(06/2024 Update: e-Rewards still seems to have a large stock of surveys, but also even more of a problem with those that string you along for 5-10 minutes before screening you out. Even more concerning is that upon attempting to cash out, it now requires a SMS or phone call verification code. Which wouldn't be an issue, except that it says it sent the message but it never actually comes through!
I'm leaving it in the "may work for you" category as I don't see evidence of it being a common problem. But if you're new to the site or returning to it, try a $10 gift card cashout of some sort before doing any further work to avoid wasting your time.)
In business since 1999, e-Rewards is one of the most longevous online survey sites and is plugged into all sorts of major companies. It's as legitimate as it gets, and in the past I've also found it to be one of the more rewarding ones and more worthy of your time than most.
However, that's the past. As you may have deduced from the sorry state of updates to this blog, life has changed and shifted (as it does) and I have very little time for surveys and such anymore. I haven't done an e-Rewards survey in at least three years or so, maybe more (I want to say I tried it out again during the 2020 lockdown months but I don't clearly remember, if not it probably would have been 2017 or 2018).
So how is e-Rewards doing these days? Well, as a baseline, back around 2014 to 2016 I used to get quite a few paying surveys on the regular, and was even selected for several product tests (simple stuff, but useful: sunscreen, deodorant, TP, dish detergent and even a couple random 12-packs of Diet Coke).
So it was always kind of a fun site full of surprises, it just fell by the wayside for me with everything else in the survey world. I've seen emails from them periodically over the years though, and was pleased to find my account was still active when I tried it the other day for this review.
Returning after several years ... it's virtually the same as I remember it. Same web interface and survey format, even surveys coming in from some familiar names right away. It looks like it pretty much stayed in stasis for years since I last left off with it.
e-Rewards Pros and Cons
Aside from generally being well-stocked with surveys all the time (from big and legitimate companies), e-Rewards has always offered a small payment even if you're rejected. I mean, it amounts to like 10 cents of real money, but you get it even if you're instantly bounced out of the survey for some reason. It is sometimes possible to get a few minutes deep into a survey and then get rejected, but I don't recall that being a common thing.
I also like the convenience, as with YouGov you can launch straight into your surveys from email links that they regularly send to you. And as mentioned, there are product sample trials scattered in there (or at least were several years ago that I can personally attest to). And average payments are decent enough as these things go, usually around $2 to $5 of real money for something that takes 5 to 15 minutes, but they also have smaller ones that offer around 50 cents to $1 for something very quick (You end up with about 1/3rd the actual cash value of whatever "e-Rewards bucks" amount they show you).
There are some downsides, though. One is that you can't just select from a list of available surveys, it takes you on an automated "chain" through them. This sometimes deposits you back in a survey you were already rejected from, which can then break the chain (though you can go back to a recent email link to break out of this).
This recent experience also reminded me why I gave up on this one a little earlier than others; while around 2014-2016 I was getting a lot out of it, in 2017 or so things started tailing off. I get a lot of survey offers, but end up getting booted from them quite early almost all of the time. Coming back to it in early 2023, that seems to have not changed. I'll give it at least a couple more chances here in the near future, but the pattern seemed very familiar despite being gone for so long.
Invitation Only?
e-Rewards is also not open to anyone; it requires an invitation from one of their rewards partners. I think I originally got into this in 2014 through a hotel chain rewards program I sometimes use. But I also definitely remember using my e-Rewards points for Starbucks rewards at least a few times. That's one potential place you might start; look over their current list of rewards partners to find other possibilities. Again, being in the loyalty program with these businesses and having at least one or two recorded transactions with them is the most likely way to wind up getting an invite emailed to you (make sure you give the rewards program a legit email address that you actually check).
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