subject: Is there a Panda Research Scam? [print this page] Is there a Panda Research Scam? Is there a Panda Research Scam?
It almost sounds too good to be true. Sign up for an online focus group and you could make anywhere from $3 to $75 just for filling out surveys, and as much as a quarter for every e-mail that you read. This is exactly what Panda Research promises to potential participantsso it's little wonder, one admits, that many have written it off as a so-called Panda Research scam.
But the Panda Research scam is in fact no scam at all. Believe it or not, survey sites like this one are an increasingly legitimate way to make a little extra money on the Web, with more and more cash-strapped but Web-savvy folks turning to organizations like Panda Research to get some easy, supplemental income.
And it is exactly what it says it isa focus group, wherein the participant is paid for evaluating new products, filling out online surveys, reading marketing e-mails, and, in essence, offering an opinion on newly-developed and soon-to-launch products. These kinds of honest opinions are highly valuable to marketers, which is why a group like Panda Research is filling to offer some pretty solid payouts; surveys will bring in ten, twenty, in some cases even seventy-five bucks!
Those who have signed on and actually participated in the surveys will be happy to vouch for it as a reputable serviceand not, as some have conjectured, a Panda Research scam. Amanda Beitzel is one Panda Research participant, and she has this to say: "Panda Research is one of the best survey sites. You can request your money when you get $50 in your account. The product surveys are great, you get to keep the products and get paid for trying them. It's great for stay at home mothers and anyone who wants to make extra money doing surveys from the comfort of their own home. Panda Research has a great support team if you have any questions or concerns. The extra money has been great for me especially with this hard economy."
And that's how a good many participants feel. No, you are probably not going to become ludicrously wealthy doing online surveys, but the money is real, and in this troubled economy, every little bit helps. No wonder the so-called Panda Research scamhas become a favorite of cash-strapped college students, and even those waiting on word of new employment. It's a survey site that really pays, and all for the price of an honest opinion.
