Apex Focus Group Review: Is It Legit?

If you’ve been trying to find paid focus groups to participate in so you can make a little extra cash on the side, chances are, you’ve come across Apex Focus Group. Here’s some basic information about them just in case you’re curious. 

What is Apex Focus Group?

According to their website, Apex helps potential participants find paying focus groups near them. They also have several nationwide paying focus groups posted on their listings page, which is nice for those who’d rather participate remotely.

From what I gathered by perusing their site, their team gathers focus group listings from various market research companies and posts them for potential participants to apply for. You can also sign up with Apex directly to learn about even more focus group opportunities. 

Types of Work You Can Get with Apex

Apex makes finding focus groups to apply for relatively easy by listing:

• The topic of the focus group 
• Which company is running the focus group
• How much the focus group pays and how it pays (cash, Visa card, gift card, etc)
• The specific location of the focus group discussion or whether it is nationwide (within the United States)
• The required participant age range
• Gender the focus group is geared toward

Clinical Trials

Apex also states that they can help people get access to experimental treatment in the form of paid clinical trials from a wide range of market research groups. If you sign up with Apex, they claim that they can connect you with clinical research studies that offer treatments under development. 

Paid Surveys

Like a lot of the other focus group companies I’ve researched, Apex also claims that they can provide opportunities for you to participate in paid surveys from a market research company. And, they also claim to have access to paying surveys where they allow participants to try out new consumer products (like video games) before they are released in stores, which is pretty cool. Who doesn’t like free stuff?

Is Apex Focus Group BBB Accredited?

According to the BBB’s website, Apex Focus Group is not accredited through them. However, they currently don’t have any reviews (negative or positive) posted, and they have an A- rating. But, if you read my Focus Groups post, you already know that I like to use caution when it comes to the BBB. So, the fact that they aren’t BBB accredited isn’t a total deal breaker in my opinion. 

Is Apex Focus Group Legit?

If you Google the keywords: “Apex Group,” the phrase, “Is Apex Focus Group legitimate?” might pop up in your search, which is kind of concerning if you ask me. So, I decided to dig a little deeper and try to get to the bottom of whether or not Apex Focus Group is a legitimate resource for finding paying focus groups. 

According to Survey.Cool.com, while Apex Focus Group is legit, you should look elsewhere when applying for focus groups. Their Apex Focus Group review wasn’t exactly positive feedback. The biggest complaints they had was that upon signing up with Apex, all you will really get is a bunch of spam emails sent your way. 

I didn’t find much feedback on social media, but I wanted to find out more, so I dug a little deeper and checked out what people are saying about Apex on Glassdoor. As of writing this, there are currently 8 reviews (4 positive and 4 negative review) on Glassdoor, and they have a 1.8 rating overall. Here is a roundup of key points of these reviews:

Pros

• Apex will email you when a survey, focus group, or clinical trial comes along that they think you might be interested in. 
• They have offers for remote work, and not every study is in person.
• Pay is in the form of cash or gift cards (not debit cards).
• They have a lot of focus group opportunities listed, so it can be an easy way to make good money if you qualify.

Cons

• The customer support team isn’t great, so if you are having issues using Apex, getting help could be hard. 
• The clinical trials can be hard to get into.
• Many of the email notifications about new focus group opportunities weren’t applicable to the reviewers. 
• One user who worked for them as a mystery shopper said that Apex scammed her out $3400, leaving me to think they don’t vet the posts to make sure they’re legitimate focus group opportunities.
• One former participant claims that they are actually a lead generation company that sells your personal information to other businesses/affiliates. 
• Apex Focus Group doesn’t appear to have any social media accounts, including a facebook page.

Our Apex Focus Group Review: The Final Verdict

While each Apex Focus Group review was a bit mixed, when I scoped out their website, I found that you don’t actually have to register with Apex. In order to apply to any of the focus groups they have listed on their Focus Groups page, you can just apply directly with those companies instead of registering with Apex.

Apex does have wording on their website that says that if you sign up with them, you’ll get access to “more exclusive and higher paying focus group studies” than the ones that are listed. 

But, they also have a ton of focus groups listed that you can sign up for without having to register with Apex. When you click on the “Sign Up” button for a listed focus group study, you are actually directed to the company running the group’s website where you have to apply through them. 

So, at the end of the day, if you want to check out Apex to see what kinds of market research studies they send your way, I say go for it. If you’d rather not give them your information, just use them as a springboard for finding paying focus groups on their listings page. 

Other Amazing Focus Groups to Try

Don’t shy away from focus groups just because of the feedback on this particular one. Focus groups can pay very, very well and be a lot of fun. Who wouldn’t like to get the inside scoop on new products or have companies ask for their feedback?

If Apex doesn’t sound like your cup of tea, why not give one of these other focus groups a try? You can read more about my focus group reviews here, or you can check out the comparison table below:

Additionally, if you’re just looking for short online survey sites that you can quickly complete while watching TV in the evenings, try one of the following survey companies. They all pay out in gift cards, PayPal, or prepaid Visa cards and are easy to do. You won’t make big bucks doing them, but you’ll cash out several times throughout the year to snag some gift cards for the holidays:

• American Consumer Opinion
• Harris Poll Online
• i-Say
• Inbox Dollars
• Lifepoints
• MySoapBox
• Opinion Outpost
• SpringBoard America
• Swagbucks
• Toluna Influencers
• YouGov
• UpVoice (browser extension that gathers ad info – learn more here)

If you are currently using Apex Focus Groups or have used them in the past to make some extra money, I’d love to hear about your experience. Just comment below.

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