Most people would love to make a little extra cash for little effort. That’s why many turn to survey sites. You only have to give your opinion, and you're paid. Toluna Influencers is a survey site. But is it a good one? And how does it compare to others?
This is a legitimate survey site, but its earning potential is low. Takes 30,000 points ($10) to cash out. Frequent technical issues during surveys. Most often you'll get disqualified after partially completing surveys without compensation.
Toluna is a survey site that pays you for taking surveys, testing products, answering polls, and playing games.
You earn points that can be redeemed for gift cards, PayPal cash, or other rewards.
Earning potential is low, requiring 30,000 points (around $10) to cash out.
Surveys often have technical issues, and you may not qualify after spending time on them.
Other survey sites like Survey Junkie and InboxDollars may offer better earning opportunities.
You will not make a lot of money taking surveys. Each survey company has a different pay rate, but you'll generally make only a few dollars a day.
However, the exact dollar amount depends on how many surveys you complete and which survey company you work with.
You won’t get rich, but you can make some extra changes by doing online surveys. But what survey company should you select to work with? We’ll take a look at Toluna and give you the ins and outs of taking their surveys.
Previously, I have discussed how much you can actually earn from the surveys. Do check the article If you want a clear answer.
Image source: aptoide.com
Founded in 2000, Toluna is a Paris-based company. The company provides you the opportunity to make money by:
The Toluna website says that its "influencers" or survey takers, have "the power to influence some of the world's largest brands and get rewarded instantly". Toluna says their site is "free of charge". You earn rewards by participating in interesting surveys.
It’s what’s called a get-paid-to website and you complete not only surveys but other online tasks.
If you’ve ever been on any other survey platforms, this should be familiar to you.
Although most users are on Toluna to make money by taking surveys, the platform also has a community section.
It is quite different than affiliate companies like The Apex Group which operates on an affiliate basis.
The interface is beginner-friendly and an easy way to make money without a job. Toluna accepts members from 70-plus countries, including the U.S. They require members to be 16 or older, so it’s a great teen site.
Survey participants are awarded points for various actions.
Points are a virtual currency that you can trade in for:
There are several ways to earn rewards on Toluna. It starts with signing up.
Image source: Toluna.com
Go to the Toluna website and click the “sign up” icon. There is no registration fee to join Toluna. Once you sign up, you'll be asked to provide some basic information to create the account.
Information that they require includes:
Once you sign up, you'll receive a confirmation email. It will have a link you must click to confirm membership.
The final step to signing up is completing your profile. You’ll be asked to answer a demographic survey about yourself. They do this to send you accurate surveys that are relevant to you.
Toluna says on its website that it may require this information to build and operate a worldwide propriety database of panelists. This allows them to conduct market research studies on that basis and provide responses to surveys to their client.
All data is given to clients in one of three forms.
They are:
According to their Privacy Policy, Anonymized and aggregated means that the information is provided to a client on a group level and not on an individual basis. Your identity is not revealed.
If they provide information on a pseudonymized, it means that although your answers will go to the client on an individual basis, your identity will not.
They will use “unique identifiers, such as your assigned panelist ID number but will not include your identity or contact info”.
Toluna doesn’t sell or give your information to third parties.
In the beginning, two types of surveys are offered to you. One is under ten minutes, and the other is over ten minutes. This allows you to complete the surveys in the amount of time that is convenient for you.
The one caveat is that you are asked for your qualifications before you start the survey. And if they don’t relate to that particular survey, you are disqualified.
Toluna polls are polls the entire community can answer to earn bonus points. They only have a few questions and award fewer points than the regular surveys.
Toluna games are available under the drop-down menu in the community section. You’ll play different games to earn enough points to be rewarded.
Some games change based on the month or season. But they are relatively alike. All games lead back to a ticket-scratcher game. This is where you can earn a random number of points.
Toluna asked you questions based on your personal specifications. These are called “Profile Surveys”. To access these, go to the "Account" page under the "Profile Surveys" tab.
These surveys are designed to improve the level of service Toluna provides and allow them to send you surveys that you are more qualified to do.
They are divided into three categories:
For every section you complete, you are awarded points. There are 12 different sections. By answering the Profile Surveys you have the opportunity to open yourself up to more surveys and earn more points.
Toluna runs contests. If you win them, you can earn extra points.
These contests are difficult, and you'll probably have to make an educated guess to win. But it's a level playing field since everyone else will probably be guessing.
You'll have to post a guess or start a discussion about the answer to qualify for the contest. Often, there's more than one winner. The points are not split among you if more than one wins.
Toluna has a refer-a-friend perk. You earn points if you refer a friend or family member to the platform. But you can only refer ten people monthly. Other sites give you an opportunity to earn more money with referrals.
You can refer to this as a great side hustle for any married friends, teens, women, etc.
As mentioned, there are several ways to earn points. But how many points do you actually receive per task?
But you need a lot of points to cash out.
Image source: Mysavings.com
Toluna rewards you with PayPal or electronic gift cards. You get to choose. Three thousand points are worth a dollar, and you'll need 30,000 points to cash out, which equates to ten dollars.
There are some higher-paying surveys, but one drawback of Toluna is it often runs out of surveys or high-paying surveys that are in demand.
When comparing points earned, Toluna looks better than other sites. But, because there’s such a high amount of points needed to earn money, it’s actually a lower payout than other paid survey site.
Calling Toluna a scam site isn't good as it pays you money after reaching a certain point but there are some decent alternatives available.
The best part about Toluna is, that you don’t need any job experience to earn money from this.
According to the Toluna website, it can take up to six weeks for you to receive your reward. This seems like an exorbitant amount of time for ten bucks.
But according to Toluna, it can also take as little as 24 hours. It all depends on the survey. They pay once the survey has closed. So, if the survey you completed is open for a while, you’ll, unfortunately, have to wait to receive your reward.
When you redeem points, you’ll be asked to confirm your email address, postal address, or PayPal email address. The amount of information depends on the reward and the country.
To avoid further delays, ensure all the information is correct.
To check your points balance, go to "Account' on the left side of the menu. Then, go to the "Points" tab. The Points page lets you view actions that have earned your points. It also gives you your current balance and how you've spent your points so far.
Points credited to your account will remain valid for 16 months. If they are not used within that time frame, they will automatically expire and be deleted from your account.
Individual points expire within 16 months, depending on when they were first earned. They are deleted at the end of the month of that date.
Users have reported glitches in the surveys. They have almost completed a survey only to see an error message, even though it wasn't the user's fault. When this happens, they are not compensated for the survey.
An email on the FAQ page to report the problem was a broken link and went to a 504 error page. However, another email link we found takes you to a contact page. Be patient; it takes a while to load. In fact, we almost gave up.
If you report an issue on the contact page, be sure to take a screenshot of the problem and also give them the survey ID number.
When you go to the survey, you'll answer a lot of questions, and sometimes, you won't qualify. That's because the client is looking for a specific group of people who meet a very narrow demographic criterion.
However, filling out the survey to see if you qualify can be time-consuming. Unfortunately, Toluna doesn’t compensate you if you don’t qualify for a survey.
It's wise to fill out your Profile Survey completely to increase your chances of being qualified. You'll also earn 100 points by doing so.
If you don't qualify for a survey, your responses can't be used in the final research findings, so they are not given to the client.
Toluna will never use or transfer these responses for internal use.
Sometimes, you'll receive an invitation to a survey, but when you go to apply, it's closed.
This sometimes happens if a survey receives too many respondents for the spaces available. Also, sometimes the invitation may not be delivered in a timely manner to your email inbox.
When this happens, don't get discouraged. Other surveys will become available and emailed to you.
From the reward points to not qualifying, that’s everything you need to know about Toluna; or is it? In case you have more questions about Toluna or surveys in general, we’ve put together some frequently asked questions.
Toluna’s clients include market research agencies, large corporations, PR agencies, etc. Anyone, including individuals like politicians, can have a survey done.
Toluna has a mobile app. It’s available for both iOS and Android. The mobile app allows you to complete surveys. It’s also possible to redeem points and rewards via the app.
To participate in a survey, it start with your profile. Answer questions honestly and accurately. Being honest increases your chances of being chosen and getting paid for your answers.
On the surface, Toluna seems like a great deal. Receiving 500 points just for signing up looks good. And the potential to be rewarded with 3,000 points for completing a survey is enticing.
But not everyone earns 3,000 points per survey. Some people can earn as few as 50 points. Regardless, it takes 30,000 points just to reach $10. So even though you're earning a lot of points, it takes quite a few surveys to reach $10.
Often, you'll work on a survey only to find you don't qualify. Or the survey website could freeze or have another glitch before you finish the survey. In both cases, you lose money because you're not compensated for not qualifying or for glitches.
However, Toluna is transparent about all these facts on its website.
There are other sites like Survey Junkie and InBox Dollars that might meet your needs and have better.
