It has been quite a while since I talked about Swagbucks, the search engine that pays you to search the web. I know, sounds too good to be true, right? Well, it’s legit...I’ve explained it here before, but I’ve since learned some new tips and tricks, so I decided it was time for a little update!
As I already said,
Swagbucks is a search engine that randomly credits you with “swagbucks” when you use their site to search the web. These bucks, once you’ve accumulated a bunch, can be redeemed for gift cards - Amazon, Starbucks, Paypal, etc. That is the bare bones of the operation, although there is a whole slew of other ways to earn swagbucks as well. I’ll get to those in a minute!
The amount of swagbucks you win varies from day to day, depending on how many searches you do. I typically make about 20-30 bucks a day on searches, which is far less than some! If you do a lot of things online you can make a lot of bucks per day!
Swagbucks has a toolbar that you can download right to your browser, making it easy to get bucks. Plus, just by simply opening your browser each day, you are awarded one swagbuck for using their toolbar!
Keep in mind that you don’t actually have to be searching for something to use the toolbar. I use it just like I would a regular browser...if I’m going to a blog, Facebook, Etsy, anything, I just type it into the toolbar and let swagbucks find it for me! That way I can make bucks even by going to websites I visit every day. And my secret tip is this: always click through several pages of a search. I usually click through the first 3 pages and then back to page one, and normally end up getting bucks on the 2nd or 3rd page!
If you don’t want to/can’t download the toolbar, you can still go to the
Swagbucks site and do searches straight from there.
Even though Swagbucks started out as a search engine, they have become an entire community with multiple ways to make bucks. Here are the easiest ones that I do almost daily:
Daily poll: in the top left-hand corner on the swagbucks site is a button that says “Earn.” Hover over that, and a drop-down menu will pop up. The first option will be the daily poll. By voting in this poll, you get 1 swagbuck! It only takes about 15 seconds to complete, and every day is a different poll. They are just easy, multiple-choice questions - not anything where you have to reveal your SSN or anything like that! This is an easy way to earn a buck...365 bucks a year, to be exact!
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| Screen shot of the "Earn" tab from the swagbucks home page. |
No Obligation Special Offers: under the daily poll option is another option that says “NOSO.” These No Obligation Special Offers are merely offers from different companies looking for people to sign up with them. The great part is, just by clicking through these different companies, you get 2 bucks. You don’t have to sign up for any of them, just click through them. At the end is a simple capatcha to fill out to verify you are a human, and bam! 2 swagbucks, just like that. This is another easy way to make a few bucks...adding up to 730 swagbucks a year, which is enough for nearly two $5 Amazon gift cards!
Swagbucks TV: For every 10 TV clips you watch on the Swagbucks TV page, you get 3 bucks. The nice thing is you don’t actually have to “watch” them! :) I normally just open the clip in a new browser tab with my sound off and let it play away. These are normally just news clips, but they are not always “clean”...so sound off is the best way to go. Every few minutes I just click another video in the “related videos” section to the right. If you have a handy place to leave your computer, you could have these videos playing all day while you cook, clean, etc. Just click on another one every time you pass your computer, and you can be earning money all day long! :)
I do have some trouble getting videos that give me credit, because the TV option isn’t actually available in Canada. But I’ve discovered the way to make it work is to click on a TV clip from the Swagbucks home page (scroll down until you find one that says “watch to earn”) and from there I can click “related videos” and usually they work. Once in a while I won’t get credit for one, but overall it works out. I think Canada just needs to get with the program! :)
Trusted Surveys: I almost never complete surveys, because I never qualify! However, if you own a car/house/kids/pets there are probably surveys you could complete and get swagbucks. The amount of bucks is usually stated at the very beginning, so you can pick higher paying ones. These do take a little time, but can be completed while you are, say, watching presidential debates or something. :) I’ve never had a problem with getting spam emails or anything as a result of these surveys...I guess they really can be “trusted” as they claim!
Occasionally there are other random offers that will pop up or be sent to your swagbucks inbox...things like watching a short commercial for a buck or something like that. These don’t take much time and are another way to get a few bucks a day.
Referrals: This is where I fall on my knees and clasp my hands and ask you to help out. :) Not really...its totally up to you. But if you want to give swagbucks a try, I’d be tickled pink if you’d use
my referral link...located throughout this post and always available in my sidebar. I will be awarded 50 swagbucks if you sign up under my link, plus swagbucks will match the swagbucks you earn up to a certain number. It is a great referral program, and it is free to sign up, so why not give it a try?
Swagcodes: On the right hand side of the Swagbucks home page is whats called the “gimme” box...a little place to type in a code and be awarded swagbucks. (you can see part of it in the screenshot above) Where do you get these codes? They pop up all over the place...on Swagbucks
Facebook page (or the
Canadian one) or
Twitter or in the
Swagbucks blog (get there by clicking the “blog” link on the tool bar at the bottom of the page.) You have to be lucky enough to be online when they release a code, because they are usually only “live” for an hour or two, and then they expire...but if you are online, its a great way to get a few more bucks. An easy way to find them is to follow the
“Swagbucks Offers That Credit” page on Facebook. They post when a new code is released...they can’t tell you the code, but they can tell you where to look - the blog, facebook page, etc. Then you just type the code exactly as they have it into the “gimme” box on the homepage.
Whew….either this is complicated, or I’m feeling very chatty today. :) I think its the latter...because it is really not complicated at all! Once you go sign up, you’ll see clearly how everything works. For more info (and probably better explanations) read
this post over at Money Saving Mom. There are lots of great tips in the comments section, too! And again..thanks from the bottom of my feet for using my link to sign up! If you are diligent over the next month, you should earn enough swagbucks to get a couple of gift cards before Christmas.
I’ve been using Swagbucks for a while, with great success (even used my Amazon gift cards to buy Christmas presents last year...and will be doing it again this year!) but I recently found another great site that is similar but not exactly the same -
Superpoints.
Update: Unfortunately, Superpoints has gone bottom-up...according to their site, they are unable to meet the demands that a rewards site offers. I apologize to those who signed up, as we all lost the points we had in our accounts. Its a really sad thing...I miss that Super Lucky button! Thanks for your interest, and hopefully something similar will start up in the near future. You can read more details on their site here.
Superpoints is a whole lot simpler with less options. It is not a search engine, but there are still ways to earn points that can be cashed in for Amazon gift cards.
The easiest (and most fun) way is with the Super Lucky button. Just by clicking that button you randomly can get superpoints. I’ve gotten up to 25 in one click, but I have seen others get up to 100! Depending on what level membership you have reached, you have so many clicks per day. Right now I get 30 clicks because I completely filled out my profile page. (one day I randomly got 45 clicks...not sure why...but I sure did appreciate it!)
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| Picture of how to get to the superlucky button...ignore the Huggies ad! |
There are surveys you can take here as well, but I haven’t done any of those yet. They also send out a daily email which contains one or two superpoints once you click through to their site.
They too have a great referral program...I won’t beg this time, but if you’d be so kind as to use
my referral link to sign up, this will award me more superpoints. Y’all are the best. :)
That is all there is to
Superpoints. Even if you don’t get any referrals, you can still earn a few superpoints each day just by clicking the super lucky button. That is easy to do while reading emails or doing other online work, so it doesn’t take up any time. And its so fun. Like honest gambling or something. :)
There are other sites out there similar to these that I still want to look into...Bing rewards and Mypoints are two I’ve heard good things about. Hey, if there are sites that want to pay me for what I already do online, I’ll be more than happy to take it! I’d be interested in knowing what sites you use and what works for you!
Feeling overwhelmed by all this info? Just take the plunge and go sign up..then refer back here for tips on how to start earning bucks or points. Feel free to ask if you have any questions or need something explained more fully!
Despite the fact that I said "swagbucks" about 2 million times and "superpoints" at least half that much, I was not asked by either of these sites to write this post. These are legitimate sites that help save money and buy Christmas gifts, and I enjoy passing the info along to you. If you sign up under my referral links, I will get credited bucks or points to my account, which will help me purchase Christmas gifts. Thanks!
