Some survey sites are part of huge corporations - take, for example, CinchDollars, which I will be reviewing today. They’re just 1 of 15 survey panels operated by CINT, a massive consumer research company based in Sweden. So they seem legit, based on first impressions.
CinchDollars used to be called Cinchbucks, but they redesigned their site recently. Does the change make a difference? Is CinchDollars legit? Read my CinchDollars review to find out!
How to Earn on CinchDollars
There is only one main way to earn - you complete surveys. Each survey you complete will pay you in real-world money. You don’t have to keep track of points or proprietary currency.
The surveys cover a wide range of topics, from marketing, politics, finance, the automobile industry, entertainment, culture, health and beauty, family life, and food. Each survey takes about 10 to 30 minutes to complete.
Do take note, these surveys are geared for specific demographics. If you don’t fit a particular demographic (for example, if your professional background is in finance, but you’re taking a survey about marketing) there’s a chance you will be disqualified from completing the survey.
Most of the surveys are also targeted for consumers based in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia, Membership is open for a wide number of nationalities, but those three countries will get most of the surveys. If you’re not from any of those countries, you’ll have to get used to waiting for available surveys, or getting booted out of the ones you try to take.
On the upside, your earnings will get credited to your CinchDollars account immediately after you complete your survey. You won’t have to go through a long “approval period” where someone on the other side of the internet checks your answers and manually distributes your earnings. So, good on CinchDollars for that.
On the downside, there are no other “real” methods for earning other than taking surveys. Most survey sites have other tasks for you to do, like watch videos, try free trial offers, open emails, play games, and download apps to your smartphone. I know CinchDollars is primarily in the market research industry, but that gives members a somewhat limited experience.
Other Rewards Methods
It’s a bit disappointing that completing surveys is the only “real” method to earn on CinchDollars. But the site does have two other ways to get rewards. They don’t earn you any money outright, but they’re still work mentioning here. They are:
Monthly Prize Draw
Every month, members who have either completed a survey, referred a friend, or got disqualified from a survey will be entered in a raffle. The raffle pays out in cash.
I like the fact that people who have gotten disqualified from surveys are automatically entered in the draw. It sucks committing to answer a survey only to find out that you’re not actually qualified to complete it. An entry to that raffle draw is a sort of consolation prize.
Monthly raffles are nice to have, but it goes without saying that you shouldn’t rely on it for your earnings.
Refer a Friend
Whenever you successfully recruit a friend to CinchDollars, you will earn one entry to the monthly draw. I know it’s better than nothing, but this referral program is pretty lackluster.
Compare this with other sites that let you earn actual points or cash whenever a friend signs up, or gives you a percentage of your friends’ earnings. Other sites even go further and let you earn from your friends’ own recruits!
I think this is also a letdown because earnings from referrals sometimes comprise bulk of my earnings from other survey sites. There were times when I didn’t qualify for a survey, but I could at least work on my referral hustle. But not on CinchDollars. The best I can do is invite friends and hope I win something on the monthly draw.
Earning Potential
Your earnings will vary on CinchDollars. The factors that will affect your earnings will include how much time you can spend taking surveys and how many surveys you actually qualify for. That said, I think the latter factor has a bigger effect.
The surveys you do get to take will pay anywhere from $0.05 to $0.10 depending on the length and complexity of the survey. A really quick survey (on that would take around five minutes to complete) will pay $0.05. So keep that in mind when trying out the site.
I also mentioned that residents of the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia will qualify for more surveys than residents of other countries. I don’t count this against CinchDollars, but if you’re from a different country than those three, you’ll have to set your expectations accordingly.
And to be fair to CinchDollars, they do not mention anywhere on their site that you can get rich by doing this. And that’s because you can’t. Not on this site, or any other survey site. Answering surveys is good for supplementing your income, not paying the mortgage. Keep that in mind, and you won’t be disappointed.
Payout Options
When you have a minimum of $12 in your account, you can request a payout. That amount is pretty middle of the road; it’s not too high, but it’s not the lowest minimum amount I’ve seen.
Currently, the site only sends earnings via PayPal. But they’re also looking into other ways for paying members, particularly Amazon gift cards and Flipkart vouchers.
While your earnings are credited to your account immediately after you complete a survey, it may take up to four days for the actual payout to be processed.
How to Join
Simply head over to the site and click on Register in the menu:
Website: http://www.cinchdollars.com
Membership is free and open to residents, ages 18 years and above, of the following countries:
- Argentina
- Australia
- Belgium
- Brazil
- Canada
- China
- Czech Republic
- France
- Germany
- Indonesia
- Ireland
- Italy
- Japan
- Malaysia
- Mexico
- New Zealand
- Netherlands
- Netherlands Antilles
- Netherlands
- Nigeria
- Norway
- Pakistan
- Philippines
- Poland
- Romania
- Singapore
- Spain
- Sri Lanka
- South Africa
- Sweden
- Turkey
- United Arab Emirates
- United Kingdom
- United States
- Venezuela
Once you’re done signing-up, you can choose to complete your profile. You’re not required to do so - you don’t even have to give your phone number.
But I would still recommend that you complete your profile, and that is because you’ll want the site to know what demographic you belong to, so it can qualify you for as many surveys as possible. So don’t neglect this step.
A Few Reminders
Manually set your maximum survey settings - When you join the site, your profile is set, by default, to assign you just one survey, at maximum, per week. You’ll have to change the setting manually so you can get more surveys. (Why it was set to 1 by default is a strange decision)
Your CinchDollars and PayPal emails need to be the same - Make sure that you use the same email address for CinchDollars as you do for PayPal. CinchDollars will not let you withdraw to a different email address. This rule is a bit restrictive, since you might want to use a different email address for each survey site you use (which is what I do - it’s easier to screen out the spam from the legit notifications that way).
The Verdict: Legit or Scam?
CinchDollars is legit! The site is professionally-run, and you will get paid. But they’re overall program leaves much to be desired. Overall, I would rate this site mediocre. If you’re looking for a new site to try, give this a go. But don’t expect to put this on regular rotation anytime soon.
Cinch Dollars Screenshots
Your Turn
So that’s my CinchDollars review. Now it’s your turn to share! Have you tried it out?
Let’s hear your stories!