Maru Springboard America is one of the many survey sites you can join to earn a bit extra by sharing your opinion.
But is Maru Springboard America legit or a scam site to stay away from?
Let me just reveal right away that it is a legit survey site that delivers what it promises. In this case, it pays you to answer surveys.
But whether Springboard America is then a good use of your time and actually worth it is a different matter.
This Springboard America review will answer all your questions and show you exactly what you can expect so you know all the details before deciding to join or not.
Important Update: Springboard America has shut down!
Spirngboard America no longer exist. However, it has just rebranded and changed its website, name, and design, so if you used to be a member, you just need to use another site instead.
The new panel is called Unlock Surveys, and you can read all about it in this Unlock Surveys review and tutorial.
What is Springboard America, and what does it offer?
As you already know, Springboard America is a survey that promises to reward you for sharing your opinions.
This survey site is owned by Maru/Blue, which is a market research company that prides itself on knowing premium quality data.
In fact, the full name of the site is actually Maru Springboard America, but it is mostly just known as Springboard America.
According to themselves, they partner with only the most reputable companies, brands, and organizations and provide them with important data that they gather from the surveys they offer to you.
Seeing as it is a survey site, you can probably guess how you can earn rewards, but I'll present it anyway so you will know all the details about exactly how it works and how good the opportunities are there.
Here are the earning opportunities that Springboard America offers.
Option 1 – Springboard America surveys
It's probably no surprise that your main earning method with Maru Springboard America is through paid surveys.
Once you become a member, you can take the surveys they offer you.
When you log in to the website, you will then see all the available surveys you can take.
Normally, just like with other survey sites, you will also receive an email notifying you that there is an available survey that you can take.
As for the frequency of the available surveys, a lot of members have reported that Springboard America has a low survey invitation frequency.
For a survey site that mostly relies on paid surveys, having a low invitation frequency is really problem, in my opinion.
That means that you won't be able to pile up the reward points as quickly as you would hope (I'll explain more on this later). But if you are able to join, you can still find some surveys here that pay decently for your time spent.
Option 2 – Prize draw
Another common method of earning rewards from survey sites is through a prize draw.
Unfortunately, with Springboard America, it can be a bit difficult to find information on their website regarding the prize draws they hold.
But if you do a bit of digging, you can find the information in the support center. But they basically have three types of prize draws: recruiting, participation, and profiling draw.
For the recruit sweepstakes, you get the chance to win $1,000. The prize is drawn annually. You will join this draw when you first join, so you only get one chance of winning this prize.
For the participation sweepstakes, there will be one winner of $500 and five winners of $50, which will be drawn monthly. Here, you get an entry every time you complete a survey.
As for the profiling sweepstakes, there will be 10 winners of $100 each, which will also be drawn monthly. You will enter this prize draw when you complete a profile survey.
In my opinion, the rewards for the prize draw are actually a bit underwhelming, considering that you will have to rely on luck in order to get the rewards.
Other sites actually have higher prizes offered in their prize draws.
It is, of course, still some nice extra money you can get if you are really lucky – but it is not money you can really count on. So, in my opinion, joining Springboard America just for the prize draws is definitely not worth it.
But if you like what else it has to offer, it is nice you have an extra chance for some winnings even though the prizes are not as high as on some other sites.
Option 3 – Referral/associate program
Another way for you to sometimes earn rewards from Springboard America is through its referral program.
This program used to be available all the time, but that has since changed, so it is not always you can earn by inviting friends.
In general, it's a pretty straightforward process – you will get a link you can share with your friends and if someone joins, you will earn a bonus.
However, this is not an earning method you can count on as Springboard America only runs these Refer A Friend campaigns once in a while, and they just randomly select groups of members that get the opportunity to refer others to join the community.
There are other sites that actually have a better referral program structure. One example is PrizeRebel.
It's a better referral program, in my opinion, because aside from earning rewards for referring people, you also get a percentage of your referral's income. And it is a referral program that is always available.
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How do you get paid?
With Springboard America, you have several ways of redeeming the reward points that you've accumulated.
But let me just explain to you first how their system works. When you successfully complete a survey, you will be awarded points that will be credited to your account within 30 days of completion.
Here's the kicker. Once you hit 5,000 points, which is the cash equivalent of $50, you can then request payment.
You can redeem your rewards in several ways. You can choose between different gift cards like iTunes, Visa, and Google Play. You can also donate to charity or request different gift cards of your choice – I assume this means you can contact them and request a specific gift card if they do not offer what you want.
You used to also be able to get paid in cash via PayPal, but they have removed this option, unfortunately.
However, the payout threshold is very high compared to the quickest paying survey sites, so it will take some patience to be able to get your earnings.
Also, be aware that if you do not have any activity on Mary Springboard America for 5 consecutive months, they might deactivate your account, and you will lose your earnings.
But as long as you stay active, the points will stay in your account.
How much money can you make?
The main issue about income generation in Springboard America is actually its high payment threshold.
The $50 payment threshold is higher than most of the good survey sites.
The thing with a high payment threshold is that you have to do a lot more before you can actually receive the rewards.
That means you have to answer more surveys and refer more members before you can ever hope to request payment.
You also have to consider the fact that the frequency of their survey invitations is quite low. It will basically take you a couple of months to reach the threshold – or maybe even more in some cases.
To answer the question, the minimum amount of money you can earn with Springboard America is $50. But to reach that amount, you'd have to answer several surveys in a span of several months.
So, in my opinion, it is a big letdown for them. There are better sites that pay better and faster.
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Can you use it on mobile?
The Springboard America desktop version actually looks good if you only consider the aesthetics side. The same is true for the mobile version.
The mobile version of their site seems responsive. You will be able to view all the content properly on all the pages.
And to answer the question, yes, you can use it on mobile, but only through a mobile browser. They don't actually have an app you can download and log in to answer the surveys.
In my experience, sites that actually have an app you can download and install so you can answer surveys on your mobile device is much more convenient.
It also gives the assurance that they did invest time and resources in order to give you the best user experience possible.
But it is still great that you can use Springboard America on mobile and tablet, so you can earn from any device if you decide to join.
Who can join Springboard America?
In order to register for Springboard America, you have to be 14 years of age or older.
You also have to be a resident of one of the 50 states of the United States or the District of Columbia.
Also, according to their terms and conditions, employees of MARU, its subsidiaries and affiliates, and members of their immediate family are not eligible to participate.
But they do not always accept new members if you go to their website and try to join. As to why that is, I can only guess that there are already too many members for them to cater to.
It used to be like that for quite a while when I first tested it a few years ago, but at the time of updating this review, they are again accepting new members. But I cannot guarantee they will keep doing that.
Can you get support?
A quick look at their Contact Us page shows that there is a way for you to contact Springboard America just in case you have any inquiries.
In fact, you actually have a couple of ways to contact them. One is through email.
By clicking the link in the Email section, it should open up a new message window in your Microsoft Outlook program or any email sending application that you've installed on your computer.
If you have none, let me save you the trouble of looking for their email address. Here's the email address for their support team: support@springboardamerica.com.
The other method of contacting them is through postal mail. Their address is written on the contact page, so you can just send your letter to that address.
Most survey sites, though, have more convenient ways to contact them because they provide a contact form that you can fill up in case you want to contact them.
A quick look at their social media pages shows that they are quite active here – and they are very fast at getting back to people that leave comments there, which is a great sign.
They also have a very comprehensive FAQ section on the website. So overall, there is plenty of support.
Final Verdict
Springboard America is definitely a legit survey site.
It does reward you with cash by completing their surveys, but that does not necessarily mean it is a good use of time.
So, let's finish this review with a summary of the pros and cons so you can get a better overview before deciding if you want to join or not.
Pros:
- Surveys offered are relatively short
- Has a decent amount of gift cards to choose from when redeeming rewards
Cons:
- High payment threshold
- Low survey invitation frequency
- No longer offers PayPal as payout option
As you can see, Springboard America has both pros and cons.
In my opinion, the inability to quickly earn money because of the high payout threshold is, however, a big minus. In addition to this, it does not always accept members.
There are simply better survey sites that offer better rewards and allow you to earn a lot quicker, and where you can always just go to the websites and join.
Therefore, I recommend you check out the best survey sites in your country to find better opportunities.
If you have any comments, questions, or have any experiences with Springboard America yourself, I would love to hear from you in a comment below.
