Is Taking Surveys for Money Worth It?

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Did you know you can get paid to take surveys? It’s true! While taking surveys won’t make you rich, sharing your opinions can be a great way to earn extra money from home.

Here is the “problem” though: There are dozens of paid survey sites to choose from. It’s hard to tell what is legit and what isn’t.

Today, I’ll review one of the simpler survey sites, LifePoints, and help you decide if it’s worth your time and energy.

What Is LifePoints?

LifePoints is an online platform that rewards you for completing surveys and other activities – like mini-polls, product testing, and behavior tracking. They have over 5 million members from over 40 countries and have paid out over $22 million to their members over the last year alone!

LifePoints is operated by Lightspeed, a company owned by the Kantar Group – who just happens to be the largest global consumer research and analysis firm in the world. Founded as National Family Opinion, the group ran its first research consumer research study in 1946. These days, LifePoints serves as a hub for market research and gives consumers the opportunity to influence the future of products and services by sharing their opinions.

It works like this:

• Company X wants to know something about consumer preferences
• They hire Lightspeed to design a survey and collect and analyze the data
• The survey is rolled out to LifePoints members who fit the target audience
• Members who qualify can complete the survey to earn LifePoints
• Members redeem their LifePoints for gift cards, PayPal credit, or charitable donations

Reward rates vary by survey. Some surveys might pay 60 LifePoints while others pay 350.

So, how much are LifePoints worth? Typically, each LifePoint is worth a little less than a penny – but it depends on how you redeem them. Redemption values fall between 0.83 and 0.91 cents each. In simpler terms, you can usually redeem 550 LifePoints for a $5 gift card or 1,200 points to redeem $10 through Paypal.

LifePoints expire 3 years after you earn them, or after 12 months of no account activity. So, if you take a hiatus from LifePoints, make sure you cash in your points before 12 months elapse.

Is LifePoints Legit?

Yes, LifePoints is a legitimate online rewards platform for anyone over the age of 18. If you successfully complete surveys, you’ll get the promised points. And once you’ve accumulated enough points, the rewards are real.

Take Surveys and Get Paid – Get paid real money for taking surveys when you create a free account with LifePoints! Get started on mobile | Get started on desktop

How to Make Money with LifePoints

Taking Surveys

There are a few ways to earn LifePoints, but online surveys are the bread and butter of the site. You can access available surveys when you log in to the LifePoints site—they’re on the home page. LifePoints will also send out survey invitations by email each month.

As I mentioned before, the reward rate varies by survey. I had offers as low as 60 points and as high as 350. Longer surveys generally award more points.

Most surveys begin with a series of demographic and basic behavioral questions designed to determine whether you fit the target audience. If you do, you proceed to the rest of the survey. If you don’t, you’re screened out and directed to the end.

Signing Up

You’ll earn 10 LifePoints for registering and validating your email address and another 10 for answering a few questions about your household to match you to survey opportunities.

Product Testing

From time to time, LifePoints may mail members products to test at home and subsequently review. This can be a fun way to get hands-on experience with a new product while earning rewards.

Recording Behaviors

LifePoints may email members behavior diaries, asking them to keep track of how often they do certain things. This info is used to inform product or service development.

For example, during a survey, I was offered 1,000 LifePoints to record all transactions made with a credit card for a month.

Getting Paid

When you’ve accumulated enough LifePoints, you can redeem them for your choice of:

• PayPal credit
• Electronic gift card
• Charitable donation

How many points are enough? For a $5 Amazon gift card, you need 550 points. The smallest PayPal credit you can claim is $10, and that costs 1,200 points. (*Please note that the value of LifePoints are subject to change at any time.)

If you want to get the best value for your LifePoints, redeeming for a gift card or a charitable donation of at least $5 is the way to go. When you redeem this way, LifePoints are worth about 0.9 cents each.

If you prefer the versatility of cash, you can redeem for a PayPal credit for slightly less value: 0.83 cents per point. Note that the email address you used to register with LifePoints must match your PayPal email. If it doesn’t, you’ll need to add the LifePoints email to your PayPal account.

Whether you redeem for a gift card or PayPal credit, it’ll take up to 10 business days to receive it.

Advantages of LifePoints

You Know How Long the Surveys Take and How Much You’ll Earn – Survey topics aren’t revealed beforehand but the estimated time to complete and the rewards rate are. This is important because you know going in how much of a time commitment you’re making and what the payoff will be. If you only have a few minutes to spare, you can zero in on the 5-minute surveys while leaving the 30-minute biggies for another time.

Earn Rewards Fast – I like that you can cash in your LifePoints for a gift card with as little as 550 points. Realistically, you could earn that within the first week.

Flexible Redemption Options – When it comes time to cash in your LifePoints, you can choose between several popular gift cards (Amazon, Groupon, iTunes, and more), a PayPal credit, or a charitable donation. This variety means there’s something for everyone.

Opportunity to Influence Product and Service Development – This may not be important to you, but some people like the idea of helping inform product and service development.

Disadvantages of LifePoints

It Might be Hard to Qualify – The purpose of the surveys is to support market research, and sometimes the companies hosting them are looking for input from a specific group of people. The first few questions typically assess whether you belong to that group. If you don’t, you get screened out and don’t get the LifePoints. If this happens several times in a row, it can get frustrating.

I attempted a bunch of surveys and only qualified for two out of the lot. In one case, I was screened out after spending about five minutes answering questions—that’s annoying! The good news is, you usually get two LifePoints just for trying, although this isn’t always the case.

Limited Ways to Earn – Some other paid survey sites, like SwagBucks, offer a ton of ways to earn points. So, if surveys aren’t your thing, you can still earn rewards for shopping online, watching videos, etc. This isn’t the case with LifePoints. It’s mainly surveys with the occasional opportunity for product testing or behavior tracking.

It Takes Awhile to Receive Rewards – Although you can earn enough points to get a reward pretty fast, it takes up to 10 business days to receive gift cards or PayPal credit once you redeem.

No Mobile App – It seems LifePoints used to have a mobile app, but it has since been discontinued in favor of the website. That’s unfortunate because many people prefer using an app to launching a webpage on their mobile phone. Here’s the good news: LifePoints surveys are optimized for mobile phones; I didn’t experience any issues taking surveys on my iPhone.

>>Related: Best Cash Back Apps for Shopping, Saving, and Rewards

Who is LifePoints Best For?

• People Who Enjoy Sharing Their Opinion – Since LifePoints is primarily a survey rewards platform, it’s best for people who don’t mind taking surveys and sharing their views.
• People Looking to Earn a Little Extra Money – If you’re keen to earn a few extra dollars here and there, paid surveys are a simple, no-commitment way to do it.
• Anyone Who Doesn’t Have Time for a Side Hustle – I’ll be honest: I don’t think taking surveys for money is the most effective use of time for someone who wants to grow their wealth. But guess what – not everyone who needs extra money has time to invest in a side hustle or a part-time job. LifePoints can fit into even the busiest of lifestyles—even just five minutes here and there will eventually add up.

Who Should Avoid LifePoints?

• Impatient People – If you lack patience, you might find yourself getting annoyed if you have to attempt multiple surveys before qualifying. It might be best to skip LifePoints and opt for a platform like MyPoints that rewards other online activities like watching videos and browsing.
• People Expecting Big Money – Paid survey sites are a good way to make a few extra dollars, but you have a 0% chance of getting rich from them. People wanting to earn serious cash should invest their time building a lucrative side hustle instead of taking online surveys.
• Anyone Who Doesn’t Enjoy Sharing Their Opinions – LifePoints is primarily surveys, and to a lesser extent, product testing and behavior tracking. If you don’t enjoy sharing your views and opinions, it isn’t right for you.

The Verdict: Is LifePoints Worth Your Time?

To decide if LifePoints is a good fit for you, answer one primary question: Do you enjoy taking surveys?

Unlike some other paid survey sites, LifePoints doesn’t reward its members for watching videos, gaming, or shopping online. To benefit from it, you have to be willing to share your opinion through surveys. It can sometimes be hard to qualify, so you need to be patient, too.

The other thing to consider is how much free time you have and how serious you are about earning extra money. If you have short bursts of free time and want to earn a few extra dollars, taking surveys can fill the gaps.

People with longer stretches of free time who want to earn some serious cash could make more money pursuing a side hustle, a second job, or through passive income opportunities.

Have you tried LifePoints? Share your experiences with us below!

Make Money with LifePoints! – Want to make extra money from your couch? With LifePoints, you can take surveys and get rewarded for it! Mobile Devices Start Here | Desktop Devices Start Here