Respondent Review: Legit or Scam? [Updated April 2023]

I recently came across a site called Respondent that allows people to conduct surveys for cash.

Respondent allegedly earns you up to $140 per hour matching companies looking to perform research studies with qualified participants.

In this Respondent review based on our firsthand findings, you’ll learn what Respondent is, how Respondent works, whether it is legit and how to set yourself up for success on the platform in case you want to try it.

Before I start…

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Respondent Review 2023

Table of Contents

What is Respondent?

Respondent is a company that enables companies perform market research studies while paying you to participate. It does this by connecting verified respondents who apply to participate in the studies with them.

There are many platforms online that allow people to make money via surveys. We’ve examined a few here before like Survey Voices, InboxDollars, and Neobux.

Up to date more than $2 million has been paid out to respondent by researchers to participants. The platform works with many Fortune 500 companies doing market research studies to improve their sales or products.

Respondent surveys facilitates one-on-one consumer research studies and focus groups, both in-person and online. This means you may apply for many studies before getting chosen. Just because you qualify from a demographics standpoint doesn’t mean you will get chosen to participate.

And you do not get paid to apply, you only get paid if you are chosen and complete the study. The more information you provide to Respondent, the more likely it is you’ll get matched to opportunities for research surveys. It can be difficult to get picked for the studies so it really is extra money, not something that can be relied upon for steady income.

Respondent works with individuals selected to participate in surveys and companies looking for feedback. The homepage is actually business-facing which is an encouraging sign and proves their legitimacy and success at conducting surveys by prioritizing getting new customers that is the companies that need research done.

That’s different from what you get with most online survey companies sites because they target the survey taker.

Many companies rely on Respondent to collect honest user feedback on their current and future products.

Respondent offers incentives ranging from $5 to over $300 per study. Once you qualify for a study, you participate by; filling out and answering questions online, taking actions on your device and recording the screen, getting interviewed via voice or video call, or getting interviewed by the researcher’s team physically (in-person).

The remote and in-person survey are collectively called one on one participation in the platform while the first 2 are called qualitative study or unmoderated study depending on its method of survey.

Who Can Join The Respondent Survey Platform?

First, you don’t have to live in the US to participate in this surveys many people have participated from outside the US and have earned from respondent.io.

It targets business professionals too:

Although most studies target US residents, Respondent.io is open to international participation with a number of opportunities for you: the site is open to participants in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, and the United Kingdom as well. You only need to be 18 and above to sign up on the platform.

A Facebook or LinkedIn profile may be helpful to verify your identity. Being an active internet user has made me realize that there are bundles of untapped opportunities to make money on the internet.

While this platform is open to almost everyone, it favors people from the US. You may miss out on one-on-one participation because you can’t meet your interviewer unless you’re close enough to them. Participants who connect their social accounts are more likely to be selected for paid studies.

How Does Respondent.io Work?

If getting paid for your opinion sounds like fun, create a free Respondent account today. Respondent homepage is more business/professional oriented with the sign up process to their platform also made it quite easy.

You’ll enter some personal information and then you will see various surveys based on the information you’ve provided, it is thus prudent to be overt as much as possible about your background and experiences.

It’ll only take you a couple of minutes to set up your account and then you can start earning money. Let’s take a deeper look at the process.

How to join (The Sign-Up Process)

You can either sign up with your email address or with an existing social media account. But before accessing the sign up page, you’ll first be prompted to identify yourself as either a respondent or a researcher as below.

Since the site seems to have more a business focus, and the last thing you need is another password to remember you can just sign up with your social media account for example a LinkedIn account or Facebook account as shown below.

If you choose the name + email option, you’ll be prompted to create a password and upload a profile picture. Per the site, you’re more likely to get picked for a study if you have a picture.

You will also be prompted for your date of birth and phone number which has to be verified with a text message code, so no fake numbers allowed.

From there, Respondent walks you through a series of short forms collecting some more personal information from you.

This includes your; gender, ethnicity, education level, household income (optional), city (to get matched with in-person studies nearby, if you want), employment status, industries, and relevant job skills.

This is pretty standard stuff that every survey site will ask for. Companies completing research want to make sure they’re reaching the specific audiences concerned.

These are designed to match you up with the best / most relevant surveys.

Finally, you’ll be prompted to enter your PayPal email so you can get paid and agree to Respondent’s code of conduct.

Filling out the necessary information should only take you a few minutes. Once you are done, you will find yourself on the main page of your account.

You will immediately see “Marketplace Projects”, which are the surveys that respondents offer.

Participating in Respondent Surveys

Once you’re logged in, you’re presented with all your different project options. You can see; how much they pay, how long they’ll take and what type of study it is.

The feed is sorted by “Relevance” by default, but you can toggle it to “Most recent” because the best studies usually fill up pretty fast.

You can also use the filters to further narrow down your options such as; remote only (most studies are remote these days), payout, time required and whether or not it’s an industry professional or general population study

Each project says how long they take to complete and what they pay, so you can decide if you want to apply. There are brief descriptions to help you learn more about the project before making a decision.

When you see a project you like, you can click to apply. You’ll then fill out a brief screening questionnaire. That usually takes five minutes or less and is designed to help companies find the right people for their focus groups and research studies.

You can fill out three screening questionnaires per 24-hour period. When you apply for a study, you’ll get a match score in the range of 0 percent to 100 percent based on the initial survey showing you how much you qualify for the said study.

The more qualified you are for an opportunity, the more likely it is you’ll be selected. However, getting a 100 percent match doesn’t guarantee you’ll get chosen for the survey.

You might have to apply for several studies before you’re chosen for one, and you may be rejected for a lot of opportunities you wanted or thought you’d be a fit for.

What does Respondent offer?

There are 2 major earning opportunities Respondent offers; through their projects and through their referral program.

Projects Program

Respondent offers a variety of project types, with lots of studies being added every week. Let’s take a quick look at some examples of typical projects available through Respondent.

The screenshot might be kind of hard to read, but there are studies for; retail customer experience professionals – $120 for 45 minutes, religious or spiritual book readers – $100 for 60 minutes, people selling online – $100 for 60 minutes, families living in connected homes – $50 for 45 minutes and many more.

In the past, there have been listings for; small business owners have an average hourly incentive of $85 for 60 minutes, online banking customers, people interested in investing – $75 for 45 minutes, people who send cold emails – $200 for 30 minutes, sports fanatics – $50 for 30 minutes and many more.

All of the projects clearly mark how long it should take to finish and how much it pays. There is also a brief description of what they are looking for in a respondent.

Many of Respondent’s projects seem to have a small business or technology focus, but there are broader consumer studies that also pop up.

For the most part, projects pay well, but there are also lower paying surveys too. You can decide if it’s worth your time or not.

Projects can vary in their setup. It depends on the specific company that is in charge of the project.

Most are one-on-one discussions with a company representative. Others require you to keep a log of certain activities over multiple days or weeks.

The first study I participated in through Respondent was a $200 in-person focus group. These are just some examples of what you might see the more you apply and are approved for projects in Respondent.

Referral Program

Respondent also has a referral program you can participate in. You can invite people to join Respondent in two ways. You can either share your invite link for a specific project or you can share your general invite link for joining Respondent.

In that sense, it sounds a lot like a multi-level marketing company.

You will receive a $20 bonus for each person you invite. If you refer the same person for multiple studies, you will only receive one referral bonus.

However, in order for you to receive your referral bonus, your referral must earn at least $75 in incentive payments by participating in studies. So, earning from their referral program isn’t really that easy, in my opinion.

How do you get paid?

Respondent only offers one mode of payment, and that is through PayPal. So, before you register, make sure you have a PayPal account.

During the registration process, you will be asked to provide the email address for your PayPal account. This will automatically link your PayPal account to Respondent.

Every payment will be made automatically. Once the company has sent the payment, it will be deposited into your PayPal account. However, don’t expect to receive the full amount because there will be a processing fee for every payment done.

The processing fee is 5% or $1, whichever is higher. So, for example, if the project pays $150 upon completion, expect to receive $142.50 in your PayPal account.

A 5% cut/ processing fee is fairly high compared to other online research sites in my experience. However, the rewards you get for each project are generally also higher, so it can still be worth it if you qualify.

The good thing about their payment system is that it will be done automatically, and you won’t have to reach a certain threshold to receive the payment via PayPal.

PayPal, is the most convenient payment method available today especially for international payments. As a matter of fact, Respondent actually does pay, as I have been paid by it myself. However, you need to do it with the right expectations.

The Respondent Compensation Plan

According to Respondent, the average payout for a completed project is $100-$700 an hour. It’s a huge range, but still makes Respondent one of the best paying online survey companies around.

Respondent gives the following guidance to companies determining how to price their projects on an hourly basis for US-based participants:

As you can see, the rates tend to increase with experience or specialization. The suggested rates for medical professionals are even higher; ranging from $250-1,000 an hour for remote studies and $500-2,000 an hour for in-person ones.

For general population studies, Respondent suggests incentive rates between $90 and $200 an hour:

I hope these numbers give you an idea of what to expect when browsing and applying for projects.

How To Increase Your Earnings on Respondent

To maximize your time and earnings with Respondent, it’s a good idea to follow these best practices.

Set a Reminder

Set a reminder to log in weekly to check for new studies. Unlike other survey sites, Respondent doesn’t proactively message you to let you know about new opportunities.

Link Your Social Media Profiles

Another way to make your Respondent profile more attractive to researchers is to connect your social profiles. They currently allow you to connect through; Facebook, LinkedIn, GitHub and Slack.

This is an easy way to let researchers know you are you say you are and check out some of your presence across the web.

Record a Personal Video

One new feature that Respondent has added is the ability for participants to record a personal introduction video. This short, 60-second video is a chance for you to put a face and a voice to your online profile.

Respondent also suggests sharing; your name and location, where you currently work and some of your everyday responsibilities and any skills you’ve mastered. It’ll help you stand out from the crowd and hopefully get selected.

Be Decisive

If you see a project you like, fill out the screener survey immediately. As you might guess, remote studies fill up quicker than in-person ones.

Respondent also shows you which studies are “over subscribed,” meaning they have more participants than they need. Don’t waste your time applying for those.

Give Honest Feedback

When filling out the screener survey, answer questions honestly. This may eliminate you from certain projects, but the goal is to maximize your time by only participating in the best surveys for you. This helps you and the companies seeking feedback.

Verify Your Email

Since many Respondent projects target industry professionals, you can give your profile a leg up by verifying your work email. This lets researchers know you’re active at your company and in the industry they’re targeting.

Is Respondent Legit?

As per our expertise in dealing with 100s websites such as Respondent we can confirm that Yes, Respondent is a legitimate company that matches companies looking to complete research surveys with participants. Companies do pay for this type of research.

However, it is the company, not Respondent, that actually pays you. Respondent only facilitates the process.

Payments are made via PayPal directly from the company that initiated the study. The Respondent platform helps keep track of all the surveys you’ve completed as well as the status of the payments.

Their customer service will also work on your behalf to resolve any payment issues if they do crop up.

Signing up for Respondent is definitely worth it for anyone looking to make real money in research. It’s really an easy process and you can get started applying for things right away.

Yes, it’s frustrating when you don’t get picked for something, but keep trying and keep applying. Taking surveys and participating in research studies won’t ever be a full-time income, but if you want to make some extra money, Respondent could just be the opportunity for you.

Benefits of Respondent

High-Paying Studies

It is reported to pay highs of $300

More interesting work than most survey sites

While it can be difficult to qualify for a study on Respondent (see below), the strict selection process means that you’re likely to end up participating in studies that are a good fit for your interests and/or expertise.

Instead of answering the same boring, run-of-the-mill questions over and over again on Paid Viewpoint, for example, Respondent studies usually require you to put some serious thought into your responses.

For example, here is a screenshot from one of the paid studies we participated in:

It is Available Internationally

In contrast to many survey sites, Respondent seems to have plenty of opportunities available for people living outside the United States.

For example, some people living in Australia have been able to apply for 4 studies soon after creating his account. Some were invited to participate in them and earned more than $100.

Lots of positive user reviews

As you can see from the Respondent Participant Community page on Facebook, it generally gets very positive reviews from users.

Drawbacks of Respondent

You’re unlikely to be selected for most studies

The chances of being picked for a survey are not that good

This is the big issue. While a 60-minute, $200 study sounds great, the chances that you’ll get selected for it are pretty slim. This is true even if Respondent says that you’re “100% qualified” for the study after you’ve applied.

A sub-par Interface

The Interface is not the best. They can certainly improve on that.

Slow Customer Support

It can take long for you to get customer support. Sometimes it takes days.

Some scam studies have been reported

This is not so much an issue with Respondent as it is with any marketplace platform: inevitably, you find bad-faith actors trying to take advantage of others.

Conclusion

Our research into Respondent indicates that, Respondent surveys may not offer you a job replacing income, however it would make a good side hustle to earn a little extra cash.

Respondent has some benefits; it is legit and offers higher than average payouts than many other survey sites. However, if you want to make money online for more freedom and independence, Respondent alone won’t provide that (nor do they claim to).

Like all legit survey sites, they won’t make you rich. But if you’ve never made money online before, they can be a good first step.

Before you leave

If you’re tired of scams and want a real solution for making money online check out my no.1 recommendation.

It’s helped me earn over $300,000 in the last 12 months alone:

Go here to see my no.1 recommendation for making money online

(This is a 100% free training)

David Fortune

David Fortune has been the editor NoBSIMReviews.com since 2019. He is an expert at writing content on stock advisory services, side hustles, reviewing online business opportunities and many more topics. You can learn more about David on our about us page.

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