There are so many offers to sift through online and among them some scams.
Most often, if a deal sounds too good to be true and offers you something for absolutely nothing, it’s likely to be a suspect deal or website. I’ve come across several Bitcoin sites like this.
Thankfully, these days you can Google anything to find out about its legitimacy and I recommend you do that before putting any of your time or money on the table.
Legitimate Online Money Making
If you’re looking for legitimate ways to earn extra cash or gift cards online there are sites like Swagbucks and BeFrugal you can head to without fear of being scammed.
They have history, reputation, several online success stories, and reviews to support them which can be easily found on the web.
So, if you’re looking for ways to make money on the side, read this article which covers what Swagbucks is, what to do to start earning points with them right away, and what you’ll get in return.
*This post contains some affiliate links for products & services that I believe in and use myself.
About Swagbucks
Who doesn’t like free things? But what is Swagbucks and can I really earn through them for free?
Swagbucks is a free online search engine and rewards portal owned by Josef Gorowitz, Scott Dudelson, Ron Leshem, and Eron Zehavithat.
It runs out of California as a subsidiary brand of Prodege LLC, who is an internet and media company with multiple customer engagement brands.
They’ve figured out how to reward members with ‘Swagbucks’ (SB points) for things like watching videos.
Of course, content creators want people to see their videos/ content and one way to ensure that people see that content is to reward them for viewing it.
This is where Swagbucks comes in.
Swagbucks’ parent company has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau. They also have over 16,000 reviews on Trustpilot with an overall rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars.
It’s a safe way to get you introduced to interesting content from across the web and get rewarded for your effort.
Swagbucks send you free gift cards or cash in exchange for doing everyday things you already do online.
How Swagbucks Works – You Make Money Through Things You May Already Do Online
You earn Swagbucks currency (called SB points) when you do a search using the Swagbucks search engine or shop at your favourite retailers (they’re linked with over 1500 well-known companies) through the programme.
You can also earn Swagbuck points by signing up for special offers or registering as a user on certain websites, by watching videos, completing surveys, and finding daily deals.
Many companies use their marketing budgets to pay people to try their products on a risk-free basis. For example, Swagbucks members get paid to try services like Hulu, Disney+, StashInvest or ButcherBlock.
Signing up for a service like Disney+ earns you a bonus 1000 SB points if done through Swagbucks.
You can find coupons through Swagbucks and even invite your friends and family to join. Gaining points through their referral programme can be a great way to make passive income.
You then redeem these points for gift cards for your favourite retailers or get cashback through Paypal.
As a member of Swagbucks, you can redeem as few as 300 SB for a free gift card.
For very little effort, Swagbucks can help you put more money in your wallet. They’ve already paid out over $400 million in rewards to thousands of happy users.
Sounds pretty good but how do I actually earn with Swagbucks?
How To Earn With Swagbucks
Step 1
Go to Swagbucks. If you use my referral link to get there, you’ll get bonus sign up rewards that will be automatically added to your account once you sign up and I will get some points too.
Step 2
Now sign up for your own free account by entering the required details on the main sign up page. Two things you need are an email address and password.
Step 3
From there it’s really simple.
Once you’re signed up, you can either go to their website each time you want to gain points for surfing the web, or you can just download the browsing toolbar or Swagbucks button (both free) as an extension in your browser and just do your internet searches from there.
I find using Swagbucks Search as my default browser and extension button the easiest ways to look earn points as I surf and shop online.
Here’s the low-down:
If you set your browser to default to Swagbucks Search (simple switch), every time you go to search something on the web, you’ll earn SB points for your account. Super easy!
But even if you want to keep Google say as your search tool, there’s still a way to earn points.
Just click on the extension button (free install) which brings up a search box to the side of my page so I can browse to shops I want or check out the deals on offer – all still from within the window you’re working in.
Once you’ve installed the extension, cash back with Swagbucks is automatically activated.
Step 4
Once you’ve signed up for an account, you get offered a range of ways to earn Swagbucks points. Just for verifying my email I earned 5 Swagbucks!
Step 5
If you want to extend your earning opportunities wherever you go, you could get the Swagbucks App or related apps like Swagbucks Answer.
It’s available for Apple and Android. It has 24,000+ reviews and over a million installs, and a rating of 4 out of 5, it may be your solution to filling otherwise wasted downtime in your day.
I’m Keen on Using Swagbucks, What Else Should I Know?
I think Swagbucks is worth checking out and using.
It rewards you for things you already do like web searches so why not earn free rewards at the same time?
But if you’re completing Swagbucks surveys and playing the games to earn points, you might have to watch how much time you’re sinking into it.
Those things can get pretty addictive and it’s easy to lose precious hours online so just review the amount of time you’re sinking into something for the rewards you’re getting.
I still think Swagbucks has a lot to offer with the following pros and cons.
Pros:
There’s no cost to sign up and start using Swagbucks.
You get bonus gift cards and cash for things you may already be doing online, like shopping, from big names like Walmart, Home Depot and Macy’s.
There are many ways to earn Swagbucks so it’s worth considering if you like free rewards and gifts.
Just using Swagbucks while surfing the web can help you start stacking up your points without your ongoing effort.
Using the Swagbucks site is easy, there are several ways to increase points and you don’t risk anything when joining because it’s free.
There’s a shopping section where you can earn 1 – 7 SB for every dollar you spend.
Swagbucks keeps all of your bonus earning opportunities called Swag Ups in one place so you don’t have to go searching for them.
Also, with the referral programme, every time you refer someone to Swagbucks and they sign up, you earn points which is a quick way to earn lots of points, plus you get 10% of their SB earnings for life which is pretty amazing.
There are mobile-friendly versions and apps now available for users.
Swagbucks is international and you earn free bonus points just for signing up.
They do pay out their user and have online support via YouTube, as well as email customer service. They’re also engaging with their community on Facebook, Twitter and Swagbucks forums.
They often post reminders, fun holiday specials, games, as well as forgotten and new ways to earn bonus SB. So follow them on their social media accounts to get reminders.
Redeeming your points is simple – click on the Redeem SB button under the menu dropdown, it will take you to a rewards page.
Cons:
On the downside, some offers require a lot of effort. Filling out the surveys is an example so decide whether this aspect is worth the time spent to you.
Gift cards are limited to 5 each of a certain kind.
You can get blocked from the site.
Ads run while you’re playing the games.
Earning rewards can feel like a slow process and small amounts are paid for tasks so it could be hard to earn a substantial amount through Swagbucks.
Minimum payout threshold of $25 or 2500 SB if you choose the Paypal cash back payment.
Swagbucks – Good To Know
While it won’t make you rich overnight, Swagbucks is linked to hundreds of stores like Home Depot, Walmart, Target, Hotels.com and countless others, that you can earn cashback through.
Some members have earned as much as $12,000 over time just by using Swagbucks!
You only earn points when a friend you refer joins and they complete the requirements. You also receive 10% of your friend’s points on any points they earn.
Your points accumulate up to the time you redeem them.
Swagbucks has been in business since 2008 and they say it can be a good way for young people over 13 to earn pocket money. Watch out though as some of the surveys offer points that work out to less than $1/ hour.
I’d rather earn more than that hourly and find that the shopping and surfing rewards are most worth my time as I’m doing them anyway so my available time isn’t being sucked up by them for next to no reward.
Bottom line, do these fun things while multi-tasking but I don’t recommend only doing Swagbucks surveys or games as the focus of your time as a way to earn extra cash.
Instead, use their search engine in the place of Google or Explorer say and this will help you accrue points for searching which you’d be doing daily anyway.
Just doing this one thing could earn you say a $5 gift card monthly, which is more than you’d get without the Swagbucks searching, so you’re ahead.
Gift cards come in handy for birthdays and Christmas and what’s better than free ones, right?
However, if you’re trying to earn extra points through the games and surveys etc., Swagbucks doesn’t make a lot of financial sense to me.
Getting a second job would likely be a more profitable option.
Who Can Access Swagbucks?
Swagbucks is live in most countries in the Americas, Europe and Asia, in some countries in Africa, and is always looking to expand.
Residents of the following countries are eligible to redeem rewards from Swagbucks.com:
| USA & Territories | New Zealand | India |
| Ireland | Germany | Canada |
| France | Australia | Spain |
| United Kingdom | Portugal |
If your country isn’t listed, you can sign up with your email and they will let you know when they are live in your country.
100 SB = US$1 so 1 SB is worth 1 cent but they sometimes offer discounts meaning you get more for your points when redeeming them.
When you go to redeem your points, grab the best deal you can at the time.
Note that a $5 Amazon gift card costs you 500 SB points but the larger denominations of Amazon gift cards can actually work out more expensive per dollar. Save more money and just get the $5 ones in that case.
Do look out for specials though because when I checked, a $25 Amazon card was going for just 2200 SB which would be a better deal overall if you had plenty of points banked.
Swagbucks Hacks
Here’s how you can earn even more money with Swagbucks:
Learn which tasks pay you more for your time.
Always activate cash back. The browser extension does this automatically for you if you have it installed.
Take part in contests, daily goals, and Swago board opportunities.
Complete Gold Surveys over others as they tend to pay out more.
Set videos to play while you do other tasks.
Use Swagbucks shopping links every time you shop online to maximise your earnings.
Find and redeem Swag codes for extra points. These can be found on Swagbucks’ social media accounts and blog.
Invite others to Swagbucks and earn 10% of their earnings for life.
Buy discounted gift cards to reduce the total-to-you cost.
Summary
In my opinion, Swagbucks is a great, legit way to earn bonus rewards for doing things you already do online like shopping and searching but it’s not a good use of time if you’re trying to earn money by building your points total through the survey, games and video options they offer.
I don’t do any of the games or surveys as I’m not that interested in gaming and I feel that the surveys take up too much of my time for so little reward.
Also, sometimes the surveys have crashed on me part way through and I’ve totally lost the invested effort in those instances.
I am going to continue racking up points as I search and buy online though.
If you’re not currently a Swagbucks user and are interested in checking it out, click here to get signed up for free and to start earning your own gift vouchers today.
Default your search toolbar to Swagbucks and install the extension button to make it easier, and use it as you would any other search tool.
As these are free, there’s no harm in trying them out to see how they can work for you.
Plus, with the extension, you’ll find out automatically if the website you’re searching for has any SB offers for shopping, booking travel, or subscriptions. Handy.
Have you had any experience with Swagbucks?
What are your thoughts about it?
If you liked this post, pin or share it for others to benefit from.
Thanks!
Meagan
