Epinions.com is still kickin' it after nearly 8 years.

I signed up for Epinions.com back in January of 2000. After surviving Y2K it seems safe to come out of my bunker, re-connect to the Internet and try and make some money.

Epinions.com is like a Consumer Reports by the every day Joe. Users write reviews about various products, give them a star rating, and other visitors can browse through all of the reviews before deciding to make a purchase. Epinions.com provides built-in price comparisons for each reviewed product, so it really is a one stop shop for someone who is in the mood for browsing and shopping.

If you were one of the lucky first ones to join the service, you made a killing off of your initial page views. I wrote 31 reviews in my first month, and with a couple of referrals under my belt I pulled down nearly $200.00.

Now that may sound like a lot of work for only $200.00, but believe me, those reviews were no sweat to write. Each one took me a max of 10 minutes of effort.

31 reviews x 10 minutes = 310 minutes or 5.17 hours.
$200.00 / 5.17 hours = $38.68 an hour.

If I wasn't working as hard as I was at my day job, I would have more time to write reviews. If I had known that I was really going to get paid I would have slacked at work and earned even more doing Epinions.com. (I had a bad taste in my mouth after a bunch of "paid to surf" and "paid to read e-mail" scams.)

The first check did come. I ripped open the envelope and was shocked to find my check for $125.09. I received checks every day that week, although none of them were as big as the first. Now that I saw this was legitimate, I decided I was going to dedicate more time to writing reviews and increasing my earnings.

Alas, it was too late by then. The bottom had fallen out, and earnings went down to "normal rates". Apparently all these big earnings were too good to be true, and just an opportunity to draw in users and reviewers.

I did go on to earn another $150 over the next 3 years, but it just wasn't the same as scoring $200 in my first month.

I haven't written a review in over 4 years, but my account is still active... and still earning. I logged on today for the first time in a while and noticed I have $8 and change sitting there. The minimum redemption balance is $10.00, so I might write a review or two for old times' sake. That, and to push my balance over ten bucks so I can get another check.