So I know what you are thinking, is this Vindale Scam true? I mean if there is a Vindale Scam Report there must be a Vindale Scam. But the answer is not necessarily. A lot of people who have problems with these companies are actually competitors, or consumers who never took the time to read the terms.

The fact of the matter is that huge companies that we all buy products and services pay companies like Vindale Research to conduct studies on their behalf. So if you are worried about the Vindale Scam, fear not.

Due to their large size, Vindale Research is able to host a wide variety of offers. These offers fall into two categories: free, no-credit-cared-required offers (studies, video studies, RewardMail, profile surveys) and credit-card-required offers (product evaluations). Once you earn $50, you may request a payment via PayPal or check.

Pros

Benefits of joining Vindale Research include:

• High payout: Vindale pays decently, and will pay up as much as $75 for their product evaluations.
• Diverse offers: Members have access to a wide variety of earning opportunities, including daily studies, video studies and product evaluations.
• $5 per payment photo. For every payment you receive from Vindale, you can send in a proof of payment photo of yourself. They’ll credit you $5 towards your next payment.

Cons

Drawbacks of joining Vindale Research include:

• High payout minimum: $50
• Limited referral program: Instead of earning a percentage of what all your referrals earn, you get $5 for every friend you refer to Vindale.
• Evaluations require credit cards. While Vindale does offer a number of free studies, it looks like their highest-paying offers require payment.

Recommended

If you like Vindale Research, you might like …

• CashCrate
• Swag Bucks
• Opinion Outpost

Have you worked with them?

Tell us about your experience with Vindale Research below.

RECOMMENDED

• CashCrate
  Operating out of Las Vegas, CashCrate is a mid-size paid offer site that’s been in business since 2007.
  Learn more and see reviews
• Swag Bucks
  Swag Bucks has been around since 2003. The Swag Bucks program is a bit different than other paid survey sites.
  Learn more and see reviews
• Inbox Dollars
  Owned by CotterWeb Enterprises Inc., Inbox Dollars (aka SendEarnings.com) is one of the larger paid offer websites out there.
  Learn more and see reviews
• Opinion Outpost
  Hard to believe it, but Opinion Outpost has been in business since 1987. Also known as Western Wats and Opinionology.
  Learn more and see reviews
  
• Vindale Research
  Established in 2004, Vindale Research offers daily market research studies, product evaluations, video studies and more.
  Learn more and see reviews

NOT RECOMMENDED OR NOT VERIFIED

• MindsPay
  Based in Michigan and founded in 2004, MindsPay is a mid-size paid offer site that specializes in paid surveys.
  Learn more and see reviews
• Unlimited Paid Surveys
  Since 1999, Unlimited Paid Surveys has offered potential survey-takers access to multiple online paid offers via their website.
  Learn more and see reviews
• Online Customer Survey
  Founded in 2001, this San Francisco-based company operates under multiple names, including “Valued Opinions” and “Research Now, Ltd.
  Learn more and see reviews
• 5in5Now
  While it’s nearly impossible to uncover any info about 5in5Now, we believe it’s run by the folks at GetPaidToTry.com.
  Learn more and see reviews
• BigSpot
  Through BigSpot’s website, you can gain access to multiple market research opportunities.
  Learn more and see reviews
• GetPaidToTry.com
  Located in Belton, MO, GetPaidToTry.com purports to offer members cash in exchange for participating in research panels.
  See full profile and reviews

Due to the lack of information about this company on its website, it’s hard to say much about these guys. That’s the first red flag. So, we’ll simply recount our experience: After signing up for an account on their website, we got a confirmation email—but it wasn’t from Online Customer Survey. It was from “Valued Opinions,” which, as it turns out, is an alias for OCS.

That’s red flag number two. Once we confirmed our email address on the site, a sign up form for a Wal-Mart gift card appeared. It appeared the only way to access the rest of the site was to fill out a form with several fields of personal information. That’s red flag number three. We finally were able to back out of the page, only to realize we were no longer on the original OCS site. Not great.

Pros

Benefits of Online Customer Survey include:
None that we can tell. From what we’ve seen we wouldn’t work with these folks. Just our opinion.

Cons

Drawbacks of joining Online Customer Survey include:

• Lots of ads. Require you to sign up for offers to access site.
• No FAQs or contact info. This is a big red flag. Have questions? Need help? Sorry, you’re out of luck.
• No 3rd party site warning. It’s hard to keep track of whether you’re on the Online Customer Survey site or a third-party site.
• Alias name. After signing up to join “Online Customer Survey” we got a confirmation email from “Valued Opinions.

Not recommeded

Instead of Online Customer Survey, you might want to try …

• CashCrate
• Vindale Research

Have you worked them?

Tell us about your experience with Online Customer Survey below.

You can earn money on CashCrate by taking part in research surveys, by shopping online, by watching video ads and by referring friends to the program. You must be 13 years old to join. Once you earn the $20 payout minimum you qualify for payment.

Pros

Benefits of joining CashCrate include:

• Low payout minimum: $20
• Referral program: Earn 20% of what your referrals make and 10% of what their referrals make—and potentially more the longer you’re a member.
• Payment options. CashCrate will pay you via check or PayPal.

Cons

Drawbacks of joining CashCrate include:

• Slow payment. Payments are sent out monthly.
• US residents only. Most offers are limited to citizens of the US.

Recommended

If you like CashCrate, you might also like …

• Swag Bucks
• Opinion Outpost
•  Vindale Research

Have you worked with them?

Tell us about your experience with CashCrate below.

5in5Now claims to pay its members to try and evaluate its partners’ products and services, and to take a variety of other paid offers, such as pay-to-click emails. While we have not signed up for this service, we’re a bit put off by the lack of information about them online, and by their similarity to GetPaidToTry.com.

Pros

Benefits of joining 5in5Now include:

• Low payout minimum: $20
• Payment options: You may opt to be paid via PayPal, eGold or check.
• $20 bonus. On their site, 5in5Now claims to offer a $20 payout bonus, however the directions to do so on the FAQs page are vague.

Cons

Drawbacks of joining 5in5Now include:

• Multiple domains. 5in5Now.com looks suspiciously like to GetPaidToTry.com . Not necessarily a bad thing. But, still, odd.
• Confusing referral system. As stated on 5in5Now , “Affiliates will earn 20% of their direct referral earnings, 10% of their indirect referral level earnings, 5% of their 3rd level referral earnings, 3% of their 4th level referral earnings, 2% of their 5th level referral earnings and 1% of their 6th level referral earnings.” Huh?
• Multiple mailing addresses. On its Contact Us page, 5in5Now.com lists an address in Brooklyn, which is the same address listed on the GetPaidToTry.com Contact Us page. However, the GetPaidToTry.com Better Business Bureau profile says it’s located in Montana. Again, not necessarily bad, but a bit suspicious.

Not recommended

Instead of 5in5Now, you might want to try …

• CashCrate
• Swag Bucks
• Opinion Outpost

Have you worked with them?

Tell us about your experience with 5in5Now below.

While MindsPay offers pay-for-click email offers and deals, it looks like you’ll make the bulk of your money with them through traditional market studies and product evaluations. You’re eligible for payment when your account reaches $50. Payments are processed and directly credited to your PayPal account on the 1st or 15th of every month after a mandatory 30-day wait period.

Pros

Benefits of joining MindsPay include:

• High-paying offers. Earn $3 – $100 per survey.
• Secure payment. Get automatic payment via PayPal.
• Percentage-based referrals. Earn 20% of your referrals’ survey earnings.

Cons

Drawbacks of joining MindsPay include:

• High minimum payout: $50
• Slow payment. Mandatory 30-day waiting period for payment.
• PayPal required. MindsPay ONLY pays via PayPal—no checks.

Not verified

If you’re looking for a verified paid survey company, you might want to check out:

• Swag Bucks
• Opinion Outpost
• Vindale Research

Have you worked with them?

Tell us about your experience with MindsPay below.

Like BigSpot, Unlimited Paid Surveys is a simple paid offer aggregator. In other words, they’re a one-stop-shop for folks to find paid surveys, paid offers, product-testing opportunities and other paid offers. They display links to market research offers on their home page when you sign in. The links displayed are based on your location.

Despite their dead simple layout, we don’t really see the major benefit of using Unlimited Paid Surveys to search for paid offers—a little thing called Google makes that pretty easy. That said, membership is free, so there’s not much to lose in joining.

Pros

Benefits of joining Unlimited Paid Surveys include:

• Convenient layout. Slick, easy-to-navigate layout makes finding offers in your area easy.
• Diverse offers: Earning opportunities include a variety of online and in-person offers, with some open to participants under 18.
• Fast support. According to their website, support inquiries < http://www.UnlimitedPaidSurveys.com/contactus.jsp> will receive a response within 24 hours.

Cons

Drawbacks of joining Unlimited Paid Surveys include:

• Quality control not guaranteed. We’re not sure how Unlimited Paid Surveys checks the quality of the opportunities they offer.
• Multiple terms and conditions. Because Unlimited Paid Surveys is merely an aggregator of multiple market research firms, you will have to keep track of the terms and conditions of every site you work with—not just the terms and conditions of Unlimited Paid Surveys.
• Limited offers. Based on our location, Unlimited Paid Surveys pulled up 16 offers we could potentially qualify for. That’s not a ton considering the number of paid offers available online these days.

Not verified

If you’re looking for a verified paid survey company, you might want to check out:

• Swag Bucks
• Opinion Outpost
• Vindale Research

Have you worked with them?

Tell us about your experience with Unlimited Paid Surveys below.

Inbox Dollars hosts a huge variety of paid offers, including pay-to-click emails, paid surveys, Internet search, games and more. Along with earning a per-offer reward, you can get cash back on purchases when you buy products from their partners (such as Target.com) through their website.

Pros

Benefits of joining Inbox Dollars include:

• Moderate payout minimum: $30
• Sign up bonus: $5
• Referral program: Earn 10% referral commission

Cons

Drawbacks of joining Inbox Dollars include:

• Payment by check only. Inbox Dollars doesn’t support PayPal payments.
• No third-party site warnings. When you click offers, you’re often taken to a third-party site with no warning.
• Sparse instructions. The site has tons of offers, but doesn’t provide much explanation about how each works. Also, the Contact Us page does not offer up any contact information.

Recommended

If you like Inbox Dollars, you might also like …

• Swag Bucks
• Opinion Outpost
• Vindale Research

Have you worked with them?

Tell us about your experience with Inbox Dollars below.

You earn “Swag Bucks” by completing paid offers, trying products, playing games, referring friends, searching online and more. Once you reach the payout minimum you can redeem your Swag Bucks for prizes or cash. Swag Bucks hosts a “Swag Store” where you may redeem Swag Bucks for (sometimes discounted) merchandise. They also offer games and a wide variety of other exclusive discounts to members.

Pros

Benefits of joining Swag Bucks include:

• Referral program: When you refer a friend to Swag Bucks, they’ll match every Swag Buck your friend earns (for searching) for the first 48 hours after your friend joins.
• Swag store savings. You may redeem points in the Swag Store. The prices of items fluctuate, but will never exceed the original retail price of the item.
• Photo or video bonus. When you win a Swag Bucks prize, you can send in a video or photo for a chance to be credited 10 Swag Bucks.

Cons

Drawbacks of joining Swag Bucks include:

• Swag Bucks not cash. Generally, we’re not fans of virtual currency sites. Too much converting. But that’s just a personal preference.
• Limited prize options. You must redeem points on the sites where you earned them.
• No set payout minimum. Payout is based on how frequently you use the site.

Recommended

If you like Swag Bucks, you might like …

• Swag Bucks
• Opinion Outpost
• Vindale Research

Have you worked with them?

Tell us about your experience with Swag Bucks below.

Instead of providing you with surveys and then compensating you for the work you have completed, Big Spot acts as a portal website that, once your information has been submitted, merely gives you a list of other free paid survey sites.

Pros

Benefits of joining BigSpot include:

• No credit card required—ever. According to their website, every offer on BigSpot is free to take with no purchase required.
• Diverse offers: Earning opportunities include a variety of online and in-person offers, with some panels open to participants under 18.

Cons

Drawbacks of joining BigSpot include:

• Quality control not guaranteed. We’re not sure how BigSpot checks the quality of the opportunities they offer.
• Multiple terms and conditions. Because BigSpot is merely an aggregator of multiple market research firms, you will have to keep track of the terms and conditions of every site you work with—not just the terms and conditions of BigSpot.

Not verified

If you’re looking for a verified website, you might like …

• Swag Bucks
• Opinion Outpost
• Vindale Research

Have you worked with them?

Tell us about your experience with BigSpot below.