Pinecone Research Reviews and Features

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Pinecone Research

85 Broad Street, New York, New York  10004 US
Tel: 800.864.1224   Contact: https://members.pineconeresearch.com/#/ContactUs
Operated by: The Nielsen Company, LLC

KEY FEATURES:

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PAYMENTS OFFERED

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HOW TO PARTICIPATE

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REDEEMING REWARDS

Typically, rewards are delivered within a few business days or sometimes even immediately after completing a survey. Your first 100 points will equate to $1, which will be sent to your home address.

Pinecone Research is a trusted leader in the survey panel industry. They are owned and operated by the market research company Nielsen, whose operations are headquartered in New York.

Pinecone Research focuses on improving the quality of tomorrow’s products through collecting research via paid surveys and product testing opportunities offered to consumers.

How Pinecone Research Works

pinecone research website

Pinecone Research Sign Up

Pinecone Research is an invitation-only survey panel, where members can earn rewards for participating in online surveys and product tests. Potential new members must be invited by other members to join, or they must find a join link posted on a website. SurveyPolice currently offers Pinecone Research signup links for Americans, Canadians, and people living in the UK: » Join Pinecone Research here.

To learn more about how to sign up for Pinecone Research, including tips on joining and why there are membership restrictions in place to begin with, check out our article on how to find an invitation to join Pinecone Research, as it should help answer any questions you may have about the process.

Payment and Rewards

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Reward Types and Amounts

For each survey successfully completed, Pinecone Research awards its members a minimum of 100 points, which equals $1.00 in your local currency. For example, Americans will earn $1.00 USD per survey, Canadians typically earn $1.00 CAD per survey, while Britons earn £1 per survey completion. There are a variety of rewards options that accumulated points can be exchanged for. These include:

  • Bank Transfer - Pinecone offers cash payments issued via bank transfer. When selecting this option, you will be asked to create a 'wallet' on a third-party payment processor website. Once set up, you can request a cash payment deposited directly into your bank account. Payments are issued in $10, $5, and $3 increments (which can be in different quantities; ex. 4 x $3 = $12). Bank transfers are typically issued within 48 hours of request, but can take up to 3-5 business days.
  • Amazon e-Cards - You can choose to receive an Amazon gift card with your collected points. The e-card will be sent directly to your email account.
  • Other Gift Cards - Pinecone Research offers a variety of gift card options including Starbucks, Apple Store, Walmart gift cards, as well as many others. Gift cards may be digital or in physical format and are listed under these categories.
  • Merchandise - Pinecone Research offers an extensive merchandise catalog consisting of various small electronics, household items and more. Merchandise rewards will be mailed directly to your home.
  • Prepaid Virtual Visas – prepaid Visa cards are available for redemption, however, they may only available to US residents.
Points Value: 100 Pinecone Research points = $1.00.

Redeeming Rewards

To redeem your rewards, simply visit the Pinecone Research website and log in to your account. From there, click the "Redeem" button to access the reward site. Under the SHOP tab next to HOME tab, select the reward items you wish to redeem and once you click on an item you are interested in, click the shopping cart icon to add the item to your cart. Click the shopping cart icon on the right side of the page to complete your order.

Note that PayPal is no longer offered as a rewards option and was replaced by bank transfers.

Earn your First Check/Bank Transfer Automatically

Once you complete your first survey, which is always worth a minimum of 100 points, Pinecone Research will automatically send you a check for $1.00 to the mailing address on your profile, or will ask you to cash out via bank transfer. This is a security measure to establish your profile and account. After your first check/bank transfer (or 30 days of being an active Pinecone member, whichever comes first), you will have the option to choose the form in which you would like to receive your future rewards.

Visit Pinecone Research's website 

Survey Taking Experience

Survey Types

Interesting online surveys are e-mailed to members, and are on a variety of different topics. As a Pinecone Research member, you are part of an elite group that represents consumers and households like yours nationwide. Your opinion is important to manufacturers who count on people like you to help predict which products will be developed and which may not be suited for launch. Paid surveys opportunities usually take about 15 to 20 minutes of your time to complete and you will be notified by e-mail when one becomes available.

Product Testing Opportunities

Occasionally, Pinecone may mail out products for their members to test from home. These may be physical products, or food items that may come delivered in a cooler. A follow-up survey is usually provided as part of the product test. These opportunities are highly sought after, as you may receive free food (or a product that you might be able to keep), as well as a paid follow up survey!

Visit Pinecone Research's website 

Community Features

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Pinecone Research App

If you prefer to take surveys on the go, you can download the Pinecone Research app onto your iOS or Android mobile device. The app will allow you to view available surveys, take online surveys, view and redeem your points, view your account history and more. Just remember to first join the Pinecone Research panel itself before attempting to take surveys through the app!

Quick Customer Service

If you have a question on anything Pinecone Research-related, do not hesitate to send in an inquiry through the website. The response time is usually 1-3 business days, or even quicker depending on the workload of employees during the time of your question.

Is Pinecone Research Legit or Scam?

pinecone research legit or scam

Is Pinecone Research Legit?

Pinecone Research is legitimate and is not a scam. This survey program is over fifteen years old and has paid out millions of dollars in rewards to its members. Pinecone offers quality paid surveys and product tests to its members and is known for offering fair rewards. Operated by Nielsen, a market research leader, Pinecone Research is not a scam and is a completely legitimate website.

Eligibility: Available in select countries including USA, UK, Canada, Pinecone Research is an invitation-only panel.


Please note that PInecone Research has been targeted by a cashier's check scam. If you receive a large, unexpected check seemingly from Pinecone, DO NOT attempt to cash it!

Pinecone Research Reviews (695)

5 Star Reviews (387) 55.7
55.7
4 Star Reviews (94) 13.5
13.5
3 Star Reviews (51) 7.3
7.3
2 Star Reviews (41) 5.9
5.9
1 Star Reviews (122) 17.6
17.6

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Pinecone Research Account

May 7, 2017 by Darla from United States

I have been a member of this panel for a while and I love it.I have been able to sample products in my home and write a review. The rewards are great. All kinds of e-gift cards and Virtual Visas in different amounts.
I have never had a problem until I tried to log in to my account. They started using 2-step authentication, which I didn't know how to use. I emailed them and was told to use the Google Authenticator app. I tried it and every code that is generated shows as invalid.I have sent more emails and am getting no help with this. I am thinking of quitting the panel because I cannot access my rewards.If something happens that I can get into my account, I will change my rating.

Never Paid out Sweepstakes Win

March 3, 2017 by jim from United States

I have been a member for several years now and have had no problems until I won a sweepstakes in October and never received my $500 compensation. BBB is involved but still not resolved.

horrible customer service

January 10, 2017 by Mike from United States

Karen sends out cookie cutter replies to my emails, over and over, but has YET to resolve my issues with this site, can't sign in to surveys, can't get the paypal email, can't get ANY answers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I've already logged a complaint with the BBB, and will blast this site all over the web if the she doesn't fix my issues, which I have asked, very nicely for many weeks to get resolved. This site as of now, SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Look, I have been doing online surveys for many years with many companies, and have NEVER been treated this horribly by any of them until this. so yeah, I am not happy!

Failure of $50 payment

December 22, 2016 by Dot from United States

I was a member of Pinecone Research for over a year. I successfully finished surveys and when I tried to cash out my balance was .50 cents. I sent them an email and they said the two large surveys had technical errors. I spent many hours on this panel. I was disappointed. One research survey was 2 hours of a pilot TV review. Overall they have a good rating. I would try it but be cautious.

Tried to install software on my computer

November 13, 2016 by Jenni from United States

I was very pleased with this group in the beginning. Surveys are kind of long and always pay $3/300 points. I received an email from them asking if I wanted to join a group who would allow Amazon to place software on my computer and be able to see my emails and purchases. I declined. They were rather pushy about this and I continued to decline. They finally quit emailing me to join this "Amazon thing". About 2 months ago I completed a survey and at the end was a large button to click on, an additional 300 point reward, and just a simple "join this something ( I don't remember the word but it was not Amazon) and receive a reward". There was no explanation of what you were joining and it seemed real easy and simple. I'm overly cautious sometimes so before clicking on that "reward" button I googled/researched the word and right away it came up that it was this Amazon email software. There was absolutely NO explanation on their website of what it was you would be joining if you clicked on this "reward" button and that you would be allowing them to place this Amazon email tracking software on your computer. I emailed Pinecone that I was extremely angry about this and told them that I thought it was illegal and sneaky that they did this in this manner and that you are not supposed to sneak tracking software onto people's computers without their knowledge. I know they receive payment from Amazon for every person they get to sign up for this program. Needless to say I have parted ways with Pinecone. I was pleased with their survey program up to this point. Just pay very close attention to what you are signing up for once you join up and you should be ok.