Is Ipsos i-Say a scam? Get the answer to this question and much more in this in-depth review.
An Overview of Ipsos i-Say
Let me start by explicitly stating that I am NOT an affiliate of Ipsos i-Say. This review is a completely honest and unbiased review that is meant to present in-depth information to you to help you make a more informed decision to join or not to join.
I understand that some people do not have the time or patience to read this whole review. If you are one of such people, here is a bullet-form summary of the stuff you need to know about Ipsos i-Say:
- The program is legit
- The payouts are ridiculously low compared to other survey sites like Swagbucks. On average, you get less than $1 per survey
- When you get to 1000 points, you can cash out $10 through Paypal. $1 per 100 points.
- You do not have a ton of surveys available to you. On average, you get a survey per day.
- There is a growing number of complaints about this program.
- If you’re expecting to earn a whole lot from this site, you won’t.
- If you really want to earn substantial income, you should consider starting your own low-cost online business.
Build Your Own Successful Online Business Now
What is Ipsos i-Say?
i-Say is a program powered by Ipsos, a leading global research market company that has been around since 1975. They are currently the third largest survey firm in the world with over 15,000 employees in over 80 countries worldwide.
If you join Ipsos i-Say, you become one of their panel members and you can get your voice heard by taking the surveys they provide. You can also earn points by participating in polls and even creating your own poll.
Is Ipsos i-Say a Scam?
No, it is not. They do not make any huge income claims and from my experience, they award you the points you deserve most of the time. I will address why I say “most of the time” later in this review.
The gist of it is what you get from Ipsos i-Say is what you should expect to get from survey sites in general. You spend a lot of time taking surveys and get a minimal reward for your time and efforts. The fact is there is only so much you can make from any survey site.
How Does Ipsos i-Say Work?
The process is as simple as it gets:
You get regular surveys available to you. On average, you will get 90 points per survey. Some surveys reward you 45 points and I have seen one that rewards you 200 points.
I reluctantly used the word “regular” because you will have days when you get 2 surveys, there would be times when you get 1 survey in 2 days and there would be times when you get 1 survey in a whole week.
Before you take a survey, you will first have to qualify for the survey. They determine eligibility by making you answer some pre-qualification questions which could end up taking up to 10 minutes of your time.
If after taking the pre-qualification questions you do not qualify for the survey, they will award you 5 points for the pain.
i-Say pays using a point reward system. Each point you earn can be translated to $0.01 cash value.
Your points can be redeemed in the rewards tab. You could choose to redeem your points in the form of gift cards or you could choose to give donations to some of their charity partners.
If you have earned up to 1530 points, you can cash out using a $15 Paypal gift card. One thing you must realize is that it takes 4-6 weeks for the amount to be added to your Paypal wallet.
What I Liked
- The company is one of the leading survey companies in the world
- You can redeem your points for cash
- You can give donations to charity
- They have a loyalty bonus where they award you points when you cross a threshold number of surveys
What I Didn’t Like
- The pay is stupidly low, even for a survey site.
- You do not get a huge number of surveys available to you always. You will have many weeks when you will get just 1 survey
- Following the last point, it could take you forever to be able to redeem those points
- You get Paypal cash payments after 4-6 weeks
- You could spend 10 minutes answering pre-qualification questions and still not qualify
- Some surveys take twice as much time as they claim it would take
- Some of these surveys that take more time still award you half the points they claim you would earn
The above points are specific to Ipsos i-Say. Now I want to talk about survey sites in general…
My Thoughts on Survey Sites
Let’s put what you do on Ipsos i-Say into perspective:
Using our generous average, you can expect to earn $0.90 per survey. If you are able to take 1 survey every day, you will earn $27 a month.
Now this number is flawed because you will not have a survey every day and not every survey will pay you 90 points, but I started with this assumption to show you how much you would earn in a perfect situation.
It takes about 20 minutes to complete a survey (without the pre-qualification questions). You will have to take 30 surveys a month to earn $27.
A better assumption would be to say you would get 2 surveys a week. This way, you would get $7.20 a month if all your surveys are worth 90 points.
I hope you now get the picture of how terrible this program is when it comes to pay.
If it takes 20 minutes to complete a survey and you complete 30 surveys a month, you would be earning $2.70 per hour. Surely you must value your time much more than that?
This is the story of most survey sites and that is why I do not recommend them. They look like they are paying you for doing something so easy but what most people do not measure up is how much they are earning versus how much time they are wasting – valuable time that could be spent building an online business (more on this later).
The only “survey site” I do not mind asking people to join is Swagbucks. Why? You already use a search engine (probably how you found this review), you might be someone that plays games, you might be someone that shops online frequently and you might actually love taking surveys. I recommend Swagbucks because you already do some of these things for no reward whatsoever, so why not earn something for what you would do anyway?
That is the mentality you need to take if you decide to join Swagbucks. If you sign up expecting to earn enough to pay next month’s rent, you will be extremely disappointed. If you take surveys just to earn a few cents, you are wasting your time. If you genuinely like taking surveys, Swagbucks provides the best surveys and they hand out the best rewards as well.
Putting Time Into Perspective
The way I make money online is through a system called affiliate marketing. Basically, I create a website and if someone buys something through my affiliate link, I get a commission.
I built a mini-niche website about quadcopter drones a while ago. I can say I have spent roughly 20 hours cumulatively on this site since its inception. This includes building the website and content creation.
This quadcopter mini-niche website now brings me an average of $600 per month and even had a freak month when I made over $3000 over the Black Friday weekend.
Remember I said I have spent 20 hours working on this site and this site now brings me $600 per month. Now let’s calculate what 20 hours would make you on Ipsos i-Say…
In 20 hours, you can complete about 60 surveys. If all the surveys earn you 90 points, you will be earning $54 per month.
20 hours every month for $54 per month or 20 hours cumulatively for $600 per month recurring? Which of them looks like the better use of time?
I have realized what I can achieve with my time and that is why I cannot waste my time on survey sites.
You might think you cannot build an online business but the truth is you can! All you need is access to proper training and a supporting community to guide you. That is all you need to realize you can be an online business owner too.
Closing Thoughts
You might have noticed in this review that my problem is not so much with Ipsos i-Say, but survey sites in general. People spend way too much time than they should be spending on these sites and they barely get compensated for it. The only survey site I can truly recommend is Swagbucks because if you go in with the right mentality, you will not waste nearly as much time.
Swagbucks is a cool account to have, but the real way to make money online is by building a business. At least you can make a full-time living off the internet this way. I know for sure that no one makes a full-time living by taking surveys. If for some reason such a person exists, I don’t think they would be bold enough to say it. How would it sound to hear someone say “I am a full-time survey taker”?
We could stay here and talk all day but that’s not good use of time. The only way you can make money is by taking action.
If your call is to build your own successful online business, check out the program that taught me.
Ipsos Panel Review
PRODUCT NAME: Ipsos i-Say
Price: Free
Overall Ranking: 30/100
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