Welcome to my Bigspot Review!
You probably know by now that these days, if you are not careful with what you are doing online you will get scammed quite easily. And one of the online industries that is rife with scammers is the survey sites.
Survey sites offer a great way for people to make some extra cash on the web. There are several legit sites that actually empower people who need this money, making it possible for them to at least put a dent in their bills or go out and watch the latest movie every once in a while. And this is all great. In fact, I have reviewed many of the best survey sites and recommended to my readers. Check out this page for my top recommended survey sites
However, on the flip side, there are even more scam sites looking to prey upon the desperate and to steal from them. These sites pretend to be legit survey sites when all they want from you is your information. They are the main reason why people need to be aware about their activities online.
These scam programs come in all shapes and sizes. Many of them have the face of a seemingly lucrative survey platform or attractive cashback schemes. If you know what to look out for, you will see that they all have the same malicious intent. If you fall for them, you will realize that they can set you back months in time and money.
So how can you tell which site is legit and which is not? Well, sometimes all you can do is read the reviews and answer that question for yourself. There is no formula to this.
One up and coming site in this space is Bigspot. It is an online survey platform that promises to literally transform your life. So does it have the potential to make you money or is it just another scam program? This is the subject of this article. Here is my Bigspot review.
WHAT IS BIGSPOT?
Bigspot is an online survey platform. A survey platform or survey site is a site where people fill out surveys and answer marketing questions and get paid for it.
Understanding their business model is quite important in the quest to understand this service. However, when you first visit their official site, you will be left with more questions than answers.
Their lack-luster homepage does little to describe what service the site really offers. On the left-hand side you can see a picture with a note that says:
1. Sign up, it’s fast, easy and free
2. Get matched with the companies that need your opinions.
3. Take their free surveys and put extra cash in your pocket.
On the right-hand side of the page, you can see a form that is asking you to fill in your personal information. Since you absolutely have no clue exactly what it is that this site does, it is quite understandable if you are a bit hesitant at this point.
In fact, it is very important to always be very careful when handing over your information to sites like this one.
BigSpot is a paid survey site that has only started to make waves recently. The service is free to join, just like every market research site should be. However, BigSpot is a little different in a lot of ways from regular paid survey sites.
They do not provide you with surveys and compensation for your completed work as all other sites do. Instead, BigSpot acts as a portal website that merely gives you a list of other free paid survey sites, encouraging you to sign up at a variety of the offered companies.
Since they do not actually give you surveys to take, BigSpot is not responsible for paying you. Individual companies you sign up to are then responsible for your compensation. It is these companies that are then responsible for setting up the terms and conditions or the policies and regulations about the method, period and type of compensation you will receive.
This is a glaring red flag. There is no way of knowing what you are getting into by signing up to anything BigSpot recommends.
The company is honest in their opinions, stating that market research surveys will not make you rich but are a good way to make extra money. They also add one more bit of information on their Terms and Conditions page, saying that BigSpot will never ask you to pay fees or charges to them at any time.
BigSpot is featured on the Better Business Bureau(BBB). However, they are not accredited. Their social media sites are also rather disappointing. They feature random videos and retweets that are clearly there to fill up the spaces. Similar sites engage their audiences and even offer promo codes on their social media pages. So as a matter of first impressions, the BigSpot social media pages are chaotic, unresponsive, and very unprofessional.
HOW DO THEY MAKE THEIR MONEY THEN?
BigSpot is not actually a paid survey site since they do not provide you with the surveys and compensation like other sites, like Swagbucks, for example. It is not a market research company either. So how do they keep their company afloat? It is a business, after all, they must be getting their revenue from somewhere.
Well, if you read the fine prints of the policy documents, you will find the answer. BigSpot makes its money by sharing customer information with third parties such as advertisers and salesmen! These third parties will them spam you with marketing information and emails, annoying you to no end. So if you have a work email, I would advise you not to use it when signing up.
BigSpot claim that they do not give your information to third parties unless you’ve authorized them to do so. Well, this is not exactly true. BigSpot will ask for authorization in an underhanded manner, for example by saying that you have been chosen for a special offer, or by asking if you would like more information about particular opportunities.
Once you give them the ‘authorization’ they need, your information has been legally sold. It is as simple as that. They prey on moments when you get a bit careless and sloppy. The biggest complaint among BigSpot users is the fact that they have been receiving spam and contacts from people that they claim they never agreed to.
Therefore, if you are looking to make money by participating in market research programs and surveys, BigSpot is not the best place to go. There are countless other free paid survey portals out there that will take better care of your information.
See How To Make Extra Money With Paid Surveys and More!
CAN YOU MAKE MONEY WITH BIGSPOT?
There are two answers to this question. There is a short answer and a really long one. Well, the short answer is yes you actually can. Some have done it before, and have posted positive reviews about the company.
The long answer is the same as the short one but with some differences: you can earn money using BigSpot but your experience will not be as quick, easy and painless as you might be thinking or they might have made you believe it is. If you compare the amount of time you put in and the money you will earn, it will be quite clear that it is not really worth all the hassle.
BIGSPOT, LEGIT OR SCAM?
BigSpot is a complete waste of your time. No one in their right mind will recommend this site to you, and if someone has the confidence to do so, think twice.
There are a couple of red flags it raises that automatically discredit the platform:
• Their contact page is absolutely useless. There is really no reliable way to communicate with the team behind the site. There is no customer service desk or support page to help you through the difficulties you will definitely run into because of them referring you to other survey companies. I could not even find a phone number or an email address to contact support.
• The company’s domain name is registered by Varsityplaza LLC. It is almost impossible to find any information about this supposed ‘parent company’. It is even uncertain if the email address to this company is valid.
• There are a lot of negative reviews and complaints about it on all customer review sites. The sheer number of issues being raised will be enough to discourage me from signing up for their services.
Having said all this, I don’t feel comfortable calling it an outright scam. It does put you in touch with some legit survey sites. I just think it is a waste and that there are better (and true) survey sites you should focus on! Why not bypass this middleman and go straight to the survey sites themselves?
COMPLAINTS ABOUT BIGSPOT.COM
• Not qualifying for surveys
Many people complain about the site being a complete waste of their time. This was mainly because for many of them, they would start surveys but about 15 questions later, they found that they had not qualified for the survey in the first place.
They look for very specific demographics for each survey and if you do not fit into that category, you are disqualified and do not get paid. This seems to be very common to many users.
• Very little payouts
BigSpot redirects you to a number of survey sites. Most of these sites pay very little.
Perhaps this is a survey sites issue in general. Generally, survey sites pay very little. Some survey sites will pay you better than others but the difference between what you and other participants get is quite little.
Taking surveys is an investment in time. These sites do not compensate you according to the time you actually sacrifice. Many survey sites will pay you anything from $0.5-$5 for the surveys you take. The short five-minute ones will earn you $0.5 while the longest ones which usually take you about an hour will earn you $5.
• BigSpot is an intermediary website.
Most people say that this site adds them little or no value. These people say that they could’ve literally found a list of other survey sites to sign up on their own. It is totally unnecessary.
• BigSpot social media sites lack the professional feel that similar sites have. A few videos and retweets do not cut it.
BIGSPOT REVIEW SUMMARY
Let’s condense this review into a few sentences:
• BigSpot has proven to be untrustworthy on occasions
• They are only out to make money off your personal information. They will sell it to third parties. It may not be safe to use!
• BigSpot is absolutely unnecessary. It is nothing more than a middleman. They do not even pay you. It is definitely better to go right to the source instead of working through them.
• There is a lot of bad energy around it. Very many people are complaining about it. When you see something like this, there is only one thing to do: Run!
FINAL THOUGHTS
It is best to steer clear of BigSpot. They are clearly out to make money by selling your personal information. They are definitely not here to help you, and it should be pretty clear by now that they are motivated by their own selfish reasons.
Be careful not to fall prey to these kinds of products. It is always a good idea to do a little digging every time instead of always taking things at face value. With time, you will develop a nose for these things and be able to spot a fake from a mile away.
See How To Make Extra Money With Paid Surveys and More!
That being said, I hope that this Bigspot review has given you enough information to make an informed decision. I have spent a lot of time looking for the best survey sites. I have written extensive reviews and made recommendations based on my research and experiences. If you want to make extra money through surveys (or other methods) please Click here now for a list of “extra Income” opportunities that I have thoroughly vetted.
To your success,
Mike Aha