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Are you a collector of rewards such as points or cash back?
I confess I used to think collecting rewards was a hassle, and I also thought it was tacky. I would like to say to the old me, “You are missing out on a great deal!”
Collecting rewards is not tacky, in fact, I think it is a smart way to live. It does take a tiny bit of hassle, but if you can get points or cash back just by doing a little work in your spare time like during TV commercials or shopping with a little creativity, isn’t that a good deal?
I can’t live without points and cash back anymore.
There are so many rewards programs out there, but today I would like to talk about one of my favorites, Swagbucks.
What is Swagbucks?
Swagbucks is a rewards program that allows you to earn points, called SB, by doing things you do online every day through the Swagbucks site or app. You can exchange the SBs you collected with gift cards or cash. 1 SB is worth $0.01 US, hence 100 SB = $1.00 US.
I call Swagbucks “the ultimate rewards program.” Why is it ultimate? It’s because you can collect points in many different ways with one program.
For example, many programs specialize in one method: some specialize in surveys, some specialize in games, and some specialize in earning cash back by shopping. But Swagbucks is different, it does all of that in one program.
What Can you do with your Swagbucks earned?
There are a few ways you can do with SB earned.
- Exchange with e-gift cards
Swagbucks offers a wide variety of e-gift cards, from major retailers like amazon to credit card companies like Visa. Swagbucks is so generous that gift cards can be redeemed for as little as $1 In addition, some gift cards offer discounts, which means you can get more $ for less SB. Go to the Rewards section and find your favorite!
- Exchange with cash (PayPal)
You can also exchange SB for cash via PayPal starting from $5. The PayPal requests are located in the Reward section with other e-gift cards. It’s hard to find them on the Rewards top page, but you can find them by clicking “All Rewards” or each range of “Value” on the left menu, they will be shown. Since it’s cash, Swagbucks takes a careful process to pay PayPal cash, so read the instruction carefully for a smooth transaction!
- Swagstakes
Enter a few SB and win a big prize! Swagstakes is a Swagbucks version of sweepstakes. Usually, to exchange it for a gift card or cash, you need an equivalent (100SB for $1) or approximate amount (if there is a discount) of SB, but Swagstakes give you the chance to get, say, a $100 gift card or tens of thousands of SB for 7 SB.
This is something unique to Swagbucks. It gives you the excitement of participating in sweepstakes, and if you do win the sweepstakes, you can make a lot of money!
Ways to Collect Swagbucks (SB)
As I mentioned in the beginning, Swagbucks provides many ways to earn SB. I am sure you can find your favorite way!
- Shopping online
Shop at your favorite stores through the Swagbucks site and earn cashback with SB! Swagbucks has more than 7,000 participating companies, including big companies like Amazon, Best Buy, eBay, Gap, Expedia, etc. The cashback rate is usually around 1 to 2%, it sometimes goes up to around 10% at some stores.
I love shopping through rewards programs. In addition to Swagbucks, I also use Rakuten and Ibotta. Especially shopping online, I compare these three and shop at the one with a higher cashback rate. It’s not uncommon to get a higher cashback rate from Rakuten for some stores, Ibotta for others, and of course Swagbucks for others. It takes only 3 minutes to compare these three before you start shopping. 3 minutes of effort can yield big profits.
- Magic Receipts (scanning receipts)
Swagbucks also gives you SB for grocery shopping. On the Magic Receipts page, check the items you are going to buy or bought at the participating store, take a picture of the receipt, and submit it.
The way I understand it, Swagbucks matches the items checked on the Magic Receipts page with the actual receipt submitted and if it finds the items checked on the Magic Receipts page were purchased at a participating stores, then the SB is paid out as a reward.
Ibotta has exactly the same system. The good news is that unlike with online shopping rewards, you don’t have to choose one or the other when submitting your receipt. You can submit it to both!
I believe you do grocery shopping regularly. Why not submit your receipt to the rewards programs every time you shop and get rewarded?
- Answering survey and Daily Poll
Answer surveys and earn SB. In the Answer section, Swagbucks provides a long list of surveys and shows how long each survey will take you to answer and how many SB you will receive.
I recommend that you click through all the surveys, starting from the top of the list until you reach the one you are qualified to answer. Sometimes you get disqualified in the middle of the survey (which is disappointing), but it is said that Swagbucks studies your demographics and provides better matching surveys. If you hit the survey that you qualify, it is a chance to earn lots of SB, so I think it’s worth trying.
On the other hand, you can always get 1 SB answering Daily Poll. It’s a 1 question survey, and because it is a poll, you get to see how other people answered. It’s quite interesting for that matter.
- Sesarching the Internet
Swagbucks has its own search engine powered by Yahoo!. If you search the Internet through the Swagbucks search engine, you will get SB every now and then. Log into your Swagbucks page, and start your search from the text box with the magnifying glass icon at the top of the page. The search results are as good as those of the major search engines.
This is one of my favorite ways to earn SB. I have replaced Google with the Swagbucks search engine and made it the default home page on one of my Chrome browsers. This way, I can save my time logging in every time and boost my chances of getting more SB.
- Watching videos
Watch short videos, answer whether you liked them or not, and earn SB. In the Watch section, Swagbucks shows various categories of informative videos. Each video is approximately 30 seconds. After watching each video, you are asked whether you liked it or not. Repeat the process several times, and when you reach a certain number of times, you will receive an SB.
You may feel a little bored because you are doing the same thing over and over again, but it is one of the easy ways to get SB for sure. Also, some of the videos you watch may be of interest to you. In that case, you can search for them through the Swagbucks search engine to further increase your chances of getting SB!
- Playing games or finding deals on Discover
Swagbucks offers many other ways for you to earn SB in the Discover section. You can download and play games, subscribe to on-demand TV networks such as HBO Max, apply for credit cards. The number of SB you can earn is much higher than the other sections.
If you carefully look at the deals being offered, you may find a good bargain. I got my online game from Swagbucks and earned lots of SB while enjoying the game.
- Referring friends
Like any other program, Swagbucks rewards you for referring friends. You will receive 10% of the amount earned from the categories on the menu at the top of the Swagbucks page by your referred friends. For example, if your friend(s) earned 100SB, you get 10SB. That’s a big deal, isn’t it?
- Installing Swagbucks extension on Google Chrome
There are many Chrome extensions out there. And Swagbucks has its own extension, too. You get SB just by installing the Swagbucks extension. The extension will constantly update you with the best deals.I added the Swagbucks extension to my Chrome browser which has the Swagbucks search engine as the default. This way, I can maximize the use of Swagbucks and earn more SB.
- Swag Codes
Enter Swagbucks Codes and earn SB! Swagbucks Codes are found within Swagbucks network such as blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Shop & Earn store page, etc. It’s fun to find Swagbucks Code like a treasure hunt.
If you have the Swagbucks mobile app, it notifies you where you can find a Swagbucks Code. Also, the Swagbucks Google extension will alert you of the code.
Once you find a Swagbucks Code, enter it exactly how it’s spelled (it’s case sensitive) in the Swag Code box on your account menu in the upper right of the page. If you have the Google extension, the box is in the top right corner. If you have the mobile app, it’s next to the search icon. The icon for the Swag Code box looks like a cartwheel.
So what do you think? Swagbucks is not the way to make living, but you can definitely earn extra money without working extra hard. Make it a habit to use Swagbucks, and before you know it, you’ll have enough SB to exchange for gift cards or money you’ve had your eyes on.
If you are not a member of Swargbucs yet, sign up here!
Do you use Swagbucks? What is your stratergy to earn SB?
What is your favortie rewards program?
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