A big trend on the internet today is people trying to find some easy way to make a full time or part time income working from home or telecommuting. All over the internet you will find testimonials of people boasting that they make big money on their computers doing such things as multi-level marketing (MLM) or selling their wares on E-Bay. Another such opportunity is taking paid surveys from the many survey sites seen all over the internet. You may have requested information from sites for such opportunities and been deluged with e-mails wanting you to pay for lists of survey sites or free ones.

When most people think of paid surveys they think of simply filling out questionnaires about different topics and then being paid for their time. Many survey company employees camp out at malls and hunt you down to fill out surveys and in turn pay you $5.00 or more to answer questions or view advertisements for movies or television shows. While these survey opportunities do exist, a great majority of paid surveys are a bit deceptive when it comes to what you will actually have to do. These surveys are not actually surveys at all but ways for various companies to get you to try their products and services, often for a price. The different survey web sites will have you register with them (often for a one-time or monthly fee) and then give you a list of "surveys" to take that once completed and approved by the survey site will pay you anywhere $1.00 and up to participate. In these so-called surveys for example, a weight loss company such as "Company X" will offer you a "free trial" of their product, if you register and order a seven day trial and just paying for shipping or handling. The survey company will pay you a fee of let's say, $15.00 for doing this offer once they confirm that you have signed up at the "Company X" website through the survey site. So, if you pay $3.95 in shipping and handing your profit is $10.05. Sounds pretty good, huh? Well, as usual things are not as simple as they seem.

If you do not cancel this offer you signed up for, "Company X" may automatically send you more of the product monthly and charge you with the credit card you used to pay the shipping and handling with. "Company X" is hoping that you like the product enough to keep getting it monthly or at the very least forget to cancel.. Another thing that can happen is that your participation will not be verified by the survey company that you signed up for a "Company X" until after the trial period has ended and they may have already billed you for another month of a product that you do not want. On top of that, the fee that the survey company is supposed to pay you gets delayed until verification. So, now you are out for the shipping and handling, possibly a monthly product fee and still awaiting your money from the survey company.

This is not to say that this scenario always happens but before you try any survey site and sign up for any offers it is a good idea to find out which survey sites pay the quickest and are the most legitimate. If you are looking for true paid surveys they are out there if you look hard. They are called research companies and you do actually participate in survey research. The problem with these are that they may not pay you. Instead they will compensate you by registering you for monthly giveaways of cash and prizes (along with the thousands of other people participating). Some companies actually do pay cash but may pre-screen you with a few trial questions and disqualify you. You may also go to take a survey and it is already filled up. Essentially, realize that paid surveys are not the big money makers that they often profess they are and may be a lot more trouble than they are worth.

Michael Russell Your Independent guide to Paid Surveys Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michael_Russell