Surveys....with a stutter... (itsyourview.com)

Member Name: bollinger28

Product:	itsyourview.com
Date:	01/03/08 (543 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Professional site with very well paid online survey work.

Disadvantages: Time delays before you can answer questions

~~ UPDATE MAY 2009 ~~

It's-Your-View is another of those paid online survey sites that seem to mushroom all over the world wide web with a fairly steady regularity. I can't quite remember how I first found out about It's-Your-View, but I believe they're one of the newer contenders to the field of online survey work. Having had a good read what they had to offer, I signed up with them. Two years later, I feel I have given them a thorough (and long enough) trial run in order to review them properly. So here we go....my thoughts on It's-Your-View...

~~ Website ~~

It's-Your-View is an online research community owned and created by Newvista Research (which is part of Creston plc, who run a number of other market research companies such as ICM Research, MSTS and CML). They offer online survey work on a variety of topics from politics to social issues, as well as the more usual new product questionnaires. As a member of the It's-Your-View community, you'll get paid for sharing your opinion.

The website is quite stark looking - there's no pretty imagery or fonts here. It's set on a plain black background with accents of blue, white and grey. However, despite its rather austere appearance, the website tells you all you need to know and it's surprisingly functional. The FAQ section and the terms and conditions are clear and concise.

~~ How do I sign up? ~~

The website is at www.itsyourview.com. Joining up is via their "Register" link and it's all very easy and straightforward. You have to be a UK resident aged 16 or above. As far as I can make out from their terms and conditions, membership is not limited to one member per household, so you can sign up any or all of the adults living at the same address without a problem.

Signing up takes no time at all and involves a short questionnaire with the usual details posed about name, address, date of birth and email. Once you've filled in their application form, you get an email from It's-Your-View thanking you for joining their panel and asking you to click on their link to validate your membership. You then log into your account under the "Member's Log In" link with your chosen password, and away you go.

~~ What's in it for you? ~~

It's-Your-View claim to pay you £1 for every five minutes you spend completing their surveys. Therefore, if it's 20 minute survey there should be £4.00 up for grabs. Surveys pay out in points so a £1 survey gives you 1 point and so on.

Once you reach a minimum of 50 points, you'll be automatically sent a £50 cheque to the address you registered with by It's-Your-View. You don't need to claim your points, it happens automatically, which is nice. Payments are actioned at the end of each month and paid within the following fortnight (my cheque arrived within 7 days so I was well impressed). You can then start the process all over again by building up your next 50 points.

Points are credited to your account anything from 24 hours to two weeks after the survey has finished. It's worth keeping separate records of the surveys you've taken in case you need to chase them up. On their website it says survey points can take anything up to three months to be credited to your account. Happily the longest I've had to wait for mine is just under three weeks in one case. Most of the points seem to be added within 3 to 10 days. More importantly, I've been credited with each and every single point I've ever earned without having to chase up It's-Your-View at all (which is more than can be said for some survey sites i.e. Test&Vote and MySurveys, who need constant prodding....)

On average I would say most of the surveys offer £2 but I've had a few paying £4, some at £3 and a fair few at £1. The time limits and the reward on offer are pretty fair as a £1 survey does take around five minutes and a £3 or £4 survey does take around 15 to 20 minutes. Unfortunately, you earn nothing if you are screened out...but at least they do it quickly and fairly painlessly.

On average I'd say I get one to two surveys a month from It's-Your-View - some of which I get screened out of immediately and others that I get to complete the full questionnaire. I've been a member of the site since November 2006, and it took me about 14 months to reach £50.00. However, that £50.00 was earned through just 20 surveys, so I think that's a pretty good return.

~~ Survey format ~~

Survey invites are always sent by email and will always tell you the amount on points on offer. You click on the link given in your email invite and away you go. The email will also state the estimated time the survey should take. On the whole this is accurate, and if the survey says it will take 15 minutes it usually does. Most surveys have one of those progress meters along the top so you can tell how much further you have to go.

Surveys can be on a whole range of different topics. Sometimes It's-Your-View want to know about your mobile phone network, your car / home insurance, your favourite supermarket or your current account supplier. I've completed quite a few surveys on insurance for this site, mostly on car and buildings insurance. I've also been sent quite a few surveys asking for my thoughts on ISP's as well as banks and building societies. Other surveys will ask your views on current social or political issues - with recycling being a very hot topic. Another frequent subject that crops up is asking for your thoughts on supermarkets, and where you think they stand on supporting local farmers, fair-trade products and organic issues. Similarly, like a lot of other survey sites, they also undertake surveys on new products and want to know your opinion on the product description and packaging for a new yoghurt or a new shampoo. I've done a fair few surveys on new food and drink concepts for this site, being asked to give my opinion on soup, chocolate bars and cheeses to name but a few.

The surveys are in a flash-based format and are really very easy to complete. Some questions require you to just tick a box and others have boxes where you type in a more lengthy opinion or answer.

The most irritating aspect of the whole site is the time delay feature on the surveys (....and the reason for my title of surveys..."with a stutter"). Everytime an It's-Your-View survey poses a question there is a two second delay before the answers are displayed. The site does this deliberately so that their members have read and understood the question before they attempt to answer it. It's a nice idea in principle, but it's also rather annoying. I don't need a two second delay to make a decision as to whether I'm male or female! Nor do I need that sort of time delay in order to work out how old I am, or how many people live in my household....

It's worth noting that It's-Your-View will only credit points to your account if you complete the survey you've been sent in full and accurately. Similarly, if you speed through the survey and don't answer the questions properly they will withhold payment. To this end, their surveys often set little traps for you to see if you paying attention and answering the questions properly. Most of the surveys will conclude with the question "are you sure you have answered the questions in this survey honestly and accurately?". One of their favourites is to start off asking you about the number of people in household or the ages of your children. The survey will then conclude with the same questions phrased in slightly different language. If you aren't paying attention and you answer differently, you'll get an error message at the end of the survey informing you that you've not qualified for that particular survey due to inconsistent answers. Yes, been there, done that on a £4 car insurance survey....if you give an inconsistent answer, you won't get your dosh, so be warned...you need to pay attention to your answers on this site.

~~ Customer Services ~~

I've had a couple of reasons to contact It's-Your-View by email and they have mostly responded. They weren't the quickest replies I've ever received, and although a little terse in tone, they certainly answered my queries.

~~ Recommended? ~~

On the whole I certainly recommend joining It's-Your-View as they offer very well paid survey work and fairly consistent opportunities to earn.

The downside is that you do need to reach 50 points before you get any of the rewards in your mitts, and that does involve quite a lot of time and effort on your part to get to their threshold. However, unlike another well known survey site yougov.com (which also doesn't payout until you reach £50), it's a heck of a lot easier to reach the £50 threshold with It's-Your-View. I estimate it takes over two to three years to take enough surveys at 50p a time with yougov. It's-Your-View surveys are so much better paid at anything from £1 to £4 a time, it's going to take you a lot less time to reach their claim threshold, possibly a year if you qualify for most of your invites.

The site isn't without its niggles; the most annoying thing about It's-Your-View is that godamn two-second delay between the question being asked and the ability to give your answer. It's very frustrating at times, and I recommend that you never, ever start one of their surveys if you're in a hurry, as they'll make you want to scream. Added to which asking the same question in a different format just to trip you up is just sneaky!

Overall the niggles are minor and the rewards more than compensate. They lose a star and a half from me because of the annoying time lag / stutter in their surveys. However they get a three and a half star recommendation because their work is really very well paid.

Recommended.

~~ Contact Details ~~

ICM Research Limited
Berkshire House
168-173 High Holborn
London
WC1V 7AA

Email: info@itsyourview.com or info@icm-direct.com
Website: http://www.itsyourview.com

Summary: Well paid online survey work for their panel members