Respondent Review: Our Earnings, Rejection Rate and More

If respondent review our earnings is on your radar, this short guide cuts through the noise. Here is what is worth knowing, and how to put it to work today.

Key Takeaways

• Share Some links on our website are sponsored, and we may earn money when you make a purchase or sign-up after clicking.
• Learn more about how we make money and read our review methodology.
• Respondent is an online focus group platform that pays you for taking part in marketing and research studies.

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Some links on our website are sponsored, and we may earn money when you make a purchase or sign-up after clicking. Learn more about how we make money and read our review methodology.

Respondent is an online focus group platform that pays you for taking part in marketing and research studies.

We earned $31 per hour during our testing (after accounting for the time spent searching and applying to projects). We were selected to participate in just one of the 24 studies we applied to (a 95% rejection rate). 

This Respondent review will explain everything you need to know if you’re considering signing up for the platform, including key facts, the different types of studies you’ll find, and how the pay rate compares to other market research sites.

Table of Contents

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• Nine Key Facts About Respondent
• Types of Studies
• Applying for Studies
  • Step 1: Set Up Your Account
  • Step 2: Start Applying
• Our Respondent Experience
  • What It’s Like Participating In Studies
  • Who Is Most Likely to Qualify
• Respondent Earning Potential
• Getting Paid
• Respondent FAQs
• Respondent Review: Our Final Verdict

Nine Key Facts About Respondent

1. Respondent’s FAQs indicate an average pay rate of $100 per hour, which is significantly higher than typical paid survey sites that average closer to $5 per hour. Keep in mind that we earned significantly less than that $100 figure during our testing period.
2. There are numerous general-audience studies that do not require specific professional experience or specialized knowledge. You can search for projects by “industry professional” or “general population,” and we found studies looking for DIY landscapers, breastfeeding moms, and owners of cars who had responded to recall notices (just to name a few).
3. The application process for each research study is relatively short. We answered between three and 12 qualification questions for each project, which took two to three minutes on average.
4. You can only apply to three studies per day.
5. You can only apply to B2B projects if you link your official work email. This is also required if you wish to receive invitations from researchers. B2B studies target participants with specialized professional experience, and they tend to pay better than general-audience studies.
6. All payments are issued in cash through PayPal. Gift cards and bank deposits are not available.
7. Payments are subject to a 5% “fulfillment fee” (or $1, whichever is higher). This fee covers a 2.75% PayPal fee and a 2.25% Respondent fee.
8. You can be penalized for no-shows. While you’re allowed to cancel your participation in a study at any time, if you cancel within four hours of the study’s start time , or if you don’t show up at the scheduled time , Respondent states that it will penalize your account. (Note that we could not find any details about what such a penalty actually entails.)
9. Respondent refers to research studies as “projects” and calls payments “incentives.” We use these terms interchangeably throughout this review.

Types of Studies

Most of Respondent’s sessions are web-based, though the platform does offer occasional in-person opportunities. We identified the following study formats during our testing period. 

• 1-on-1: The most common format. You’ll meet with an interviewer (typically via video chat) who will ask you questions about the study topic.
• Focus groups. A group of participants meets at a designated time to answer questions and discuss the study topic. We found focus groups that took place via video conference, as well as some where participants provided written responses to questions and did not interact on camera.
• Unmoderated tasks. Participants complete online tasks and provide written comments on their experience within a timeframe defined by the researcher.
• Diary studies. Projects that take place over a designated period of time (e.g., two weeks), where participants log their experiences and/or thoughts at predetermined intervals throughout the duration of the study.
• Other. Respondent’s catch-all study category that covers the following (at a minimum):
  • Task/feedback. An interview mixed with an online task that participants complete during the session.
  • Product testing. A researcher mails an item to participants’ homes and then follows up with an interview to receive feedback about the product.
  • Survey. Participants answer multiple-choice and/or freeform questions.

Applying for Studies

Applying for studies on Respondent.io is simple and typically only takes a few minutes.

Step 1: Set Up Your Account

Before starting the application process, Respondent suggests that you fill out your profile information completely (including your contact details, demographics, employment information and skills), add your PayPal email address, link your social accounts (LinkedIn, Facebook, Slack, GitHub, and/or Instagram), and potentially even add a short video introduction.

The more information you provide, the more data the researchers on Respondent’s platform have to make a decision about whether to invite you to their project. In other words, providing as much information as possible increases your chances of being selected.

The addition of a video introduction can help a researcher , who may be offering as much as several hundred dollars for the chance to chat with you , to be confident that you’re a real person who can speak clearly on a given topic.

That said, you ultimately need to be comfortable with the information you’re willing to share. Some people are open books while others may want to keep their social media accounts personal. 

For this test, I shared my LinkedIn account and work history, but I didn’t connect any other social media accounts and didn’t add a video introduction.

Step 2: Start Applying

Respondent limits you to three applications per day. This is likely to keep people from applying to every available study, regardless of whether or not they’re qualified. While this rule provides clear benefits for researchers, it also limits earning potential for participants.

For example, I was prevented from applying to a nu

Final Thoughts

Before you check out, double-check respondent review our earnings against current offers and any coupons you can stack. Small habits like this add up to real savings over a year.

Originally published at thewaystowealth.com.