A Questionable Way to Earn Money Answering Questions

I just lately learn a narrative that contended you may earn cash answering questions on HelpOwl — a web site I’d by no means beforehand heard of. Believing that this is likely to be a viable various to JustAnswer, the place you may make six-figures answering questions, we determined to test it out.

So to shortly lower to the chase: Are you able to earn cash answering questions on HelpOwl?

Sure. However not a lot. Right here’s what we discovered.

What’s HelpOwl?

HelpOwl connects folks with questions on firms, merchandise and vehicles with freelance specialists, who can reply their questions for factors. When you accumulate sufficient factors, you may convert them into reward playing cards.

The way it works:

If you wish to ask a query, you first look via the drop-down menu to say which firm or product you’re all for. Then you definately sort your query into the suitable field.

Those that need to reply questions, do a lot the identical factor. You choose the corporate or product that you simply need to reply questions on after which sort in a key phrase. Related questions pop up under.

You decide the query or questions you need to reply. And, assuming the query hasn’t already been answered sufficiently, you may obtain factors for responding. You can too obtain factors for importing product manuals.

HelpOwl evaluation:

You get a comparatively excessive quantity of factors for every reply — 100 to 1,000. However these factors are value virtually nothing. Certainly, HelpOwl is the place you’ll go when you needed to make the expression “let me offer you my 2 cents” literal. The positioning’s pay works out to roughly 2 cents per query.

The positioning tries to make that sound cool.

HelpOwl says that it really works a little bit like Skee-ball. “Who doesn’t love skeeball(sic)?” the location asks. “You earn tickets that may be redeemed for prizes…We’ve got adopted the identical mannequin on HelpOwl.com! You possibly can earn factors for numerous issues all through the location, after which use these factors to obtain reward playing cards to main retailers like Amazon and Walmart. It’s that straightforward!”

Skee-ball model

Let’s run via the HelpOwl math.

You get 100 factors for answering a query and 1,000 factors for offering the “first accepted reply.” Nevertheless it takes 50,000 factors to get a $10 reward card. So the 100 factors you get for answering a query are value 2 cents.

In different phrases, to earn a $10 reward card at HelpOwl, you’d need to reply 500 questions. That’s quite a lot of solutions for little or no cash.

Comparatively, when you have been to reply questions on JustAnswer, you’d earn at the very least just a few {dollars} per query and probably $20 or extra for a couple of minutes of labor. We’ve interviewed freelancers who earn six-figure incomes on JustAnswer. That might be mathematically not possible on HelpOwl.

What sort of questions?

It’s value mentioning that the questions posed on HelpOwl aren’t essentially simple to reply, both.

Once we reviewed the location, the questions you may reply included take care of a defective fridge, when each the producer and retailer fail to reply. One requested repair a poorly put in velocity governor in a automotive. And one other requested in regards to the worth of Aflac insurance coverage.

Many of the solutions required a number of paragraphs. Nonetheless, the reply on Aflac merely linked to a evaluation on NerdWallet.

Accumulating factors

Different actions that would earn you factors on HelpOwl:

• Importing a handbook of 1-10 pages (that isn’t already on the location) will get you 250 factors. (Price 5 cents)
• Submitting a handbook of 11-50 pages, that they don’t have already got, will get you 500 factors. (Price 10 cents)
• Submit a handbook of 51-100 pages, that they don’t have already got, and also you get 750 factors. (Price 15 cents)
• And, when you submit a handbook that’s greater than 100 pages lengthy, you get 1,000 factors. (Price 20 cents)
• For those who’re the primary “accepted” reply to a query, you get 1,000 factors (Price 20 cents)
• If somebody upvotes your reply, saying that it’s “useful,” you get 10 factors. (You’d want 5 upvotes to earn a penny.)

Take-aways

However, not solely do you earn a pittance on this web site, the location offers itself the precise to take your factors away.

If one in all your solutions is marked as “unhelpful,” the location deducts 10 factors out of your whole. As well as, the location can take away your factors if a query you answered has been faraway from the location. Or if one in all your questions or opinions was eliminated.

After which there’s the blanket assertion in HelpOwl’s phrases that claims: “We reserve the precise to alter something associated to Factors at any time.”

Worst of all attainable worlds

So, the place the complexity of the questions you’re answering on HelpOwl is just like the questions you’d reply at JustAnswer, the pay will not be. The mechanic that earns six figures on JustAnswer, for example, would most likely earn just a few hundred {dollars} — working full time — if he answered questions right here.

Actually, the pay supplied via HelpOwl is even lower than what you may earn answering questions at survey websites like Qmee, Swagbucks, and SurveyJunkie. Most of those websites pay 5 cents to 25 cents for every survey response. And, with survey websites, you’re answering questions on your private preferences and purchases, which is simpler than giving automotive restore directions or importing a 100-page restore handbook.

Survey websites additionally usually will let you earn cash by enjoying video games and watching ads, which isn’t accessible via HelpOwl.

Redeeming factors

However let’s say you reply questions right here anyway and also you need to money out. On HelpOwl there’s no cashing out till you accumulate at the very least 50,000 factors, which is able to get you a $10 Amazon or Walmart reward card.

For those who do handle to construct up that variety of factors, you merely click on on  “redeem factors” and comply with the directions.

Factors could be redeemed for one in all three items playing cards — Amazon, Walmart or an iGift card. Nonetheless, the iGift card, which might apparently be exchanged for particular person retailer reward playing cards, will value you extra factors — 69,500 to be precise. And it has a $3.95 service charge.

Suggestions

There are much better locations to earn cash than HelpOwl. For example, in case you have data about regulation, drugs, equipment or automotive restore — or dozens of different subjects — you may enroll with JustAnswer and get an affordable cost for every question you reply to.

You probably have deep data about any subject, from client merchandise to well being care, you might also need to take a look at a few of the focus group and armchair consulting companies that pay generously for recommendation. These embrace Maven, Respondent, UserInterviews and Rare Patient Voice (for well being care-related questions and medical analysis).

However you’re fully happy incomes a couple of pennies an hour to your time? You possibly can sign up with HelpOwl here. However don’t say we didn’t warn you.