Before I start this InboxDollars review, let’s put the facts on the table:
- Inbox Dollars - Get paid to check your email. $5 bonus just for signing up!
- Survey Junkie - The #1 survey site that doesn't suck. Short surveys, high payouts, simply the best.
- Nielsen - Download their app and get paid $50!
- We all read emails.
- We all love money.
- It would be really awesome to get paid to read emails.
InboxDollars promises just that and they even go as far as to make the claim that ‘Money really does grow on trees.’ But just how accurate are these claims? Can you really get paid to just read emails? We wouldn’t call ourselves professional product and program testers if we didn’t give you an answer to these questions.
You can make money, but that doesn’t mean you necessarily will make money.
Each email that you read will net you anywhere between 1 to 10 cents. But these aren’t emails you would normally want to read. They’re advertisements for various programs or products that would result in InboxDollars making hefty revenue if you followed through and signed up for the program. Aside from emails, you can also “get paid” to play games, sign up for surveys, sign up for programs, shop, and search the internet.
What you aren’t told is that you will need to start spending money first and you’ll receive a measly percentage back on your spendings. This is the hidden truth behind their “get paid to” claims.
Take for example, this “Deal” offered for LifeLock. You get paid $20 if you spend anywhere from $120 to $324 for a LifeLock membership.
Okay, sure, this might be a deal if you are actually interested in their service and would like some money back, but for 99% of users this “deal” is completely meaningless.
My Results
I’ve been a member for about two weeks now and I have received 14 emails for a total of $0.40 cents. That’s a little less than 3 cents per email. If we take into account the $5.00 sign up bonus and the $1.00 introduction survey, I will need to read approximately 857 more emails.
At the current rate of 1 email per day, I’m looking at over 2 years of reading email just to receive my first $30 check. I don’t know about you, but I have better things to do than click on an advertisement once a day for the next 2 years just to receive $30.
You make a lot of progress really fast early on, but according to our readers in the comments below and some of the reviews we’ve seen around the web, emails start to slow when you approach the cash out mark.
Even worse, there are reports of accounts getting closed right when they are ready to cash out. We can’t confirm these reports and InboxDollars does reserve the right to cancel your account if you violate their code of conduct.
The Real Source of Funds
At this point, you’re probably asking yourself how could they possibly make money by sending out emails. I decided to look into a few of the programs that are heavily promoted throughout the site. Take for example, eBay. InboxDollars will pay you $6.00 to sign up at eBay and place a bid. Not bad right? Wrong. They’re making anywhere between $25-$35 every time a new user signs up at eBay and places a bid.
Stamps.com is also heavily promoted at a $10 bonus just for signing up for their free trial. However, in the event you forget to cancel the free trial after a couple of weeks, you will be billed $15.99 per month and InboxDollars makes $50.
Stay far away from any free trial offers. That is where you will most likely lose a lot of money.
It sounds like users are getting the short end of the stick while InboxDollars laughs all the way to the bank.
I’ve tried that and I don’t like it.
If you have nothing better to do than to read emails (read: view advertisements) for the next few years, then by all means sign up and get started. I do feel that doing anything at InboxDollars aside from reading emails is a recipe for disaster.
In an extreme case, suppose you sign up for the Stamps.com free trial and forget about your account. In a month you will be billed and in the event that you refuse to pay you can have your account forwarded to collections which could have a disastrous effect on your credit score.
This result could yield hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars in damages all for a measly $10.
Personally, I’m closing my account.
No joke. Here are the fastest ways to make easy money online. Click here to see how.
How Does Inbox Dollars Compare?
If you’re looking for a decent alternative, I would highly suggest looking into SwagBucks. I’ve reviewed them a few months back and I’ve actually made money and was able to cash it out. and give some tips on how to quickly start making some money with them.
SwagBucks does pay you to do a number of things, watch videos, play games, answer surveys, but my favorite is that they pay you just to search the web. SwagBucks gets paid by sending you Google’s sponsored results and, as a thank you, sends some of their earnings back to you.
I’ve switched my main search engine to SwagBucks. They are using Google’s results, so you are still seeing the same exact page you’d see if you searched Google directly. But by going through them first, you can earn some extra money.
I highly suggest that you create an account today. You’ll quickly see why I recommend SwagBucks over InboxDollars. Plus, you get a free $5 bonus just for signing up.
SwagBucks Pays: Here’s Proof
I can’t make a recommendation without offering a little bit of proof that it actually works.
Here’s a look at my total earnings so far: 
1 SwagBuck roughly equals 1 penny. So I’ve made approximately $928.78 since joining!
And here’s a peek at my personal cash outs.
You can redeem your SwagBucks for a number of things, but I’ve found it’s best to go for gift cards at places you normally shop. That seems to get you the most value for your “SwagBuck” and if you are as addicted to Amazon as I am, it’s a great way to lower your credit card bill.
That’s right. I’ve been able to make over $900 and it didn’t take over 2 years of clicking links in emails.
The Bottom Line
If you’ve gotten this far, by now you should realize I’m not a fan of InboxDollars.
There are better alternatives out there that have proven track records.
I’d suggest you stick with something else.
just was sharing my results!! and thanks to those of you that have joined under me in inboxdollars from this site last nignt!!
Bernie my my now aren’t we a little hostile. No one is promoting this site as if its going to be enough to retire on. Just a few extra bucks.Now on the other hand you are more than welcome to come home every night smelling like a taco, but lets gets real here, who in their right mind is going to go out to work and waste gas for less than $8 an hour. I’d rather sit home in jammies and click in my spare time.I’ve known Steve for a while now way before you came on board and if you come to this site looking for a fight dont. I’ve known Steve since the beginning and everyone here is a family here to help each other.If I want nasty I can call my father in Florida.
STEVE KUDOS AS ALWAYS.
Bernie, didn’t your parents ever teach you the value of a dollar? NO, like I said before, you’re not going to sign up for an account with Inbox Dollars and, within hours, be making hundreds of dollars. And you DON’T HAVE TO BUY THE STUFF! You find me someone else who will offer you even 3 cents to read anything! And, yes Bernie, you can make more at a job. That’s why you must realize that Inbox Dollars is NOT like a job. But you must ask yourself, how hard is it? Working at a “fast food restaurant”, in most cases, requires you to take all sorts of crap from stupid customers and be worked to death for low wages. Inbox Dollars just requires you to click on their emails. Of course it doesn’t pay much but it DOES pay some and that’s my point! Of course $30 in two years is peanuts, but IT IS SOMETHING! It’s kind of like saving aluminum cans and cashing them in, don’t you see? Every little bit helps! And as for your comment about people who read the emails not having a life, that’s just plain not true. Even someone who is very busy has time to check and read their email. Go find something else to gripe about, Bernie. Inbox Dollars is only a scam if you let it be a scam.
Wow. Just wow.
For starters, I don’t have an account there and I haven’t even visited the site since I wrote this review, which ends NEGATIVELY. “I don’t know about you, but I have better things to do than click on an advertisement once a day for the next 2 years just to receive $30.” How can you possibly take this as me actively promoting Inboxdollars? There isn’t even a link to the website anywhere on this page! I ended the review by saying I’ve closed my account and won’t be going back! I take it you actually didn’t read past the first paragraph.
Secondly, all comments are forwarded to my email address and I happened to be sending one as you posted your comment. What’s your excuse for the three minute reply from you?
I meant to add…the FACT that you wrote a reply within ONE MINUTE of my post going up shows that you are really really hoping to justify this program. The reality is though, that nothing you say can!
It’s a SCAM – don’t be so gullible!!
Yes, I read your review, it was sent to me as an email by this website. And the fact that you are sitting there waiting for responses shows you obviously have NO LIFE! So, go ahead, keep clicking on those 3 cent clicks! The fact that you’re using several of these companies means you must be making all of 12cents an hour!
Wake up and smell the html!
Did you even read my review?
Hell, just read the last line and you can get the overall gist of it all.
Well Steve, I guess you have nothing better to do with your time than read emails for 3cents at a time and focus on that goal of getting $1!
I’m sorry, NOT, but anyone who tries to justify this SCAM is an absolute idiot!
You can make more money in one hour at a fast food restaurant than you will make with Inbox Dollars in a YEAR!! Do you REALLY think that’s okay?
I know I don’t!
Lift your life up people, focus higher and realise that you are being USED and ABUSED by this company!
In other words: GET A LIFE! $30 in two years? Well WHOOPEEFRICKINDOODEE! I make that in an HOUR!
I have read most of your comments and I am a member of inboxdollars and very happy with my results.i have been a member for three months and have been paid twice you must spend the time to take a survey with there site to get paid $1 a day and if you are not excepted to take a survey you can take more and make it your goal to get that dollar.but I also play games for dollars.and fill out some of the 100% free offers.My referrals are getting larger but I am have not seen results there yet. but the real secret to making money with paid to read sites is to be signed up with several that pay like this one has for me and if you want proof .I would happy to send show you.
Hey do they have that “reading the paid emails” thing in Malaysia as well..
Need some extra income man!
I’ve been reading the paid emails from InboxDollars for almost two years now–think I started in March of 06. I now have like $32.15 in my account now. Not much but it is better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick. I’m keeping it up as long as I can. Like Donna I was a bit perturbed at the $3 processing charge for the check, but I went into InboxDollars with the knowledge that it wasn’t the same as a job or a get rich quick thing. It’s just little extra money thing on the side and it feels great to check the “current earnings” section after you read the emails and see the amount go up. No, it’s not like a steady income, but it is a little something and I believe if you’re the kind of person like me who looks at email and the internet alot anyway, that this is definitely worth your time.
Haven’t tried Inbox Dollars yet but one site that I am having great luck with is http://www.cashduck.com. It has been very easy to use and keep up with. You can do a small amount a day to earn feathers which eventually translate into gift cards to tons of retailers (just as good as check IMHO). It’s been very successful for me so far and I would recommend people trying it.
Let me know if you need more information.
I know it’s nice to get a cheque in the post folks, but seriously, reading all these posts – you could earn as much in two hours working at McDonalds as you are with these rip off companies in a month!!
I tried surveys and emails, and never received a damn thing! All that time wasted while they get your opinions and hard work and make millions of $$$ from it!
My hope is that one day, these firms will be held accountable and MADE to pay out instantly to online processors such as PayPal, for every piece of work submitted.
Or at the very least, they should be offering a higher rate of pay GUARANTEED by law!
Don’t waste your time with this crap folks!
you know I havnt gotten any e-mails from them either and I complained to them several times.They basically said it was because I needed to revise my profile(change the type of e-mails I recieve). Now I get less.I am so close to getting paid and it only took me 1 year.
actually, i haven’t received any e-mails from hits4pay since Halloween 2007. hmm.. i wonder if it got closed down???
I was with Ad Bux. I didn’t have many referrals and I did the math… i think it would take me at least 3 months of daily clickings to get payout. So, I just stopped clicking. I stopped clicking on Inbox, Ad Buddy, Clixsense, hits4pay, guessnow, and fairytales. i’m still with MyPoints, survey spot, and my2cents.
Hmmmm… no one talks abt bux to. It seems to be a more promising PTC of the lot so far. I have not received any payments from them though I have requested payout some 2 weeks ago.
anyone know anything about Cash Lagoon?
STAY AWAY FROM MY POINTS!
We have a virus on our computer at home, so my girlfriend logged in for me at work.
How convenient that now that we have enough points to redeem they’ve closed our accounts.
They say that you can only have one account per person, so don’t sign up a spouse or share a computer with anyone else or they’ll rip you off too ..
They totally suck.
We’ve both been members for over 4 years, maybe they’re just tired of paying out and are saving some money.
I agree. From many logical standpoints, these websites are not worth it. I guess for stay-at-home-moms (SAHM) who like to make a couple cents, possibly, a couple dollars, while their babies nap? I have to say those GPT sites help with the diaper money. GPT sites offer a option for people to make a little money and we all definitely have a choice to play that game or not. =)
Okay, I received the InboxDollars and Fairy Tale Treasure (FTT) checks within the past 3 weeks. I just deposited them today. Hope they don’t bounce! I guess I have to wait a year to be sure. Also, I got my $10 Target gift card from Mypoints. I got the gift card in my mail approx. 5 days after I redeemed the points.
Inbox dollars tried that to not worth it. Lol waste of time. Every survey taking I have taking takes a long time. Not kidding.
I mean I am steamed about that I wished there was something we could do about these survey website. Believe me I tried a lot of survey site and Fusion is the one that I actually stayed in because it made me money in a few hours. But in the end I kept calling them out for being fakes and they kicked me out of the chat room.
Let’s get real here people – give yourselves some damn respect and stop wasting your time with these companies.
They are making hundreds of thousands of dollars while you’re making a few cents! For the same time you are clicking to get your measly $25, you could have earned several hundred dollars or more, very easily, washing dishes in your local fast-food restaurant 2 days a week!
I am a stay at home mom and i just got started with inbox dollars and i am hoping its worth it it seems like a lot of work for 30 dollars. I mean is it worth sitting at my computer for most of the day looking at stupid emails just to earn 3 cents.
It’s definitely not worth it if some one is seriously hoping to make money. But it’s really not that bad that since I already have my computer running and doing stuff on the computer, I can make a few bucks here and there while doing homework, paying bills, or reading the news. I have similar concern with cookies and possible spyware/adware. Oh well, we will see. I also have concern about giving my personal info to these places (and hope to get check/gift card from them). hey, it’s all about trying it out and posting the comments on this site, right? this is how we can help contribute to the blog. =) also, i do recommend these chump-change-making “opportunities” to college students who don’t have a job already AND people who do stuff online that doesn’t make money.
Thanks for the excellent update, Julia. Would you say all that clicking (and cookies and possible spyware/adware) is worth it?
Like you mentioned, PTC is not really worth the time. But just clicking here and there and make a few bucks is not too bad. I tried a few PTC. I think the one I like the most is hits4pay. They pay 2 cents per click. If you pick 25 categories as your “interest”, you get more ads to click. On average, I get 20 ads to click per week. 40 cents a week. $10 sign-up bonus. It will take 8 to 9 months of clicking before getting to the $25 min. payout. What I like about hits4pay is that I don’t have to do click everyday. I can probably do it once a week and just have it in the background and click on it every minute or so while I do my own stuff on the computer.
Updates on other chump change stuff I’m working on: since I joined MyPoints.com on 7/26, I earned 1988 points by reading e-mails, trying to do surveys, signing-up for a few stuff, and making 3 purchases (vistaprint , overstock, and baby books ). I can get my $10 Target gift card with 1500 points once the points turn from “pending” to “earn”. For guessnow.com, I got $8.74 (virtual; haven’t cash-out yet) for August. It was a LOT of clicking though and I felt like I was competing with all the other members to click more. Have been too busy to really work the creationrewards.net. Maybe more update later on.
Thats great , It doesn’t take much time each day to get through them. I just tend to get lazy though so it take me a little longer.
Hey. I came across your website and I think the best way to rake up some money on InboxDollars is to do a survey evereyday along with the emails. If you do this you will reach the minimum in about a month. SendEarnings is the same as InboxDollars so between the two of these websites you can earn about $60 a month. I have been paid by InboxDollars and I am waiting for a check from SendEarnings.
Good work Julia. Let us know if you ever get your check and of any progress with the other sites.
Okay, I requested payment for my ~$30 also. I did get the stamps.com $10 credit after I submit trouble ticket. Kudo for Inboxdollars.com. They said I should receive my check by Oct 1. FYI, I also cashed out on FTT ($83). I am now doing/testing Mypoints.com, creationsrewards.net, and guessnow.com (this is pretty fun.. fun way to update myself on news on finance and entertainment).
Yes, please send me the link. I will check it out. nonalzheimerpatient.com [at] gmail.com (can you tell that I use this e-mail for GPTs?)
[Edited by Joe to dehyperlinkify the email address.]
Julia: When you are ready I can send you a link
janice: thank you! i’ll look into creative rewards. i’m still hoping to cash out on mypoints first. =)
I don’t like my points. I cut them out I do much better with creative rewards. You can get a gift card or check and they do not take anything out like Inbox dollars when they pay out.The first time I took a check and the 2nd an Old Navy card for my daughter and I am getting ready to cash out again. I’m with them 6 months maybe.
oh, i mean send me an e-mail if you want to try mypoints.com. i think i have to submit your e-mail through them in order to have you as my referral. or you can join directly. i just make 100 pts for a “successful” referral. =)
any one tried mypoints.com? send me an e-mail (listed on my website). i’ve been active for less than a month on mypoints.com. i like how they have MORE e-mails to read than inboxdollars (but maybe paid less each?) but i like how they have more choices/offers/trials/surveys in earning “points” (note: not dollar). i don’t think they pay out in cash/check though. maybe just gift card. AND they, so far, have sucky approval on offers. i’m just waiting for that 30 days so that i can submit a trouble ticket. i’m aiming for 1500 points for the $10 Target gift card. i only have 730 pts (including pending ones). so maybe one more month? (dunno about the fees/shipping stuff yet.) also, i don’t think mypoints.com is a referral-based program. it allows max. 5 referrals per month AND i don’t think i earn any partial point for each point my referral earn.
LOL Oh Joe I love your sense of humor.
Hi Donna. That’s one of those little details they neglected to mention, eh? Did they tell you about the $.25 per day service fee for every day you leave money in your account?
Just kidding. They don’t do that. At least, I don’t think they do! :-O
I have just requested my first check and was irritated that they charge a $3.00 fee-todays date is Aug. 8 and they say my check will be processed on October 1st! Plus if I do not remain active between now and October 1st I will not get my check—I guess they are hoping I will get bored and quit and they can keep my money–I dont plan to quit, but I will definately not waste my time “trying” to reach payout quickly–I am angry they dont promote that they charge a $3.00 fee to cash your check as much as they promote their $5.00 sign up!
I’ve had great success with InboxDollars. Gotten a check for $125+, loads of gift cards to nationwide retailers, and no problems at all. Sure you have to remember to cancel free trials, but it’s really not that hard. (Reading e-mails is definitely not worth it though).
Julia, I have 3 gold memberships and 85 referrals. I mostly just read emails now. if i find one that isn’t going to cost me anything in them then i do it. sometimes i go through the free stuff in the sidebar and sometimes i try for a survey but survey’s aren’t much interested in the opinion of a 53 year old divorced white woman with one grown child :-) so I tried surveys and after about a year of actively pursuing it figured out that this was the case. i was so happy to actually receive a check from a site like this after losing so much to autosurfing and hyip’s that i just felt i had to say something here. it is not a get rich quick thing and it takes awhile to get a rhythm going but they do pay and over the past two years they have gotten much more diverse in their offerings and i am glad about that. I got 50 last month, and will get 15 this month …not much but at least it’s something and believe me i have read so many emails trying to get paid that it is a welcome thing to see…that check in the mail. I also think that the internet being what it is…full of scammers and hackers just out there to take your money and run or collect your information to sell that it is a welcome relief to find a company that has been paying people for over 2 years. k, i’m off the soapbox now. :-)
Julia I’m happy you recieved your $10 dollars.I’ve recommended this site many times and I never had a problem.
Ok, i got the $10 for the Key Club Save offer. phew! i just need to cancel next Monday. i’m still waiting for the $10 for my stamps.com offer. denise: just curious, how many gold memberships do you have? i’m trying to figure out if it’s worth it. thanks!
i’ve been with them since the latter part of 2005 and just got my first check this past june. now that being said all i was doing was promoting, reading emails and buying gold memberships with my earnings. Now i have built my referrals and they have gold memberships. Now it is up to where just reading the emails should get me a check every month. it takes awhile but i do believe that they are a reputable company and certainly pay more than most paid to read email companies. the emails are really easy to read also. especially with firefox. 3 clicks and your done four and it’s deleted from you inbox.i’ve done it for so long now that i save them up until i get a full page in the inbox go to the oldest one and start from there.click to open, click to go to the site, click to prove i’ve read it back to the inbox and click to delete. once you get a rhythm you can go through them really fast. also once your referrals have gold memberships you make more with each click you do and each click they do.
That stinks…gee I never had problems with them…Maybe they like me better.
I use Inboxdollars too. I got $2 for signing up with some Xerox offer. However, I signed up with the stamps.com free (30-day) trial more than a week ago and haven’t gotten the $10 credit yet in my Inboxdollars account. I will have to wait 30 days to see if I get credit or not before I can submit a trouble ticket. That’s quite an inconvenience. Other GPTs (e.g. FTT) requires only 7 days of no-credit, then submit trouble ticket.
I think I’ve only been accepted for one survey in about 4 months of membership (though not in InboxDollars). For some reason, they just aren’t that interested in my opinion, the bastards. I could give them such an opinion!
I am with Inbox dollars. I made the money and yes I have gotten checks.They are not constant but I recieved a couple and i am on my 3rd. I do the surveys and they pay $1.You can do one a day and I am accepted to most of them. So I have had good luck with them.
I read emails for InboxDollars for about three days, after I figured the numbers like you just did, I quit and resigned from my account. I worked also with Hits4Pay which will usually give you a $10 bonus for signing up, read emails for them for over 6 months and didn’t even come close to their minimum, and I had over 100 referrals! I resigned that account as well. I’ve decided reading emails for any substantial amount of money is a pipe dream.