What is Swagbucks?
If you haven't heard of Swagbucks, don't worry, it's been around for years but I myself hadn't heard of it until 4-5 months ago when I decided to see if it was legit.
In case you are unfamiliar with them, I'll briefly explain the site and concept. Swagbucks is a site which allows users to create a free account, and perform various small tasks to earn "swagbucks". Small tasks include using their search engine, answering short polls, playing games, etc. I'll go into more detail about each method and it's return on time investment shortly.
The Swagbucks can then be redeemed for items such as gift cards to Amazon, Target and more. This can be a great way to save up money for gifts throughout the year.
Read more about the various ways you can earn Swagbucks at the bottom of this post.
Is Swagbucks Worth It?
The answer is yes and no.
Swagbucks is Worth it If...
In my opinion, it's great for spending 10-20 minutes on per-day to earn your daily points, and save up to cash out on gift cards.
By doing minimal work in the site each day, I am able to cash out and get about $50 worth of Amazon gift cards each month. This is great because I just save these gift cards, and when a birthday or holiday rolls around - pull them out to buy a great gift! This means if I do the minimum on the site to earn $50 each month, and save all my gift cards - that's $600 a year I can spend at Amazon for Christmas.
You can also earn a few Swagbucks here and there by referring your friends, and getting credit for the Swagbucks they win while using the search engine. This is a great way to earn Swagbucks as it only requires the initial investment of time by
recommending your friends. Also, when you refer someone, they earn 30 Swagbucks by signing up and filling out their profile. You can sign up for Swagbucks for free, through my referral link, which would help us both!
Swagbucks is not worth it when...
The no part means there is a certain point at which you would just reach diminishing returns with the time you invest. It all depends on how important your time is to you - obviously, if you are really bored and have nothing to do one day then Swagbucks might be a great escape. But for the most part, I wouldn't suggest spending too much time performing all the little tasks because the investment of time wouldn't be worth the Swagbucks you are earning. To put it another way, you aren't going to earn hundreds of dollars a month there, and it won't replace a full, or even part-time job.
I'll discuss which tasks are worth it shortly, then don't forget to read my tips on making the process of earning Swagbucks worth your time and energy.
Best Ways to Earn Swagbucks
Tips & Tricks to Save Time
Swagbucks are earned a multitude of ways:
Search: One way is to use the Swagbuck's search engine to search the web as you normally would. Their search results are powered by Google/Bing so are pretty close to the results you would normally see. As you search, you have the chance to win a random amount of Swagbucks. Winnings are usually between 5 to 50 Swagbucks at a time:
Swagbucks Polls
Swagbucks also provides a daily poll to vote in, which will earn you 1 bonus Swagbuck each day you complete the poll. It's usually a very simple poll which takes a second to answer. For example, the last poll was "Do you Invest in the stock market?" and the one before that was "Do you make phone calls daily?"
This is only one Swagbuck, but since it is so quick to do - I recommend completing the poll each day as it only takes a second and will net you 30-31 Swagbucks per month, depending on how many days are in the month.
Noso's are Swagbucks "no obligation special offers". What this means is that you will click "start" and be shown 4-5 "offers" from companies - and you can choose to sign up for if you wish. If you are interested in any, I recommend using an email you keep for spam purposes, because you don't know if these companies will sell your email address and information. I don't sign up for any that want my phone number, or credit card number.
Swagbucks Games
You can also win Swagbucks for playing games they have available. In reality, you can load a game and forget about it and collect 2 swagbucks for 2 plays.
Note that you do not want to complete the offers to play the games at the top - which I crossed out in the photo - these are "sponsored" and require you to go to the game's site, register, and buy something to be rewarded with Swagbucks. I guess if you really wanted to go buy something for one of these games it would be worth it - but absolutely unnecessary.
Swagbucks TV
You can also watch videos to earn Swagbucks. To earn Swagbucks, you are required to fill up the video meter (10 videos) and win Swagbucks. If you're like me and on your computer a lot, I just play these in the background while I'm working on other stuff. You really only have to watch the ads to get credit, but can just leave the player running. For example, my player is running with the sound off as I write this. Note that the next video will not auto-play once the last has finished, so you will need to occasionally click over to load a new one.
Shop for Swagbucks
Now, this is only useful if you are already planning on buying something online through one of their available merchants. Amazon is listed here, so as an Amazon Prime member, I shop here a lot for the free shipping. Now instead of going to Amazon, I'll reach them through Swagbucks shopping page and earn Swagbucks for my normal shopping.
For example, as a Prime member - and a pet owner - I love buying my pet food from Amazon. Since delivery is free, and the price is usually the same, or cheaper, it saves me a trip to the pet store. This allows me to win Swagbucks for doing things I normally would, such as feeding my pets.
If you are not a Prime member, I highly suggest getting a prime membership in addition to your Swagbucks account so you can buy the things you normally would on Amazon and earn extra Swagbucks - to turn around and spend at Amazon ;).
You can sign up for a free 30-day trial of Prime here.
Other Ways to Earn Swagbucks
Codes: Swagbucks will occasionally post codes granting you free Swagbucks. If you sign up for Swagbucks Newsletter, and follow them on Twitter & Facebook you will see when they post a code.
Offers: There are a variety of offers you can accept for more Swagbucks, but I avoid some of them, such as Gamefly and Netflix which would want personal information.
Signing Up
Remember, by going through my referral link you can get 30 Swagbucks to start, and then you can refer your friends and family for passive Swagbucks!
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