Be sure to open that MRI Simmons mail for cash and a survey that gets you a $25 Amazon gift card! This one is real and verified not a scam.

I almost threw out the unsolicited envelope from MRI Simmons that arrived in the mail, as I thought it was junk mail advertising one of those MRI full-body scan services. On the way to the trash can, I opened it to discovered $2 in cash!

And while $2 is not a whole lot, it’s still real cash you don’t want to just throw away. Plus, you have the chance to earn even more by doing the survey.

MRI Simmons Mail Survey of the American Consumer

The letter explains that these surveys are randomly sent out and are for a specific person in your household that fits the required demographic. They should be the one to complete the survey.

The $2 is an advance thank you for the doing the survey. There’re no strings attached, so you can just keep the money and toss the mail if you want.

I chose to go ahead with the survey, with the promise of a $25 Amazon gift card at the end.

MRI Simmons is a market research company that has been conducting research studies about the lives of American consumers since 1979. They choose a random sample starting with a list of addresses in the U.S. Only certain households are selected each year, and you can’t request to be included or recommend anyone. It’s totally random.

The survey responses drive important research about consumer preferences. This information is combined with the responses from others to help their clients make decisions about product development, marketing, and business strategy.

They do not attempt to sell you anything during or after the survey, and do not allow anyone else to use your information for that purpose. They letter they send has their website link that has an informative FAQ section and an e-mail where you can send any questions.

MRI Survey for Free Amazon Gift Card

The Survey of the American Consumer took me about 30 minutes to complete. It may take you longer depending on your answers and how fast you read and respond.

The questions are mostly about magazines, TV and radio use. Some of it is incredibly tedious, like going through a list of 136 magazines and 157 TV stations and replying to each one whether you had watched it or looked at it recently.

They don’t ask your address, but they do ask your name and phone number at the end. I hate giving out my phone number, but I put it in there just in case I needed it for the gift card. (It was not needed for that)

After you finish and submit the survey, you get a confirmation notice that your gift card will be e-mailed to you, so make sure you give them your correct e-mail address!

I got my Amazon gift card less than a minute later, and immediately deposited it in my Amazon account.

So, if you do get one of these letters, at least get your $2. And the survey is a nice easy way to earn $25 for Amazon!

Update: The Follow-up Survey

A couple weeks after sending in the survey, another survey came in the mail. This time with $5 attached and the promise of a $50 Amazon card upon completion of the survey. However, this survey is a big book with tons of questions about products. It’s a bit daunting unless you have tons of free time to sit around answering questions.

I do not have a lot of free time and did not want to use any of it to sit down and answer all the questions, so that one went into the trash. Of course I kept the $5, as it’s not like I can send it back.