E-Rewards Review: Is It Another Paid Online Survey Scam?

In an internet world filled with online survey panels, how do you know which ones are legit and which ones are fake?

It can be tough because the scams are starting to mimic legitimate sites.

If you’re not super internet savvy, you might not know the difference between a real site and a scam.

That’s why we’re dedicated to providing you with the most current information of some of the many sites out there so that you can decide whether it’s something you want to put your effort into.

After all, there’s no such thing as being too careful with your information, which you inevitably have to share some of with these sites.

One such survey site is called E-Rewards, and it’s one I personally wasn’t familiar with before researching for this review.

So, I dug around the web to find out what members of the panel had to say about how it works and what it offers.

What is E-Rewards?

E-Rewards isn’t much different than the many other survey sites on the web.

It’s an opinion panel that offers paid surveys you can take about products or brands, allowing you to share your opinions and get paid for them.

What sets this site apart, though, is that it’s invite-only.

E-Rewards partners with brands who want the help of the company’s members to learn what consumers think of their current products or services or their ideas for them.

Those partners are who will actually invite you to take surveys rather than E-Rewards itself (most survey panels are the ones that invite you to take a survey based on how well your demographics meet the needs of their clients and their surveys).

It’s different in that sense, but the way you take surveys is the same.

You can do them all online when you have some spare time, so you’re never locked into a specific schedule or forced to take a survey.

E-Rewards has been on the web since 1999, so it definitely has some history.

Earning Money on E-Rewards

Here’s how the survey site works to help you earn money by sharing your opinions:

Who Can Join and How?

E-Rewards says that the panel is open to anyone ages 13 and older who is a legal resident of the United States and has a valid email address.

However, that statement isn’t entirely true.

You can’t just simply register to join the site.

Instead, you need to wait for an invitation from a partnered company.

Evidently, if you’ve purchased something from a partner company of E-Rewards and you’ve supplied your email address to that company, you might be sent an invite to join E-Rewards.

The thing is, I have no idea of knowing who these partners are because they aren’t listed on the site.

The other downside of this is that you have given a company your email address two years ago, which is different from the one you use now.

You’d never know if the company sent an invite to the old email if you don’t check it anymore, which will make you lose your opportunity to join the survey panel.

Responding to Invites and Taking Surveys

If you do happen to get an invitation, you’ll see it in your email inbox.

You may need to check spam folders, though, because there’s a good possibility your invite will end up lost in the crowd.

In the email, you’ll see an invitation link to click to go to the site and fill out your information to sign up.

You should then be able to see the surveys that are available to you in the “My Account” area.

When the company you’re working with has more surveys to take that fit your demographics and interests, you’ll get emails for those, too.

The surveys work the same here as they do on most other panels.

You’ll need to answer some qualifying questions to make sure you’re a good fit for the survey before taking the full thing.

Answer each question honestly, thoughtfully, and carefully so you don’t get flagged for rushing through or not paying attention to the content.

Once you complete a survey in its entirety, you should usually see your rewards show up instantly in your account.

Longer, more complex surveys or surveys with a lot of open-ended questions might require a few more days to pay out your rewards because someone from E-Rewards may need to check their accuracy first.

Redeeming Your Earnings

The rewards here are kind of weird, honestly.

You get “currency” from E-Rewards when you complete a survey.

The currency looks like real money ($), but doesn’t hold the same value as the U.S. dollar (USD).

Instead, you’ll get what looks like USD but you’ll actually just get a number that has no meaning.

You can redeem your currency in the rewards store, which has things like discounts for online stores, magazine subscriptions, and airline miles.

But what you turn in doesn’t match what you’re getting.

For example, you might have $15 in your account, but that $15 will only get you a $5 gift card to Shoedazzle, Fabletics, or JustFab.

The highest level, $145, gifts you with a $50 gift card to a couple of different store options.

So, you may earn a decent amount but those earnings don’t really equate to what you get in rewards.

Most of the gift cards on the site are electronic, which you can receive relatively quickly.

However, physical gift cards and magazine subscriptions could take several weeks to arrive.

As with most survey sites, what you get for each survey depends on how long it takes to complete and the complexity of the survey itself, so the amount can vary.

E-Rewards Review: Is It Legit or a Scam?

E-Rewards is iffy.

It’s definitely not the most reliable place to get paid survey opportunities because you can’t even join without first getting invited.

Additionally, I’ve seen several complaints about the site either deactivating accounts with earnings for seemingly no reason or taking earned points away.

Either way, it’s not good.

I hate calling things a scam, but in this case, it might be the truth.

The site falls under another company known as Research Now Limited or Research Now Group.

Look up the BBB information for that company and you’ll see that it has a C rating and several negative complaints.

The BBB even has a message up on its page saying that in 2017, the BBB took action against the company because of its many complaints that said just about the same thing (closing accounts and making it impossible for people to get their rewards).

Although the BBB said that E-Rewards responded and said it implemented some changes to its policies, there’s no telling what “changes” were actually made.

There are a lot of red flags here.

In addition to the BBB complaints, I’m also seeing other ones online that mention:

• Not getting the credits they were supposed to earn for a survey at all
• Never receiving the rewards they redeem
• Inability to login and no response from customer service to help
• Deactivation for “inactivity” after only a couple of weeks of not taking a survey

And, many of those who mention having their accounts closed without explanation had hundreds of dollars’ worth of earnings to redeem, not just a small amount.

It seems like those who redeem their money quickly for a reward without accruing a lot of currency don’t have this issue.

Another issue is the invite-only process.

You probably never gave a company permission to email you about joining E-Rewards, yet that’s the only way you’ll get an invite link to join.

The problem is that who knows what these companies are doing with your email address if they’re so willing to use it to send you an invite to E-Rewards?

If you never gave specific permission for that, yet they do it anyway, there’s no telling who they might sell it or give it to without your permission.

Better Platforms Than E-Rewards

If you are looking for better survey sites, you can try the following:

Swagbucks

Swagbucks is an online platform that offers various ways to earn rewards, not limited to surveys.

You can also earn by watching videos, playing games, shopping online, or using their search engine.

The rewards, known as Swagbucks or SBs, can be exchanged for gift cards or cash via PayPal.

Survey Junkie

Survey Junkie is a straightforward online survey site where you can earn points by completing surveys. The points can be converted into cash or e-gift cards.

They pride themselves on offering user-friendly experience and allowing users to be an influencer by sharing their opinion to influence big brands.

InboxDollars

InboxDollars is similar to Swagbucks in its variety of ways to earn.

Besides surveys, you can also earn money by reading emails, playing games, or shopping online.

One key difference is that InboxDollars rewards are given in cash, not points, making it easier to understand what your rewards are worth.

Vindale Research

Vindale Research is another platform for earning money by taking surveys.

They focus primarily on surveys, which often pay higher rates than some other sites.

The rewards are given in cash rather than points.

MyPoints

MyPoints is a platform that offers points for various online activities, including taking surveys, shopping at specific retailers, reading emails, and more.

These points can be redeemed for gift cards, travel miles, or cash via PayPal.

Final Thoughts About ERewards Surveys

I’ve never used E-Rewards myself and after researching it, I don’t plan to.

With that being said, there are some positive reviews about the site. There just aren’t enough positives for me, personally, to outweigh the negatives.

I’d love to hear your thoughts, though, if you’ve tried out E-Rewards yourself.

Please leave a comment below and let us know about your experience.

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