Thanks for checking out my BzzAgent review. A common make-money-online topic is market research companies and online surveys. It's true, you can earn some money and prizes participating in surveys online, but it’s not much…
In this review I'll talk about how it works, what you can expect, and more importantly… dig into the BzzAgent reviews so we can discuss what others are experiencing.
Disclaimer:
Please note, I am not a member or an affiliate for BzzAgent. This review has been researched with information and/or testimonials that are available online in the public domain. Any recommendations and/or conclusions are strictly opinions and may not to apply to, or agree with, all persons or situations. See full disclaimer for more info
What is BzzAgent?
BzzAgent is a market research company that rewards members for testing products and taking surveys.
But, is it legit?
Having read hundreds of reviews it’s clear that BzzAgent used to be legit, but recently there have been complaints.
The speculation is that they’re getting people to fill out surveys (without compensation), but never offering product testing invites… possibly because there are no product testing invites.
But again, that’s just speculation and as I get more into the reviews and complaints below you can form you own opinion…
BuzzAgent is based in Boston, and at one time was considered to be one of the better market research companies. Founded by Dave Balter in 2001, they were later bought by consumer analyst group Dunnhumbly, which is a subsidiary of retail giant Tesco.
How Does It Work?
BzzAgent is available in the US, Canada and the UK.
Signing up is free and during the process you’ll be asked to connect your social media accounts.
From there, you'll set up your personal profile… and in my opinion, this is an invasive process.
You’ll be asked questions such as your name and address, members of your family… as well as birth dates, your family medical history, where you shop, your family's net income, and so on…
Of course, they claim that your information is held in privacy and will not be sold… but there is no way to hold them accountable.
And… with Facebook and all the privacy breaches in the news recently, it’s clear our personal information is a commodity that is being sold (or stolen).
For example… BzzAgent has a million members. With a database that also includes family members, they potentially have the medical history of several million people.
The value of that information to pharmaceutical and health insurance companies would be extraordinary… not to mention all the other information they have.
I’m NOT saying BzzAgent is selling that information, but the temptation would be extremely high. And let’s face it… it’s not likely that anyone will ever track it or trace it back to BzzAgent.
There are definitely many views on this, and for some people, sharing their private information is not really an issue.
How Much Does BzzAgent Pay?
If you could earn a decent income here, it might be easier to gloss-over the personal information issue… but unfortunately, you can’t. Product testing and surveys don't pay a lot.
When you test products (which involves writing reviews, uploading photos and posting on social media), BzzAgent pays you in merchandise… quite often sample and trial sizes.
In some cases, you may only receive promotional “gifts” such as refrigerator magnets.
The advantage to making money online is that the web gives you leverage. It enables you to build something once and get paid over and over for it
Product testing and doing surveys provides zero leverage. For every product you test or survey you do, you only get paid once.
No matter what your financial goals are (big or small), you can't beat the compounding effects of doing something one time and getting paid many times… a strategy I've written about here.
Other Ways to Make Money with BzzAgent
Another way you can earn with BzzAgent is by doing quick surveys and collecting MyPoints… which you'll have to sign up for seperately.
There are not many specifics about the relationship between MyPoints BzzAgent, other than to say that the more active you are, the more points you can earn.
MyPoints can be exchanged for gift cards, travel miles or cash via Paypal.
Is BzzAgent A scam?
It will depend on how you define a scam. Wikipedia defines a scam as “an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their confidence”.
Not that Wikipedia is the final authority on what a scam is, but what is interesting (although it may seem like a trivial thing to point out) is that they've chosen the word “defraud” instead of “decieve”, which indicates something entirely different.
Even the use of pandas, puppies and cute babies in TV commercials is a debatable use of deception… Does that make it a scam because the “suggested” benefits of the product don’t meet the truth?
As I mentioned above, there is speculation that BzzAgent is only baiting you (deceiving you) with product testing offers to get you to complete surveys (which they get paid for… but don't pay you).
Personally, I don’t think BzzAgent is a scam.
It’s true, the most common complaint is from people who fill out surveys and never get invited to receive products for testing… but I was able to find some members who have posted reviews and uploaded images as recently as this week.
So… in my opinion BzzAgent is legit.
BzzAgent Reviews
Recent BuzzAgent reviews are unfortunately, not positive. Some people seem to think this is due to the buyout from Tesco… but most complaints begin to appear around 2015-2016. Tesco purchased BzzAgent in 2011.
Among the positive comments (most of which are older), people report earning $5 to $50 Amazon and Ebay gift cards (through MyPoints) as well as raffle prizes and merchandise such as sunblock, shampoo, deodorant, and pens.
Another good thing about BzzAgent is a common complaint (about market research companies) that I did NOT read about.
It’s regarding eligibility.
Since the best strategy to make money with online surveys is to join several of them, the most common complaint you’ll find, if you sign up to several, is that you’ll submit surveys… only to see a message popup at the end stating you don't qualify.
And of course, if you don’t qualify, you don’t get paid.
This is usually a result of your answers indicating you may have been the wrong candidate (demographic) for that particular survey.
But here’s the thing. When you become a BzzAgent member, you do so already knowing you may not get paid. Product testing invites are infrequent, and they are vague about the way MyPoints are paid out.
BzzAgent Complaints
As far as the BzzAgent complaints go… some have said they used to do multiple campaigns at a time, but now they’re lucky to get one a year.
Another common complaint is that BzzAgent’s clients (such as L’Oréal and Proctor & Gamble) are not giving out products for the purpose of negative reviews.
Therefore… they’re not looking for honesty. If you do get offered to test a product and write a review, it must be positive (whether you like it or not).
In other words… their “word-of-mouth” campaigns are NOT real reviews. They don’t care about your opinion and this entire “testing” thing is just an advertising campaign that gets you to create “buzz” (you are a Buzz Agent after all) about a product.
What I Like About BzzAgent
- If you already earn passive income through affiliate marketing, BzzAgent can be a great secondary resource to get your hands on products for the purpose of testing, writing reviews, and creating tutorials.
- Free to sign up.
- Compared to other online survey companies, BzzAgent reviews are generally positive.
What I Don’t Like
- There are not many campaign invitations available, and you don’t get paid directly to do surveys.
- If you’re trying to create a work-at-home lifestyle, BzzAgent has nothing to contribute towards that goal.
- No passive income potential. Even if you could get a steady stream of campaigns, none of them will provide residual income opportunities.
Final Thoughts
I do think BzzAgent is legit, and for some people it might be a great way to pass the time and potentially earn some free merchandise.
However, for anyone who is serious about making money online, it is not a productive use of your time.
Make Money with An Online Business
If you have a passion for something… like cars, coffee, cartoons or absolutely anything in-between, you can build an online business around it.
Using the same step-by-step strategy I use, you can leverage the web to get paid over and over for work that you only do once.
