At Opinion Outpost, we have been in the online survey business for many years now, so we are well-versed on the ins and outs of the industry. It is a sector which has grown considerably over the last 10 years, but with that rise in popularity have come questions and misconceptions about the nature of online surveys for rewards.
We always want to be transparent with our customers about how we work and what they can expect from completing online surveys with Opinion Outpost. Some of the most common questions we receive are easy to answer, but require more detail, which is why we wanted to take the opportunity with this blog to start Debunking the Myths of Online Surveys.
We have picked out some of our users’ most common queries before they start working with us and provided some key information around each one. We hope that these are helpful for you and are reassuring ahead of starting your journey with Opinion Outpost.
Do you sell our data to third parties? – No
This is a really common question asked by our panel or people considering joining us. We fully understand that you’ll want to know how your data is going to be used before signing up to anything, particularly with regard to third party access.
We are very clear with all our members how their data will be used and when you sign up you have to accept both our privacy policy and terms and conditions. In our privacy policy, there is extensive information about how we use your data so it always worth reading through. However, the headlines for how we use your personal information are:
- To communicate with you about your account and your participation in our surveys
- To tailor our surveys to you, so you only receive opportunities that are of interest
- To comply with our legal obligations
- To administer and manage our rewards programmes, and fulfil your requests for incentives
- To allow you to enter into our prize draws and communicate about prize draw entries
- To keep our records up to date
We will never share your data without your consent, so you can be safe in the knowledge that any personal information you provide us will be treated with the utmost respect and security.
Do you give clients free data if we do not qualify for a survey? – No
Part of the reason we request personal data from you is so that we can match you with surveys that fit your preferences. Sometimes though, despite the information we collect, we do also need to ask you some qualifying questions to see if the survey we’ve identified is a good match for you.
If the results of these qualifying questions mean that you don’t match the study, then we will never include your data in the research and the client that commissioned the survey will not receive any of your answers or personal details.
So, you can be sure that it is only the surveys that you complete will lead to any sharing of information or data.
Do we only take part in market research for big businesses if we complete your surveys? – No
Of course, a number of our clients are big businesses that rely on us to find out the views and attitudes of the people who use various products and services. However, we also work closely with governments and public bodies to gain public opinion and help make a genuine difference or assist in creating insightful, influential content.
Being able to gain regular results and insights by using responses from the public is invaluable to governments, public bodies, and journalists. So, by signing up to Opinion Outpost, your views can help influence decision makers at the top level and be a part of pieces in the most highly-regarded news outlets.
Can you cheat the system for quick rewards? – No
We take the validity of our research data very seriously, as that is what makes us one of the leading market research providers in the world.
Although you can earn plenty of benefits by signing up to Opinion Outpost, we make sure that we have rigorous checks in place to prevent users cheating the system for quick rewards. We guarantee that all our users start and end on a level playing field in terms of the opportunities they have to gain rewards from working with us.
Is there a limit to how much I can earn? – Yes
Whilst we are really proud of the rewards we can offer our panel members, it’s important to know that there are limitations to this.
For our members that are registered in the US, you will be required to submit something called a W-9 form if your earnings exceed a certain limit. So, if you have received payments of $599 during a tax year, your account will be suspended for the remainder of the applicable tax year until you provide us with a completed and verified W-9 form.
If you’ve gone beyond this and earned more than $600 during a tax, you will also need to submit a completed and verified W-9 form but in this case, if you don’t, your account will not be reinstated at the beginning of the next tax year.
If you have any questions about this, please send us an email via the Help page on our website.
We hope that this helped you learn a bit more about we do and answered some of your questions about online surveys at Opinion Outpost. We can’t wait for you to get started! For more information go to: www.opinionoutpost.com
