www.valuedopinions.co.uk

...too strenuous.

www.valuedopinions.co.uk is only available to residents of the UK and also only to people over the age of 16. If you are outside the UK, there are other panels made for you!
www.valuedopinions.com (USA)
www.irishopinions.com (Ireland)
www.valuedopinions.com.au (Australia)
www.valuedopinions.co.nz (New Zealand)
I am surprised they have yet to incorporate the rest of Europe but they may ...
...time by contacting Valued Opinions on their website. They also have an unsubscribe button on every survey that they send out so if you ever do get fed up of the surveys then it is very simple to opt-pit.

'''**What Do You Have To Do?**'''

Ok so the deal here is simple too. Valued opinions send you an email with a link to a survey. These can be anything from 2 minutes long to 30 minutes. Occasionally there are longer ... more

Before I became completely addicted to review writing, my little way of making an extra penny or two was from completing online surveys. (Don't yawn just yet folks, they are not that bad!). I know many people think they don't have the time or the patience to sit and answer mundane question after mundane question, but for a maximum of 20 minutes or so a day you can make enough for a nice little treat. Valued Opinions is a market research site that pays for your opinions. Sounds easy?? Well, it isn't cash in hand if that is what you are after. But it definitely gives you a little smile when the rewards come through. Interested? Well...I was!

**What is Valued Opinions?**

Valued opinions is a market research company that uses a panel (the members - people like me!) to get honest, unbiased opinions on a huge range of ideas, products, services and concepts. This feedback from panellists is then passed on to the businesses that are asking for the market research to be carried out. Valued opinions is the main brand of a bigger organisation called Research Now. Research Now is registered in the UK, but is an International company that is behind 36 online research panels. They are also a member of ESOMAR (The World Association of Market Research Professionals) and a company partner of the MRS (Market Research Society). There are no set rules etc made by ESOMAR but it aims to try and regulate market research in order to really make a difference to what is offered to consumers. This obviously gives Valued opinions some conviction in what they are doing but furthermore makes panel members have more confidence in what they are signing up for and also what impact their opinions are making. So, it seems these guys not only know what they are doing business wise but they also want to keep their members happy.

**How to Register! **

It really is pretty simple to sign up to Valued Opinions. Once on the website, you click the tab at the top of the screen and you are taken to the sign up page. They want the usual information... name, address, date of birth etc. It also asks you to choose a reward scheme (In other words what voucher you would like as a reward, but don't worry, when you do decide to redeem your reward you can choose what you want then, so this question is a little pointless!). This site also lets you choose your own password! Woohoo! I have signed up to many sites that give you a password and I can never ever remember it when I try and sign in. So for me, this is a perk! After a couple of minutes you get a confirmation email which you have to click on to validate your membership. That's it! Simple, membership is now done and dusted!

If you do have a few extra minutes to share after going through the initial membership, they ask you to fill in a short profile on your personal home page. (Also known as My Vop page). They ask you a few questions on different topics, such as your use of telecoms, internet and mobile services, sport and leisure activities, and cars, just to name a few. They are mainly Socio-demographic questions, to find out the things you use and enjoy rather then your personal view on things. These are optional, but if you fill them out then you are more likely to match a relevant survey. (Where they will then ask for your opinion!) It means that they don't send you completely irrelevant surveys which you will never be accepted for, or even interested in. So it does benefit you to fill these profiling questions in as soon as possible. There is nothing too personal, just general multi choice questions. As I said before they are optional so anything you are not comfortable with sharing then just don't answer it. Occasionally they ask you to update these to make sure the answers are still relevant and correct, this is usually once a quarter so nothing too strenuous.

www.valuedopinions.co.uk is only available to residents of the UK and also only to people over the age of 16. If you are outside the UK, there are other panels made for you!
www.valuedopinions.com (USA)
www.irishopinions.com (Ireland)
www.valuedopinions.com.au (Australia)
www.valuedopinions.co.nz (New Zealand)
I am surprised they have yet to incorporate the rest of Europe but they may expand in the future. You can also unsubscribe at any time by contacting Valued Opinions on their website. They also have an unsubscribe button on every survey that they send out so if you ever do get fed up of the surveys then it is very simple to opt-pit.

**What Do You Have To Do?**

Ok so the deal here is simple too. Valued opinions send you an email with a link to a survey. These can be anything from 2 minutes long to 30 minutes. Occasionally there are longer surveys, for example I had one recently where they wanted you to report back for 5 days what advertising you had seen on a certain product. For these types of surveys the incentives are obviously greater, but it is your choice if you want to take part. They don't penalise you for not taking part in research and they do not restrict what they send you just because you haven't participated for a while. This is a bonus because you are never obliged to give them your time.
Occasionally they spice things up and run product trials. Once you fill out a few questions to see if the trial relates to you they send you out a free sample to test. I recently got some Pantene shampoo and conditioner, full size and completely free. They asked me to use it for a week or so and then they sent me a feedback form via email. The questionnaire took around 15, but brilliant for the free items!

I also have to commend Valued Opinions on the layout of their emails. The survey invitations are extremely easy to analyse. It tells you what the survey is about, the reward you get, how long it should approximately take to complete and how long the survey is available for (usually at least 48 hours). It also tells you if the survey is hosted by another company and if the page may look slightly different to usual, and that they will not ask for any personal identifiable information in the survey. This allows you to make an informed decision about whether or not you want to take the survey. One thing that I find annoying with research panels is when you start a survey and it goes on and on and on and on and on! So at least Valued Opinions give you a little guidance. So, it doesn't matter what they offer you, it is completely up to you when and what surveys you take part in.

In terms of the amount of surveys they offer they are fairly decent. Usually they tend to send you three or four in a short space of time and then you might not hear from them for a few weeks. I usually get offered a survey at least once a week, sometimes more. From time to time you are 'screened out' of a survey. This means that after a few initial questions, you do not fit the criteria of panel member that they are looking for. This is not as annoying as some other survey sites. Purely because there really are only a few initial questions before they confirm your eligibility and if you don't fit their bill then occasionally they direct you straight to another survey that you do qualify for. I never feel as though I am wasting my time with Valued Opinions and I also never feel bombarded with surveys which are a complete waste of time. I must admit I get bored and I am a very impatient person. If I keep getting screened out for surveys I tend to take myself off the panel because of pure irritation. But, so far so good. I have been a member of Valued Opinions for almost 3 years and I still get a little buzz of excitement when I see an email from them! Sad, but true!

** Rewards, Rewards, Rewards... What's in it for you? **

Down to the important bit!! Valued Opinions give you a cash amount for every survey you complete, anything from 25p - £5. This is then added to your Reward balance. You can check your current reward balance at any time by logging into the site and going to your personal homepage. Once your reward balance reaches a minimum of £10.00, you can then redeem the amount for some well known high street vouchers. It is a little disappointing that you can not redeem it for hard cash, but I personally am still happy with vouchers. The vouchers available at the moment are:
Marriott, Amazon.co.uk, Tesco, John Lewis, HMV, Marks & Spencer, Boots, Argos, Waitrose Wine Direct, Ocado, Burton, Dorothy Perkins, Evans, Miss Selfridges, Outfit, Topman, Topshop and Wallis.
Some pretty good brands and it is quite unusual for Tesco and M&S vouchers to be available from survey sites so these do come in useful. For the extremely kind hearted folk out there, you can also donate your rewards to charity. The current charity organisations you can donate to are World vision, WWF, British Red Cross and Amnesty International.

In my opinion the rewards are fair compensation for giving your opinions. You don't earn fortunes but it all adds up sooner then you think. The only frustration with Valued opinions is once you complete a survey, your earning can be 'pending' for up to 28 days before they are added to your 'current' balance. When you have to wait for 50p to be added before redeeming your next voucher it gets a little irritating. On a brighter note when they do validate your earnings they usually do it all at the same time so instead of getting a couple of your cash earnings confirmed they tend to confirm all of them at once.
You can look at your pending reward balances on your profile page. The actual voucher does take a little while to come through and posted to you through royal mail. (Amazon vouchers are sent to you as a code to the email address you have registered). The vouchers sent through the post usually take at least 2-3 weeks to come through, So if you are saving them for something special, make sure you leave plenty of time to redeem them or you will be disappointed. As I said, I have been a member of valued opinions for almost 3 years, although not 100% consistent as I go through phases where I can not be bothered or have found something that is more worthwhile for a few months. But I always have stints of answering every single survey available and then maybe cool down a little. So far I have redeemed £60 worth of vouchers and I have a little bit in my account still pending. So not bad! Plus all the extras I have received for taking part in product trials add up to a fair bit. Shampoos, washing powders, body scrubs and even magazines!
They also give you a little incentive even if you do not qualify for their surveys, for every survey that you enter, but are unable to complete because you did not meet the qualifications or because the survey was full, they give you one entry into their quarterly prize draw for £250. To be honest, prize draws are not really my thing and Valued opinions has only reported one winner which was for the August 2008 draw! I wouldn't rely on this for a win any time soon and a part of me thinks the draw doesn't actually exist, but that is the pessimist in me! However, if it DOES exist and if the prize draw does happen then at least I am in with a chance of winning! You have to be in it to win it as they say!

** Conclusion **

I really do recommend Valued Opinions as an easy to use, basic and friendly survey company. You will not make hundreds of pounds but you do get to treat yourself every now and again which is nice for not that much effort.
Since I have been a panel member they have not had any dramatic changes and they have not drastically changed their rewards or layout in any major way and their service is pretty consistent. They don't send you any marketing material based on your involvement and I have never had a phone call from them regarding any survey or anything along those lines. On the flip side if you ever need to contact them they have a phone number, email address AND a postal address!! These are all located on the website, so it is nice to know that (hopefully) they can be contacted if you do have any problems.
I like to feel that making a little money or vouchers online is more of a bonus rather then something I have to commit to! I have had no issues with redeeming my rewards and I will continue to take part until they no longer exist (which I hope is not any time soon!) If you are a survey lover then why have you not joined up already! If you are not a survey fan then maybe give this site a go and see what happened. You have nothing to lose!

Thank you for reading. 

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