Test and vote will send you samples of products to try, which you get to keep.

Get paid Amazon vouchers for rating movies and music.

Become a mystery shopper and get paid to shop.

Pick Them.

Earn money for carrying out online surveys.

There are a large and growing number of market research companies that will actually pay you to do surveys, test products and even go shopping for them or take part in focus groups.

Surveys can be completed online and generally earn you from a few pence to a couple of pounds each. Product tests normally require the product to be sent to your home. Some sites have sent out Playstations and other electronic equipment in the past! You can keep the item once you've tested it, and it costs you nothing, so it's well worth going for.

If you've been with a survey site for a long time or fit a particular profile, they may ask you to participate in a focus group. This generally means traveling to a central location and talking about a certain topic for an hour or so with other volunteers. The payments are quite generous however.

Becoming a mystery shopper is an ideal way to earn additional income if you don't work during the day or have irregular hours. You can be paid to go into a shop and buy something or eat a meal in a restaurant and report back on the service afterwards. Often you get to keep what you've bought (and certainly in the case of food and drink).