Online surveys are a tool to voice your opinion about a wide range of products and get compensated by research companies in return.
It is a win-win situation for both, as these surveys influence the manufacturer’s directly who have a better chance at understanding their customer
and the panel members get rewards and cash payouts for their time and effort.
What is Ipsos i-Say?
Ipsos i-Say is one such online survey site, run by a unit of Ipsos and considered to be one of the largest market research firm globally.
Ipsos is a legitimate website that does really pay. It has been around for more than three decade with thousands of members.
If you are looking to make some extra money, you can take these surveys and get rewards like gift cards, cash via PayPal, visa prepaid card, chance to donate as well as sweepstake entry.
How does it work?
Sign-up – You need to first sign-up with Ipsos, which is a quick and simple process. Registration is free and needs you to just fill an online form with a few personal details regarding your household and verify your email address. You can also register using your Facebook account. It has a point based reward system, where you can get a different number of points for different types of surveys.
Email survey invite – As soon as you have successfully registered with Ipsos, you will get email invitations to take surveys based on your profile demographics. Ipsos also has a member login, where you can check out your dashboard to find out the surveys that you can take. They also have a mobile app, which can be downloaded through an invite only .
Survey qualification – Similar to most survey websites, you will first have to qualify to take a survey. However, if you are not qualified you still get 5 pity points for attempting.
Minimum payout – The number of points that you earn for each survey depends on various factors like length and complexity of the survey. The average number of surveys that you will get invited to is just one. And the average payout for a survey varies from 45 – 200 points, with an average of 90 points per survey.
How to redeem points and types of rewards?
The conversion rate of Ipsos i-Say is 100 points = $1. It offers wide range of rewards to choose from, based on the number of points you can redeem. Here are some instances of how you can exchange points –
- For gift card from your favorite store like Starbucks, Amazon, Target in the denominations of $5-$15 costing 500 – 1500 points. They are typically instantly delivered.
- For Paypal Funds, where $15 PayPal account transfer costing 1,530 points, within 1-3 weeks after redemption.
- For Visa Prepaid Card, where $20 costing 2,000 points and arrives 3-4 weeks after ordering.
- For Air Miles Rewards, valid only for Canadians though.
- For cash donations to charitable organizations like Big Brothers and Sisters, and Unicef.
- For sweepstakes entry with prizes like holiday package and eGift cards to be won. 250 points can be used against one entry, before deadline.
Loyalty Program
Ipsos features a unique loyalty program where members can enjoy extra points based on the number of surveys completed. For instance, 5 surveys can earn you 25 extra points and 10 surveys can earn you extra 50 points, increasing as you take more surveys. However, these points are not carried forward in the next calendar year.
Sweepstake Opportunity
I-say offers its members a chance to participate in sweepstake and win prizes like holiday package, electronic items and more. You can receive entry into prize draws using your points –
- Travel draw – Use 200 I-say points to get a chance to win a travel getaway
Poll Predictor – Another way to earn some extra points is to by participating in poll predictor. After every survey completion, you are offered an entry into the poll predictor. Here you will be asked to predict the number of Americans who will positively answer to specific questions. If your estimate is close to the correct answer, you will earn entry into more sweepstakes. - Click draw – Every quarter 10 lucky members win 10,000 points each. The more surveys you take, the greater the chances of your winning the draw.
- Welcome draw – New members get a chance to win prepaid shopping cards just for joining the panel. 30 new members win welcome draw every quarter.
- Poll Predictor – Another way to earn some extra points is to by participating in poll predictor. After every survey completion, you are offered an entry into the poll predictor. Here you will be asked to predict the number of Americans who will positively answer to specific questions. If your estimate is close to the correct answer, you will earn entry into more sweepstakes.
Referral
I-say offers another opportunity to earn some extra points by referring your points to join the survey panel. You should know the email address of your friend who might be interested in the opportunity and add 100 points to your account.
What I like?
- Diverse surveysDiverse surveys – No age restriction to take the surveys.- No age restriction to take the surveys.
- Plenty of opportunity– There are many opportunities to earn some extra points like loyalty program, sweepstakes and referrals.
- EasyThe interface is simple and minimalistic without being cluttered with unwanted offers or trial downloads and keeps the focus only on surveys.
What I don’t like?
- Location restriction – Only residents of Unites States and Canada are allowed to take the surveys and get paid. However, there is a similar survey site for European nations.
- Difficult to qualify for surveys– You are in here to earn some money by taking surveys. But what if you do not qualify for surveys enough to make some decent money. Many reviewers say that they can barely get invited to one survey a week or less, which hampers your progress in earning points.
- Sluggish interface––The website interface is not very responsive and you have to wait for the next screen to appear for minutes together. This not only wastes a lot of time but also makes the process frustrating.
- Poor payouts– If you get an average payout of $0.90 per survey estimated to take around 20 minutes. Now if you can take one survey per week on an average, it sums up to an average of $3.6 per month. You also need to accumulate 1000 points to cash out $10. So unless you are in for big hand at the draw (which is rare unless you are very lucky),you really can’t make decent money here to be able to put food on table or pay the bills.
- Long payment delays – Lot of reviewers have complained about long payment delays especially in cases of PayPal cash out. Another common complaint was that it takes a lot of phone calls and waiting time to get the points reflected in your account.
Conclusion
I personally think that this website does not have great payouts and rewards. If you basing on these surveys as a source of income, you would be better off trying your luck at other better paying sites like Pinecone Research or Opinion Outpost.
If you are still considering Ipsos I-say then you should take the surveys where you know the points that you will earn and estimated time, to be able to predict better and know what to expect.
Ipsos is a legitimate company with a good reputation.
However, the problem is with that their payouts are not enough for you able to sustain and make a decent income. Hence, I would not recommend Ipsos to someone who is trying to make some extra cash by taking surveys.
