Swagbucks is a site that allows you to earn cash/rewards in a variety of ways.
I’ve used them off and on over the last few years, and am now just getting around to writing a thorough review of them.
They’re Legit
Because of the nature of sites like this, there are always people quickly labeling things a scam.
And I just want to set the record straight that it is not a scam.
Here are my reasons why they are legit:
- 100% free to join.
- They have a A+ rating with the BBB (the biggest scam watchdog site).
- The company began in 2005, so they have been around a LONG time in internet years.
- They have 1,800,000 Facebook fans (that’s got to say something).
- I have received multiple paypal payments from them as well as Amazon gift cards. To me the #1 thing that makes a scam is something that takes your money, and these guys definitely pay.
And for those die-hard skeptics out there, here is a screenshot of a payment I received from them via paypal:
6 Ways to Earn Cash/Rewards
Swagbucks are the “currency” that the site uses which are essentially worth 1 penny each depending on which cash out option you choose. There are tons of ways to earn Swagbucks – but these are the top ones:
1. Shopping via Their Site
Just like Ebates, you can go to swagbucks.com and then click to your favorite store in order to earn rewards. They pay out swagbucks for every dollar that you spend at any of the stores they offer.
As you can see above Amazon.com pays out 3 swagbucks per dollar spent. So a $100 purchase at Amazon would yield 300 swagbucks – essentially 3% cashback on your purchase just for clicking their link before going to Amazon.
If this sounds too good to be true, it isn’t. The reason they can do this is because Amazon pays them a commission for people they refer and they are just passing some of that referral fee to us.
2. Searching the Internet
You can earn by just using their search engine instead of Bing, Google, or Yahoo.
Their search engine is actually powered by Yahoo, so you should be seeing the same results you would see if you used the Yahoo search bar. The earnings per search appear to be random, so you never know exactly how many you earn for each search, but either way the best way to utilize this is to:
- Make it the default search engine in your browser
- Install their browser extension
If you do this, then you won’t have to think about it at all and will be earning all day long as you search the internet.
3. Taking Surveys
This is probably the quickest way to earn a lot of Swagbucks. It looks like you could earn up to $9/hour doing this. They have a bunch of surveys that pay about 300 swagbucks and take about 20 minutes. If you can complete them in less than 20 minutes you may be doing even better.
4. Watching Videos
Yep, believe it or not they will pay you to watch videos.
They have these main categories for you to watch:
- Entertainment
- Health
- Food
- Music
- News
- Home & Garden
- Pets & Travel
As much as some folks dream of watching TV for a living, that probably won’t happen with this as they limit you to earning only 150 per day.
5. Playing Games
As if getting paid to watch videos wasn’t absurd enough, they pay you to play online games as well. Although I think realistically you will earn very little doing this.
6. Printing Grocery Store Coupons
This one is kind of a double-whammy, not only do you get coupons to save you more money on groceries, but you also earn swagbucks for using each one. Not a bad deal. 10 for each coupon used, so that is essentially like an extra 10 cents off each coupon.
Cashing Out
So once you have earned some swagbucks, you can cash them out. The best deal going (IMO) is a $5 Amazon gift card for 450 swagbucks. At this rate your swagbucks are worth more than 1 cent each.
But there are tons of different gift cards or other rewards you can get, including cash via a Paypal transfer.
Final thoughts
I think anyone can benefit from signing up with Swagbucks, even if all use is their search feature, you will be slowly but surely be earning and getting some cash/rewards each year that you otherwise wouldn’t.
For teenagers wanting to make some money, or Stay at home moms, I think using some of the methods listed above, you could make a little extra cash on the side. While taking surveys all day isn’t glamourous, it sure beats digging ditches for minimum wage 😉
For more information or to get started go here.
What about you – what has been your experience with Swagbucks?
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I love swagbucks. I’ve made money using it before. I’ve also been able to get a few giftcards as well.
I am new to your site but I love what I have read so far. I’ve bookmarked you. I have been looking for a way to make a some extra cash and this seems like something I would do. Does Swagbucks pay you cash or is everything in gift cards?
Al, they do a paypal gift card – which is essentially cash because you can transfer from Paypal to your bank account. Other than that you can cash out for tons of gift cards or other stuff as well
Well apparently they don’t even offer $3 surveys anymore and even if you find one it seem that your chances of getting kicked out after you do the survey are high and you lose the money. Scam?
I just wish I can find something online that I do for some extra cash. Not a get rich quick scheme like 99% of them out there. Something legitimate. If you know of something with that criteria that would be great because frankly I am running out of ideas for extra income. Window cleaning is my most realistic possibility right now.
Al, like I mentioned before they are legit – I have been paid by them numerous times and they have a A+ rating with the BBB (last time I checked). But I can’t comment on the $3 surveys, I never saw those, so I don’t know anything about that.
For more ideas you can check these out, there are some good ideas here for Adults – http://seedtime.com/ways-for-teens-to-make-money/
They are legit but the money making process is slow. It sounds like people cash out yearly? Anyway I been going to their site about 2 weeks and I’ve only made about 100 points. I see how you can make points but it takes real intention. And it is a slow process. So while legit the process if very slow.
Every time I try to take a survey, they kick me out after a few minutes of me answering questions saying that I don’t fit the criteria. That sucks and is kind of a waste of time. I’m doing it for extra money, not really gift cards. I need extra cash to pay bills !
I am on an Apt Complex computer as the wifi does not reach my apt….Can I register on the complex computer and at a later date come back with my computer and continue on…..back and forth so to speak, or does it have to be on one computer ?? I don’t think that this computer will allow be to download anything or add browsers of any sort.
Respectfully,
Mike
If you guys aren’t really making any money then you aren’t doing it right. If you have two large screen monitors (22″+) you can run multiple different tasks at once thru the site. I have been doing it about 7 weeks and cashed out $160 in Amazon cards. A realistic goal is 200-250 pts/day in a little spare time..My daily high was about 850 points one day when i hit two 100+ point surveys.- so my point is, YES it can be done…one just needs to learn to be efficient and multitask.
i am deaf and will the work for me?
Hi Bob,
Great article on Swagbucks. As per my research, Swagbucks is the most trusted survey site out there, and it also offers multiple earning opportunities in the form of surveys, watching videos, searching on the web, playing games and referral commission.
If you work on other popular survey sites like Prize Rebel, Global Test Market, Inbox Dollars and you can expect to earn between $15 to $30 per month.
On the other side, I have seen people can easily earn between $30 to $60 per month with Swagbucks. It has also paid over $290 million to its members.
The good thing is you are doing the same activities as were doing before but now for the sake of money. Thanks.
Why is this site not available for my country?? I’m worried..please does anyone have any other legit site I can earn online from? I’ll really appreciate..
Thanks
HI
I can`t logg onto the Swagbucks website. It only a blank screen. Can someone please help.
Thanks
Sunette
Try seedtime.com/2/swagbucks.php!