Skeptical Surveyor

A few weeks ago, I read about a college student who pays for all his partying by filling out online surveys. At the time, I didn't think much of it, just wondered what he would do when the day came to get a real job.

Now I'm wondering just how much he could have been making. I suppose it depends on if he is under-aged or not, because clearly you spend more money if it's actually legal for you to drink. Let's say he is of age and spends $400 a month on booze for himself and the ladies.

If I could make an extra $400 a month, I would be happy. It's not enough to support myself or my husband, but it is enough to help ease the pressure in other financial areas. So today, as I was cruising around Craigslist in search of my dream job (sleeping, reading and writing), I stumbled on one of these survey ads. I signed up. I made $26 in a half an hour.

All of the "surveys" had me take a look at similar websites (asking for people to sign up to take surveys, or trying to find people to find people to take surveys) and giving a two-three sentence response to what I thought of the site. Easy enough. I began realizing, though, that this process could be dangerous to the beginning survey-taker. It's clear that the surveyors themselves are the targets of all this marketing and this survey business. A few sites even asked for a one-time fee. I don't like the idea of giving money to make money. It can't always work out that way.

In order to cash out on my $26, I have to earn a total of $75 first. We'll see how long that takes, since there were only six surveys available today, and there might be none tomorrow. And $400 a month? If I only worked half the month, and did six surveys a day, I could do it. That is, if it isn't a scam too.