I’m probably the last person in the frugal blogosphere to give Swagbucks a try, but just in case there are a few of you out there who haven’t already signed up, I thought I’d share my thoughts on the program (Swagbucks has not asked me to do this or paid me to!).
What is Swagbucks.com?
Swagbucks is basically a search engine that rewards you with Swagbucks on a fairly random basis when you do searches on the site. In my experience, you usually get between 10-20 swagbucks at a time. These Swagbucks are redeemable for a variety of prizes, but it seems that most swaggers choose to use them for Amazon.com gift cards. A $5 Amazon gift card will run you 450 Swagbucks, so the Swagbuck numbers don’t at all correspond to real dollars.
How do you get Swagbucks?
You can also earn Swagbucks by doing other things, such as shopping through the Swagbucks site or checking the Swagbucks blog for codes. There’s also a Swagbucks blog that sometimes includes Swag codes, and which sometimes sends you on an internet version of scavenger hunts to find more Swag codes. If I was really bored, REALLY hard up for money, or if I really enjoyed that sort of thing, I might bother with the scavenger hunts, but as it is, I’m too busy. And scavenger hunts don’t really blow my hair back. 😉
I mostly have just earned Swagbucks by doing searches, and I really haven’t put a whole lot of effort into it. I usually go to the site once or twice a day when I need to search for something, and I end up winning 10-20 Swagbucks a day. I definitely don’t think it’s worth my time to sit there and try to think of more and more searches to do in hopes of winning a few more bucks (plus, I lack the patience for such an endeavor!).
Is it worth doing?
At my 10-20 Swagbucks/day, it takes me a while to get enough Swagbucks for a $5 Amazon card (like, over a month!). But, considering that it takes very little effort on my part to do this, I’ll probably just keep using the program when I need to do searches. I am pretty patient, after all…if I can wait for leaves to grow on a stick, I can wait for Swagbucks to pile up.
If you’re crazy busy and you have lots of other ways to earn a little extra money on the side, Swagbucks is probably just going to be kind of frustrating to you. Your wallet might be happier if you used your extra time to engage in some money-saving activities, like planning a menu or cooking a meal at home. Because it’ll take a LOT of Swagbucks to offset a $25 takeout order.
If you’re as patient as I am (or if you really like scavenger hunts!) and you’d like to check Swagbucks out for yourself, just visit the site and sign up for a new account. You’ll get 30 bonus Swagbucks to start you off, with no scavenger hunt required. 😉
Those of you that are more on the ball than I am and are experienced with Swagbucks, what are your thoughts? Do you think Swagbucks is worth the time? How do you earn Swagbucks?
(full disclosure: If you click on one of the Swagbucks links in the post and open an account, I will get some sort of Swagbucks bonus. I’m not even entirely sure what it is, but I’d be grateful for it. I think I might win Swagbucks when you do. Or something. And in case you want to sign up later, I also have a Swagbucks graphic in my sidebar that functions the same way. )
Gail
Friday 12th of April 2019
I think they SUCK. After you start earning, they will block you so you can’t even watch one video. You get the Oooops message, very frustrating, I have tried contacting them to no avail, POS. They say you can earn 500 points a day but it all BS. Has this happened to anyone and do you have a way around it?
Shawn Newsome
Friday 24th of February 2012
i know a few tricks to swagbucks i cashed out 30 dollars last week in amazon cards its a great website
Meagan
Tuesday 20th of December 2011
I know I'm pretty late in the discussion, but just thought I would pop in over here.
I've been on Swagbucks approximately a week, and currently have just over 1,000 points. The biggest way that I earn points is the SwagbucksTV mobile app. When I am home during the day or evening, I plug my phone in and turn the app on, with the media volume muted. It keeps continuously playing videos on my phone. For every 5 videos I play, I get 2 SBs. You can get a max of 100 SBs a day this way.
Also, every morning while I sit down to check my email I do a few things that will earn me points, like looking through the No Obligation Special Offers, taking a survey, or looking for any free offers I can do. I don't normally spend more than 30 minutes in the morning doing this.
If I am sitting down at the computer to do any work, I will turn on Swagbucks TV. I open it in another tab or window and play videos while I am working with the sound off. These videos don't play continuously like the mobile one's do, so every so often you have to switch to the next video. For every 10 videos you watch you get 10 SBs. This is only a good option if you are already going to be working on the computer.
When I need to, I'll use the search engine. I don't like it, and I don't normally win much, but I always try to use it.
eric
Thursday 8th of December 2011
The way I see it is that if you are diligent.. you can maybe mke enough sb to buy one $5 card every 2 days. People think WOW IN ONLY TWO DAYS?? So you could do that, or..you could make that in <1hour at a real job. In order to make a decent amount at this site you have to work at it, surveys, offers, keeping up with freebies, using subpar search. It easily eats up more time than its worth. Hell, you could walk dogs and it would be easier and you'd make a lot more money doing it. Its one of the better ones I've seen but as much concentration as it takes its really REALLY stupid to waste your time on this site. Just go do an oddjob or a parttime job. I mean free sounds good but you are trading your time and that same amount of time could be put to much more profitable means.
Kristis TeaRoom
Sunday 2nd of October 2011
gonna give it a try