Rakuten Surveys

Rakuten Insight Surveys Review

Rakuten Insight Surveys claims to pay users for sharing their opinions. But how reliable and rewarding is it? In this review, I will examine the pros and cons of joining Rakuten based on my own experience and research. I will also compare it with other similar gigs that I have reviewed in the past.

What is Rakuten?

Rakuten is a Japanese electronic commerce and online retailing company that operates a wide variety of services, including e-commerce, online banking, travel booking, credit card, and market research. The company was founded in 1997 by Hiroshi Mikitani, and it has since grown into one of the largest e-commerce companies in the world, with a presence in over 29 countries and regions. Rakuten operates an online marketplace that connects buyers and sellers, similar to Amazon or eBay.

It also operates several subsidiaries, including Rakuten Viber (a messaging app), Rakuten Kobo (an e-book platform), and Rakuten Insight (which includes the survey site). Rakuten’s business model is based on its philosophy of “omotenashi,” a Japanese concept of hospitality that emphasizes putting the customer’s needs first. Rakuten’s goal is to create a personalized, customer-focused shopping experience that prioritizes the individual needs of each shopper.

Is Rakuten Insight Surveys legit?

It’s clear that Rakuten is a legitimate company, and Rakuten Insights Surveys is a legit survey site where users can earn rewards by sharing their opinions online. Users are not asked to provide financial information such as credit card numbers, and they can also choose from various gift cards or PayPal cash as their payment method. However, this does not mean that Rakuten is perfect.

While there is no doubt that Rakuten Insights is legit, it does not mean that this is a perfect survey site. We recommend checking the pros and cons further down in our review before you decide to sign up.

What’s the concept?

Rakuten Insight Surveys is a website that pays users to complete online surveys on various topics. The site’s parent company, Rakuten Insight, is a Japanese market research company that sells access to research participants to its clients. The clients use the surveys to gather feedback, opinions and insights from consumers.

The concept of signing up for Rakuten surveys is simple: you create an account, fill out your profile and start taking surveys. You earn points for each survey you complete, which you can redeem for gift cards or cash. The amount of points you earn depends on the length and complexity of the survey.

However, there is a catch: not every survey is available to every user. Each survey has a very specific set of criteria that determines who will qualify for it. For example, some surveys may only be open to people of a certain age, gender, location, income level, employment status or occupation. If you do not meet the criteria, you will be screened out of the survey and earn no points.

Panellists need to go through several hurdles to complete a survey. This funnel shows an example of 40% of respondents not qualifying (screened out), 30% not accepted because the survey is full (quota fulls), 20% failing fraud checks and only 10% completing the full survey.

Based on our experience, we only qualified for 10% of the surveys we attempted. This means that we had to spend a lot of time answering screening questions before we could find a survey that matched our profile. This also means that the actual earnings per hour were much lower than what the site advertised. Therefore, participants will need to factor in a certain amount of wasted time before eventually qualifying for a survey.

Rakuten Surveys is a legitimate site that pays users for their opinions, but it is not a reliable or consistent source of income. The site’s business model benefits its clients more than its users, who have to deal with low survey availability and high screening rates of surveys. Because of this, we recommend users approach Rakuten Surveys with realistic expectations.

What about my data?

Sites like Rakuten Surveys promise to pay you in cash or gift cards for sharing your opinions on various topics. But how much do you really know about what happens to your data once you complete a survey?

Most people skip reading the privacy policy when they sign up for a survey site, but that can be a risky move. Rakuten surveys collect both your profile information and your survey answers and share them with third-party companies for market research purposes. You have no way of knowing who these companies are, what they do with your data, or how they protect it from unauthorized access. Once your data is out of Rakuten’s hands, you lose control over it.

We checked the privacy policy of Rakuten surveys and found that it contains 3,456 words, which would take about 17 minutes to read. That’s a lot of time and effort for something that most people ignore. The policy also has a Flesch reading ease score of 42.6, which means it is fairly difficult to understand. The lower the score, the harder the text is to read. A score of 60 or above is considered easy to read.

So, before you sign up for Rakuten surveys or any other survey site, make sure you read and understand their privacy policy. It may not be the most exciting thing to do, but it could save you from unwanted surprises later on.

Ways to earn money with Rakuten Surveys

Earning money with Rakuten Surveys is straightforward. By completing surveys you’ll earn virtual points, and when you have accumulated enough points to redeem, you can exchange your points into cash through Paypal or a gift card. The minimum threshold to redeem varies per country and reward type. In the US the minimum redemption limit is $5 if you prefer to redeem through PayPal. 100 points equal $1, and the pay per survey is usually in the range of 40-60 points for 10-20 minute surveys.

Examples of surveys we’ve been invited to:

• Survey on consumer electronic brands: 15 minutes – 50 points – $0.50
• Frequent travelling study – 12 minutes – 60 points – $0.60
• Media consumption preferences – 8 minutes – 40 points – $0.40
• Electric vehicle study – 15 minutes – 70 points – $0.70

Here are a few more examples of studies you’ll be asked to participate in when registering on Rakuten Surveys:

• Consumer behaviour and preferences related to a specific product or service, such as smartphones, food, or transportation.
• Attitudes and behaviours related to health and wellness, including exercise, nutrition, and stress management.
• Perception of a brand’s reputation and image, including customer loyalty and satisfaction.
• Purchase and consumption behaviour of a certain demographic group, such as age, gender, or income level.
• The effectiveness of advertising and marketing campaigns in promoting a product or service.
• Perception of e-commerce platforms and online shopping experiences.
• The influence of social media and other digital platforms on consumer behaviour and attitudes.

Any drawbacks to taking surveys with Rakuten?

• Limited income potential: Rakuten Surveys typically pay a small amount of money, and it can take a significant amount of time to earn a meaningful income. It may not be a reliable source of income to meet your financial needs.
• Inconsistent work: Rakuten Survey opportunities may not be consistent or regular, and you may not always qualify for available surveys.
• Time-consuming: Taking Rakuten Surveys can be time-consuming and may not be worth the effort for the amount of compensation received. It may be better to focus on other sources of income that offer higher pay rates for the same amount of time and effort.

Pros and Cons

Rakuten Surveys has some attractive features that make it stand out from other survey sites. Here are some of the pros and cons of joining Rakuten surveys.

Pros:

• Low disqualification rate. Unlike some survey sites that screen you out after answering several questions, Rakuten Surveys has a high qualification rate and rarely reject you once you start a survey.
• Transparent log of surveys and points. You can easily track your survey history and earnings on your dashboard. You can also see how many points you need to reach the next cash-out level.
• Low cash-out minimum. You can redeem your points for cash or gift cards once you reach 500 points, which is equivalent to $5. This is lower than many other survey sites that require you to accumulate $10 or more before cashing out.
• Multiple payment options. You can choose from a variety of payment methods, such as PayPal, Amazon gift cards, iTunes gift cards, or charity donations.

Cons:

• Low inventory of surveys. Sometimes, you may not find many surveys available on Rakuten surveys, especially if you have a specific demographic profile. This can limit your earning potential and make it harder to reach the cash-out threshold.
• No sign-up bonus. Unlike some survey sites that offer a bonus for joining, Rakuten Surveys does not have any incentive for new members. You have to start from zero and earn your points by completing surveys.
• Cookie tracking is required for more surveys. To access more surveys on Rakuten surveys, you have to enable cookies on your browser and allow Rakuten Insight to track your online behaviour. This may raise some privacy concerns for some users who prefer not to share their personal data with third parties.
• Technical glitches sometimes. Some users have reported experiencing technical issues while taking surveys on Rakuten surveys, such as freezing screens, error messages, or incomplete submissions. These glitches can be frustrating and cause you to lose your points or waste your time.
• Customer service not helpful. Some users have also complained about the poor customer service of Rakuten surveys, saying that they did not receive timely or satisfactory responses to their queries or complaints.