Are InboxDollars surveys legit and does it really pay?

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by Aidan Kang, CFA

Senior Writer

Make Money

UPDATED: June 10, 2022

You may already be working two shifts a day, so you don’t really have much time left for another job. However, you still want to boost your monthly income.

While looking for legit money-making opportunities, you come across InboxDollars, one of the most widely known GPT apps. Maybe some of your friends even recommended it to you.

After some research, you find out it pays users for super-simple tasks like answering surveys and playing games. You think to yourself that you can do them in your free time. 

However, the mixed reviews about GPT apps and survey panels make you skeptical about InboxDollars. You already have a hectic schedule, so you don’t want to waste time.

Don’t worry—this InboxDollars review will give you all the info you need. 

We researched independent review sites, reviewed legit user feedback, watched YouTube tutorials, and signed up for an account ourselves to gain first-hand insights into the platform.

Stick with us until the end for an accurate estimate of how much you can make answering InboxDollars surveys. Otherwise, your unrealistic expectations might lead to disappointment.

Let’s dive into our review of InboxDollars!

What is InboxDollars?

InboxDollars is a widely known Get-Paid-To (GPT) app. It first worked with market research companies and distributed paid surveys more than two decades ago. 

As the platform grew, it started offering other money-making opportunities. Apart from answering InboxDollars surveys, you can also make money by accomplishing other simple tasks like filling out market research surveys, watching ads, and playing mobile games.

Of course, users still make most of their earnings on surveys. Its massive survey panel has even gotten the attention of several survey aggregators and affiliate marketers.

InboxDollars company history

InboxDollars currently stands as one of the largest GPT apps on the market. It has millions of users in the U.S. and has already paid out more than $60 million in rewards.

However, it wasn’t always owned by a massive company. On the contrary, the company was launched in 2000 by Daren Cotter from his college dorm room in Minnesota.

Darren was in his 20s at the time. He started operations from the ground up, partnered with different market research companies, collaborated with retail merchants, and offered several money-making opportunities.

In just a few years, InboxDollars was already working with users nationwide.

However, in 2019, Darren decided to sell InboxDollars to a much larger market research company called Prodege. It owns other trusted platforms like Swagbucks, ShopAtHome, and MyPoints.

Based on the user reviews we read, we found that Prodege focused on increasing its available earning opportunities. InboxDollars now has more surveys and cashback deals.

Is InboxDollars legit?

We’ll flesh out the different ways to make money on InboxDollars later. However, before anything else, let’s answer the question on every first-time user’s mind: is InboxDollars a scam?

Right off the bat, we can tell you the platform is legit. It offers several straightforward paid tasks that you can accomplish without exerting much effort. 

And we’re not the only ones who think InboxDollars is legit. About 88% rated InboxDollars average to excellent on TrustPilot, and only 12% rated it bad or poor.  

Also, as we mentioned, its parent company is Prodege. Considering it also runs other widely known rewards platforms, you can rest assured that the company won’t dissolve out of the blue.

Where InboxDollars gets money to pay its users

An effective way to assess the legitimacy of any money-making opportunity is to track how the platform and its users make money. Always avoid pyramid scams that solely rely on membership fees.

InboxDollars doesn’t charge anything. You can sign up for an account and start exploring the app with nothing but a free PayPal account, so don’t worry about the platform stealing your money.

Also, InboxDollars generates its profits from business partners. Market research agencies ask users to fill out surveys, app developers need users to download their products, and retail merchants promote their cashback deals. 

As an InboxDollar user, you get a portion of the company’s earnings whenever you accomplish a task.

How InboxDollars differs from other GPT apps

While reading about InboxDollars, you’ll find other GPT apps that reward users for the same tasks (i.e., answering surveys, claiming cashback deals, downloading apps). 

Fortunately, we’ve tried and reviewed dozens of these platforms before. Here’s how InboxDollars stacks against other GPT apps and survey panels based on the following factors:

• Rates: InboxDollars offers competitive rates up to par with big top competitors like SurveyJunkie and Swagbucks. Most tasks pay around $0.50 to $2.
• Cashout Process: Like many other GPT apps, InboxDollars needs three to five business days to process withdrawal requests. You’ll also have to shoulder PayPal fees. However, the site also accommodates withdrawals via gift cards and coupons.
• Earning Opportunities: InboxDollars carries more money-making tasks than most GPT apps. While competitors often focus on survey panels, cashback deals, discounts, or mobile games, InboxDollars features them all.
• User Experience: The site has a straightforward interface. It neatly presents the tasks, plus it counts your earnings in dollars—not points or credits.

Overall, InboxDollars fares well against its competitors in terms of payouts and earning potential.

Making Money on InboxDollars

Users often give up on GPT apps that they find tedious. Getting paid to answer surveys might seem easy at first, but the task quickly gets boring and monotonous after a few days. 

In some cases, new users never even meet the minimum cashout. They’d rather drop the app altogether than waste their time and energy answering surveys repeatedly.

It seems that InboxDollars understands this issue well. It aims to keep users interested in logging into their accounts by offering multiple money-making opportunities.

On InboxDollars, you can get paid by:

1. Taking surveys

InboxDollars surveys serve as the most lucrative and worthwhile money-making opportunity on this platform. It has a diverse survey panel geared toward a broad audience.

The surveys available generally take around 5 to 20 minutes to finish, although you might find a few longer questionnaires now and then. 

Also, expect most to pay $0.50 to $3. We found some reviews from tenured users saying they often come across $5 surveys, but you might not see them on new accounts. 

2. Watching videos with ads

Users have mixed reviews about this feature. Although InboxDollars pays users real money simply for watching videos, you can’t expect to take home much.

A five-minute playlist pays around $0.01 to $0.02. If you leave InboxDollars playing videos 10 hours a day for 20 days a week, you’ll only make $24 to $48 a month. You might make more money begging for spare change.

We don’t think this money-making opportunity is worth your time. But if you don’t mind running videos in the background, clicking the Next button every few minutes, and sitting through ads, then, by all means, try it out.

3. Printing coupons

InboxDollars rewards users for printing and redeeming coupons. Head over to the Coupons tab, and you’ll get $0.01 for every coupon that you print or save as a PDF file. 

The rewards reflect in real-time, but you can only print up to 50 coupons a day. If you download all the available coupons every week, you’ll add $4 to $5 to your monthly income.

As for coupon redemptions, you’ll get $0.10—which will take 8 to 12 weeks to process. Admittedly, that’s way too long for a $0.10 cashback, but you can still make a steady income from it if you endeavor to redeem coupons daily.

For instance, let’s say you claim one coupon a day. You’ll get an extra $3 in three months, plus whatever you made from printing coupons during that month.

4. Claiming cashback deals

Visit the offers tab on InboxDollars. You’ll find various discounts and cashback deals to various partner stores—both online and offline.

The offers available change regularly. We suggest checking the page at least once a day if you want to take advantage of the best deals, or else other users will claim them first.

Also, watch out for earning opportunities. The app rewards users $0.20 to $0.60 just for downloading some sponsored apps through InboxDollars affiliate links.

5. Uploading receipts

InboxDollars has a sophisticated cashback feature that accommodates receipts from widely known stores, restaurants, and retailers like:

• 7-Eleven
• Ace Hardware
• Outback Steakhouse
• Sephora
• Trader Joe’s
• Walmart

Click here to see the full list of qualified merchants. InboxDollars has nearly 1,500 partner brands, and it accommodates in-store receipts for any product. You’ll likely get a cashback for your purchase.

The Submit Receipts and Earn tab in the Surveys section shows that most scanned receipts yield $0.02. However, larger purchases might give you more.

Also, the funds will reflect in your InboxDollars wallet in real-time. Unlike other cashback apps and platforms, it won’t need several days to verify your purchases.

Note that InboxDollars only accepts up to 60 receipts per month. If you max out your limit, you’ll add $1 to your monthly earnings.

Admittedly, it’s not much. However, scanning receipts for cashback deals is super passive and only takes a few seconds.

6. Playing Scratch-and-Win cards

Think of Scratch-and-Win cards as in-app lottery tickets. InboxDollars rewards you with bonuses every time you finish a task. 

The rewards range from $10 to $100. You’ll get your first $10 Scratch-and-Win card upon signing up, and you’ll only get the $25 and $100 cards if you continue earning credits.

Of course, note that you’ll also have lower chances of winning on cards that yield higher rewards. So, don’t just blindly accumulate your Scratch-and-Win cards.

7. Playing games

Although some sponsored apps reward $0.20 to $0.60 per download, InboxDollars doesn’t pay users for playing games. 

Instead, it gives you Scratch-and-Win card credits. Based on the user reviews we read, you’ll get a $25 card after playing 5 to 10 different games. 

Note that your in-game performance doesn’t affect your rewards rate. InboxDollars makes money from affiliate link downloads, so it doesn’t matter whether or not you use the app.

8. Using the platform’s search engine

InboxDollars has an in-app search engine. Of course, it doesn’t compare to Google or Bing, but you can at least use it to search super-basic keywords for animal pictures, prank videos, or Wikipedia references.

We want to clarify that using the InboxDollars search engine won’t give you dollar earnings. Instead, you’ll get credits to get higher-tier Scratch-and-Win cards.

But don’t skip using the search engine altogether.

You might have noticed by now that InboxDollars surveys don’t yield many Scratch-and-Win card credits. It might take you a week just to get a $10 card.

On the other hand, using the search engine helps you rack up card credits quickly. You’ll get your first card after 10 to 20 searches.

9. Referring friends

InboxDollars gives you $1 for the first five friends you refer to the platform, plus 30% of their future earnings after they exceed $7. 

After referring five friends, you won’t get $1 bonuses anymore. However, the platform will still reward you with 30% of your referrals’ future earnings once they start making $7.

Let’s say you get eight friends to sign up for an account. Upon approval, you’ll automatically get $5, and you’ll get your 30% bonus once they meet the minimum threshold.

For instance, if 3 of your friends make $10, you’ll get an extra $3 from each of them, which InboxDollars will shoulder. Don’t worry—your commissions won’t come out of your friends’ payouts.

10. Watching out for WinIt codes

InboxDollars regularly posts WinIt codes. You’ll find them on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter accounts, so follow their social media accounts.

Based on reviews, the rewards vary anywhere from a few cents to a couple of bucks. Just input the code on the homepage.

We wanted to test this code out, and we already found an active code after checking the InboxDollars Facebook page once. 

You can see the code below. It has already expired, but it gave us an extra 5% cashback on select retail partners.

Earning potential on InboxDollars

Again, you’ll make most of your money answering InboxDollars surveys. If you complete at least $2 worth of surveys every day, you’ll already get $40 worth of earnings. 

You might need 30 to 40 minutes every day to make this amount. To avoid wasting time, we suggest answering the surveys at different parts of the day when you have nothing to do (i.e., the morning commute, lunch break, waiting for the bus).

To further boost your income, print coupons and scan receipts. Assuming that you meet the earning limits for these two features, you’ll add $6 to $7 to your InboxDollars surveys earnings.

Also, keep track of rewards that take longer to process, like referral commissions and coupon redemptions. You can make $5 from them every two to three months.

Cashing out your earnings on InboxDollars

You can cash out your earnings via PayPal or prepaid gift cards. PayPal transfers take three to five business days to process, and you can avoid the steep fees if you select the “Friends and Family” transfer options. 

However, you’ll still have to shoulder the charges to move money from your PayPal wallet to your bank account. Instant transfers charge 1%.

To completely avoid these fees, we suggest looking into the gift card options available on the site’s withdrawal page. Choose a retailer you frequent, like Walmart or Amazon.

Minimum payout threshold

InboxDollars has a $15 minimum cashout threshold. If you answer surveys regularly, you should meet the limit within a month.

Declaring taxes on InboxDollars earnings

States have varying tax laws. However, most states will only require you to file earnings under $400 a year as miscellaneous income. 

Please consult your accountant for a more detailed, personalized explanation. 

Effective InboxDollars tips and tricks

Based on our research, you can boost your income on InboxDollars by:

• Printing/downloading as many coupons as you can every day
• Referring active friends who’ll make $7+
• Taking advantage of exclusive cashback deals and discounts
• Scanning 60 receipts a month
• Answering surveys any time you have 10 to 20 minutes free
• Using the InboxDollars search engine as much as possible

Overall, endeavor to spend at least an hour on InboxDollars day to ensure steady monthly withdrawals.

The pros and cons of InboxDollars

Some of the most notable advantages of InboxDollars include the following:

Of course, no GPT app is perfect. After trying the platforming ourselves and reading user reviews, we found the following disadvantages:

Although we think the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, the user experience will still vary case-by-case.

Signing up for an InboxDollars account

Follow these steps to sign up for InboxDollars:

Step 1: Head over to InboxDollars. Input your preferred login credentials, then hit the Sign Me Up! button.

Step 2: Confirm your email address. InboxDollars should send you an email shortly.

Step 3: After sending your $5 bonus, the site automatically prompts you to a brief survey about you, your income level, career, and education. InboxDollars will send you surveys based on your demographic profile.

Step 4: Use your first Scratch-and-Win card, then claim your $0.50 bonus for completing your demographic profile.

Alternatives to InboxDollars

If InboxDollars doesn’t seem your type, look into other GPT apps available like:

• Swagbucks: Prodege, the parent company of InboxDollars, also owns Swagbucks. It offers similar money-making opportunities, which mostly pay between $0.50 and $5.
• Honeygain: Try Honeygain for a more passive income stream. Download the extension, leave it running in your background, and let it share your unused data. You can make $20 a month for sharing 6 GB of data daily.
• Mistplay: If you found the games on InboxDollars disappointing, check out Mistplay. The platform pays users $0.50 to $2 for playing various games, from puzzles to first-person shooter matches.

Feel free to try out other GPT apps. Just take testimonials and reviews with a grain of salt so that you don’t fall for scams.

Verdict: Is InboxDollars worth it?

After reading user testimonials, independent reviews, and exploring the platform ourselves, we can confidently say that InboxDollars is a legit GPT app. It stands among the most widely known and trusted platforms on the market.

However, whether or not you should sign up for an account depends on your income goal and financial needs. 

The platform offers several money-making opportunities. If you spend a few minutes answering InboxDollars surveys, playing sponsored games, and claiming cashback deals, you’ll make at least $20 to $30 a month. 

Although InboxDollars pays better than other GPT apps, it still doesn’t make an excellent second income stream. Only use your earnings for small incidental expenses.

Of course, feel free to try InboxDollars if you want. Signing up for an account is free, and you’ll probably meet the $15 minimum cashout threshold in a few days. We don’t think you’ll waste your time.

Aidan Kang, CFA

Aidan has been writing about personal finance for over 6 years. Prior to this, he worked as a Corporate Finance Analyst where he specialized in Due Diligence, Company Valuations and more. He is a CFA charterholder.