Swagbucks: Sooo, Erm, You're Gonna Pay Me to Do Something I Do Anyway? Cool, Where Do I Sign?

Swagbucks is...

...a mini search engine. It sources all its search results from Google. (I say 'mini' 'cos there's a limit to how many pages come up when you do a search; usually no more than four.)


I heard about Swagbucks some time ago, last year in fact, but...

...you see when the word gets out about something, I usually tend to wait it out for a bit (whether it's to my detriment or not). I don't know, call it rebellion. Everyone goes left, I drill down to Australia.


I eventually joined this year...

...in January, but didn't really use it 'til the following month.



Can anyone join Swagbucks?

Unfortunately, no. Only open to those in the US, UK or Canada ('xcept Quebec). You've gotta be over 13 too.



Cut to the chase, woman. Where does the 'Pay Me to Do Something' come in, huh?

Well, whenever you use Swagbucks to search for something, you can sometimes win points (also called swagbucks). As the points build up, you can exchange them for prizes which vary from Amazon gift cards and Paypal payouts to MP3s, DVD players and iPhones.


What do you mean 'sometimes'?

Well, exactly that. Sometimes when you search, you win swagbucks. Sometimes you don't. You can't win all the time, can ya, unless you're a direct descendent of Dumbledore.



10, 20, 30, 40, 50...

When you search and win, the swagbucks you get are in increments of 10.

You can win up to 50 swagbucks at a time. The most I recall winning at any one time was 30.



Say, any other ways I can build up my swagbucks?

Yep, you can:

- complete special offers (you also get a couple of swagbucks for searching through the 'no obligations' special offers section everyday)

- download the Swagbucks toolbar (you get 1 swagbuck everyday for using it - sometimes you get nothing though, but most of the time I've gotten something)

- find swag codes (update: they don't do this anymore, as far as I can tell.)

- take part in the daily polls (pays 1 swag a day)

- trade in your mobile phone/vid games

- invite people to join (everytime they search & win swagbucks, you get the same amount they do. The most you can earn per invite is 1000 swagbucks, though.)

- submit an idea for one of the several polls Swagbucks frequently runs. If yours is chosen, you get a certain amount of swagbucks for that (think it's 100).

- do surveys



How many swagbucks do you need to request a prize?

Depends on what you want. With loads of prizes up for grabs, the swagbucks you need for each prize varies. For example, to redeem:

- a $5 Amazon.com giftcard, you need 450 swagbucks

- $5 Paypal = 700 swagbucks

- a $15 iTunes gift card = 1850 swagbucks

- 'Lovely' fragrance by Sarah Jessica Parker = 2700 swagbucks

- a Nintendo Wii = 19,080 swagbucks


Lots of other prizes. Just depends on what you fancy. Here's my Paypal payment from them:


Also, thanks to their Paypal sale, I was able to request my 2nd payment yesterday (22nd Mar)...



What else, what else, what else, erm...

- how long it takes to receive your prize depends on what you've ordered. Electronic gift cards take 10-14 working days and physical gifts take about 14 working days.

- Some prizes are only deliverable (or only work) within the US/Canada, so keep that in mind if you're in the UK.

- On certain days, you're given the chance to win more swagbucks than usual.

- Don't go overboard with the searching. Winning swagbucks is cool, but if you get none after your first 3 or 4 searches, let it go and leave it for a couple of hours --- or just keep on using it and forget about the bucks 'til next time. There's no particular rhythm to how I use Swagbucks, but I find that I win something two or three times over the course of the day if I leave a considerable gap (of hours) between my bunch of searches. The trick is to get used to using Swagbucks as a search tool. If something comes to mind and you wanna find out more about it, go to Swagbucks first, then Google for more extensive research.


The ways I sees it...

Vouchers and gift cards are cool, but I prefer cash, so I'm glad Swagbucks have the PayPal option. However, it's great they have a wide range of prizes to choose from. A handful of swagbucks here, a few there, it all adds up.


There's more to Swagbucks, but I think I've covered enough to give you some idea of what the site's about.


Right. I'm off to go play hopscotch with my imaginary friend. His name's Harry. He's a poet. Wears pink shorts and a pink headband. Heart of gold, but hairy as f*ck.


MissEb.