The Consumer Opinion Institute is where “your opinion counts.”  It’s one that’s operated by Kantar-TNS, which one of the world’s largest custom market research companies, founded in 2009.  It’s a legitimate organization, but it won’t make you rich, unfortunately.  This can be said about most survey companies.

At first glance, the website looks outdated, but I can promise you it’s still active and can earn you some rewards.

In today’s post, I will check out the site to show you how it works, what you can make as well as what others think about it.  As always, I’m 100% honest and only recommend what I feel to be worth your time.  Whether you want to make a few dollars or thousands, I try to cover all bases.

How to Sign Up

To sign up, you will be asked to fill out a registration form, which can be found directly on the main site.

In order to receive surveys, you will be asked a few demographic questions, such as those about your lifestyle as well as how many people live in your house, etc.  This is common among all survey companies and is necessary to answer so that you’re able to receive survey invites in the future.  After all, a company wouldn’t want to send you a dog survey when you don’t even own one, right?

To qualify, you must reside in the United States.  And, as a last note here in this section, you may not be able to join due to your restrictions, so be sure to keep this in mind.   For example, when I was writing this, I wasn’t able to join, maybe because the quota was filled at the time.

It is 100% free to join.

How it Works

The Consumer Opinion Institute works differently when compared to other survey sites.  You’re not going to log into your account and wait for surveys to pop up.  Instead, surveys will be mailed to you.  Yes, directly to your mailbox.

Upon receiving, it’s then up to you to fill out this survey and return it into the prepaid envelope to receive your reward.  Once received, the company will email you letting you know the next steps.  Sometimes, the survey is considered complete, but in other cases, you may have to finish a survey online.  They all vary.

This is archaic in a way since you have to wait for them to receive it and you have to rely on the mail.  It can take some time, but hey, some people like the idea of this method.  Personally, I don’t, but it’s another way to make some cash on the side, I suppose.

How Much Do Surveys Pay?

From reading multiple reports, surveys pay anywhere between $1 to $5, usually in the form of cash or a check.  What’s unique is that this payment is included with the survey, so you will be expected to fill out the survey, even though you were already paid.  If the survey isn’t mailed to your address and it’s done online, then it will state the reward before you start it.  As with most survey companies, the longer the survey, the more you can get paid.

How Many Surveys Will I Get?

On average, prepared to get about one to two surveys per month, maybe more, maybe less.  On average, you should expect at least one.   This is specified in the company’s official FAQ.

So, doing the math, the company can net you maybe $1 to $7~ a month.  It’s not much.

As for how long the surveys take, expect to invest 10 to 20 minutes completing them.  According to some reviews, however, it seems some surveys can be much longer than this.  One person said they had to provide more than 1,000+ answers for $5!  Your results will vary, however.

The Pros:

• mailed surveys with cash already inside (instant payment)
• pays cash

The Cons:

• won’t make much, maybe $5 a month at most
• kind of archaic
• some surveys take a long time
• no dashboard to see survey opportunities in real time
• no app

Final Thoughts

4/10The Consumer Opinion Institute is a legitimate organization.  You will get paid and they are not out to scam you for any rhyme or reason.  However, this doesn’t mean you should consider joining.

At the moment, it doesn’t appear you receive many survey invites, if many at all.  And, even if you do, you will be lucky to make a few dollars a month.  It’s not much.  You can easily make that in an hour using Swagbucks.

Personally, I won’t be joining, but I won’t prevent you from doing so.  I just don’t think it’s worth my time to add my information and then only receive a few surveys every so often.

That’s going to do it for now.

As always, comment below if you want to add to anything I said.  You can also check out the site and my YouTube channel for the many ways to be smart with your money.  Thanks for stopping by.