In my r/Beermoney post I discovered a lot of sites others were using to make money online that I hadn’t heard of. Armed with this new list I set out to see which ones were worthwhile pursuing. Now a number of the list were sites where you get paid to do online surveys, I knew these existed but I’d always remembered them as being a load of surveys that you get paid next to nothing for and largely was a waste of time. Well it turns out things have developed since then and Prolific is a prime example.
The premise is simple. Prolific is a site where researchers from whatever background can find research participants they can trust. Launch your study to tens of thousands of trusted participants in minutes and recruit niche or representative samples on-demand. Now if you want these trustworthy high quality participants, like with most things in life, you have to pay for them.
As such its not so much that you get paid to do surveys online, its more that you are a paid research participant in an academic study or marketing questionnaire. So far I’ve done surveys ranging from ‘would you buy this product?’ to an academic study on if you can tell if someone is ill just from a picture of their face. Its because there is a genuine need for accurate responses that the lowest you can get paid to do this is $6.50 an hour. Some pay much more and its based on an estimate of how long the survey will take which is often very generous.
Getting Going
Getting going is also incredibly easy.
- Sign up
- Verify your email
- Fill out your about you section . The most time consuming bit of the process is what means there is no post survey screening which is very annoying on other sites.
4. Install Prolific extension. I use google chrome. Although not a mandatory step is very useful. This extension will audibly alert you to when a new study comes in meaning you will almost never miss a sign up or find that the study is full by the time you get to it.
5. Wait for your first survey!
Now currently this is a small sample size as I’ve only been up and running for just under 48 hours but I’d say its every 2-3 hours I’ve been awake that one has come in. They’ve ranged from paying £0.18 to £3 for the actual survey and in terms of per hour anywhere from the £4.90 minimum to £23. I’ve been offered 7 surveys so far, I’ve done 6 and been paid £8.35 for what was about 30 minutes work overall. I mean you certainly aren’t retiring off it alone, its a nice side earner though. Say I end up averaging half of what I have over this tiny sample then that is still £60 a month for very little work and no outlay. You also get paid through PayPal which is better than some that pay in vouchers.
Summary
+ Easy to use
+ Reasonable hourly rate
+ Pays in cash via PayPal at a low threshold of £5
+ Studies can be quite interesting
– Have to wait for studies to be offered
– Occasional questions planted to check you are paying attention/are a human
All in all I’m very pleased with my limited exposure to Prolific. Even if I stop now I’m £6.35 better off for very little effort.
