I’ve been using Respondent for several years now and the site is both legitimate and fun. It’s also one of the highest paying websites out there: unlike sites like Prolific, where you make a few cents per survey, there’s potential on Respondent to make upwards of $100 per hour. However, since the payout is so high and the platform is entirely online, there’s a lot of competition per survey. Below, I’ll show you how to get started and give you some tips to increase your chances of qualifying for surveys.
Respondent is a platform where researchers will pay an average of $140 per hour to listen to your opinions. You fill out a 3-5 minute screener survey to see if you represent the researcher’s target audience. Based on your screener survey answers, researchers decide whether they want to interview you and compensate you for your time.
How Do I Get Started?
You can sign up for Respondent through Facebook, LinkedIn, or email.
After putting in an email, you’ll be asked to fill in some contact and demographic information: this is used to better match you to opportunities and pay out earnings. For example, some surveys are only available to a certain region or certain population (ex: university students or full-time professionals).
The demographic portion takes just a few minutes to fill out. Once you’re done, you’ll be able to browse all of the currently open surveys available on Respondent’s platform. Simply browse through and select the ones you think you would qualify for.
Filling Out A Screener Survey
When you’re done filling out your information, you should see the dashboard below. It contains all currently available surveys outstanding (there will be more if you hit the load more button at the bottom) and is updated daily.
Surveys vary widely on topic and are updated daily. Some of them are looking for very specific audiences, and others are more general. Check back regularly for new projects. The ones listed above are:
- $50 for software engineers that blog (30 min, online)
- $100 for anyone filing their taxes in January (60 min, in-person)
- $125 for people who sell on websites like eBay, Amazon, or Etsy (60 min, online)
- $10 for people looking to buy a used car (10 min, online)
- $75 for your opinion on renovations and construction (90 min, online)
- $75 for PC gamers with visual challenges (70 min, online)
Keep in mind that you can only fill out three surveys per day, so choose wisely! If you find out midway that you’re responding “No” to a lot of screener survey questions, it probably means that you aren’t the researcher’s target audience. Consider exiting out and applying to a different survey instead.
Participating in the Interview
You may have to fill out many surveys before qualifying for any. The very first interview I received was for a 60 minute interview about my experiences with teeth whitening products. Since then, I’ve received interviews for my opinions on skin care, health and beauty, my exercise habits, and even one on my opinion of a new user interface being tested by a rideshare company (that was SUPER fun). On average, I make about $100-$250 a month. Here are some of the recent surveys I’ve been selected for and the earnings I’ve made:
The interview experience varies drastically depending on what you qualified for, but in general just remember to give your frank and honest feedback rather than guessing towards what the researcher is looking for. The most common type of interview is online/in-person with a researcher, where they show you a potential product and you tell them what you think of it. They might also ask you about your experience using an existing product.
Payment
Payment is through Paypal, and Respondent takes 5% of the payout for connecting you to a researcher. So if you received a $100 interview, Respondent would pocket $5 and send you $95. Payment typically arrives 1-2 weeks after the researcher confirms that you participated in the interview.
I typically qualify for about 10% of the interviews I sign up for, and make an average of $100-$200 per month on the platform. While that isn’t much, it’s a couple thousand in side income per year for something that I genuinely enjoy doing, and it doesn’t take very long. Screener surveys and interviews included, I typically spend no more than 5 hours a month on the site.
Will you be giving Respondent a try? Make an account here with my referral and let me know your thoughts! If you plan on joining the platform, here are my tips for increasing your payout.
How to Optimize Payout on Respondent
1. Remember that you only get three wishes.
Remember that you can only complete three surveys per day. However, you can start as many as you like. If you don’t think you have a good shot qualifying, exit out of the survey and don’t submit it! Try your luck elsewhere.
2. Check back regularly
Surveys are regularly added to the website. I check at least once a day, sometimes more if I get really bored at work. The sooner you fill out a survey, the higher the chance you’ll get into an interview before the positions all fill up.
3. In-person interviews are less competitive than online interviews.
While I’ve gotten into roughly 10% of the online interviews I’ve applied to, I’ve gotten into around 60% of the in-person interviews. If transportation isn’t an issue for you, try focusing on in-person opportunities nearby. Not to mention that I’ve never seen an in-person interview that compensated less than $100.
4. Refer others.
Just because you don’t qualify for a survey doesn’t mean you can’t make money! If you know someone who would be perfect for a survey, refer them! If they register as a new user and get chosen to participate, you get $50 for referring them. Similarly, you get $20 for every new user that joins Respondent with your referral. However, you won’t get that referral until that user qualifies for an interview over $100.
5. Consider going for low-hanging fruit to build up your profile.
There are some short interviews that many openings and small payouts (ex: $5 for a 5 minutes survey). When first starting out, consider targeting these surveys that are easier to get into to build your credibility and profile.
6. Finally, be patient.
Respondent isn’t going to make you rich quick. But if you spend as little as 5 minutes on the platform every day, the invites will come trickling in. Hang in there!