I recently came to learn about a smartphone app called Quick Thoughts. It is unique in that it is an app first, with the website being secondary.
I questioned its validity, of course, as I do with all sites that offer incentives to take surveys.
I always wonder if it worth the time you put into it, or if you are really just working for free because you can never reach the payout.
Background
As always, I like to do a little background research before I actually get into the using a site. I found this one is owned by Survey Sampling International, LLC.
I am familiar with this company because they are a well-known market research firm that has several paid survey sites operating under it.
They have been around for 40 years, so they are definitely not new to this game.
Sign Up- Website
I continued to look at some other reviews of the site around the internet and found that they do have a website as well as an app.
As my phone wasn’t nearby at the moment, I decided to start with the website.
I was disappointed. I couldn’t even sign up there. What I could do was read the FAQs, Terms, and Privacy Policy.
There was also a link to follow for help. It leads to a contact form so you can fill out a help ticket if you were having issues.
App Sign Up
Since I couldn’t sign up on the website, I went and got my phone and signed up for the app. It was an easy peasy process. The first thing I did was put in my email.
Then I created an account. It was a standard process, creating a password and entering contact information, and it was just as easy on an app as it would have been online.
Once I had an account through the app, I was able to log in to that account on the website.
Getting Started – My Experience
The beginning experience was a little different between the app and the website, though you would think it would be the same.
App
Once I had my account on the app, I was immediately taken to my dashboard. It showed my balance (0), and 3 available surveys.
Each was worth $2. I had to click on them to see how much time they were expected to take.
Two of them were estimated to take 10 minutes, and one of them was estimated to take 8 minutes. This was potential for $6 in 28 minutes, which is actually pretty amazing for paid surveys.
That is $12 an hour!
Of course, you have to be eligible to complete all of the surveys. I took the 8-minute one and finished it. I was awarded $2.
When I clicked to take the survey, I was given a message that even if my answers were not needed, I would be awarded $.10.
I tried to take the first 10-minute survey. Everything was going great until it asked for my age and I inadvertently hit “enter” before I entered the second digit, indicating that I was three years old!
Of course, I screened out of that one.
My account was credited with the 10 cents though.
I gave the next one a shot as well, but it was for my 13-year old, who was still asleep. Here is where I am ashamed to admit something.
I actually played with the idea of pretending to be him and taking the survey.
My conscience got the better of me, but before I could exit the survey on my own, I screened out. I am pretty sure it is because I indicated that I do not play games on the PC.
This may sound harmless, but because of the screen out, I got another 10 cents, which was fraudulent.
This is dishonest and not my standard practice, but I believe in full disclosure of my survey experience.
Website
The dashboard on the website was different. There was no balance shown, and in fact, I couldn’t even see where my activity on the app was noted.
I clicked on “survey history” and could see where I had taken the 3 surveys and was awarded credit, but here the credit was regarding points rather than money.
I also had no surveys immediately available to take on the website. There was an option to find surveys, so I clicked it and answered the questions.
My answers helped the system find me one survey, worth $2 also, but it was estimated to take 25 minutes.
I chose to skip that one.
It is worth noting that after I finished the surveys available on the app, I also tried the “find a survey” feature. According to the app, there was nothing.
Along the same lines, those surveys available on the app did not show as available on the website.
I do not know if this is because some surveys are not mobile compatible, or if you cannot have surveys offered on both the app and the website at the same time.
If the former is the case, it would seem worth it to take surveys on both platforms to maximize earnings. Otherwise, the website would be pretty useless unless you did not have access to a mobile device.
Rewards
Although each of the surveys offered to me was worth the same amount, $2, and in varying lengths, the FAQs state that the amount that each survey pays varies based on many different factors.
I clicked on rewards to see what was available and how much I had to accumulate before I could cash out. I tried it on the app first.
The only option was a $10 iTunes gift card. $10 is a very low minimum for these types of sites.
Also, if I had been able to take and complete all four surveys available to me, I would have earned $8 in less than an hour.
That would have put me very close to earning that iTunes gift card in my first hour on the site.
I checked out the FAQs, and sure enough, the minimum is $10. I do not know if other awards are available at higher point levels. If there are, you cannot see them if you have than $10.
I also could not tell what the options were if you were using the app on a non-Apple device. You may be able to complete a google play money survey.
I did try to look at rewards on the website, and I was directed to the app, with a message stating you could not redeem rewards on the website.
Rewards are send via email in the form of electronic gift codes.
Earning Limits
You are only allowed to complete 5 surveys per day, which is very atypical for paid survey sites.
However, if you think about the fact that they credit 10 cents minimum for each survey taken, it isn’t surprising.
Also, if you hit the $600 mark in a calendar year, your account will be frozen, and no surveys will be offered until you fill out tax information.
This is because Quick Thoughts reports to the IRS when they pay out $600 or more to a single user as an independent contractor.
If that happens, you may have to pay taxes on all those iTunes gift codes.
Better Business Bureau
Survey Sampling International, LLC has an F rating with the BBB.
There are over 300 complaints, but the company works very hard to answer and remedy each one that they can.
Many of these have to do with users not understanding the terms or being confused about how the site actually works.
Those issues that are the fault of the company are always made right if at all possible.
Also, it is important to remember that all of these complaints are not related to Quick Thoughts.
SSI owns and operates more than one survey site, and many of the complaints are related to other sites.
A company that is 40 years old is bound to have some negative reviews, and very few people go to the BBB with positive reviews anyway.
While I do not discredit the BBB, it is important to note what makes up a bad rating when it is present.
If the company was too bad, it wouldn’t still be around.
Is Quick Thoughts Legit or a Scam?
It’s not a scam.
They don’t ask for any money, you never have to enter credit card information, it appears they pay as promised, and their parent company has been around for 40 years.
It does not send up any of the standard scam red flags.
Is the quickthoughts app safe?
I think so.
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Apps like Quick Thoughts are becoming more popular, so it may have to step up its game pretty soon in order to compete.
In the meantime, I think this is a great app to have if you enjoy taking surveys and want to earn some rewards while you do so.
That is assuming you will use an iTunes gift code, or on an Android, a Google Play gift code.
No one is going to get rich doing this, especially with the limited redemption options and the per day survey limit.
However, Quick Thoughts is recommended as a great site for earning some extra funds, right along with Swagbucks and Inbox Dollars.
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Have you been using Quick Thoughts for a while?
We would love to know your experience.
