Ipsos I-Say Review

Today’s review is of Ipsos i-Say or sometimes referred to by its other name “I-Say by Ipsos”, a proven long-term player in the online survey sites industry. And when you start to examine its business model and operation, it is no accident that the company has such a strong staying power.

Essentially, it all boils down to the attractiveness of the company when it comes to high paying surveys, and people have been saying that they are paid some $90 for a single survey.

It obviously helps that they form strategic and exclusive tie-ups with some of the most desired brands in the world. And its reputation of being the most trusted online panel is no fluke.

With all these considerations, it is only natural that I would recommend you to become a panelist of this reputable company.

Company Background

This survey site is ever so dependable as far as I’m concerned!

The survey site is operated out of Ipsos Insight, which in turn forms part of the umbrella group of Ipsos.

The parent company is an internationally acknowledged market research company that has cumulatively organized well over 6 million surveys on a yearly basis, and across over 100 countries.

It is a well-established organization with operations in quite a few countries. Reading this background, there is no way you can link Ipsos i-Say to a scam.

Unless you are completely new to the survey market, either domestic or international, Ipsos’ name should register with you. But let us go down to the Ipsos i-Say level.

Better Business Bureau’s Rating

According to the Better Business Bureau, this survey site has a pretty good overall standing. In addition, it is also acknowledged as a regular partner to some of the most trusted non-profit based market research organizations such as Maxwell Poll and the Pew Research Center.

If you want to learn more about the nature of work conducted at the Maxwell Poll or Pew Research Center as a market research organization, you can check out this site (Roper Center for Opinion Research) for more information, but essentially, it is about opinion research.

So, by way of their association with those established and privilege organizations, I would say that I-Say by Ipsos is among the most reliable and credible companies around.

Is Ipsos I-Say Legit or Scam?

For those uninitiated or without survey experience, it is difficult to get their minds around the idea that someone is happy to pay you for filling out questionnaires or surveys.

They wonder how expressing an idea about products, websites or even movies can be a profitable undertaking. So when the chance upon a business that is willing to compensate others’ opinions, it becomes convenient for them to point a finger and accuse such company as a scam.

What these folks fail to recognize is that Ipsos i-Say has a completely legitimate business model that has been proven to be working nicely for them.

Those people in the marketing field will easily acknowledge the work organized by Ipsos.

You see, in the business world, there exists a great desire for manufacturers and companies to know what people think and feel about their products and services. If such information can become handy even before the products and services are launched, it will be invaluable for the manufacturers and companies because it will decide the next course of action for them.

Often, such reviews and opinions will either convince them to take their products and services straight to the market, or some tweaking on their offerings may be necessary.

In that sense, companies and manufacturers are ready to pay a premium to collate such ideas and opinions from the mainstream public.

In the past, or before the proliferation of the Internet, the tools and options that were available to them are often restricted to just focus groups and product testing. But now the Internet has made it possible for businesses to reach out to an enormous amount of participants never imagined before, and these participants can also be subjected to more stringent evaluation/criteria more readily and more easily.

With the above explanation on what drives the consumers’ opinions market, I hope you are now better able to grapple with the idea of how companies like Ipsos i-Say surveys work.

It certainly has a fantastic track record: it started the business some 10 years ago, and it continues to seek out people who are willing to on surveys and share their opinions and ideas in return for some compensation.

Having said all the above, it is certainly my hope that you won’t give this fully legit company a miss. The least that you should do is to keep the company on your radar as you contemplate which online panel to join.

My Personal Experience

As you may have assumed by this point, my working experience with i-Say is entirely fabulous. I must be among the earliest hundreds who signed up with this company.

I guess my experience speaks a lot about the company, and I am glad to report that this survey site has maintained that professionalism and trustworthiness throughout all these years.

Let us now turn our attention to the sorts of surveys they make available. First off, you are almost guaranteed 10 over invites that come through your e-mail on a daily basis.

You can also choose to log in to their website, and you get to see lots more surveys waiting to get completed and you can start taking surveys. Of course, not all surveys you will get are the same, and the corresponding payment would naturally differ as well.

I have mentioned earlier that with some surveys can get paid handsomely (the most generous payout I got for a single survey was $95 or 100 points), but you should not count on them solely.

The reason is such surveys are not made available on a daily basis, and you are expected to put in more effort and time to complete these lucrative surveys to earn cash reward or gift cards.

I would suggest that to pin your hopes on the mid-range ones. The entry-level survey can earn you $15 a job. So, the mid-range surveys can range from $30-$50, it is all up to your expectations.

Ipsos I-Say does not pay cash outright or gift cards for every individual job. Instead, they use a system that the industry refers to as reward points system.

There is nothing sinister about it, as it is pretty much a standard payment system employed by half the industry. Over here, you can get your points as entries to sweepstake draws or gift cards.

I can’t really honestly say this is my preferred payment option, but I guess you just have to live with it, if the website appeals a lot to you, as in my case.

Reviews of Ipsos I-Say from the Web

For the sake of completeness, I usually include the comments and opinions from the web to complement my review. And I never do this differently for this review.

Followings are what I gathered from the Web:

1. Generally, people have good things to say about this company. It takes payment to members seriously and most appreciate the fact that it pays out real prompt.
2. In addition, people can generally find sorts of surveys that suit them appropriately. Prompt payment and wide availability of surveys are certainly the hallmarks of this company.
3. Other than the above 2 aspects, people are also appreciative of the company’s practice to compensate for members’ time in the screener surveys even if they don’t qualify for the final survey ultimately.

This is surely a more friendly approach than those practiced by other survey sites such as Opinion Outpost, which pays nothing to unqualified members. It is always a sour taste in the mouth when you attempted a few screening questions, and only to be told that you are not a good fit. However, that feeling can be somewhat offset by a few reward points that you can get, courtesy of Ipsos I-Say.

In truth, the points you can get are not going to be significant, but it is a good way to massage the ego nevertheless.

4. Consistent with everything in life, there are also grouses among netizens on I-Say’s points redeeming system.

Strangely, most of these complaints tended to congregate around November 2011, and quiet down after that.

I suspect it is a system-related error, though the company has never said anything. But I also want to point out these complaints had a happy ending, with most complaints posers acknowledging that Ipsos I-Say’s customer support has been forthcoming and courteous in addressing their grievances, and ineffective manner.

Personally I never come across any problem throughout my time at this panel, so I like to imagine if there is any hole in their operation, they seem responsive and nimble enough to address such shortcoming, so it gave the appearance of a one-time issue as illustrated above.

5. Ipsos also receives many praises for its generosity and thinking behind those prizes in its regular draws mentioned earlier.

What really does it for me was the recent news-making $5000 college scholarship. If you have missed the boat (the offer ended sometime back), you can still count on to get some fabulous prizes (like reward points, iPads, gift cards, other electronics or even cash) as these are mostly on an ongoing basis here at Ipsos.

At the time of writing this blog, they announced some New Jersey folk just won five grand. The draw is certainly enticing, as it provides the extra push for you to attempt a few more surveys every month since there is a preset minimum as qualification into such draws.

The Bottom Line

IMHO, Ipsos I-Say is not just fun to participate in but pays well as well.

Then there is this credibility and reliability that it garners, so there are all the feel-good factors about this particular site.

I sincerely hope that your selection process will ultimately take you to the site, and my honest review here would play a part in convincing you to pick Ipsos I-Say.

Have a great time there!