Swagbucks Review – Best Online Rewards Program

Welcome to my review of Swagbucks.

Swagbucks is one of the leading consumer rewards websites and has been in operation for over a decade. There are many ways to earn cash and rewards with Swagbucks, the most popular method is taking surveys but you can also earn by playing games, shopping and signing up to special offers.

Swagbucks is a subsidiary of Prodege LLC, one of the leading consumer research firms in the USA, they also own several other loyalty programs including Inboxdollars and Inboxpounds.

Swagbucks Review

Before I carry on with this review, I must clear up a few questions that I regularly come up regarding Swagbucks.

Is Swagbucks legit?

Yes, Swagbucks is one of the most well-known rewards programs and has very favourable ratings on Trustpilot. They also have a 4-star rating from their members on the Better Business Bureau.

Is Swagbucks safe to use?

It’s completely safe, there is no fee and all you need to sign up is your name and a valid email address.

Is Swagbucks worth it?

Now, this needs a bit more explanation which I will do later down the article but the brief answer is no but only if you are aware that Swagbucks is a rewards program and not a business opportunity.

If you are looking for a way to earn a part-time or even a fulltime income, check out this program, it’s free to join as well.

With those questions out of the way, let’s get on with the actual review of this popular rewards program.

First, I want people to understand there is no way you will become rich by using Swagbucks, it doesn’t advertise itself as an online business opportunity but purely as a rewards program.

I say this because the internet is full of get rich quick merchants that make you believe you can quit your job by taking simple surveys and clicking on ads. It sounds ridiculous to me now, but when I first started trying to make money online, I fell for these mischievous schemes because they make it seem so easy and we as humans always want the easy way out. Don’t fall for them.

Swagbucks celebrated their tenth year in business last year and in that time they have become one of the largest and most reputable consumer rewards programs that have paid out over $200 million in cash and gift cards.

Swagbucks is free to sign up and there are many ways you can earn money, prizes and gift cards.

The following are the main ways you can earn with Swagbucks.

Surveys

Probably the most popular way of earning points or SB as they are known on Swagbucks is through taking surveys, however, in my opinion, it is not the most time efficient.

Swagbucks gives you a lot of surveys, with some you can earn as much as 500 SB ( which equals to roughly $5, but those are few and far between, most of the surveys will earn you less than 100 SB.

With each survey you get a rough estimate of how long it will take, a good way to earn as much point as possible is to look for the highest earning surveys that take the least amount of time.

However, you will have to be aware that there are some qualifying questions before you can take part in any of the surveys. This is where it can get quite frustrating, as many times you may not be eligible for many of the surveys.

It can also be a waste of your time because if you spend a couple of minutes answering qualifying questions and then find out you are not eligible, add these up and sometimes you’ll find you have just spent half an hour without actually taking a survey.

Swagbucks sometimes run promotions that will allow you to earn double points. It may be worth your while to complete some surveys during these promotional periods, otherwise, I would personally stay clear of them.

Shopping

This is probably one of the easiest ways to earn SB points, Swagbucks have a partnership with over 1000 online retailers including the juggernauts like Amazon, eBay and Walmart.

If you shop at any of their partner stores, you can get up to 20% cashback in the form of SB points which you can then redeem for cash or gift cards.

Not all stores offer such a high cash back rate, most will be between 2%-10%, however, if you shop regularly, these cashback points can quickly add up and by the end of a calendar month, you may have enough for a decent night out.

Special Offers

Swagbucks features a lot of offers from well-known global brands, if you sign up for any of their deals, you can earn a substantial amount of SB points.

For example, as of writing this Swagbucks review, there is an offer of earning 1000 SB if you sign up for a free 14-day trial of NOWTV. This seems like a pretty good deal, however, there are some terms and conditions for most of these offers. For example, to be eligible for the offer I just mentioned, you will have to continue on after the free trial period and stay on the plan for at least a month.

After that Swagbucks will transfer you the 1000 points after a period of 92 days. This seems like a long time but if you were going to purchase the offer even without the Swagbucks points, it shouldn’t really matter.

Using The Swagbucks Search Engine

Yup, you can SB points just by using Swagbucks search engine (which is Powered by Yahoo search). However, they only reward you points periodically. So, you will not be earning every time you use their search engine, that would be crazy, I mean if that was the case, everyone would be using Swagbucks search instead of Google! I know Yahoo isn’t the most useful search engine and their share of the search market is pretty low, however, if you are in that small percentage who do use them regularly, you may want to consider making Swagbucks your default search engine.

Watch Videos

This is another method that seems pretty straight forward and not much of a hassle to earning some easy SB points. However, it is kind of tedious, the videos you are supposed to watch are not entertaining, you can choose from a list of seven categories on what kind of videos you want to watch.

In my opinion, it is not really worth your time, just look at the image below, you’ll earn a meagre 3 SB for watching a total of 22 videos whose total watch time is 22 minutes. When I first came across this, I thought the best way would be to just start the videos and then continue with something more important, however, from my experience, the videos do not continuously play one after the other. When one finishes, you have press play for the next one to start and since most of the videos are usually less than a minute long and not very entertaining, watching them for 20+ minutes and earning only a few SB is not worthwhile.

Play Video Games

If you are a keen video game player, there is a way for you to earn some SB points by downloading and playing any of the recommended video games. However, like everything else, there is a catch, you will have to make some in-app purchases to be eligible for the SB points.

This is a good way to accrue some points if you are an avid video game player and make in-app purchases on a regular basis, however.

Purchase Gift Cards

If you are a regular shopper with one of the many retailers that have partnered with Swagbucks, you can earn cashback through any gift cards that you purchase through Swagbucks. The type of gift cards on offer will depend on which country you are in, for example, I am in the UK and currently, there are 10 gift cards available from some of the most popular high street retailers in the UK.

Referral Program

Another easy way to get some SB points is through referring other people to Swagbucks because it’s free it shouldn’t too tough getting people to sign up. However, you do not earn any points by just referring, your referrals must be active and earning SB points, your reward is receiving 10% of whatever they earn for life.

The Swagbutton

The Swagbutton is Swagbucks Chrome extension, once installed it will alert you of any cashback opportunity on any site you visit. This is a pretty cool feature as it means you will never miss a chance at getting some cash back, the Swagbutton also alerts you of any valid coupon codes that may be available and applies them automatically when you check out.

I think this is probably the best feature of Swagbucks, if you do a lot of online shopping, you will always be altered of any cashback opportunity or coupon codes availability. Plus you will get to build up your SB points total.

Who Is Swagbucks For?

If you like taking surveys and do a lot of online shopping, Swagbucks provides the perfect opportunity for you to earn some rewards in the forms of gift cards and cash.

Do not treat it as a business opportunity, it will never earn you enough for a part-time job let alone making a full-time income from it.

People who promote taking surveys as a business opportunity are not ethical and only want you to sign up to the dodgy system that they are promoting. Remember, no legitimate companies ask you to pay them to take part in surveys.

Final Thoughts

Swagbucks is probably the best online rewards program, they provide lots of opportunities to earn gift cards and cash. If you have a couple of hours a day to spare, take a few surveys, many of them can be rewarding if you manage to complete a few.

However, I really think the best course of action is to install the Swagbutton and claim any cashback or coupon codes that may be available when you shop online. If you are a keen gamer, then taking advantage of the gaming offers may also be a good way to accumulate some SB points.

However, do remember, that this is a rewards program, it is not a way to quit your job, just a good way to earn some extra cash and gift cards in your free time. Click here to sign up with Swagbucks.

If you are looking for a way to earn a decent income from the comfort of your home, click on the button below and find out how you can do this.