- Ben Thornbury of Wiltshire, England started doing online surveys at 13 as an easy way to make money while in school.
- Now he's 18 years old and makes hundreds each month filling in surveys for eight hours a week.
When I first heard about earning money by filling out online surveys, I thought it was a scam, to be honest. But I still thought: "I'm going to research this and see if it's a real thing for myself."
My parents were shocked when they found out what I was doing online.
At the time, the website I was using was Swagbucks. I was earning more than £100 (about $124) a month, which is a lot of money at 13 — especially because I wasn't really doing a real job. I was just at home ticking boxes.
My parents said, "Ben, please don't get involved with a scam." Luckily, they were quite flexible with it and let me experiment until I sort of proved them wrong.
Most websites require you to be at least 16 to sign up
I had to wait until then to really start earning money from it. It's probably for the best that you have to wait until 16 to sign up for these sites, because otherwise, you'd just have loads of young people filling in surveys completely randomly.
Now I use a website called Qmee that I can use on my laptop or my mobile. On that site alone, I've made more than £200 (or $250) in a month filling in surveys for 10 hours a week. I could make so much more than that, but I just don't have the time.
I also use Opinion Outpost, which is good but it requires you to have at least 100 points — which is equal to £5 (or $6) — before you can take your money out. It's not too hard to hit that within a day of using it.
I simply Googled "top survey sites" and signed up for all of the highest-rated ones
I prefer Qmee, because they have the most engaging surveys for me while having a well-designed app with great graphics to keep you engaged. But this all comes down to personal preference.
Over time, I've pushed away the ones that weren't so good due to buggy websites, lots of advertisements, or bad customer service.
The topics the surveys cover vary
My favorite categories to answer surveys about are household items, food, and games. You might be asked what you had for breakfast and where you got it, or you may be shown a loading screen for a game and asked how you would improve it.
Most sites let you pick what topics you cover, as I think being genuinely interested in the survey is important for you to succeed in doing this to make money. This is because your quality of response can affect your future on that platform.
If they think your responses are rushed, they might give you fewer surveys to fill out — you could even get banned.
As long as you're curious and determined, you should do well filling in online surveys
I often get asked if it's boring but I'm just genuinely interested in what I'm answering. Some surveys even let you see products that aren't out yet, and I find that really cool.
The best thing is that I can do it from wherever I want. I've done it at home, on the bus to college, and sometimes I even do it in school.
Online surveys are particularly great for teenagers like me
I can do them on my commute to school or in my bedroom. But I also believe it's a great opportunity for anyone who wants to make extra money — people who are stuck at home, for whatever reason, or if you're simply struggling to get a job.
The money is good, and it doesn't require an interview process or anything of the sort.
Since I've started doing online surveys, I've been able to start putting money into helping my community
When I was 14, I made a Facebook group dedicated to aiding my local area. We plant seeds in flower beds, clean the area, and plant trees, and I fund all of that with the money from the surveys.
I've now got two sheds full of equipment that I've bought for the community — things like leaf blowers, brushes, and wheelbarrows. They're literally stacked to the brim.
I think my passion for investing in my community comes from my Grampy. He used to be very involved in the local area — he'd put benches up near rivers, and his benches are still there now, even though he passed away.
He had a big impact on my local area, and I'm following in his footsteps.