Are you looking for legit ways to get paid to test products at home?
Getting paid to test products at home sounds too good to be true, but rest assured that it’s a legit activity backed by well-known brands and test marketing firms.
Businesses and brands are always coming up with new product ideas and services. But they need consumer information to make sure their product ideas will be in demand.
That’s why companies are willing to pay you for your answers to online surveys and product or service reviews. Often times, you’ll get to keep products you test for free as an additional reward.
By reviewing these products, you’ll be able to make money from home and on your own schedule. In most cases, you’ll need to fill out a personal profile, which will have the look and feel of a survey. This profile provides product testing companies with the information they need to match you with product testing opportunities.
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Ways to get paid to test products
To get started, you’ll want to sign up with several sites to get paid to test products. There’s several reasons for this.
Companies will choose you based on the information you provide when you first join and they’ll match you with the products they want to test. So sometimes your profile will be a good match and other times it won’t.
Also, it’s likely that several other members will have demographics similar to yours. So you’ll have competition. By joining more than one site, you can increase your chances of being selected.
Before you join, it’s a good idea to set up a new email address. You may not want your personal inbox filled with product testing notifications. And you’re bound to get frequent emails with various money making opportunities.
After you join a product testing website, the flow of product testing gigs may vary over time. That’s normal. Several websites also offer rewards for answering surveys so you’ll have other opportunities to get rewarded.
Why are there companies that pay you to test products?
You might be wondering why companies are willing to pay people for product testing. In a few words, for market research.
When companies come up with a new product or service idea, or want to improve an existing one, they want to inform their decisions with market research information.
So they’ll hire specialized market research firms to provide them with feedback on their test products from real-world consumers (that’s you). Your opinions will help shape the final product and they’ll reward you for it.
With some exceptions, these market research firms usually deal with other businesses and not directly with individual product testers. So they’ll work with other companies to help them with this task – companies like the ones listed in this post.
Here are 7+ legit product testing websites to consider
Some companies will provide more product testing opportunities than others.
1. National Consumer Panel
The National Consumer Panel (NCP) is a joint venture company between Nielsen and IRI. Nielsen is a global company best known for their Nielsen TV Ratings. And the Better Business Bureau gives them an A+ rating.
Membership to NCP is completely free and you can cancel participation at any time. To become a product tester, you’ll need to complete a brief profile and the panel will get in touch with you. You may get selected right away, get on a wait list or be turned down if there isn’t an opening.
As a product tester, you’ll use your shopping experiences and opinions to influence the products sold in stores. You’ll earn rewards redeemable for gift cards and merchandise.
To get you started, you’ll get a hand-held scanner or access to the NCPMobile app. With this scanner or app you’ll scan the barcodes of the products you buy during your shopping trips.
As you participate in the panel, your shopping information will earn you rewards you can use towards gift cards or merchandise. You’ll also be invited to participate in surveys and special studies on a variety of topics that will earn you even more.
The panel also runs frequent sweepstakes to earn additional rewards, gift cards and cash. You can join the NCP program here.
2. Pinecone Research
Pinecone Research is a new products panel which is owned by Nielsen, a trusted global firm that also owns NCP (see #1, above).
As a panelist, you’ll provide opinions on product tests that aren’t generally available to the public to help shape them. So you’ll be one of the first to test and review emerging ideas for various products and services.
By joining Pinecone, you’ll earn rewards which you can redeem for cash through check or PayPal.
Pinecone will reward you for each and every product evaluation study and most of them involve 15-20 minutes of your time. Membership is free and you can cancel your participation at any time.
3. Vindale Research
Vindale Research is a product testing site rated 4 stars on Trustpilot. They’re legit and their list of clients includes global brands such as Disney and Netflix.
We like the fact that Vindale pays you cash rewards, which you can withdraw through PayPal or check. And as a member, you can earn up to $50 per study / survey and they’ll pay you $5 for referring friends.
Similar to the other sites mentioned above, Vindale will reward you for sharing feedback with consumer brands. And the product testing aspect comes from answering surveys on products rather than receiving physical products to test.
Vindale offers good money-making opportunities. And the sign-up process is simple: you’ll need to complete your profile and watch a tutorial video.
4. American Consumer Opinion
American Consumer Opinion (ACOP) offers a variety of ways to earn rewards, including testing products, evaluating new products, taking online surveys and testing advertising.
ACOP has over 6 million active members worldwide and their surveys take an average of 10 minutes to complete. And as a member, you’ll earn points which you can redeem for prepaid cards or cash out through PayPal.
As a panel member, your opinions can influence future product ideas, packaging and design. And you’ll do it through surveys, which come in two parts. A short screener and a follow-up survey.
Something we like about ACOP is that they’ll reward you for your time, even if you don’t qualify for the follow-up survey. Joining American Consumer Opinion is simple and fast.
5. Valued Opinions
With Valued Opinions, you can tell brands exactly what you think about their products and services. They have a 4-star rating on Trustpilot and 3 million members worldwide.
When you join them, you’ll get the opportunity to do new product tests, packaging, and review advertising campaigns.
Every time you take one of their paid surveys, you’re driving change to help brands know what they need to do to improve plus you’ll earn rewards redeemable for gift cards.
Valued Opinions offers various gift card options, including Amazon, virtual Visa cards, and other brand-name cards for top retailers.
6. Opinion Outpost
Opinion Outpost is an online survey portal sponsored by major businesses. As you complete surveys, you’ll earn points redeemable for cash via PayPal or gift cards to popular brands.
You’ll receive money making opportunities directly to your inbox after you’ve completed a brief questionnaire during registration. That information is used to pair you with earning opportunities that relate to you.
In general, Opinion Outpost surveys take around 10 to 15 minutes to complete. And you can start redeeming your points when you complete your first 5 surveys.
7. The Pink Panel
The Pink Panel is a beauty, makeup, and skin care consumer panel based in the U.S. As a member, you’ll have the opportunity to test new products for one day and sometimes for up to six weeks.
To become a panelist, you’ll need to fill out a screener survey for a product test. If you’re selected, you’ll get to share your opinions on the product you receive.
After you participate in a study, you’ll get to keep the product you tested and receive other rewards. These include additional beauty products and gift cards.
If you’re a woman who loves beauty and personal care products, consider joining.
8. Daily Goodie Box
The concept behind the Daily Goodie Box is simple. You’ll receive a box of free goodies and all you do is let the company know what you think. It’s a straightforward way to do product testing on the side.
The free samples you’ll receive will vary, but they include food, beverage and personal care items.
Final thoughts on ways to get paid to test products
Product testing is a simple way to make money from home [link]. Your opinions get to transform how companies market and distribute new products and services.
As you join several product testing sites, keep in mind that you won’t always fit their criteria, so at times, you won’t have as many product testing opportunities.
Having said that, it’s a nice side hustle to make money from home. You’ll earn gift cards and extra cash that you can put to good use to buy gifts or for special occasions.
