Swagbucks. How Does it Really Work? And Does it?

Swagbucks is used by millions, but as popular as it is, there is one major question a lot of people have: How does it really work?

After all, how is possible for a program to give away so many points. There must be a catch and a way they make money through this. This is what I set out to find out and explain if you too can use this program to earn money online.

Swagbucks (SB) explained:

Before I explain how it really works, I’d like to explain what SB is. In a nutshell, Swagbucks is basically a “rewards” type program where you earn whats known as “swagbucks” for doing some of the most common things people do on the internet, including:

• Browsing the web.
• Watching videos.
• Shopping and buying items.
• Answering polls, surveys.
• Reading blogs, liking articles.
• Commenting on blogs, videos.
• Ect…

How it works is that you can sign up for free at the main SB’s website and begin earning. The service actually starts you off with bonus SB’s given upon sign up. Then you can begin to earn points for doing many of the things above, in addition to other activities that you will find out about.

You can then use the points you earn and receive things such as gift cards from popular places such as Amazon and use it there. A lot of people have been using this service to earn money while they work and are at home and while it does offer a legitimate way to make money online and make some extra cash, it’s nowhere near to a point where you can consider it a supplementary income.

How does Swagbucks make money?

This is really the biggest question I and so many people have. I don’t usually buy/register with some sort of service/program until I know what’s in it for them. In Swagbuck’s case, it basically works like this:

Think of a credit card that awards you points for purchases you make. You can then use the points, redeem them for prizes, vacations, gift cards, ect… The credit card company is paid by retailers to promote these sorts of services to boost customer activity.

The same idea applies to SB, only everything is done online and the entry fee is $0. You can literally earn money out of nothing with this service. What they do is basically act as a middleman between companies and consumers and create an incentive (via points) for people to use/try products such as games/ads, answering surveys, ect…

Companies pay them to promote their services/products on their website, which is where the points originate from. This allows people to potentially buy from these companies, stay on their radar and return for future purchases, a potentially profitable investment.

Another theory is that Swagbucks buys products from companies at wholesale values, sell them for less directly to people, and whatever is left becomes profit. SB’s doesn’t really explain what’s in it for them, but it could very well be both scenarios.

Additionally SB’s are awarded if you:

• Refer other people into the SB service, increasing their customer base.
• Leave comments/likes on blogs released by SB, which give them more exposure in search engines like Google, which is basically another way to get more people to sign up to SB.

Overall the system is legitimate and I have heard good things about them. You can earn points for doing some really simple things and pretty much anyone can use SB. It really is quite simple. But it does have flaws, which brings me to my next points…

Pros:

• You can join it for $0.
• You can earn SB for doing pretty much the same things you do online.
• Good customer support.
• Overall positive reviews.
• Ability to use SB on your mobile phone also available.
• Just about anyone who has a computer/mobile phone & internet can use SB.

Cons:

• Mobile site not always 100% operational.
• Each SB point = $0.01.
• The amount of time you spend earning points vs how much you can earn is VERY little.
• Not a stable source of income especially if you’re looking to legitimately make money online. Here’s my #1 recommendation.

Final Rating: Swagbucks

5 out of 10 stars. Legitimate and even fun service to use. Though it’s not something you should depend on for extra “income”. See #1 recommendation.

Final thoughts: Is Swagbucks worth it?

I don’t have any problem with Swagbucks. In fact, I like it. It’s fun.

And it’s really perfect for people who already have office type jobs where they’re on the computer all day or at home doing basic online stuff. If that’s the case, you may as well sign up with SB and keep doing what you’re doing. Only this time, it’ll be more worth it and you can actually get something out of it.

But the only issue I run into is people who start to believe this service is useful for making good money online or even potentially a substitute income. This is simply not true. Remember 1 SB = $0.01. Yes there are a lot of incentives to earn points from SB, and the points do add up quickly, but even those numbers amount to only a few dollars if you do the math.

I’ve seen a lot of people brag about how great Swagbucks is and how they use the points for gift cards and things such as Christmas presents, but when I hear that they spend hours and days to earn points that equate to only few dollars, I think that time is better spent elsewhere. That’s my opinion at least. Yeah you can earn a $100 gift card, but is it really worth putting SO much time into it? Maybe…

I’m just not that type of person. You may be, and that’s completely fine. But if you’re someone whose looking to make legitimate money online, I would recommend starting here.

If you already use Swagbucks and have seen success from it (or not), I’d love to hear your take on this subject. Please share your story/opinion in the comments section.