Swagbucks: A Review

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I joined Swagbucks a few months after I started blogging because it seemed like the smart thing to do. Most of my favorite bloggers had a Swagbucks account. I understood why when I signed up; why use Google as a search engine when you can use an engine that will help you accumulate points like Swagbucks does?

What is Swagbucks?

Swagbucks is essentially just a way for you to earn points, which you can put toward gift cards, items, and, well, swag.

There are many ways to earn Swagbucks, including:

• Using their search engine
• Cutting coupons from Swagbucks
• Buying daily deals from Swagbucks
• Taking polls
• Playing games
• Watching videos
• Taking surveys
• Trading in unwanted electronics
• Referrals

There are a few other options to earn Swagbucks as well.

Once you accumulate enough Swagbucks, you can “shop” in their store and redeem them. Many users’ favorite redemption is for Amazon gift cards. If you have enough points, you can also redeem your Swagbucks for things like iPods, Paypal cash, donate your Swagbucks to charity, and even redeem them on household things like cleaning products.

Pros

There are some good things about Swagbucks, but need I say the obvious? The best thing is that you can get free stuff just for searching through their search engine.

I’ve been able to accumulate enough for a $40 Amazon gift card just through searching. I don’t do much else on Swagbucks because I just don’t want to spend my time taking surveys, but that’s pretty good.

I use Swagbucks for my normal searches that I’d otherwise use Google for.

It’s also nice being able to get some Swagbucks when I go to buy something online that I’d otherwise be buying. If I see a Groupon that I like, for instance, I’ll go through Swagbucks to buy it. That way I earn Swagbucks on my Groupon.

Cons

No matter what, you still have the chance to win Swagbucks, but you don’t always win. For instance, you may have to search for three different things before you win any Swagbucks.

Unless you have referrals, it can take quite a while to accumulate Swagbucks if you aren’t willing to take surveys, watch Swagbucks TV, do tasks, and spend your time doing other things on Swagbucks.

Another con about Swagbucks is that their search engine isn’t exactly the best one to be doing research on. It’s not as user friendly as Google, so I’d recommend doing searches only for things that you think will be easy to find, such as definitions.

The final negative thing about Swagbucks is that some of their offerings aren’t offered to Canadian residents, and I’m sure it’s the same for most countries outside of the USA. For instance, I can’t use the Swagbucks coupons because they aren’t valid in Canada.

How to Earn Swagbucks

Searching

I think I’ve made it obvious in this post that my favorite way to earn Swagbucks is by doing searches using their search engine.

You can win a random amount of Swagbucks (usually between 7-15) by doing searches. Don’t get discouraged if you don’t win on your first search; usually, you won’t. Try again and again; I usually win by my third.

Try searching on Mega Swagbucks Day (which are on Fridays). They ramp up their wins, and you have much higher odds of winning higher amounts during these days.

 Check for Shop and Earn

You’re not really getting ahead if you just go and buy all the shop and earn deals just to accumulate Swagbucks, but if there is something that you need to buy, check out Swagbucks first to see if they have it. If you buy the item through Swagbucks, you will earn Swagbucks quite quickly.

Daily Deals

Groupon and other daily deal sites tend to be on Swagbucks, and if you were already going to be buying a Groupon (once again, don’t just buy the Groupon to accumulate Swagbucks – that’s silly and will cost you a lot of money!) go through Swagbucks. You can usually earn around 45 Swagbucks for it.

Clip Coupons

Lots of my readers are pretty frugal and enjoy a good coupon, so this can come in handy if you are American.

There are some pretty good coupons with Swagbucks (for example, right now there is $2 off of a box of diapers), and you can earn 10 Swagbucks for each coupon you redeem at the store. So you are both saving money and earning Swagbucks.

Do Surveys

These surveys admittedly do take quite a while to complete, and I don’t love the amounts of Swagbucks you get for each survey. Especially since there are companies out there that will pay you in cash to do surveys. But this is just another way to earn Swagbucks.

Refer Friends

Swagbucks matches your referral’s wins up to 1000 Swagbucks. Which is fabulous. It’s hands down the easiest way to earn SBs.

You can use my referral link to sign up if you haven’t already 🙂 

There are many more ways to earn Swagbucks but those are the examples that will earn you the most right off the bat.

Do you use Swagbucks? If so, how much have you been able to win? What is your favorite prize?