12 Legit Ways to Get Paid to Test Products
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The world's largest brands often seek feedback on products before they spend millions sending them to market. Here's how you can get paid to test products from home (and often keep them for free, too).
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Did you know companies will sometimes send free products for people to try at home?
It’s true.
Product testing is a way for companies to get real user feedback on a product or service before pushing it to market. To do this, companies ship you a free physical product to use in exchange for a candid review. At the end of the testing period, they typically let you keep the item. Some might even pay you in cash.
But how can you find sites that will pay you to test products at home? How do you know if they’re legit?
Fortunately, there are a number of reputable companies looking for users to test products and give their honest feedback.
How to Get Paid to Test Products from Home
To make money testing products, you’ll want to register with several sites that offer paid product testing gigs. Each site will ask you to fill out a short form with key demographic information which helps companies match you with relevant products to review.
How much you earn testing products depends on the number and types of programs you choose to join. The more programs you join, the more ways you’ll be able to make money testing products.
1. Homescan
Nielsen, most well-known for polling American TV watchers about their viewing habits, operates a handful of sub-brands, including the Homescan program. This is separate from its Computer and Mobile panel, which pays users for letting Nielsen track their internet usage.
When you sign up for free to become a product tester with Homescan, you’ll receive a handheld scanner or access to its mobile app. When you shop, scan the barcode of the products you buy to earn points. You can also participate in surveys to earn additional points, and you’re automatically entered into quarterly, monthly, and weekly sweepstakes.
The Homescan program does not pay in cash, but you can redeem the points you earn for gift cards and merchandise.
2. Pinecone Research
Pinecone Research focuses on product tests for items that haven’t been introduced to the general public. It pays via points in exchange for completing questionnaires about the products the company sends to you. You can then redeem your points for cash, gift cards, or brand-name merchandise.
Although the company is reputable and clear about how it pays (flat rate of $3 per survey), panel positions aren’t always open. If your household information doesn’t match what it’s looking for at the time, you’ll receive a notification that there are no openings available.
The company will keep your information for a few weeks in case a spot opens up, but if it doesn’t, you may need to reapply.
Related: 50 Real Ways to Earn Money Online
3. American Consumer Opinion
American Consumer Opinion (ACOP) is another site that pays for product testing and surveys. You’ll provide your opinions on things like advertising campaigns, the economy, ideas for new products, and more.
Registration is easy, and you can create an account with your Google or Facebook login. When you become a panel member, you can expect to participate in several surveys per year. Each survey typically takes around 10 minutes with short, easy-to-answer questions.
For each survey completed, you’ll receive points that can be cashed out via PayPal. You can also donate your rewards to charity or use your points to enter various sweepstakes for a chance to win cash and other prizes.
Every month or so you’ll be asked to take a screener survey so it knows which opportunities to send your way.
Related: 8 Ways to Get Paid to Watch Ads in Your Spare Time
4. JJ Friends & Neighbors (Johnson & Johnson)
Johnson & Johnson is one of the biggest brands in the world, owning companies like Aveeno, Neutrogena, Clean & Clear, Roc, and other brands you may have in your home. It also owns the JJ Friends & Neighbors program, which allows you to test products for free and keep them before those products are launched in the market.
That might mean smelling fragrances or trying makeup and other self-care products. Other opportunities include participating in online surveys, discussion groups and forums, focus groups, and various panels. Anyone can join, and it’ll email you if you’re eligible to participate in a test. And if you live in the NYC area, you may be eligible to participate in one of the company’s “dedicated sensory panels.”
Its site is sparse on payment details, but prepaid Visa Gift Cards seem to be the most common.
Related: How to Sell Makeup Online and The Five Best Sites to Use
5. McCormick & Company, Inc.
If the idea of testing food sounds appealing, participating in McCormick & Company’s product testing panel might be a good fit for you.
To become a McCormick panelist, you need to apply. Once in the database, you should receive periodic emails recruiting for studies. It says studies fill up quickly, so you’ll want to select a participation time as soon as you receive notice of one.
Home tests run between 30 minutes to two hours and pay $10 to $15 each in the form of Amazon gift cards, although some tests may pay up to $30 per hour. McCormick also seeks out participants for in-facility testing at its location in Hunt Valley, MD, near Baltimore. These tests typically last between half an hour and two hours and pay between $30 to $100 each.
Related: 15 Places That Offer Paid Research Studies
6. UserTesting.com
If you’re good at noticing little details when visiting a website, you might be able to get paid to test websites by signing up for UserTesting. To get started, create an account, download its software, visit websites or apps, and answer questions about your experience.
How many websites you can product test depends on how well your demographic background lines up with the target user of the site. For example, if Facebook is trying to test a new feature with 62-year-old men in Alaska and you’re a 31-year-old woman in Florida, you probably won’t see that test in your inbox.
You’ll need a reliable internet connection, a microphone, and a way to download its software. You’ll also need to be able to concisely describe what you like and don’t like about the website.
Tests take 20 minutes each, and you’ll earn $10 per survey paid via PayPal.
Related: 14 Places to Get Paid to Test Websites from Home
7. Beta Testing
Another way to earn money testing websites, apps, and tech products for usability and other issues is by registering with BetaTesting.
BetaTesting states that you can expect to receive up to five or more opportunities per month, but some months you may not receive any. However, BetaTesting prides itself on collecting quality feedback for the software companies that hire it. This means that the higher quality of your assessments, the more opportunities you’ll receive.
BetaTesting pays users $10 per assessment. Payment is sent via PayPal within seven days of project completion.
Related: How to Get Paid to Search the Web
8. SheSpeaks
SheSpeaks is another site that will send you free products to try and candidly review. You can also review the products you’re currently using and upload your feedback to their website. To get started, all you need to do is sign up for an account.
Although you’re not paid in cash for your reviews, SheSpeaks runs giveaways with cash prizes for the best or most creative product review. It also runs giveaways for gift cards and free products.
Related: 10 Places to Write Paid Reviews for Movies, Restaurants, and More
Sites That Pay in Free Products
In addition to registering for sites that will pay you in cash or gift cards to test products, there are sites that don’t pay cash for your reviews, but you get to keep any products they send.
9. NetGalley
If you’re an avid reader and you’d like to receive free eBooks, consider registering for NetGalley. Through the site, you’ll request advanced reader copies of books directly from publishers in exchange for honest reviews.
If the publisher grants your request, you’ll need to read the book and provide your thoughts. You can share your reviews through its feedback form, on social media, or on your blog if you have one.
Although you’re not paid for your reviews, it’s free to join and you can keep all the books you receive.
10. Influenster
When you sign up for free with Influenster, you’ll be able to share your opinion on products ranging from pet care to cosmetics to beverages, snacks, and even baby supplies. You can also complete surveys for a chance to receive a VoxBox, its box of free full-size products that you can try at home. After you use the company, it asks that you share your honest opinions on its site and your social media accounts.
Not every member receives a VoxBox each month, but if you do, it’s a great way to get household items for free.
Related: How to Make Money as a Social Media Influencer
11. BzzAgent
To get free products through BzzAgent, sign up for an account so it can send you qualifying surveys. It reviews your answers and, based on those, will decide if you’re a good fit for a campaign. If you are, you’ll receive a BzzKit with the products for you to try. You’ll need to share your feedback based on its instructions, which may mean posting your opinions on social media or writing a product review.
There’s no financial compensation for participating in campaigns, but you do get to keep the products it sends.
Related: 20 Ways to Get Free Stuff Online
12. Homeschool.com
This site is primarily a resource for homeschooling families, but you can register and receive free products to review. As a product reviewer, you’ll test and use homeschooling resources before they’re shared with the Homeschool.com community.
While it’s not clear what criteria you must meet in order to become a product tester, it’s free and easy to register. All you need to do is sign up for its product tester email list and the company will send you opportunities to try books, printables, reports, and homeschooling kits.
You’ll get to keep all the products it sends you, but it doesn’t pay cash for your opinions.
Related: How to Get a Free Laptop (from the Government, Schools, and More)
You Can Get Paid to Test Products
Product testing is a fun way to make extra money on the side. You get rewarded for your opinion and have an influence on the products and services companies sell. And, if you participate in enough panels, you can make upward of $25 per hour testing products.
If you’re good at spotting website errors, enjoy trying new products and services, or don’t mind sharing your honest reviews, consider working part-time as a product tester.
