Apex Focus Group Review: Is It Legitimate?

What is Apex Focus Group

Lets find out if Apex Focus Group, a market research company, is legit. Most of us know what a focus group is, but in case you don't, lets start there. Focus groups have been around forever to help businesses launch and improve their products and services. Getting genuine feedback from a panel of consumers helps give them direction. It also helps them figure out where best to spend their marketing dollars.

Apex Focus Group has been around for several years and they're a company that wants to match you up with paid focus groups near you. They currently offer over 1,000 legitimate focus group opportunities and survey panels – these can include clinical trials for clinical research studies. Their website states, “…everything from consumer packaged goods to medical and healthcare advancements, we offer a wide range of market research groups that fit your interests, background, lifestyle and location.”

Apex Focus group has two offices, one in the United States and one in Singapore. The Apex Focus Group phone number appears to be unlisted, or not easily found. However, here is the office info and email address:

• U.S Office: 2160 Kingston Court SE Ste E, Marietta, GA 30067
• Singapore Office: 316C Punggol Way, Singapore 823316
• [email protected]

Apex Focus Group Jobs (or participation opportunities)

The good news is that Apex Focus Group offers several ways for you to earn. These “jobs” vary in how much they pay — but it will give you a variety to choose from. While researching Apex, from what I can gather they aren't the ones actually doing the focus groups or surveys. They are simply gathering all the focus groups, clinical trials and paid surveys that meet their criteria and sharing it with it's members.

That being said, it appears like they are trying to keep the quality of offerings for their members high.

Paid Surveys

Paid surveys have been around forever and Apex is no stranger to them. Most of their surveys fall in the product testing category. For the participant, this is awesome because typically you get to keep the product you're testing.

Using the product and giving your unbiased, honest opinion is what is important to the marketers/companies wanting this feedback. So much so, companies have for years paid for this feedback.

I am sure there will be regular online surveys as well.

Apex Focus Group Clinical Trials

Apex also occasionally offers clinical trials – these can offer experimental medical treatments if you're willing to sign up for them. An experimental treatment can end up becoming a lifesaving treatment down the road.

Paid Focus Groups

There will be a pre–qualification, you'll be emailed a survey to see if you qualify. They typically respond within 24-48 hours on whether you qualified for any session studies. They may reach out to confirm some of your answers as well. But they are good about instructions. You might need a webcam (or camera of some sort), laptop / desktop or cellphone the phone can typically be either iOS or Android) to participate.

Compensation for a particular study and the time commitment is different for every focus group. Typically anything over an hour session is going to pay more — ranging from $75 to $100. The shorter ones will pay less, obviously. Many of these focus groups have been online instead of in person lately. I am sure the in person ones will be more available at a later time. 

It looks like there are several ways to be paid. Mainly PayPal, but also gift cards and those prepaid Visa cards.

Apex Focus Group Positives

It's nice that they send out emails to let members know when something has come available. There's also a large variety of focus groups to try to qualify for. And let's not forget that they pay in cash, which is certainly what we want!

Make sure your profile is filled out completely – so that you can be matched with the right market research studies and receive invitations. Many find they can grab something that fits into their schedule. But one of the biggest complaints, and this is true – this is not a way to make a full time income. It's not income to rely on.

These studies can cover a lot of areas, including pets, electronics, entertainment, automobiles, movies, fast food and more. So, if you're someone that enjoys casual dining, tv shows, upscale dining – there are opportunities. One of my favorite things are the opportunities for animal lovers. Having three pets myself – I want to give input on consumer products that apply to pet health and care.

Is Apex Focus Group Legit

Reading through all the forums and reviews it's a mixed bag. There are those that had great experiences and were paid close to $100 for their time. There are others that say it's a waste of time. So, it might be something to check out — but I wouldn't invest tons and tons of time. Sign up, see there is anything that interests you, try to qualify and see what happens. It could turn out to be a positive, lucrative investment. But if not — you haven't spent hours upon hours with it either.

I know it can seem really sketch at times with survey companies and focus groups — but I can say that I have personally had great success with Respondent. I've made a few hundred dollars with them, so I can recommend them. I also have a post that lists several focus groups if you'd like to check out even more opportunities. LIST OF LEGITIMATE PAID FOCUS GROUPS (AND HOW TO GET STARTED!)

Final Thoughts

If you're looking for remote work, or even a part-time job — focus groups aren't going to cut it. There aren't any fees to participate and you could end up with free stuff to boot, but it's not a legit income. The variety is pretty broad too as I mentioned above, everything from cell phones (smartphone) to pet products to video games. You might also want to check out survey sites I've had great success with.