How To Earn Money Online With InboxDollars (Review)

The site boasts, “The online rewards club that pays!” But is it? Can you really earn money with InboxDollars?

If you look online for InboxDollars reviews, your search may return mixed feedback. You'll find articles and videos providing both positive and negative feedback. Going straight to the InboxDollars website may be overwhelming if you're unsure how to begin.

With all the available information about InboxDollars, you need someone to break it down and give you the inside scoop.

Let's dive deep into InboxDollars to determine the best way to use the site to your advantage and make as much money as possible. 

Consider this your ultimate, one-stop guide to earning extra money with InboxDollars.

Is InboxDollars Legit?

Anytime you want to make money online, the first thing to do is confirm it's a legitimate opportunity, not a scam. Learning about the site's background and history is a good way to do so.

Daren Cotter founded InboxDollars in 2000 from the comfort of his Minnesota State University dorm room. After graduating with a B.S. in Computer & Information Systems, Cotter made InboxDollars his full-time gig.

Since 2006, the company has paid over $60 million to InboxDollars members. In addition, the company is a member of the Better Business Bureau and part of Prodege, LLC consumer rewards websites. Other companies under the parent company Prodege, LLC are:

• Swagbucks
• MyPoints 
• ShopAtHome

While it is not difficult to make money with InboxDollars, it can be time-consuming.

InboxDollars works by bridging the gap between sponsors looking to reach consumers, promote their products, and secure sales through brand awareness and consumers who come to InboxDollars to earn extra cash.

While using InboxDollars won't make you a millionaire, it may be a good option if you want a reasonably simple way to make a little money on the side.

How To Become a Member of InboxDollars

Begin by downloading the free InboxDollars mobile app from Apple's app store or the Google Play store. Creating an InboxDollars account requires you to be at least 18 and have a valid email address.

Upon signing up, you will receive an email prompt to confirm the email address, and then you will be taken to a survey. This survey will ask you a bunch of questions about yourself. Some of the questions are personal, such as estimating your household income and any health-related conditions you have.

You can select “Prefer not to answer” for any questions you're uncomfortable answering. Once your survey is complete, you will earn $0.50.

Some of the information you provide will determine your eligibility for the site's services and surveys. So, it may benefit you to answer each question in its entirety.

However, it's also likely that some of the information is market research for the site's partners. While this may not be a big deal to many, it may be prudent to consider keeping some of your personal information off the internet.

Of course, it may cause you to lose a few bucks (assuming not answering some questions will exclude you from opportunities.) Still, it's the best way to retain complete control over what information you put on the internet.

Once you sign-up, confirm your email address, and complete your survey, you are an official member of InboxDollars. At this time, you will receive a sign-up bonus of $5.00 inbox dollars for joining, plus $0.50 for completing your introductory survey. So congratulations, you're on your way toward earning your first payment!

How You Get Paid

InboxDollars offers its users real cash. Not gift cards or points, but real PayPal cash. That's one of the important factors that makes InboxDollars one of the best survey sites.

To cash out your earnings for the first time, you must reach the $15.00 minimum payment threshold. After that, subsequent withdrawals only require a minimum balance of $10.

Where To Use

You can use InboxDollars on various electronic devices, including Android, iOS, and your web browser. In addition, you can access InboxDollars anywhere in the United States with a WiFi connection.

Theoretically, you can earn a little money in your free time while you wait to check out at the grocery store, during your child's soccer practice, or waiting at your next doctor's appointment. 

Ways To Earn With InboxDollars

Upon visiting the InboxDollars website, you're presented with the different ways a user can earn cash rewards with InboxDollars, including:

• Market research
• Taking online surveys
• Printing and redeeming coupons
• Cashback shopping (100+ retailers)
• Inviting friends
• Searching the web
• Discovering discounted deals and new offers
• Exploring side hustle and freelancer gigs
• Redeem #WinIt codes for prizes and raffles
• Daily trivia (Learn & Earn)
• Installing free apps
• Watching video content
• Playing popular games like Solitaire and Mahjong
• Scanning product barcodes and UPCs
• Checking into stores

Thankfully, InboxDollars offers a few features to help new members navigate its platform. First, you'll see a box with your new user checklist, guiding you through the online tasks you can complete to make some easy money. 

Here are some of the best ways to earn with InboxDollars:

Online Surveys

Participating in market research surveys are popular online activities to earn easy cash. However, while many online survey sites exist, only A few have as solid a reputation as InboxDollars.

If you choose to complete an online survey through InboxDollars, you can earn between $0.25 – $1.00 per survey. It may seem like an easy enough option, but remember that surveys can take 20+ minutes to complete. So for a quarter, this may not be worth your time.

If you choose the survey route, you must complete a “pre-survey” with some available options. The pre-survey may take 5-10 minutes to determine if you qualify for the money-making survey.

Note: Surveys can be highly situational, as our Survey Junkie review discussed. OpinionOutpost, Toluna Influencers, and MySoapBox are good options for higher-paying surveys. 

Watching Videos

If you enjoy watching TV, the video-watching option may be a good fit for you. Filled with abundant news and celebrity gossip trailers, the videos offer mindless entertainment you can earn to view.

At $0.06 per video, there are more lucrative ways to make your cash. Still, it is easy enough (especially if you're an accomplished multi-tasker) to watch videos in the margins of your day to earn a few extra bucks each month.

Playing Games

If you're an online gamer, this option is for you. With options for word search, solitaire, or a candy crush imitation game, you can find something you enjoy playing.

Here's the precaution with InboxDollar games. Many of them reward your play time with scratch-off tickets, not cash directly.

You use a “virtual” coin to scratch off your winnings from a 6-square card. Usually, each square offers anything between $0.01 to $0.05 per square. However, you can earn up to $10 or $25 with a scratch-off ticket occasionally.

When you play games on InboxDollars, you're engaging the use of a middleman, so there will be another step involved to earn your money. For some, this may be annoying, whereas others may not mind the extra step.

During our testing, we found the Mistplay Android App outperformed InboxDollars and is a great way to earn free Google Play credit.

Opening Paid Emails

When you sign up for InboxDollars, you consent to receive emails from the site. You can expect 3-5 emails to appear daily in your inbox. You will earn cash if you open each email and navigate to the links included (usually product-related).

This is a no-brainer when earning cash through the site. No sign-ups, no games, and no questions. Just a quick click.

Free Offers

Navigating to the “offers” section of the InboxDollars homepage, you'll find many products available for your review. Each will offer something unique. For example, during a recent site review, we found a $100 incentive to become an Airbnb host and $5.00 to subscribe to Hulu. In addition, there are options to open 529 accounts and create profiles to support your children's college funds.

Participating in the offers section is one of the most profitable ways to make money on InboxDollars. However, you must complete every step of the process to be paid for the offer. For example, if you decide to receive your $100 compensation for becoming an Airbnb host, you can't just sign up for Airbnb. You actually have to complete the entire process to become a host.

If you plan on doing this anyway, it's no big deal. But, if you think you can cheat the system, you're mistaken (we tried and failed).

Note: Some of the offers encourage you to complete product-specific surveys. These surveys prompt you to purchase their product and only compensate you if you do. Be cautious about this. There is no sense in spending money to make money. Avoid these unless it is a product you were planning to buy anyway.

Online Shopping

If you're an avid online shopper, then you can earn InboxDollars from going about your daily business. To generate an income, you must start by downloading the InboxDollars toolbar.

The toolbar will alert you to InboxDollars deals as you're shopping and ensure your product purchases go toward your InboxDollar income. It's easy and uncomplicated if you shop online.

Print Coupons

InboxDollars also has a coupon section, offering discounts on products you may use and love. To generate money from this option, you will need to download each coupon you wish to use and scan and use the coupon when you make a purchase.

It's a two-step process that will only benefit you if you complete everything. First, ensure you're not wasting your printer's ink on anything you wouldn't usually purchase or have no intention of buying. Next, be sure to complete the purchase and scan the coupon to get paid.

Web Searches

Yahoo, Google, and…InboxDollars? That's right. There is an InboxDollars search engine you can download and use to browse the web like with any other search engine; only this one pays you! You'll earn $0.01 per search, up to $0.05 per day maximum, and receive a $1.00 download signing bonus.

While this doesn't seem like a lot, this tool defines passive income. Aside from downloading the tool in the beginning, no additional effort is required to earn. After a year of browsing and maxing out your daily search capability, you can earn $19.25. It's not a ton, but with a total effort of one download click, it's almost $20.00 that you wouldn't otherwise have.

Cash Back

You can earn cash back via InboxDollars when making your regular online purchases at over 100 retailers. Cashback earnings vary between 1.5 and 15% of your purchase price. When you're ready to shop, just go to your InboxDollars account, select the retailer you want to visit, and make your purchase as normal. 

Yes, most cashback is on the lower end, and it won't make you rich, but if you're making the purchase anyway, why not get some of your money back?

Join the Facebook Group

Joining the InboxDollars Facebook Group, which boasts more than 2.5 million followers, will gain you access to daily freebies to earn cash. With regular updates announcing the day's keyword, you can enter the promo code on the website and receive a scratch-off card.

Again, nothing will make you rich, but it's another passive way to generate money using the site.

User Interface

The user interface on InboxDollars seems like an overcrowded, complicated mess at first glance. However, when you further investigate and complete your introductory survey and checklist, you'll quickly learn the ropes.

You will find several reminders of what you should be doing when you're there. The initial checklist mentioned above assists you in discovering all of the uses of the site. With increased use, you will find that your ability to navigate becomes easier. Practice makes perfect, after all.

InboxDollars Hacks and Tricks

A few money-earning options on InboxDollars will allow you to earn the most in the least time. This is what currently, as of the publishing of this article, works.

We're unsure how often these change, but regularly checking each earning opportunity is a good practice. Doing so will ensure you're optimizing your potential revenue generation.

Offers and Qualifications

As mentioned, the “Offers” section of the site is one of the most profitable sections. Therefore, we recommend perusing this section every few days and capitalizing on opportunities that fit your lifestyle.

Additionally, surveys can be a quick and easy way to make cash. Assure that when you start a survey, it is something you qualify for and will benefit you. If, at any point, you're asked for information that you're uncomfortable divulging, know that you are not obligated to complete anything.

Pay Attention to Scratch & Win

When you complete an offer, survey, or print a coupon, take note of your scratch-off meter. The scratch-off meter is another passive money-earning opportunity at your browser window's top center.

Any time you complete an item on the site, your meter level will increase, and you will earn credit toward a scratch-off ticket. It's almost as if you're doubling your winnings because not only will you earn cash for the item you've completed, but you will also gain an increase in your scratch-off meter, which leads you to make more money. It's small, yes, but every penny counts.

InboxDollars Cons

While we found the site to be easy and painless for the most part, still, there are a few things worth mentioning.

It Can Take a Long Time

It takes time and effort to reach the $15.00 threshold. Most of the activities and items you can do on the site that don't require purchasing something don't generate more than $0.25.

So, don't expect to hop on the site and earn money in a matter of minutes. It's going to take some dedicated commitment to receive your payouts.

Complete Surveys

The surveys are a money maker, yes, but, in some cases, they can be a time suck.

While it's standard practice, if you don't qualify for the survey, you've wasted your time by taking the qualifying survey.

Everything is in the Details

This may be more reflective of the word of mouth marketing, but it's a bit misleading to tell people you can earn money from sitting at home, searching the web. While it's true in theory, many methods to increase your income on the site require you to follow a multi-step process.

If you're at home watching TV in the evenings, it's not a big deal to multi-task, complete a paid survey or three, or play some online games.

However, if you need to earn cash immediately, you're probably not going to earn a substantial amount of money with this method quickly, aside from the $5 signup bonus.

The Bottom Line

Here's the thing your opinion of InboxDollars, will depend on your personality, how you want to spend your spare time, and your level of patience. Some options are a no-brainer, like using the search engine, clipping coupons, or entering the daily promo code to earn a scratch-off ticket. However, some other options may require too much time for not enough money.

If you've got the time, patience, and energy also to do the less passive activities, you'll earn more money in the long run.