Valued Opinions offers paid surveys, rewarding you with gift cards and shopping vouchers for your time.

It’s one of the many paid survey websites out there, but is it worth your time?  That’s the question that needs to be answered.

With so many survey companies out there, it’s hard to keep track, I get it, and it’s the main reason I love to write these reviews.  In doing so, I hope I’m saving you time from joining the survey sites that just don’t pay well or have junk offers.

In today’s review, as I always do, I join Valued Opinions to see what the hype is all about. I will see how it works, how much they pay as well as if it’s worth your time.  As in all of my reviews, I remain unbiased and only recommend something I would use.  If it’s crap, I let you know, trust me.

With that out of the way, let’s jump in and see if Valued Opinions is worth your time today.

What is Valued Opinions?

Valued Opinions, right on the main website, says they value your thoughts and the time you spend completing surveys.  And, it’s the reason they pay up to $5 for every paid survey you complete.  In exchange for your time, you can use this cash to redeem for many gift cards, including Amazon and Target, to name a few.  Don’t worry, I will get into the rewards later on in this review.  If you have ever been part of a research panel, it’s no different than the rest.  Just answer survey questions and get rewarded for your time.

This market research company, operated by the market research firm, Dynata, was founded in 2004 and is one of the largest survey companies in the world with more than three million members.

Signing up for Valued Opinions

To sign up for Valued Opinions, the company asks for the basic information just like other research panels.  This includes your name, date of birth, email address and password.  If you don’t want to create a unique account, you can also connect your Facebook account.  It’s up to you.

It’s not much of a sign-up process and takes two minutes at most to access your dashboard.

At the time of this review, the panel is open to USA residents older than 17.  It’s 100% free to join.

Your Valued Opinions Dashboard

After you sign up, you can immediately access your dashboard, and it will look something like this:

This is the desktop version, but the mobile version is the same, only that it’s more condensed for a mobile screen, of course.

As you can see, it’s fairly simple.  You have your surveys tab on the top, which is where you will make most of your money, as well as your rewards tab, a badges tab, and an explore tab.

There’s not too much to explore, but I will let you know what each tab has to offer.

Your Surveys

This is where you will make almost all of your money, and it’s where you can find the surveys available to you at the time.

The thing about Valued Opinions is that you will have to fill out your profile screener at first in order to get survey invites.  This is standard for most survey companies, but what you’re going to find with Valued Opinions is that they won’t send you many surveys if you don’t fill out your survey profile.

The profiler can take some time to fill out as they want to know everything about you, but if you want surveys, you will need to fill it out.  There are more than 20 categories you need to fill in, so I recommend starting with a few if you want to see survey invites pop up on your dashboard.  And, yes, I know it can be annoying, but getting disqualified from a survey can be just as annoying.  If the research company can know more about you, they can send you more targeted survey opportunities, which means more money for you.  This time invested is often worth it.

How Much Do Valued Opinions Surveys Pay?

The cool thing about Valued Opinions is that they tend to pay more than the average research company, with most surveys in the $1 to $5 each.

However, with this higher pay, surveys can take up to 30 minutes to complete.  They tend to be more detailed than that of a competing company.  If you have ever been part of any other survey company, some surveys are as simple as clicking answers.  While this can still be the case here, the questions are often more in depth, sometimes asking you to write out your answer rather than click on a choice.

Depending on your demographic profile, you can expect a few survey invites a week, but remember, just because you see an invite, it doesn’t mean you will always qualify.  Be prepared to qualify for about 20% of the surveys you take.

A Dollar Doesn’t Equal a Dollar

When you see how much a survey pays, let it be known that $1 doesn’t equal $1 in rewards.  Instead, it’s going to worth a pinch less actually.

Depending on what you want to cash out for, that $1 is worth more like $0.90 or sometimes less. In some cases, it is worth a dollar.  It’s a very stupid system that I don’t like, but hey, it is what it is.

For example, if you want a $20 Amazon gift card, it will cost you $22, but if you want a $20 Apple gift card, it’s only $20.  To be safe, shave 10% off your survey value so that you’re not surprised when you cash out.

Badges

The company offers a unique badge system, which is a tab you can click on as well.  In all honesty, it’s nothing special as it offers no rewards of sorts.  Instead, it’s more of a “look at what I did.”

I don’t know why they include it as there are no bonuses, but if you want these special badges for some reason, then I say go for it.  Just know that it doesn’t offer anything of value.

Rewards

Here comes the fun part — the rewards.

Once you at least $10 in rewards, you can start to cash out.  However, let it be known that every dollar is not worth a dollar as I mentioned.  This is the annoying part.  For example, a $20 Visa gift card will cost you $25 whereas a $20 Nike card will cost you $22.  While the dollar amount is close to a dollar, it really isn’t.

Nonetheless, rewards are available, each with varying amounts.  In the parenthesis is what it will cost you in Valued Opinions dollars.  As I write this, they had 17 rewards available, including:

• $20 UNICEF Donation ($20)
• $20 Amazon ($22)
• $20 Apple ($20)
• $20 Chili’s ($22)
• $20 CVS ($22)
• $20 Domino’s ($22)
• $20 FragranceNet ($20)
• $30 Giftpax ($15)
• $20 Macy’s ($20)
• $20 Nike ($22)
• $20 Target ($22)
• $20 Home Depot ($20)
• $20 Visa ($25)
• 600 Rapid Rewards (Southwest) points ($15)
• 825 Rapid Rewards (Southwest) points ($20)
• $50 Restaurant.com ($15)
• $10 Spa & Wellness ($10)

These rewards are subject to change.

When it’s time to cash out, you will need to verify your account with a valid U.S. number in order to redeem.  Upon redeeming, it can take up to 24 hours to receive your electronic reward.

The Good and Bad

As in all of my survey reviews, I like to recap the pros and cons, hence, this section.  Every survey company I review always has some bad (and good), so take it for what you will.  This is what I found in my research with Valued Opinions.

The Good

• Amazon and PayPal rewards
• backed by Dynata, a very reputable research company
• $1 to $5 surveys
• good customer service

The Bad

• annoying rewards system
• not a lot of survey invites
• have to fill out a very lengthy survey to see survey invites

Is Valued Opinions Legit?

Yes!  Valued Opinions is 100% legit.  It’s backed by Dynata, one of the most reputable research firms in the business, and I promise they do pay out if you reach your minimum threshold.  While I’m not giving them the highest remarks, it doesn’t mean they are a scam or a joke of sorts.  You can be assured, that if you do decide to join, that you will get paid as long as you follow the rules, of course.

Final Thoughts

6/10Even though Valued Opinions is backed by the very reputable Dynata, I wouldn’t put it high on my list.  The only reason is simply due to the lack of surveys in comparison to its competitors.  The thing I didn’t like is that you have to fill out a very lengthy profiler and the compensation system.  I hated that $1 doesn’t equal a $1 in most cases.  This can cause quite the confusion.

While you can earn money with their surveys, I don’t think you’re going to earn as much if you were to join Swagbucks or Survey Junkie.  In my opinion, these two offer way more survey opportunities and there’s no confusing rewards system.  While those sites encourage you to fill out your profile, it isn’t mandatory and isn’t as in depth.

For now, if you want to spend 30 minutes filling out your profile to maybe get a few invites a day, if not week, then do so.  You can make money, I just don’t feel like the profile investment is worth it, at least to me.  There are many better options.

That sums it up.  As always, if you want to sound off, whether it’s good or bad, that’s why I leave the comments section open.  Feel free to ask questions, vent or let us know what you liked.