Do Legitimate Product Testing Opportunities Exist?
Online opportunities to test products do exist, but how do you tell the legitimate offers from the fake ones that lead nowhere? It can be frustrating to spend time searching, filling out page after page of personal information, only to find that you've reached a dead end. And it's enough to leave you wondering if these jobs were ever really available!
One of the simplest and safest ways to get involved with testing products is to sign up to a legitimate online survey panel who offer product testing. You may not get to test something as often as you might like, but at least you're not wasting time on false claims of receiving the latest technology product on the market, which you can allegedly keep following the product test.
Other online opportunities for testing products need very careful consideration, as well as spending a little time checking certain things out before making the leap to signing up.
How to Spot the Fakes
Before you sign up with any site, the following scenarios should help you to rule out the no go areas and save you the headache of clicking on leads that go nowhere:
Offers to Test the Latest Expensive Gadgets
These offers usually come via an email, with the subject matter in capital letters offering you the chance to test the product. Firstly, receiving an unsolicited email is a clear sign that something isn't all it seems. Whilst there's no escaping a certain amount of spam, this one is is designed to excite and entice you into signing up in the hope that you will be selected, but it's nothing more than a method of collecting as many different sets of personal details as possible. Of course, it would be wonderful to test the latest laptop or tablet computer - especially if you're getting to keep it afterwards - but, in reality, what is the likelihood of product testers being recruited in this way?
Paying to Download User Manuals
A new gadget means new instructions - and instructions can often come in the form of books or manuals that you could be asked to download. What you don't know from the outset is that you have to pay for the pleasure of downloading these instruction manuals, and whilst they may sound relatively cheap, what happens after you've parted with your credit card details could be expensive. You may find that you've paid full price for testing that new gadget, and if you're really unlucky, you may find that your credit card has been seriously abused.
Completing Offers You Don't Actually Want
This is a really common dead end that isn't exclusive to product testing. You start with filling out your basic personal details, then the next page of questions will start prompting you to take up offers that usually require some form of payment from you, or at least that you agree to being contacted by third parties via email, phone and/or post. If you're lucky you may find a box to tick that allows you to opt out of being contacted, but good luck with finding it! And if you try to unsubscribe at a later date, it could be a lengthy process. After all that, you still don't get a product to test.
Congratulations! You've won!
Or, maybe you might win if you sign up and provide your personal details. These offers are rarely anything to do with product testing and are usually affiliate marketing schemes that rely on collecting and distributing personal information around the internet, in the name of marketing. Don't even bother opening those emails.
To Product Test or Not To Product Test?
If all or any of these possibilities have made you think twice about having anything to do with product testing, rest assured that there are reputable organizations online who do offer the chance to test products, but testing the latest smartphones and tablets is not typical of the offers you will receive. The manufacturers of these types of expensive products will have teams of employees testing every aspect of these gadgets before they're released to the general public, so signing up to one of the above offers will always be a blind alley.
The good news is that there are possibilities and opportunities online to test more mainstream products such as household items, food items, pet foods and even health and beauty products. But do your homework before you go through the signing up process; check out contact details and phone the company if you feel you need some extra reassurance.
More importantly, never pay for the opportunity to test a product, and take care of your personal financial details at all times.