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Surf and get paid

Australia's "stickiest" web site, according to Roy Morgan Internet Monitor, is one that pays you to read emails. Effie Zahos reports.

The web site emailcash.com.au may only get a fraction of the visitors that, say, yahoo.com gets, but they keep coming back. It seems loyalty can be bought, and emailcash is milking just that.

Launched only last year, the site, which persuades web users to read advertising email in exchange for cash and other rewards, has experienced considerable success. Membership is increasing at an exponential rate, and on peak surfing days it sites right behind Yahoo Australia as one of the busiest web sites.

"We haven't even heavily promoted the site," managing director Bob Cheng says. "It's all about fun because there is no risk. We put the money for members to play with, and they can turn it into cold hard cash if they want to. It's a virtual economy with real rewards."

You become a "member" by providing personal details including of course your email address, and the company attempts to match the advertisers to the profiles of its members. It's a win-win situation for everybody - EmailCash receives payments from advertisers who sell and/or increase their brand awareness, and members get paid for their time.

Virtual Bank

Just for joining, EmailCash rewards each new member with 100 ePoints. Depending on the prevailing eExchange conversion rate (remember this is a virtual economy), 100 ePoints could be worth around $2. From there on, it's pretty hard not to keep adding or building to your portfolio - just by clicking onto one of its icons, members can earn up to 10,000 points although 2 points is more realistic.

"We're not just about emails," Cheng says. "There are many ways you can earn points and we're constantly updating the site to accommodate this."

The site's most innovative feature has to be its virtual bank. Instead of having points sitting around, members can pop them into a bank account, which is currently paying an unheard of 30% return. But just like the eExchange conversion rate which is dependent upon the number of points waiting to be exchanged (the more people wanting cash, the worse the exchange rate), the bank's interest rate is also volatile.

"It all depends on whether we've had a good month with advertisers, and whether or not we are paying out a lot of points," Cheng says. "At the moment we are not issuing a lot of points, so we can afford to offer this rate."

Cheques come your way once you've accumulated a minimum equivalent of $20 in points. Alternatively, members may use their e-Cash dollars to purchase goods and services in e-Shopping, bid on items in e-Auction, or donate them to a charity of your choice. Given that over $2000 has already been pledged, you could say some of EmailCash's members are there to give rather than take.

For individual members, we're not talking about a fortune here. On average, most members have around 470 ePoints. At the time of writing, that's equivalent to around $5. If you're relying on emails to bring in the big bucks, you could be waiting for a long time. On average, most members receive two to three per month (this may change once membership increases). If one email is worth up to 10 points, don't expect too many fat cheques to come your way.

But Cheng says real savings can be found in special offers available to EmailCash members, and the eAuctions. "At first our members were asking for cash, but now they're holding on to their points," Cheng says, "eAuctions represent great value. Most winning bids on the auctions are well below the normal retail price. We recently sold two return airfares to a member who won the bidding at just e$65."

The concept of getting paid to surf is not new - there are several sites in Australia and thousands in the US that operate similar virtual economies. But EmailCash is one of the few to have been blessed by the Australian Direct Marketing Association. "The Australian Direct Marketing Association is a sign of trust," communications director Scott McClellan says. "When giving any personal details to a direct marketing company, it pays to make sure they're a member of ADMA. We impose strict privacy practices to protect consumers' details."