Market Research that Pays $100 for your time

I think a lot of us has heard of this. Basically there are market research companies that pays you for participating in their research and survey. They generally take about 2 to 3 hours, and pay you $100 for your time. Occasionally they also feed you too. Fairly good stuff, I heard.  Long ago, while browsing a car message board, I notice a market research offer of $100 for 2 hours of my time. My car make and model was included in the people they’re searching for. I thought about it long and hard, but the drive up to LA (I live in Orange County, CA) during rush hour was NOT worth it for me. (The total trip would have taken around 5 hours)

I received a letter in the mail a few days ago, with the same type of market research offer, from a company named Synovate, they seem reputable enough. *shrug*

The “Automotive Evaluation Study” required 2.5 hour of my time, and at first I thought the location would be in LA too, since the mail came from Encino, CA (part of LA County) One bonus of this is, they have a few dates and appointment hours to choose from, so I figured this may be a better offer. Plus, back in the days I wasn’t as into “free” money as I am today.

To my delight, after calling for an appointment and answering a series of questions to make sure I am qualified to participate, I found out that the location is at Long Beach Convention. (Only 24 minutes away, according to Mapquest) So it’ll take about 3.5 hours total for $100 bucks. About $28.57 an hour, not too bad for this type of “work.”

They told me over the phone that light refreshment will be available, I guess I shouldn’t expect free lunch too.

My appointment will be on May 1st, 2005 at around 12 PM. From the series of questions and the pre-survey that I have to fill out, it looks like I’ll be looking at some future SUV/light truck makes and models. Not really my cup of tea, but it should be “fun” in some sense. I’ll definitely share my experience with this after I come back, should be interesting to see what type of questions they ask, and what people are looking for these days in terms of automobile owners. Plus, I’ll find out if the $100 is worth my time or not.