From a teenager saving for college to someone who is retiring soon, everyone likes a little extra money in their pocket.
If you’re someone who spends a lot of your time online, chances are you’ve considered completing surveys and participating in online market research for extra money. However, it can be hard to distinguish between sites that are legit and sites that are scams.
If you’re looking for a legitimate paying survey site – here we have for you a full review of American Consumer Opinion – a popular marketing research panel.
What is American Consumer Opinion (ACOP)?
American Consumer Opinion is a market research company that pays users to share opinions of consumer products and services in the form of online surveys.
It acts as the mediator between big corporations looking for opinions about their products and consumers looking to make some extra money.
In essence, ACOP will be approached and paid by big corporations to collect information on a particular product or service. They will then be paid by the corporations and use certain amount of the money to pay the users for taking part in the surveys.
Unlike other survey sites out there, surveys available on this website are not monotonous. There is a huge variety of surveys available.
The website also offers product trials to its users from time to time to sustain their interest in the site.
Is American Consumer Opinion A Scam?
No, ACOP is not a scam.
The parent company Decision Analyst has been around since 1978 and launched the online American Consumer Opinion in 1996.
They also boast a BBB rating of A+ and have more than 7 million members across the globe. They have paid out more than 30 million dollars in the form of rewards since then.
How Do I Join American Consumer Opinion?
- You can join this market research platform by signing up with your email for free. However, you need to be above the age of 14 to be associated with ACOP.
- You will then be asked to answer some questions like your age, address, annual income, etc. You need not worry about security as ACOP is a very reputable and renowned rewards site.
- This information is then used to decide if you qualify for a survey or not.
- Once done, you’ll receive notifications on your email id whenever a survey is available for you. This won’t happen instantly after signing up; you’ll have to wait for surveys that match your demographics.
- Log in, take the survey and start earning!
How Can I Earn On American Consumer Opinion Panel?
Following are a few ways how users can earn on this survey panel:
- Online Surveys
- Normal survey – These require more than 20 minutes of your time.
- Screeners – These are short surveys that require less than 20 minutes.
- Product Testing
In American Consumer Opinion, it is possible to get the chance to review a physical product. The panel sends you a product to try and you are supposed to give them feedback regarding your user experience.
This, however, is very rare opportunity on the website.
- Ads Review
In this type of survey, you review ads.
You’ll be shown ad banners and you’re required to give your opinion about the pros and cons of the same. For e.g.: The appeal of the ad, chances of you buying the product etc.
- ACOP Affiliate Program
ACOP has an affiliate program also through which you can invite friends and family to join the ACOP community. This too earns users points.
How Much Can I Earn?
American Consumer Opinion rewards users with points for taking surveys and other small activities like winning contests and referring friends.
- Surveys
Short surveys (10-20 minutes) pays users anywhere between 5-50 points whereas longer surveys (more than 20 minutes) can earn you anywhere between 100-5000 points. Payments depend on the niche, length, and complexity of the survey.
- Referrals
You can also earn points by referring your friends and family through their referral system. For every new panelist that you bring to the website, you earn $1.
American Consumer Opinion values every point as $0.01. Once users reach 1000 points i.e. $10, they can request for a cash-out.
How Can I Redeem My Points?
Users have multiple options to choose from when it comes to claiming their earnings:
- PayPal
You can cash out as soon as your account balance accumulates to $10. Payments are processed in a few days along with an additional fee of 2.9%+ $0.30 for cashing out with PayPal.
- Gift Cards
You can also choose to redeem your points in the form of a gift card. There are a variety of options to choose from and this method also saves you free the PayPal additional fee.
- Sweepstakes
The website runs sweepstakes regularly. If you haven’t earned enough points to cash out, you can choose to put some points in the sweepstakes for a chance of winning a bigger prize. For e.g.: 100 points for a $100 Amazon gift card draw.
- Donations
If you feel charitable, American Consumer Opinion allows you to donate your earnings to charities instead of cashing them out for yourself.
There are plenty of options to claim your points however ACOP misses the mark when it comes to the time of delivery. Users report a waiting time of up to 8-12 weeks before their prizes were delivered which honestly seems really annoying.
Who Is American Consumer Opinion Suitable For?
American consumer opinion allows access to everyone over the age of 14 to take part in their surveys. Unlike what the name suggests, it is not restricted to only Americans. Anyone living in the areas where ACOP is active can sign up with their website and start earning.
However, our research also shows that ACOP is more suitable for people looking for a small, side income.
ACOP cannot help supplement the main income effectively due to the limited number of earning opportunities. If you’re looking for a high paid rewards site, then ACOP is not for you.
Following are a few reasons why:
- Limited Surveys
Users have reported getting as less as 1 survey a month. If your demographics do not match with the surveys available, you won’t be able to take any paid surveys.
Thus, if you’re looking to actively fill surveys and make money, we suggest taking a look at sites like Swagbucks and InboxDollars which give you frequent surveys.
- Extremely Slow Payment
ACOP’S major downfall is the slow payment.
In 2019; waiting for 8-12 weeks for your own money can be quite a frustrating experience. Some users have also reported not being paid for more than 4 months.
- Limited Options To Earn Money
American Consumer Opinion only lets its users earn money by taking surveys.
With thousands of similar sites offering a variety of tasks like getting paid to watch videos, playing games, etc, the fact that ACOP only allows the opportunity to earn by taking surveys is rather conservative.
Final Thoughts
With a variety of surveys types and cash out options available, American Consumer Opinion is a good panel that you can consider joining. However, while doing so, it’s important to remember the infrequent nature of the surveys on this website. You can go months without taking a survey and that can be quite maddening.
If you’re looking for a more regular and consistent option we suggest checking out Swagbucks. Not only do you get frequent survey opportunities but also choice between various fun activities to make money.