What: Consumer Opinion Services invites consumers to sign up to potentially participate in focus groups paying up to $75 per hour

Expected pay: $1 to $75 per hour

Husl$core: $$$

Where: Seattle; Portland; Las Vegas, 

Consumer Opinion Services Review: 

Consumer Opinion Services is a market research firm that occasionally enlists consumers to take surveys or participate in focus groups. Most market research studies are paid either through cash or gift cards. However, consumers must take screening tests — often extensive screenings — to see if they qualify.

If you happen to get selected for a focus group, you can make decent pay. But realize that these opportunities are rare. Moreover, they’re not likely to happen unless you live in one of the cities where this company has a physical presence.

Those who live anywhere else only qualify for national panels, which boil down to online surveys. You get “honorariums, coupons and gifts” in exchange. But these usually amount to a very small amount of money.

Recommendations:

If you happen to live in one of the cities where Consumer Opinion Services has an office, you may want to register for its focus groups. We don’t recommend the site for anyone else. Better focus group sites include FindFocusGroups; Shifrin-Hayworth, and SignUp Direct.

Want to sign up for Consumer Opinion Services?

Here’s a direct link to the site’s sign-up options.

What their focus group participants say:

“YOU want to give ME cash money to sit around with a group of my “peers” and give my opinions of products?  I’ll just sit there and answer honestly and eat your free pretzels, sample some new beverage and tell you what I think of it? The leader will try to use his minor in Sociology to relate to us and try to extract the information he really wants from the information we give him? With a two-way mirror? And then you’ll give me $75? That sounds amazing and hilarious. And it is!”

“Not once have I been called in to be interviewed or offered a chance to give feedback and contribute to their studies. I believe from my experiences that they are just trying to get people’s opinions for free. When I have called this company following up after doing long Internet or email studies, they either don’t pick up their phone or give me false hope. They encourage me to do more surveys online or over the phone “to prequalify” for their studies which I have never been included in. 

I feel like I have been in an abusive relationship because they have taken my opinions and information over and over again without ever giving me “promised” money. Unsatisified!” (Note: The company responded to this review saying that it’s not bait-and-switch, but a screening process, where the client has final say on focus group participants. Sometimes, you don’t get picked.)

Updated 3/18/2022

Try Consumer Opinion Services