Side Hustle Overview
Price: Free
Website: Various
Category: Freebies
General overview: One of the best ways to obtain free products is through product testing or trials. Though you’re not outlaying any cash to obtain the product, you will need to review the product and provide your opinion on it. Extra points if you post about it on your social media channels. But how do you become one of the elusive product testers in Australia? See below as I cover some of the programs you can join to receive products for review.
Pros & Cons
- Opportunity to try new things
- Free product
- May end up with product you don’t need
- You have to remember to provide the required feedback
How it Works
In order to become a product tester in Australia, it is best if you register with various product review sites. But how do you know if they’re legitimate or scammers just trying to steal your personal details? I’ve done the hard work for you and below is a list of various product review sites that I have joined and actually received product to review.
The Real Deal
Social Soup
Download Social Soup’s app and register to apply for various campaigns – beauty products, coffee, snacks, tea, baby care – a great range of products. I really like that there is an app available to help you keep track of what campaigns you’re a part of. There are missions that you need to complete – usually posting a photo to Facebook and Instagram, completing a review and sometimes watching a short video.
Try & Review Australia
Try & Review has only just entered the Australian market. A popular site in Malaysia, Singapore and Philippines, now is the time to jump on board as you will have more chance of being selected for product trials. Their first Australian campaign was for Rexona Clinical Protection deodorant.
Beautyheaven
This is a great website for lovers of beauty. You review skincare and makeup products and once you have accumulated enough points to reach silver status, you may be invited to participate in trial teams to test products. I joined earlier this year and I’ve already been selected for two trial teams, attended events (with great goody bags) and received a discovery bag filled with product to try. Definitely a website to join if you love trying and reviewing things!
Black Box Australia
If you are selected to receive a Black Box, it feels like you’ve hit the jackpot! Each box contains a wide range of products from food to household items. They have themes like the Summer Entertainer Box and have products for the whole family. You must review the products, and you can enter photo challenges by taking photos with the product to win prizes.
Mouths of Mums
A great all round website to be a part of. Regular product trials and plenty of competitions. Big ticket items I’ve reviewed include a Microwave Convection Oven and a Steam Generator Iron. I’ve also received food, baby and beauty products to review.
Home Tester Club
I’ve only recently joined Home Tester Club, and have received a few products to try – Johnson’s Baby Wash & Lotion, Aveeno Body Wash and Lotion and a nappy trial.
Huggies Online Panel
You can register with Huggies Online Panel to participate in surveys about new Huggies products as well as the opportunity to trial nappies. You will receive an email to complete a survey to see if you qualify for the nappy trial. The nappy trials I’ve participated in with Huggies Online Panel required a log to be kept about each nappy change, with details to be recorded including time of changes, type of bowel movement, weight of the nappy (you will receive a scale to weigh the nappies, and if you’re out, you will need to bring the nappy home to weigh) and more. You are able to keep any excess nappies after the trial.
I’ve just started a couple of new nappy trials with Huggies and they now have an app where you complete your daily log with details about each nappy change. You do still have to weigh the nappies.
Babyology
Babyology is a website for parents that has a wealth of articles and competitions. They’re not a product testing business per se, but I was able to try some Eco by Naty nappies via Babyology. Keep an eye on their Facebook page for product trial opportunities.
Product Testers in Australia – the qualities you need
Anyone can be a product tester, as long as you meet the demographics required for the campaign. But the following qualities are what the top product testers in Australia have:
- a love of new products
- the ability to write a helpful and honest review
- the ability to take photographs of the product (in a flatlay or in use)
- public social media accounts
Tips to be at the Top of the List
If you’ve signed up with the above programs, but have yet to receive anything to test, be patient! There are so many people wanting to be product testers in Australia, so you will not always be selected for every campaign. Follow my tips below to increase your chances of being selected for a campaign:
Be Honest
Each campaign will usually require a qualifying survey to be completed first. Be honest with your answers. This will mean that you will receive products that are actually relevant to you.
Complete Your Profile
This is probably the most important thing! Qualifying surveys are usually sent out based on whether it is likely if you will meet the criteria for the product. This will be based on your profile information. So if you profile is incomplete, you could be missing out on a significant amount of products! For example, if you fall pregnant, update your profile! I trialed Aquamamma while I was pregnant – if I hadn’t updated my profile, I wouldn’t have received the email to apply for the campaign.
Invest Your Time
If one of the requirements of becoming receiving a product is to take photos – make sure you invest some time and effort into taking nice photos. I’m not saying to spend hours sourcing props and finding a fantastic location. One of the easiest things to do to make sure your photos look great is to take it during the day so you have lots of natural light.
Be Active
For sites like Mouths of Mums and Home Tester Club, the more active you are, the more likely you are to be selected for a review. So comment on articles, review products on the site. Interaction on Instagram posts can also be helpful
Grow your Social Media Accounts
It’s not absolutely vital, but having a strong following on social media (Instagram in particular) can give you a step-up in receiving products to test. Another avenue you could look at is becoming an Instagram influencer.
Check your Junk Email folder
Regularly review your junk email folder – if I hadn’t been reviewing my folder, I would have missed out on some really exciting opportunities!
Verdict
As a side hustle, being a product tester in Australia doesn’t actually earn you money – you’ll just receive product in exchange for your opinion. However, any little saving helps and if you don’t have to buy shampoo for a few months because you have one from your product trials – bonus! Of the ones listed above, Social Soup is by far the best – the app, the variety of products, the frequency of receiving products followed closely by Mouths of Mums (hello my best iron ever!). Now that I’ve joined Beautyheaven, that is creeping its way to top place.
Are there any other companies that you have done trials with? Or any dodgy ones to avoid? Let me know in the comments below, I’d love to hear about them!
The Hills Mama 