Swagbucks Review: Can You Really Earn Free Cash & Gift Cards?

Are you signed up for Swagbucks yet? If not, you need to head over there right away and get signed up!

I love-love-love Swagbucks for many reasons. It’s one of my secret weapons for earning extra cash and gift cards that I can use for gift-giving around the holidays and all year long! I know other people who use Swagbucks to help pay for things like clothing, general household expenses, and even Disney vacations!

There are tons of reasons to love Swagbucks. In fact, today, we’re going to explore pretty much everything there is to love about Swagbucks. I’ll also give you some of my best tips, tricks, and recommendations to make the most of your own Swagbucks account.

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What Is Swagbucks?

Swagbucks is one of the best (and best known) opportunities to earn extra cash and rewards via the web. It’s a company that has been around for years, so it’s time-tested with lots of success stories behind it.

More specifically, Swagbucks is primarily a search engine — like Google or Bing — so it’s something you can use all day, every day. There’s no limit to how much you can earn with Swagbucks, and they offer tons of earning opportunities beyond searching, too.

This is a legit way to finance your savings and shopping by racking up points throughout the year and cashing them in for cash by PayPal or gift cards that you can use for holiday and birthday gifts.

How Does Swagbucks Actually Work?

Swagbucks allows you to earn points called SB, and when you’ve earned enough, you can trade them in for everything from gift cards to cash.

There are tons of ways to earn Swagbucks, through your regular day-to-day activities and by completing specific online tasks. Their homepage gives you all the different options — just head over there and pick whatever you feel like doing at that moment.

PRO TIP: If you set your browser’s homepage to Swagbucks (and make sure you’re logged in), it’ll not only be convenient because a search engine opens up every time you open your browser, but you won’t run the risk of forgetting. The more you see the Swagbucks website, the more likely you are to use it — and the more likely you are to earn! This isn’t the only tip, though — I’ve got more coming up for you in a bit.

Cashing Out Swagbucks

Once you’ve collected your SB, redeem them in the Swagstore for cash, gift cards, and even merchandise. It’s really easy to do. Just go to the Swagbucks homepage and click on the link that says “Redeem Your SB.” That link will take you to the Swagstore, where you can browse all the offerings and check out.

Currently, the most popular rewards are for PayPal and Amazon. For PayPal, 100 SBs = $1.00 in cash straight to your PayPal account, but that’s not necessarily the best “deal” if you’re looking for a deal. There’s often a promotion on the Amazon cards, so if you do a lot of your everyday shopping on Amazon, you can save a bundle with these codes. For example, it’ll cost you 2500 SB to get $25 in PayPal, but just 2200 SB to get the same $25 in Amazon credits.

There are plenty of other places you can get gift cards with your SBs, too. There’s a $5 Starbucks gift card for 500 SB that could make great teacher gifts. There are gas cards, home store cards, travel cards, and even the option to turn your SBs into donations for several well-known charities.

One of the really nice things about Swagbucks is the payment minimums are not outrageous. The lowest price for any card right now is 250 SB, which will get you a subscription to a magazine. There are also gift cards to Target, CVS, iTunes, Dunkin’ Donuts, and more, for anywhere from 300 to 500 SBs.

The best part is, with just a little bit of effort, you can pretty easily rack up between 50 and 100 SBs every day.

How Do I Earn Swagbucks?

You have so many ways to earn SB — there’s no daily limit and a ton of options. None require much effort, and a lot of them are things you can do while you’re multitasking on the computer or as a natural part of your online routine.

1. Search with Swagbucks. For many people, this is the primary way to earn Swagbucks. The Swagbucks search engine is just like any other search engine. The fun is when you do your search — some searches are randomly awarded Swagbucks (sometimes a LOT of Swagbucks!). Not every search qualifies, but if you use it regularly, you’ll likely get at least one or two awards each day. They add up quickly! This basically means you’re getting free money for something you’re going to be doing every day, anyway. What’s not to love? One thing to note about searching on Swagbucks: Once you search, check the search results page immediately. Sometimes you have to type in a verification code before you can get your Swagbucks, and there’s a limited time to do so.
2. Cash-back shopping. Shop online through Swagbucks and earn SB every time you make a purchase. It’s similar to what you would do through Ebates. For example, get 3 SB back on every dollar you spend at Amazon. (I like to compare my Ebates cash-back rates with the SB earnings and see which will “earn” me more.) This is a great way to rack up your cash-back shopping rebates with a much lower payout threshold than a lot of the other rebate companies offer.
3. Watch Swagbucks TV (aka sponsored videos) to earn Swagbucks and learn about what’s going on in the world. These can be videos for entertainment, learning, interesting interviews, or even current events.
4. Play games. Nothing better than earning cash and gift cards for playing games!
5. Do a daily poll. Swagbucks offers a new poll for you to take every day.
6. Redeem special offers and coupons available exclusively to members. You’ll see these all over the home page, and there are usually some great offers. This is in addition to the SB you might get back from shopping through the Swagbucks portal.
7. Take Surveys. This is a great way to pick up extra SB when you have some spare time. Their survey mechanism is a lot like the other online survey mechanisms, so if you enjoy online surveys, this is another way to do some. What I appreciate about the way Swagbucks does their surveys, though, is that you fill out a profile in the beginning so they can pre-qualify you for surveys as much as possible. You end up qualifying more often with Swagbucks.
8. Sign up for the Swagbucks VISA Rewards Card and earn SB on every purchase, online or off (a great way to rack up points fast!). Use it for those purchases you’re making through the shopping portal to get even more Swagbucks in your account!
9. Micro-tasks. This is a feature that doesn’t get as much coverage as the others because it’s a little bit newer. However, there are almost always microtask jobs you can do through Swagbucks. It’s powered by CrowdFlower and you’ll have to set up an account, but once you do, you’ll have all kinds of microtasks you can pick up. When I checked the portal, there were hundreds of jobs for 2 SB each, and thousands for 1 SB each.
10. Referring friends. When you sign up for Swagbucks, you’ll automatically receive a referral link. This is a special link to the Swagbucks website with your unique code in it. You can send that URL to your family and friends. If any of them sign up for Swagbucks and activate their account, you’ll receive a Swagbucks bonus. You’ll also receive extra SB based on what any of your referrals earn — you’ll get 10%, in fact! Your referral credits have no limit and never expire, which means that every referral you sign up can continue to give you Swagbucks for as long as your account exists. That’s a lot of potential cash!

Official Review: Is Swagbucks Worth It?

Many users average 20 to 40 SB per day without much of a time investment. At 30 SB per day, that’s over 10,000 SB per year. Trade that in for a $100 gift card at Amazon, Petco, Target, and more. Not bad!

And the calculation above does not include any SB you’d get from referring your friends. With the power of referrals behind you, you can really cash in. Some of those getting in on the referral opportunity are earning over $900 in gift cards each year in straight cash!

Take a look at this woman’s story:

“I used to turn my points in for Amazon gift cards but for the past few years I turn them in for PayPal mostly. I am disabled and only receive the minimum amount because I was a stay at home parent all my life. Swagbucks really has made the difference for me. I don’t think I would have it so easy if I didn’t have sb’s to supplement my income. The first couple years I would save for things I wasn’t able to afford. I bought my first flat screen tv with SBs. I also have fixed up my 1994 Bronco on Swagbucks. I bought new wheels and tires, a complete stereo system, and numerous parts for repair.

To date, I have earned well over a million points. Right now my total is 1,077,348 points. Yes, that’s right…I have earned well over $10,000. Go me, go me!! :)”~ Kathryn P., Florida

How I Use My Swagbucks

The Swagstore offers many ways to use your accumulated SB. The most popular options are Amazon cards and PayPal payments, and for good reason. I usually choose these options.

Swagbucks is how I pay for a large chunk of my holiday gifts. Who doesn’t love receiving gift cards? And even better, I can convert the SB I earn over the course of the year to Amazon gift cards and then buy my holiday gifts on Amazon. This works year-round, and I do it for birthdays, anniversaries, and everything in between.

The Best Way to Maximize Your Swagbucks Earnings

Swagbucks has been around for years now, and there are a few tried-and-true methods to maximize your earnings.

One of the biggest things you can do to boost your SB balance is to install the toolbar in your web browser. It’s really easy to install, and there are instructions right on the homepage. I love the toolbar because it’s so convenient. It gives you a search window right up at the top of every single browser, so you don’t have to open a new window when you want to search. It’s quick, convenient, and makes it easy to earn more Swagbucks every single day.

It also keeps your SB total visible, so you’ll know when it’s time to cash out if you’re aiming for a particular amount.

Another reason to install the toolbar is that it has built-in reminders. Every time you visit an online store that offers Swagbucks, you’ll get a reminder across the top of your browser window to activate your Swagbucks “cash back” before you buy. This has generated a ton of Swagbucks for me, and it’ll do the same for you.

Plus, Swagbucks puts out random free codes a few times a day, and they announce the location of these free codes right on the toolbar. Get a notification every time there’s a free code, and go get yourself some free Swagbucks (which are almost like free money!).

Other Ways to Earn More with Swagbucks

The toolbar is the best way to make the most of Swagbucks. Setting your homepage to swagbucks.com is another way to do it — and I’d highly recommend that if you aren’t planning to install the toolbar. That’s not all, though! These are some of the other ways you can maximize your SB-earning machine:

• Refer your friends. The lifetime earnings really add up!
• Take advantage of special promotions in the cash-back section and the Swagstore. For example, right now when you spend $75 online on Halloween items, you get 14% cash back plus a $5 gift card.
• Print your grocery coupons on Swagbucks. You’ll get more Swagbucks every time you buy something with a coupon, plus you’re saving money on groceries. It’s a win-win!
• Always visit Swagbucks before shopping at your favorite online retailers to see if you can get Swagbucks for your purchase (or install the toolbar so you’ll get automatically notified when you visit a qualifying online store). Compare the Swagbucks rate to your other cash-back shopping portals to maximize your rebates.
• Take the daily poll every single day. It takes 10 seconds and you get SB every time.
• Perform a few tasks or do a survey when you have free time. The nice thing about Swagbucks is they let you know how many minutes a task or survey should take, so you won’t get wrapped up in something that takes more time than you have.
• Follow the Swagbucks blog. Free codes are posted here frequently, and their blog posts are pretty entertaining, too.
• Always purchase your Groupon and LivingSocial deals through Swagbucks. The only thing better than a great deal is doubling up on it!
• Follow Swagbucks on Facebook and Twitter. More free codes!

Why I Love Swagbucks

Swagbucks is a really easy way to earn free gift cards. There’s no wonder they’ve been such a huge hit for so many years. It’s one online company I have been using for years, and I have never had any issues.

There are no minimum requirements to cash out (as long as you have enough SB for the thing you want to get), and your Swagbucks never expire.

As your life and the demands on your time change, you can pick it up and leave it alone as you see fit. Your points won’t go away, and your account won’t be deactivated. Plus, even if you aren’t an active user, you’ll still be able to rack up referral points. You may get a nice surprise when you log back in after some time away!

In short, there’s nothing to lose and a whole lot to gain with a Swagbucks account. The more time you devote to it, the more you’ll make — but a lot of the things that earn you extra Swagbucks can easily be integrated into your daily routine. You’ll be cashing out before you know it!

Visit Swagbucks to sign up for your free account (and $10 signup bonus) and start earning those free gift cards today!