FocusGroup.com Review – Legit Way to Make Money or a Total SCAM?

Thanks for checking out my FocusGroup.com review. It's true, you can earn some money participating in focus groups and online surveys, but it may not be enough to reach your goals… depending on what those goals are.

The topics I'll talk about in this review are how FocusGroup.com works, what you can expect, in addition to the reasons why most reviews are calling it a scam.

Disclaimer:
Please note, I am not a member or an affiliate for FocusGroup.com. 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 FocusGroup.com?

FocusGroup.com is a market research company that pays members for participating in focus groups, interviews and completing paid surveys.

As a way to generate extra money, online market research is growing more popular by the day, but not all market research sites are worth your time…

Based in Philadelphia, FocusGroup.com is a subsidiary of Focus Pointe Global… one of the older market research companies that has been around since 1988.

How Does It Work?

The basic process is simple… or at least it's supposed to be. FocusGroup.com pays you to answer a series of survey questions and based on your answers you may also qualify to participate in focus groups (which pay significantly higher than the surveys).

I say the process is simple… but if it was that painless, everyone would do it.

The free registration process is easy enough… but your next step is filling out your profile.  And this is where most people have a problem.

This process, in my opinion, is an invasive screening process as the questions can get quite personal… especially for a site you don’t know or trust.

Having said that… if you don't mind answering some personal questions, this may not be an issue…

In my opinion, it's a lot to ask for something that pays so little, but I also realize that many people are not ready (or don't want) the commitment of an online job or online business. 

Sites like FocusGroup.com, SurveyJunkie.com and ​​​​Inbox Dollars can be a good solution or starting point for many.  

If you have children to take care of at home, a health issue or maybe you're just tired of your job… a full-time income online might be what you want. In that case, knowing how (and where) to get started is what you need to get what you want.

Now, I'm going to give you a free step by step beginner's guide to making money online and you can get it by Clicking Here

The thing about earning money with the web is that the real power is the leverage it gives you to multiply your earnings over and over for work you've only done once (sometimes years ago)… a strategy I've written about here.

Do You Qualify?

Some would also argue that the most important concern with FocusGroup.com (and other market research companies) has to do with eligibility.

The problem here is that many people have spent their time submitting surveys, only to be told (at the end) they don't qualify… usually because their answers suggest they were the wrong demographic or did not have adequate knowledge with the product or service.

And of course, if you don’t qualify, you don’t get paid…

Not to mention, it provides a convenient excuse to keep you on the hook… hoping for that higher paying focus group invite that never comes.

This issue of “not qualifying” is the most common reason that online survey companies get accused of being a scam.

I'm pretty sure that doing “unpaid” surveys is not exactly your goal when signing up.

I’m going to give FocusGroup.com the benefit of the doubt here and say that since their clients are the ones ordering the research… they also deserve reliable information.

So… the process of screening people to make sure they're a suitable candidate, although frustrating, is unfortunately a required step in the market research industry.

How Much Does FocusGroup.com Pay?

FocusGroup's payouts range from 100 to 1000 points ($1.00 to $10.00), which is about average for online surveys (although the vast majority will be closer to one-dollar with very few ever getting into the $5-10 range). 

In-person focus groups are reported to pay between $45 and $250… but I wouldn’t count being accepted into any focus groups.

The biggest complaint about FocusGroup is that people fill out countless surveys and never receive a focus group invite.

As far as your points go… you can redeem them once you accumulate 2000 ($20) or have had more than 100 (but less than 2000) in your FocusGroup account for longer than 3 months.

Points are redeemable for prepaid Visa debit cards.

You can see where the minimum payout can lead to frustration (when you also consider the common complaint of filling out surveys and being told you don’t qualify).

To be clear, I'm not accusing FocusGroup.com of doing this … but the obvious temptation here is to “disqualify” people so they never reach the minimum threshold.

If you don't get accepted into a focus group,  you can also make money doing online surveys with surveyjunkie.com or watching videos, searching the web and visiting websites with ​​​​Inbox Dollars.

But what if you want freedom and financial independence? A lot of people want something more than focus groups and surveys can provide.   

If you'd like to tell your boss that “you're done”, then creating a real income online is what you need in order to get what you want.

Now, I'm going to give you a free step by step beginner's guide to making money online and you can get it by Clicking Here

Other Ways to Make Money with FocusGroup.com

FocusGroup.com also has a referral program, which is worth 1 sweepstakes entry for every person who joins on your recommendation.

You can also make money by doing both in-person, and phone interviews… but I’ll be honest here, I wasn’t able to find anyone who has made money with Focusgroup.com this way. I suspect that it may have been something they used to do (or intended to do) but are now only using as added incentive to get people to join… but that’s only my opinion.

Is FocusGroup.com A Scam?

People know it's possible to make money online, but it's still one of those “secret” places populated in part, by deceitful people… You wouldn't be the first person to believe it's not real.

I’m not going to say Focusgroup.com is a scam… but I would be very cautious based on the reviews.

There are a lot of great make-money alternatives on the web, but it's true… there's also a lot of BS.. We're not talking about a complete scam here (the kind that rips you off and you never hear from them again)…

And there are even reputable companies trying to convince us of things that are not true.

If you've ever compared your pancaked fast-food cheese burger with the mouth-watering promo photo on the wall, you've experienced deception…

Does that qualify as a scam because the “implied” deliciousness of your burger doesn’t’ come close to reality?

There are some significant complaints about FocusGroup.com (which I'll go into below), but again… I’m not going to go so far as to accuse them of being a scam.

And the great thing about these money-making websites is that you don't have to limit yourself to one. A lot of people earn money with others doing surveys on sites like surveyjunkie.com  and ​​​​inboxdollars.com. 

For a more substantial income you also have the option of starting an online business.  

FocusGroup.com Reviews and Complaints

This is where it gets ugly. I’ve read maybe more than a hundred FocusGroup.com reviews on various websites, blogs, forums and social media… and I think I found less than 10 that were positive (and most of those were from 2014 or older).  

By far the biggest complaint is from people who have completed dozens (in some cases hundreds) of surveys and have never been invited to participate in a focus group.

The big accusation here is that they’re baiting you with the hope of a focus group job (getting you to fill out surveys for little, or no money)… but never actually intending to offer you one (if they even have any to offer in the first place).

Other complaints are…

• Waiting several weeks to a few months to get paid, and in some cases never getting paid (for the small amount of money, at some point, people just give up).
• Sending emails to Focusgroup.com… and never getting a response. Or, only receiving spam emails from them.
• The issue of “not qualifying” as we've already discussed… and people getting locked out of there account before they've been paid.

As mentioned the positive comments seem to be from 2014 or older and comparing the comments from then to now you’d think Focusgroup.com was an entirely different company.

To be fair, I want to point out that people are more likely to leave a bad review than a good review… so the ratio of positive to negative might not be as extreme as it appears, but I’m only speculating.

What I Like About FocusGroup.com

• In theory… I like that they offer real focus group opportunities that pay well, but I wouldn’t count on getting one.
• 100% flexible schedule… do surveys whenever and wherever you want.

What I Don’t Like

• It’s impossible to ignore several dozen negative reviews and comments… especially when people are complaining about the same thing. A few complaints would be fine, but not one after the next on multiple sites.
• Long waits to get paid and poor support.
• Being told you don’t qualify after you’ve spent a long time answering questions.
• Market research is still trading hours for dollars with no passive income potential.

Final Thoughts

You can probably tell, I'm personally not a fan of making money by doing surveys online. Having said that, it doesn't mean paid surveys are not for you.

If you're only after a few extra bucks, online surveys are simple and relatively low risk (although I'd be careful of giving out too much personal information). There are certainly less productive ways to spend your time.

In addition to FocusGroup.com, you can also check out sites like Survey Junkie and earn money visiting websites, searching the web and watching videos with ​​​​Inbox Dollars.

If you're looking for a more serious online income because things like health or children at home make it difficult for you to work a regular job, an online business is more likely what you want, and using the internet to earn a full-time income online is what you need in order to get what you want.  

To learn how I did it, I'm going to give you a free step by step beginner's guide to making money online and you can get it by clicking HERE.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope this FocusGroup.com Review was helpful.

Make Money with An Online Business

If you're passionate about something like music, video games, hiking, or whatever else you can think of… you can build your own online business around it.

Using a simple and effective strategy to create leverage, you can create something once and have it pay you many times over. It's the same strategy I use and have written about here.