Pinecone Research

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Pinecone Research

by Aethyna Jan 18, 2018 | 0 Votes | 1 Registered | 0 Reviews Your vote

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Methods:

Rewards:

Cash , Gift Cards , Products , Sweepstakes

Min Payout:

$1-$5

Highlights:

Survey Invitation Pinecone Research is a growing paid survey site established by a pretty renowned consumer market research company, Nielsen Company, that offers its users points in exchange for their contributions. Unlike other survey sites which covers a wide range of survey topics, this site focuses more on product consumption research. Sign-up Now Similar Survey Sites Registered Post a Review

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Introduction Registration Earning Methods Survey Quality Rewards Highlights Conclusion Pros & Cons

Introduction

Pinecone Research is a growing paid survey site established by a pretty renowned consumer market research company, Nielsen Company, that offers its users points in exchange for their contributions. Unlike other survey sites which covers a wide range of survey topics, this site focuses more on product consumption research.

Registration

To sign up, you’ll need to be a resident of US, Canada or the UK and be 18 years old and above. In addition to this, you’ll also need to wait until registration is open on the site – if they have enough panelist, then registration will be closed and you’ll need to try again. Existing members of Pinecone Research won’t be able to send you an invite either.

Assuming that you managed to register, you’ll also need to wait for their approval before you’re truly on board. The sign up is naturally free. However, take note that Pinecone Research has a very strict policy when it comes to the number of accounts per household – the answer is one, by the way. If you decide to leave the research panel, you can use the Opt-Out function to send them an exit request. The site doesn’t mention whether your information will still be held by them though – it probably is.

Earning Methods

Since Pinecone Research focuses on product consumption research, the site only offers 2 ways for you to earn some points. The main way is, of course, by completing paid surveys. After completing a survey, your points will only be added to your account within 3 to 5 business days.

Another way to earn on this survey panel is by testing products. Products are provided for free and you can keep them at the end of the test most of the time. However, there will be times when the manufacturer may want to product back for further analysis.

Survey Quality

Most of the surveys on this site are basically normal questionnaires that will take you 15 to 20 minutes to complete, though sometimes, you may be required to install additional plug-ins to your browser, such as Flash and Microsoft Media Player.

If you are participating in surveys via the mobile app, well, some users have reported that sometimes, they may need to switch over to their laptops or PCs to complete their surveys. Many users have also complained about the app, mentioning that for instance, the broken shop tracker has not been fixed even months after being reported by multiple users. The app, in general, can be pretty buggy. Unless you have no choice, it might be best to stick with the PC/browser version.

Now, unlike some paid survey sites where you can choose your own surveys, on this panel, you can only participate in surveys that you are invited for. However, you will still need to answer their “Household survey” questions in order to determine if you really qualify for that survey.

Many users report that the surveys they get are incredibly infrequent, with some reporting one survey per day while others one per month. However, do take note that you can control how many surveys you receive via the survey invitation checkbox in your PineCone profile. By default, users should be getting a survey every week.

The rate per survey seems to be pretty good. Many users report getting $3-worth of points per survey, which is a pretty sweet deal. However, there’s a larger number of users who reported of not being appropriately credited for the surveys they have completed. A user noted that he was credited a mere $3-worth of points for completing $20-worth of surveys.

Of course, that’s not including the fact that Pinecone Research does reserve the right to boot you from a survey panel without notice due to reasons like violations of the T&Cs which is understandable, but also for reasons like adjusting the panel composition. You might want to bear this in mind when joining.

Rewards

Pinecone Research uses a points-based system and as such, you’ll be required to accumulate enough points before you can “cash out”. Note that the reward points you get can only be stored for so long – if you are inactive (not earning new points) for 12 consecutive months, your points will automatically expire.

The points you have can be exchanged for cash (PayPal or check) or prizes (items like gift cards, a virtual VISA card or merchandises), but for your first 300 points, the site will automatically help you cash out in the form of a check just so they can confirm your address and some other particulars.

After that check, you can then withdraw your points as cash at a payout minimum of $1 directly to a local bank, but your payout will be subjected to PayPal’s transaction fee if you do not meet its minimum threshold values. It is also unknown what each Pinecone Point is currently valued at and hence, it is hard to estimate the points-to-cash exchange rate.

Pinecone Research also provides sweepstakes that their users can participate for free. There’s a limit of 35 tickets per household and that the sweepstake is held every 3 months, but the prizes can be really attractive with the jackpot usually being hundreds of dollars in cash.

Highlights

Aside from its exclusivity, which is evident from its limited sign-ups and invitation-only surveys, Pinecone Research doesn’t really have any other highlights. The site doesn’t have a referral program as of current, but supposedly, they are considering setting up one.

Conclusion

As far as legit goes, Pinecone Research as a pretty legitimate paid survey site despite its many failings. It does pay its users… maybe just not the actual amount they might be owed due to system errors like not crediting the correct amount of points. The site may be cross-platform but we’d highly suggest you avoid the app at least until they fix the multiple issues, lest you get nothing from doing surveys there.

Pros & Cons

Pros:

A minimum payout of as low as $1

Multiple payout methods including cash payouts

Legitimate privacy policy

Exclusivity – invitational surveys and limited registration

Different earning methods

Good rates per survey

Fun sweepstake events

Cons:

Difficult to qualify for an actual survey

Limited number of surveys

Not a lot of details (list of rewards, points-to-cash exchange rate, etc) prior to signing-up

Poor support service

Harsh penalties for multiple accounts or providing false answers

Accepts only participants from selected countries

No compensation for pre-surveys/ household surveys