Is InboxDollars legit? We'll reveal whether this survey site is worth your time and can reliably earn you money by completing tasks.
InboxDollars is a platform to earn money through surveys and tasks.
Users report issues with payments, account terminations, and low payouts.
While some users praise it, many find it unreliable and frustrating.
Consider alternative survey sites with better user experiences and higher payouts.
Have you ever considered taking online surveys or completing online tasks to earn extra money online? You might’ve heard of rewards sites like InboxDollars where you can do that.
Still, before you sign up for any rewards site, you should know how trustworthy and safe it is. After all, you’ll be sharing your information and opinions, which you’d want to remain secure and private.
That’s where our InboxDollars review comes in. Many users have some doubts about it. But is InboxDollars legit?
Well, it depends on what you expect from it. So we’ll clarify several points and go into detail to explain why we believe you should think twice before signing up.
InboxDollars is a website and mobile application that allows you to get paid to take surveys and do various other activities like playing games, shopping, and watching videos.
You can earn cash rewards for completing these tasks and redeem them for gift cards, PayPal payments, or checks.
InboxDollars claims to have paid over $60,000,000 in cash rewards to its members since its inception in 2000 by Darren Cotter.
How Does InboxDollars Work?
Here’s how the website functions:
Sign Up: To sign up, enter your email address and password and agree to the website’s terms and conditions, verify your email, and get your $5 bonus. Then, complete a 30-question survey that asks for demographic information for $0.50. This survey tailors the website’s services to you.
Choose an Activity That Interests You: InboxDollars offers many earning options. You can fill out surveys for money. You can also read emails, play games, shop online, watch videos, etc., to make as much money as possible.
Make a Payment Request: The website demands that you have at least $15 in your account before you can get paid ($30 for a check). Head to the request payment page once you’ve accumulated that much to get paid via PayPal or a gift card.
Repeat: You can enjoy your hard-earned cash and repeat the process as often.
Common Questions to Understand
Here are a few questions you might have in mind:
What Information Will I Be Sharing?
Completing surveys entails sharing your personal information, opinions, or experiences with a third party. Unlike some other survey sites, InboxDollars has a lot of partners, hence why there’s a wide selection of survey topics.
InboxDollars will ask about your personal information to verify your identity, contact you if needed, and send you your rewards.
You’ll also be asked about your habits, preferences, and opinions about various products and services to help companies improve them.
You won’t be sharing your bank account details, so don’t worry; they only care about your phone number, mailing address, email, and name. They also protect your personal information and only share it with your consent.
It depends. InboxDollars offers its users many ways to earn money. It’s one of the best survey sites available today, versatility-wise. You can take surveys, watch videos, play games, and shop for cashback, but you can also:
Print and redeem coupons
Sign up for offers
Upload your receipts
Play bingo
Play scratch and win
Search the web
Redeem Win-It Codes
Refer friends and family
Surveys pay from $0.01 to $5, but most of the time, you’ll do surveys that max out at $0.75. We’ve never found one that pays over a dollar in our testing, and other users noted the same.
InboxDollars offers cashback from many stores, including BestBuy. The cashback percentage is usually from 1% to 5%. What makes InboxDollars different from other cashback sites is that you can shop directly through your account; Billy Button is the extension.
Printing coupons can also be lucrative, as you may earn $0.01 for every coupon you print and $0.10 for each redeemed one.
Offers are a little sketchy, as they usually lead you to third-party sites where you must register, subscribe, or make an order or a deposit to get paid. Some offers are 100% free, though. You can earn from $0.1 to $200 this way.
The referral program earns you 30% of your referred friend’s earnings.
The remaining InboxDollars rewards are not outstanding, as you’ll usually do repetitive tasks for a few cents.
How Can I Tell If a Rewards Site Is Risky?
The best way to check whether a rewards site is legit is to pay attention to some common red flags.
It’s a bad sign if a website asks for too much personal information, promises unrealistic or too-good-to-be-true rewards, has no customer support or contact information, or requires you to pay a fee to use its services.
You should also read its privacy policy and ensure it’s clear. The rewards website must explain how your information is used and how you can get paid for completing tasks.
Another thing to mind is whether you can make money from your phone using the platform’s dedicated application. The App Store and Google Play Store have strict policies against scams and fraudulent apps, and most survey sites don’t bother committing that much effort to scam people.
Is InboxDollars Legit?
So, is InboxDollars a legit company? It’s a little bit complicated. Here’s why:
Many users reported frequently experiencing account terminations, disqualifications, and technical issues.
Many users were disappointed the service delayed their payments, sent them invalid gift cards, or failed to pay them at all.
Conversely, some praise the website for paying them on time and without problems.
But, if you ask us, no. You can try, but we recommend against it because it’s not worth the trouble. You’re better off trying another of Prodege LLC’s services. Let’s tell you more:
1. Limited Service
InboxDollars used to be open worldwide, but they decided to limit their services to the U.S. due to a few factors, including changes in the market research industry and their commitment to provide the best possible experience for their U.S. members.
Now that’s fine and dandy, except InboxDollars wasn’t worth it when it wasn’t exclusive in the first place due to the scarcity of surveys and well-paying tasks non-U.S. residents could partake in; there were no tasks you could reliably do to earn enough to reach the minimum payment threshold.
2. High Minimum Payment Threshold
It’s challenging to reach the minimum payment threshold of $30. You can redeem rewards through PayPal, Prepaid Visa, or e-gift cards once at $15, but many users complain about facing issues trying to do so.
The alternative is earning $30 and cashing it out via check, but the processing fee deducts $3 from your balance.
Earning money on InboxDollars is tedious since you’ll be doing crazy-repetitive tasks for chump change and, if you’re lucky, break over $10 before failing to earn more money.
3. Low Payouts
Most tasks you can accomplish pay little, usually in cents. Those that are worth the time are scarce. Often, there’s a catch, or you’ll face problems trying to earn from them.
Here’s an example: The website claims it offers surveys that pay up to $5, which is misleading. Most surveys pay only $0.10 to $0.75, and some even less. On top of that, you have to qualify to earn money from them. This is problematic because:
Depending on your demographics, you may have a small number of surveys available to complete daily, if any at all.
You may be disqualified from surveys after completing them or spending a lot of time on them, which is unfair and a waste of time and effort.
4. Disqualifications and Terminations
InboxDollars is infamous for its unfair account terminations and disqualifications that, coincidentally, happen right before users can cash out their prizes or earn a streak bonus.
Many users claim that their accounts were terminated without any valid reason or warning, losing their earnings or referrals. Some claim that the site locks them out and asks for phone verification, which they try to no avail.
A user on Trustpilot wrote: “I was a member for 2 years and had $40 in my account. I was about to cash out when they suddenly deactivated my account for no reason. They never responded to my emails or phone calls.”
5. Unsatisfactory Customer Support
InboxDollars’ customer support isn’t helpful at all.
You have to file a complaint to the parent company, Prodege LLC, at Better Business Bureau for them to resolve your issue. Their standard response time is ten business days, but not all problems are resolved within this time frame.
Also, 1,512 complaints have been closed in the last 12 months. That’s an average of 4 complaints daily; most are related to payments and account deactivation.
6. Sketchy Rewards
Many users have reported issues cashing out their $15 rewards through PayPal or gift cards.
For one, many said the gift cards they received were invalid and could neither be used in any online store nor added to Google Pay. Some also complained of inexcusable delays in receiving their payments.
7. Third-Party Offers
Offers are the most lucrative way to earn money on InboxDollars. They entail downloading apps, signing up for websites, buying subscriptions, or depositing.
However, not all offers are trustworthy. Some users reported that they had to go through multiple websites and never received their rewards. Others have complained that they must pay for questionable offers and risk their personal information.
Another issue some users complained about is receiving unsolicited phone calls and emails from partner websites after checking out a few offers.
8. Mixed Reviews
Having a few negative reviews is inevitable for any business, but having a flood of complaints on multiple platforms is a massive red flag.
Trustpilot’s 1- and 2-star ratings are concerning, Better Business Bureau’s parent company page is filled with complaints, and user experiences on Reddit are far from promising.
Is InboxDollars Reliable?
InboxDollars has a well-designed and easy-to-navigate website, but it has minor spelling, links, and information errors and inconsistencies.
However, InboxDollars fails at reviews and, to a certain degree, delivering the service they claim to offer. These are the most important criteria for online rewards sites.
You may have better luck using it than other users did, but we recommend exercising caution and lowering your expectations.
Is InboxDollars Safe?
Yes. Despite its questionable reliability, InboxDollars is safe.
We created an email and tried the website ourselves. We did receive a confirmation email and a $5 bonus, but we also received some promotional emails from InboxDollars and their partners, which we could unsubscribe from.
The website does have an SSL certificate; we used Ionos’ SSL certificate checker tool. InboxDollars uses a Domain Validated (DV) certificate. No information about the site owner has been validated. Data is protected, but exchanging personal or financial information is not recommended.
InboxDollars also has a clear and transparent privacy policy.
We checked out the website on VirusTotal. We found that it was safe.
Scam Detector also rated the website 100, ensuring it’s safe, secure, and reputable.
What Are Users Saying About InboxDollars?
Many users are happy with InboxDollars’ service. Here is what some have to say.
What Trustpilot Reviewers Liked About InboxDollars
Easy and Fast Cash-outs: Some people praised the site for its easy and fast cash-out process. Many reported earning money on the day InboxDollars promised they would.
Reliable Customer Support: Some people praised the support team for rapidly resolving their cash-out issues.
What Google Reviewers Liked About InboxDollars
Continuous Improvement: Many users on Google Reviews praised the app for developing the platform and enhancing their service further.
User-Friendliness: Many users loved how straightforward the website and application are to use.
Earning Options: Many users praised the platform for offering them many ways to earn money. Some users expressed their love for earning back by scanning their grocery receipts.
Why Are Users Worried About Using InboxDollars?
The number of negative user reviews is why we recommend against using InboxDollars. There’s a concerning number of single- and two-star ratings on TrustPilot and Google Reviews.
What Trustpilot Reviewers Worried About
Unhelpful Support Team: Many users have reported not hearing back from the customer support service despite waiting for weeks or months.
Invalid Gift Cards: Some users reported receiving non-functional gift and virtual cards, which they can neither add to any wallet nor use online.
Unfair Disqualifications: Many users reported being unfairly disqualified from most surveys they participated in, wasting their time and not receiving any money in return.
Bad Payouts: Many users complained that the current survey and scratch card rewards are too low to merit the effort they take to fill out.
What Google Reviewers Worried About
Google Reviewers complained about the following:
Technical Issues: Many users complained about frequent crashes on the mobile application.
No Payments: Many users observed that the platform starts finding reasons not to pay them after they exceed certain reward thresholds. For example, technical issues are more frequent in $10+ gigs.
InboxDollars Quality & Guarantees
We can’t make any guarantees about this website. Our experience was unsatisfactory, and so was that of many users. While the website is safe, you may experience issues earning from it.
InboxDollars Customer Service
InboxDollars has unsatisfactory customer service. You must direct your complaints to the parent company, Prodege LLC, and wait several days for help.
What Customer Service Options Are Available
Unfortunately, your options are limited with InboxDollars. You can’t contact them directly by phone or email for customer support.
Users must log into their accounts, access their activity ledger, and submit a ticket. InboxDollars claim that they respond to them as quickly as possible, often within 3 days.
Conclusion: Is InboxDollars Legit?
The short answer is no, and the long answer is maybe.
Some people have earned money by completing tasks on InboxDollars. But for many, reaching the minimum payment threshold was tedious.
They also faced many questionable and unfair issues that they didn’t want to deal with, primarily because the customer support was unhelpful and the delays were exorbitant. If their accounts weren’t deactivated or disqualified from surveys, they don’t get paid for their efforts.
Earning on InboxDollars is slow, repetitive, and boring. Usually, you’ll be spending 30 minutes to receive a single dollar from completing surveys because the alternative includes playing silly videos in the background for a few cents.
We believe your time is worth much more than that. We recommend against it, but you can still try out InboxDollars if you wish.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Is the Fastest Way to Make Money on InboxDollars?
Surveys are the fastest way to make money on InboxDollars if you qualify for many. Some users also opt for signing up for offers and playing games.
How Long Does It Take for InboxDollars to Pay?
Users who reached the thresholds said they received their money within 10 minutes, while others reported waiting from 3 to 14 days.
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Brett Helling
Founder, Gigworker.com
Brett Helling is the founder and owner of Gigworker.com. Having worked in the gig economy for nearly a decade, he has mastered freelance, remote, and app-based work. You can learn more about his journey in his book, "Gigworker: Independent Work and the State of the Gig Economy", now available on Amazon.