiming to be who you aren’t to return a bunch of bogus survey answers is not only dishonest, it also negatively impacts the market data clients have paid for and sets market research on specific products or services back by weeks at a time. Recovering data from false submissions is an almost impossible task that costs hundreds of productivity hours. The bad rep and the violation of terms of service just aren’t worth it if you’re serious about making money online.
What kind of support can I expect?
As a first-time user, the FAQ was my go-to, followed by the social page and blog pages. Not only that, but a quick chat with the chatbot took me right to an agent in customer service (in just a few minutes), who guided me and answered all my questions about using InboxDollars, no matter how silly I thought they sounded. You’d be surprised by the things we tell ourselves when we think no-one is watching!
Inbox Dollars Pros and cons
This part is pretty easy for me to judge. It’s all about earning money while I sleep or rest, and InboxDollars has certainly allowed me to do that. My phone went from a calling instrument to a money-making machine and I learned how to respect it as a productivity tool and not just a two-way communication device. I find myself plugged in and switched on to current trends, and connecting with people I never thought would be my “type”.
My kids are happier because impossible situations have become manageable situations that allow me to be the mom I always wished I could be, but cash held me back. I’m not talking about spoiling your kids. I’m talking about everyday things like school outings, college textbooks, and cheerleading outfits. It’s about making a difference when you stand at the checkout and have to choose what to put back because you don’t have a coupon or cash on hand.
I have the freedom to choose what I want to do, how much I want to do it, and when I have the time and space to do it. Unlike my 9-to-5 job, I’m not forced to do anything I don’t like or work on projects I don’t enjoy. I have complete control to earn money the way I want to earn it.
Other pros and cons that come to mind (in no specific order):
Pros | Cons |
---|---|
Freedom to earn in own time | Adherence to preferences on the profile |
Multiple payout points | $3 processing fee if less than $40 |
Unlimited earning potential | Takes time to grow to $40 |
Great tools, support structure, and social presence | People don’t use the tools given to them and generate negative reviews |
Inbox Dollars VS The Rest of the Competition
The online survey panels market is a crowded one, but there are a few information about Inbox Dollars that truly stand out.
For starters, I like the fact that you can find a wide variety (with broad range) of paid surveys to choose from.
When you sign on as a new member, you will automatically be included in their product testing and online focus groups. For me my personality, these two represent some of the more interesting aspects of survey work, and the money is decent as well.
But talk about the gratifying experience. You will be delighted to know that the reward program covers some of the most established brands. The partnership network is not just extensive but also counts some of the more desired brand names such as Walmart, Target, and Netflix.
The products associated with these popular brands are often in good demand, so you have to admire the marketing team to put together such established names.
One thing that I find inspiring in doing survey work is the realization of the fact that I now suddenly have a say on how companies and manufacturers develop and improvise products and services.
Is InboxDollar Legit?
Despite the well-established success story, there continue to be lingering doubts about the viability of the company, specifically if Inbox Dollars is connected to any sort of scam?…
I can be on the record to say that this site is not out to defraud people of money. Unlike some other online survey panels, it also does not demand any sign-up fee from new members.
In fact, it will gladly pay you $5 when you are ready to set up an account with the site.
This gesture is primarily what got the market talking, which in turn attracts the attention of Good Morning America.
In conclusion
InboxDollars is not a money-making scheme or offers a quick-buck. It requires commitment and follow-through to build up your earnings. Much like your 9-to-5 job, you wouldn’t earn a full salary on day 3, so why would you expect that from sites like InboxDollars?
It goes back to perception and mindset. You have got to have the right attitude, the right reasons and the right frame of mind if you are going to make a success of this. Coming at it from the angle of “I need $40 by Tuesday” is just not going to work, but if you stop and take stock, you can absolutely look at it as “I need $40 for Bella’s cheerleading camp next month”, you can start earning money today for the things you need in all your tomorrows.
I am from South Africa and have been working with companies like Typeform and SurveyMonkey creating surveys for the past 5 years. Nowadays, I love reading, writing and looking after my children.