1. Nielsen Homescan
This app will pay you to scan your groceries. Crazy, right? Once you
sign up to become a Nielsen Homescan family (yep, the same company that
tracks TV ratings), the company will send you a free scanner or you can
use your smartphone. Every time you go shopping, you simply scan the
barcodes on the back of each product and send your data off to Nielsen.
If you want to give it a try, you can fill out the application here: you can’t download this one from the app store; you’ll need to visit their website first.
As an active participant, you earn gift points which you can redeem
for different types of merchandise. You can choose electronics, jewelry,
household items, and even toys for the kids. The longer you stay on the
panel, the more opportunity you have to earn points towards prizes. You
also receive entries for the panel’s many sweepstakes. Prizes include
money, vacations, and brand new vehicles.
2. i-Say Mobile
This i-Say mobile app
is one of the only legitimate paid survey apps out there. It’s actually
a part of the Ipsos company, which might be a name you’re familiar with
because they do a lot of the polling you see during presidential races.
I’ve heard some of the top-end surveys
can pay up to $95, but those are rare and can take awhile to complete.
Most surveys pay a buck or two and only take 10-15 minutes. Also, the i-Say app rewards
you with points which can then be redeemed for Paypal or gift cards to
Amazon, iTunes, etc. (example: 1000 points can be redeemed for $10
Paypal). Use the link above to fill out an application and then they’ll
send you a link to download the app.
3. Ibotta
This is quickly becoming one of my favorite apps. The Ibotta app will pay you cash to take a picture of your receipts.
Here’s how it works:
1. Sign up for a free account with Ibotta (just need a name & email address).
2. Download the mobile app and then click on the “Rebates” section.
3. From here, you should see dozens of different rebates you can take
advantage of. For example, right now the app is offering me 50 cents if
I upload a picture of a receipt showing that I bought milk. And there’s
another rebate for $10 if I upload a picture of a Best Buy receipt.
Now, you obviously don’t want to go out and buy a bunch of stuff you
don’t need, but I think you’ll find tons of rebates for things you are
already buying. Plus, you can stack regular coupons on top of the
rebate, meaning some of you savvy shoppers will be able to get free
stuff.
4. Media Research Panel
Media Research Panel is a smartphone app that helps media companies
better understand how consumers use, view and share TV, social, digital
and mobile media. Their app “measures activities conducted on a device,
such as sharing, viewing, clicking, chatting, downloading and more. The
app also listens for TV shows, and, using technology of Gracenote, Inc.,
identifies which TV shows was captured.”
If you install their app, they’ll pay you $5/month per device. And
you can install the app on up to 3 devices. Plus they’ll send you a $5
bonus after the 12th week. (Totals $185/year)
Here’s how to do it:
1. Sign up for the Media Insiders Panel here. (you can’t download this one from the app store)
2. Install and activate the MI Mobile app onto your device(s).
3. Watch your e-mail for important information and instructions on
next steps. Also, at no time is a member’s personally identifiable
information ever shared or released publicly, nor will they ever
interact with you via social media.
Here are the devices that they support: Android™ smartphones and
tablets that run Android version 4.0 or greater, and are not rooted.
They also accept the Kindle Fire HD, but not the first generation Kindle
Fire. iPhone®5, iPad®, iPad mini®, and iPod touch® devices that run iOS
version 5.0 or greater. ***You’ve got be a US resident, 13 years or
older, and have a valid email address.
5. Field Agent
The Field Agent app
will pay you to complete small tasks around town for their clients. The
tasks are pretty simple: scanning barcodes with your iPhone, checking
prices at your local grocery store and conducting field surveys.
Payouts vary and depend on the job and area
that you are in. For example, as I write, a job is posted in Mission
Viejo, California is looking for an agent to take 4 separate photos of
products in the toothbrush section of the local Target. This particular
gig pays 9 dollars.
And in Brooklyn, New York, a field agent can
jump in to a local Toys “R” Us store, snap a shot of the $19.99 &
under video game display and zip out a healthy $5.50 richer.
Remember though: you’re in this to make
money; don’t bust out the plastic when you see a new Xbox 360 game
nearby that you’ve been itching to buy. Field Agent job payouts
typically vary between 2-8 bucks (payable through PayPal). Most of the
jobs only take 5 minutes, so the real time involved is with driving to
each location. Still with travel time and gas, you could easily make
$10-$20/hour completing mini-jobs.
6. InboxDollars
InboxDollars
has been around since practically the beginning of the internet, but
they just came out with a pretty cool mobile app that will pay you to
search the web, play games, and take surveys.
The app is totally free to download. Plus, they give you a free $5 just to signup.
Once you’ve accumulated $30 earnings (it’s possible to do this in
only a couple of hours), you can request payment via check. It does take
about 2 weeks to get the check, but I’ve successfully cashed out five
different times now.
7. Receipt Hog
RecieptHog is
very similar to Ibotta. You take a picture of your receipts and the
“hog” rewards you with points that you can redeem for Paypal or Amazon
gift cards.
The difference with this app is that you don’t have to shop anywhere
specific, or buy anythings specific. You can take a picture of any of
your receipts and the app will reward you with points. I like the fact
that I earn points for shopping anywhere, but I also find that it takes
me a lot longer to cash out with this app in comparison to Ibotta.
8. Bookscouter
The Bookscouter app
is really useful when you want to sell your old books that are just
collecting dust on the shelf. You scan your book’s barcode with a
smartphone and Bookscouter will let you compare the payout of 20+
different buyback companies.
Once you’ve found the buyback company offering the most cash, you
just fill out a little information about where you want your payment
sent and prepare the books to be shipped. Most of the buyback companies
offer prepaid shipping labels too, so there aren’t any costs associated
with this.
9. ESPN Streak for the Cash
Think you know sports? The ESPN Streak for the Cash app
will let you make predictions for upcoming games and then reward you
with cash if you have the longest streak of correct predictions. To make
it tougher, you have to make call for 10 different sports.
The person with the longest winning streak earns $50,000 every month. Pretty sweet!
10. Mobee
Have you ever tried mystery shopping? The Mobee app will pay you to go undercover in your local stores and rate the level of customer service and cleanliness, among other things.
Most of you know that I’ve done quite a bit of mystery shopping,
so I was pretty excited to find this app. I found it really easy to use
and the shops went pretty quickly, but I wasn’t too impressed with the
payment amounts. For example, there was a Subway mystery shop in my area
that was paying $8. That’s not a huge amount for a mystery shop, plus I
had to buy a sandwich during the shop that wasn’t reimbursed.
Regardless, it was like getting a free lunch, so I’ll take it!
11. SlideJoy – 12. ScreenPay
Both SlideJoy and ScreenPay
operate on the same principal – download their app and they will serve
ads on your smartphone’s lock screen. For this, you get paid a monthly
stipend.
The SlideJoy app doesn’t specify how much you earn (it’s based off
how often you look at your phone), but the ScreenPay app will pay you a
flat fee of $3 a month, plus they’ll give you $1 just for signup up.
These are both Android apps, so they won’t work on your iPhone or
Blackberry.
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