Swagbucks Review
Name: Swagbucks.com
Website: http://www.swagbucks.com
Price: Free
Owners: Josef Gorowitz, Scott Dudelson, Ron Leshem, Eron Zehavi
Overall Rank: 74 out of 100
The Product
Swagbucks is an online reward program that grants users varying amounts of virtual currency that can be converted to real awards. There is a number of ways to earn rewards including the easiest which is through the search function.
Every time that you search for anything at all, a reward is generated and the amount varies from search to search. Most people are awarded an amount that ranges from one to a thousand. The average amount awarded does tend to stay near the lower end of the spectrum.
Pros vs. Cons
Pros:
- Free to sign up for and start using
- Earn rewards (Swagbucks) for things you are already doing.
- More than ten ways to earn Swagbucks including games, surveys and the search feature
- Several ways to spend your Swagbucks including gift cards at popular retailers.
- Newly launched mobile site for use on smartphones (Apple and Android markets)
- Signing up earns you an automatic 30 Swagbucks.
Cons:
- Rewards with the search feature are very hit or miss.
- Very slow to build up any usable Swagbucks.
- Gift cards are limited to only 5 of each particular type.
- Mobile site is very limited – only a few features are available at this time. Discounts are also very limited on the mobile site.
- Strange searches in your history can cause you to get blocked from the site.
Who is Swagbucks For?
Swagbucks is targeted for virtually everyone who is already using the computer and wants to earn rewards for things they are currently doing.
Tools and Training
Most of the functions of the Swagbucks program are straightforward and self-explanatory. The rewards program is explained in depth via video presentations and tutorials. There is no need to download anything for the home user. The mobile user simple downloads an app to their phone/tablet or other mobile device via their provider.
Support
Swagbuck owners often speak to their members via YouTube videos as well as in short videos on the website. In addition, members can contact customer service via email if there is a site issue or a question that needs to be addressed. Swagbuck members also have access to a robust community of fellow members via forums on the home site, on the Facebook page and on Twitter.
The Price
Currently, it is free to sign up for Swagbucks and to earn the rewards. The mobile feature (which is very limited) is also free at this time.
My Final Opinion on Swagbucks
Swagbucks is fun, at least at first. Playing the games is a little annoying because you are literally deluged with ads of every kind the entire time. Earning rewards is a slow process unless you are really working at it and then you can only redeem around $25 of each type of gift card that you might want. Random assignment of Swagbucks is supposed to make it more like a sweepstakes, however, don’t hold your breath for any of the really big payouts because it is unlikely to happen.
If you have a realistic expectation of this site, it is perfectly nifty. Thankfully, there are no huge claims that the site will make you rich, quickly.
Swagbucks at a Glance…
Name: Swagbucks
Website: http://www.swagbucks.com
Owners: Josef Gorowitz, Scott Dudelson, Ron Leshem, Eron Zehavi
Price: Free
Overall Scam Rank: 74 out of 100
VERDICT: LEGIT, Very Limited Earning Potential
If you are currently a member of the Swagbucks community and have had a positive or negative experiences, please leave your feedback below. Also, if you have any questions about this review, just ask.
This scam report has been reviewed and submitted by Kyle, of WaysToAvoidScams.com.
e. kyle@waystoavoidscams.com
I kind of compare SwagBucks to Microsoft rewards, except you can also do offers like buying and subscribing to things. Just have to be careful with those offers, just like everything else you buy on the internet. However, it is pretty fun and I have nothing better to do anyways. And hey. Who doesn’t like an extra dollar for just taking surveys, polls, and other neat things?
If you have a lot of spare time on your hands and you were going to waste it doing something else, then SwagBucks can definitely be a good opportunity. It won’t make your rich and it certainly can be time consuming compared to the results/rewards you get, but you can definitely obtain rewards and there are many success stories to prove it.
I believe your time can be better spent though and if you want to take any passion or interest that you have and create a full time and sustainable business online, I recommend that you check out Wealthy Affiliate. By lesson for of the free Starter training, you are going to have your very own niche website up and running.
“Swagbucks is fun. At least at first.”
Ha! I totally agree. I actually just reviewed Swagbucks on my site, and I found that it IS true that you can make points towards gift cards, but I have to say that I prefer the option to get an actual check-in-the-mail with other sites (like Inboxdollars).
If your so-called profile is out of date or not consistant with what you might have started with, then you can’t take their Gold Surveys, so to me life changes and they don’t give you a chance to change your profile to reflect such changes.
It sounds like you should be given the chance or opportunity to change your profile, I would take that up with the team over at Swagbucks. Perhaps this is an update or improvement that they could consider.
This company is making a fortune but it is not philanthropic. Bill Gates is an example they should follow. He would use some of their profits in his foundation.
Perhaps the philanthropy will come at a later stage when they are more established and have a bigger budget for donations. Who knows? I know many folks do have moderate success with Swagbucks, although it can take an incredible amount of work to earn your bucks.
Swagbucks is a rip off, do surveys and they never credit WHAT A WASTE OF MY TIME. Con job, big time.
Sorry to hear about your negative experiences, I have heard of folks not getting paid and feeling in the same situation as you but generally speaking Swagbucks will pay out (albeit a very nominal payout compared to what you could be earning doing other things, like creating a real business).
What sort of business are we talking about Kyle? What if we don’t have a viable idea for an online business?
Any hobby, passion or interest can be the starting point for your business. That is more than viable enough and if you don’t have an idea, we can help you come up with one as it is part of the training offered to you within WA.
So whether you are interested in horses, fishing, running marathons, pet hedgehogs, or nothing at all, there are literally millions of directions you can head with a business online (no experience necessary) and create something of real substance online.
ive been doing swagbucks for 2 years now and ive made 1600 I don’t know why u feel like its a con you must not be doing something right.
There is definitely a viable opportunity for ‘some’ people to earn money within the program, but in terms of time vs. value, spending two years within a program only to earn $1,600 works out to be an incredible low rate of income.
However if your choice was between wasting time on Facebook and wasting time within Swagbucks (where you can earn some something for your time), Swag is the obvious choice.
You’re wrong, I’ve been on it for a month and I’ve had £90 in rewards already. I’ve referred a friend too. You have to know what you’re doing and spend time, don’t expect to make thousands in days.
You have to log out every time you win Swagbucks , and then you log back in and your points will show. You have to do this or your Swagbucks won’t show.
…no you don’t.
I’ve been a SB user for 10 years. It’s a fun hobby and funds our Christmas and my classroom spending. Those are both quite large budgets.
Completely agree. They deactivated my account before I could claim a £5 voucher. They are not replying to my emails asking for an explanation as to why my account has been deactivated. Avoid the scum!
i have made a decent amount from SwagBucks.
i have tried many other sites and none of them offered the same points to $ ratio as SwagBucks does.
i do the bare minimum of the first daily goal, and ive made over $100 in just the past 2-2.5 months.
it is in no way a paycheck but it sure does help a disabled person like me who cant get disability.
That is wonderful to hear Anastasia, as you said it is not a path to creating a business or a full time income, but if you have idol time you can put it to use on networks like Swagbucks. If you are ever interested in learning how to create a business online (no experience necessary), I would love to help you out. You can check out the “getting started” page here and it will get you move in the right direction.
I am a stay at home mom who also does college online and I have been using Swaybacks for quite some time now. I trade my SB in for either Target gift cards which I use for groceries and regular household goods and also redeem for the virtual Visa gift cards that you can use anywhere online or over the phone. It’s basically the next best thing to redeeming cash and you can redeem for more than just $25 at a time. The amounts vary by store but typically you are offered $5, $10, $25, $50 and $100 for each store. Like I said, I stay at home anyway so I can have it running on my laptop and my phone while I am doing household chores and such and it has helped tremendously. It’s by no means a “get rich” website but given the fact that I can play through the videos without actually having to sit there and watch them while I do other things is probably the best thing about this website for me anyway. I hope this (loophole) helps others who find sitting in front of the screen tedious. Just turn your computer on mute and let the video playlists play through while you do other things 🙂
For sure, it can definitely be good if you are looking to do something that will kill time (and potentially earn you some gift cards). By no means are you creating a full time business doing this nor being efficient with your time, but it is definitely going to be more productive than spending your time watching TV. If you want to create a real business and invest your time doing so, I recommend you check out the Getting Started button with the menu as that will get you rolling with your own niche website for free.
I love Swagbucks. I’m retired due to health issues and live on my Social Security Disability check, which is very small. I earn extra money online on sites like Swagbucks. I usually cash out for PayPal payments or Amazon gift cards. This Christmas I spent about $50 in cash and all the rest of my shopping was done with Amazon gift cards I earned from sites, my primary one being Swagbucks.
Yes, it takes time and if you only visit Swagbucks for a little bit, you probably won’t make much. But for someone like me, it’s a godsend.
Thanks for the feedback and it is great to hear you had a wonderful Christmas and you did earn money through Swagbucks. Like you said, it isn’t going to equate to a full time income but if you put forth the effort you will be able to make a little bit and in your case, it sounds like it did.
I know that this article is two years old so I hope you don’t mind my comment on here. Personally I use Swagbucks only for the search function when I am doing research for my writing in much the same way people do the Google searches. That’s really the only benefit to it in my view point. I spend most of my spare time working on my novel, I will be doing an author website soon. The small amount of Swagbucks I earn from the searches, which I am aware is hit and miss, is just a little perk that you don’t get from Google searches or other search engines that I am aware of. As far as the games go the only game I play regularly is Mafia Wars on Facebook, and then only when I get my work done for the day as a reward. Having one game to play I don’t think is a bad thing as you do need to have a balance.
For the application of using it for search only, that is fine. If you are spending any other time on SwagBucks you are more than likely wasting your time and energy which could be much better utilized building an actual business.
It sounds like you have a good handle on things here Ian, unfortunately too many people waste their time doing these “for pennies” tasks and end up wasting their precious time for a few bucks.
By the time you finish answering even a few of their surveys, Swagbucks will know everything about you and will sell that information to anyone who wants it.
I keep a Swagbucks account (for now), and with a half-hour’s work I wring half a dollar a day out of it. Not much money, and I probably won’t be doing it for long.
Definitely I won’t answer any surveys. Every piece of information about myself is worth more than the $25 or so that Swagbucks ultimately pays for it.
Yeah, your personal information is worth way more than $25 and your time is worth WAY more than $1 per hour. This is not a business, in fact, Swagbucks is a company that takes advantage of people and their boredom. You are worth a lot more than this and so is your time. You should absolutely be considering creating a real business online through platforms like Wealthy Affiliate that provide you with an all-inclusive platform to create and grow your Internet business to any level.
Do not use Swagbucks. I have only experienced terrible service and it totally is not worth your time.
Sorry to hear about your experience with Swagbucks Brooke. Unlike creating a real business online, Swagbucks giving people brainless “sidejobs” in which they can earn pennies doing. The opportunities are growing more competitive and limited and trust me your complaints about their service are not unique to you. Many people are complaining about the vanishing offers, low income/earnings, and also poor customer service through Swagbucks.
If you want to invest your time wisely and create a legitimate business online, I suggest you check out my Getting Started page as it will get your rolling in the right direction.
I’ve been using Swagbucks for about almost a month and already earned $93. Its not hard, it doesn’t take long. I mainly watch the videos from the 5 apps you can download. Do the dailys. You are right you won’ t get rich, but I get so much from Amazon for free!!!
Great to hear that you are earning some income/gift cards through Swagbucks. Out of all of the “get paid to click/search/watch” offers out there, it is one of the more legitimate ones out there albeit earning pennies on the dollar for your time (when it could be better used to create a real business).
That’s BS Margaret. I just signed up with swagbucks the day before yesterday and so did my girlfriend. Separate phones and computers ok. We never use eachother’s stuff. But guess what? We both worked our butts off in those 2 or 3 days to get up to 15 bucks. And do you know what swagbucks did the moment she and I tried to claim our gift cards? THEY CANCELED OUR ACCOUNTS IMMEDIATELY. So I call BS on your $93 a month thing and them not screwing you over. They screwed her, me, and my roommate over all today the day after Memorial Day. I sent them a message this morning and they still haven’t responded. They sent no email, no telephone call, no warning. Nothing. And we were already verified. So guess what folks? SWAGBUCKS IS A SCAM. If they’re not then prove me wrong, but so far, swagbucks themselves just proved me right by stealing over 50 bucks from all 3 of us in one day’s time.
My girlfriend and I both have jobs and so does our roommate, but NO ONE likes to be stolen from and it’s the principle here and maybe the fact that there are single moms and people not like us that don’t get to have a job who are getting screwed over royally by these thieving azzholes. And before anyone says “oh, you shouldn’t complain because it’s free money”, screw you. it is NOT “free money”, we spent a good part of our weekend doing this thinking it was legitimate because we could all chip in for a gift on amazon for a friend’s birthday party. We spend our time to EARN that money which is a portion of the money that is GIVEN to swagbucks and that swagbucks NEEDS PEOPLE TO VIEW or they have NO business period! So I don’t even want to hear how it’s “free money” when it isn’t at all.
Apparently, swagbucks is more interested in screwing people over without a care in the world, and this time they screwed a lawyer over (one of the 3 people they deactivated accounts for today). Should we take them to court to prove a point and make some changes with them? I’m thinking so. How about you?
Jayce Lee
I have had something similar happen with my husband’s and my accounts but we were able to contact them through email and find out that the reason our accounts were frozen was because multiple accounts with the same address were being used. All we had to do was verify our accounts with our face books proving that we were in fact 2 separate people and they apologized for the misunderstanding and re-instated both of us. Sorry to hear about your incident, however. I just now that my experience has been good with Swagbacks other than that one time.
Swagbucks isn’t a scam, i have and so has my friend who uses it has redeemed gift cards from them and have had no issue. Maybe y’all did something y’all wasn’t suppose to.
I agree, it definitely is not a scam and I know several folks that use the service, promote it and earn gift cards through it. In saying this, you are definitely not building a business rather you are making incremental income with your free time and there have been many that have complained of getting cut off (whether this was their fault or not).
Thanks! this was helpful
I started Swagbucks in October 2013 and I love it! It definitely takes time to get into the swing of it, but I don’t feel it’s slow to earn at all. I cash in $25 paypal credit approximately every 10 days. For those that complain it’s less than minimum wage, yes it is but it’s not a job. I have a desk job so I’m able to run things while I work & the mobile apps are great. This is a great way to put a little extra money a side.
I guess that is what the argument is Lisa, if you are going to spend your time on Swagbucks at lower than minimum wage, why not invest that time into creating a REAL business online (which is totally viable for anyone). This can be accomplished within absolutely any niche if you have the proper training and support…and I would be more than happy to help you out.
Swagbucks does work, but you are working for pennies on the dollar when your time and energy could be applied to something that will lead to something of significance (a business in any niche) and one that you own.
swagbucks.com is a #scam! #PERIOD – There are hundreds of people that have said this… obviously somebody deleted more recent posts, strangely no word about them since 2013 though 🙂
Hey, they stole from me $5 from me that was supposed to be paid..Mr Gorowitz seems so pulling down all businesses involved.
Sorry to hear about your experience with swagbucks, although I do think there is some legitimacy to their program their payments are very minimal and in order to earn any amount of money you are working for less than a minimum wage.
I wish someone would have told me and our relatives that Swagbucks was a scam before they cancelled 3 accounts on us today to steal their money back from the advertisers they scam, too. It would have saved us a lot of grief this morning from finding out the hard way, and we could’ve spent our day with family and friends at a get together instead. When thinking about Swagbucks, I think of the petty thief who steals food out of your fridge who could have simply asked and you would have given it to them. That’s what I think of Swagbucks now. P.O.S is what they are.
Very typical of programs like this. They leverage your hard work and a good deal of your time to “earn money for themselves” and when it comes time for a kickback to you, they will find a loophole or legality flaw with your account (unknown to you) and cut you off. Sorry to hear this has happened, SwagBucks should be ashamed of themselves for making this normal practice with their members.
Thanks for writing this article, it was helpful. But can you actually get paid cash? Not gift cards, but real cash? I’m seeing a few PayPal gift cards, is that the closest thing they offer to it?
Thanks.
You cannot earn cash with swagbucks, but you can earn gift cards. It by no means is “creating a business”, it is more or less killing idle time by doing meaningless tasks and getting a small kickback. Unfortunately this time could be exercised in a much more efficient way, creating a real business. If you are interested in creating a real business online (in any niche), I suggest you check out my Getting Started Guide Summer.
I love Swagbucks. In 2 years I have gotten 9 50 dollar giftcards, a hat, shoes and a blouse. Its no scam…its wonderful
That is exactly what I mean Janis. If you dedicate all this time and effort into creating a real business, you would have earned a significant amount more. Although you do actually generate income through swagbucks, there is much more opportunity if you dedicate this time an energy to creating a real business like is taught to you at Wealthy Affiliate. You can literally take any passion and turn it into a business.
I had a huge problem with getting kicked off the surveys from them over and over, I Emailed their support about it and waited a long time for an answer. I finally got a reply about it, and they basically said “Tough crap, that’s how we do it.” And without the surveys it takes a long time to get $5, which I attained through the SwagBucks TV app on the iPhone and iPad (which had all sorts of bugs and such).
I redeemed my points for a $5 PayPal gift card, it took them 10 days to Email a $5 code for Amazon. I Emailed the support asking them to change it to what I requested, and they said no. Also, if you rack up a bunch over time to make it actually worth it at all, and then they ban your account for “cheating” when you did nothing of the sort (which I keep seeing in other forums), you did all of that for nothing. It takes a long time to rack up these points, and it’s quite frustrating at times. If they weren’t dishonest, it would be nice to make all that extra money for online purchases and such in your free time, but alas, they are dishonest, and I am canceling my account.
I am using Bing Rewards, which can make you a little over $5 a month for online purchases, just for searching stuff on their site and it’s only a short bit of time, easy, and not cheating or frustrating at all so far (I’m fairly new, about 2 months) so I would recommend it if you’re looking for this sort of thing.
Steve, not only are you part of a scheme when you are using SwagBucks, you are literally working for pennies. If you broke down what you were working for at Swagbucks, and although it can appear to be somewhat fun earning little credits here and there, it works out to be many times less than $1 per hour.
If you took this same amount of time and invested it into creating a business online (I can show you how to do this from scratch), you would be MILES ahead of where you are at now….I can assure you of that. I recommend that you check out my Getting Started guide here on my website, it will get you moving in the right direction.
It’s time that you create a real business Steve. It sounds like you have drive and work ethic, now it is a matter of understanding the process and that I can help you out with.
Hey Kyle,
I was wondering if you heard about the Gift Hunter Club website, what do you think about it would you recommend it?
I haven’t heard about it, but it if is anything like a click to earn rewards or view to earn rewards, your time and energy could be much better utilized focused on creating an actual business online. I suggest you get started here if you are interested in building something of substance that will produce long term income for you.
I do agree it can take some time but I work full time away from home and have a family and I have earned 25 dollars in gift cards in less than two weeks as has my friend. She has used hers for holiday gifts and I am saving mine for next year.
If only you applied this same sort of effort to an online business. You are honestly working for pennies on the dollar whereas you could be creating something of substance if you were to consider building your own niche website and starting building a business online this way Lisa. Anyone can do it and I can get you up and running with a blog for completely free.
Good article. SB is very good when it works the way it should.
It is not so great when there are glitches.
It seems that when it is down for maintenance, it does not credit. You have no way of knowing it is down until you are finished.
I have gotten some good search points. I write online so I search a lot anyway. Loving the points I get every so often.
My main argument is that yes, you are working for points, but you are working for pennies on the dollar. Why wouldn’t you do something that will actually pay you and that you can actually “create and grow” (like an online business) if you are going to be investing this amount of time doing silly offers within Swagbucks. Your time can be spent much wiser elsewhere.
It’s definitely not something you can quit your job for; but its very helpful. Yes, you have to sit and do stupid repetitive surveys, but I’ve been a member for 3 months now and have been able to earn £30 in PayPal gift cards. Swagbucks is not supposed to be used for your main income, rather a bonus for a little bit of work. Getting money for sitting in my pyjamas on my laptop? Yes, please!
3 months worth of work for £30? Do you realize how crazy this sounds? You would be better off holding a sandwich board for a local business for a couple of hours and you would earn a lot more.
I can assure you Lucy that if you are spending this amount of money online, it can be much better served applying this to creating and growing a business, something that I can absolutely help you out with. Head over the Getting Started section on my site here, I will show you how to get up and running online for not cost and will walk you through the process of creating a REAL business online.
I make anywhere from $2.50 – $6 Per DAY on this site, and many people make more! I only spend a couple hours a day actually working on the site. It’s well worth my time. It paid for my Children’s Christmas last year, and pays several of my bills. Searching is a small part of earning on the site, and, no, I don’t spend money to get Swagbucks, unless it’s something I normally buy anyway like diapers.
So you are working for $1 per hour. I am not sure how this make sense, although that yes, I am not sure how earning $1 per hour is anything to write home about. You would earn 8x what you are earning now if you went to your local fast food joint and got a job there. Just saying.
Great review! I learned soon after I joined Swagbucks that is was good to make a few bucks a week to just search. When I first joined, I was Swagbucks hungry and did a survey for 60SB. Then I realized that 1SB pretty much equals 1 cent. I did a 30 minute survey for 60 cents. That’s an $11.30 pay decrease from what I make at my retail job.
Lately I don’t mind using Swagbucks to do searches for school and when I’m messing around, but I don’t consider it a supplement for my income. I do recommend purchasing a domain from Godaddy through SB because I purchase a $5 domain and earned 1,100SB! 11 bucks for a gift card making a purchase I was already going to make. Not bad.
Thanks for the great post, Kyle!
Jared, I hear you. Lots of folks don’t actually do what you have done and break it down into what they are really earning. They just see swagbucks and get excited when in reality they are working for pennies. You are also doing mindless work within a company that is preying on the idea that people would rather do something for free and earn pennies then pay and really do something of substance.
I am glad you came to your senses before you invested too much time into this. There are real opportunities online for those that are willing to work for it and I would be more than happy to help you out if you ever need a hand getting up and running. Just hit me up within WA!
Great review of Swagbucks and yes I do have a “membership” if you can call it that.
I’ve heard of folks earning with Swagbucks but it’s a long term thing, they can pull about $100 of swag in 12 months. Yep it’s legit enough but it’s a bolt on, for someone who wants to make money d=from home, it’s not a way to.. does that make sense?
As you say the searches would be a great way to earn swag, but hit and miss at the best. I son got fed-up with it and mow it’s an ancient account that I really should take a look at .. 2 secs..
OK back 🙂 I have 52 Swagbucks May have to get my head around how I can make it work .. maybe I’ll install the toolbar on my daughters PC 🙂
Cheers for the share
You can either work for fractions of a penny, or you can work for dollars within the online world. Time can be invested much better than using platforms like Swagbucks and if you are willing to put forth the effort (as you know), the time/value of other opportunities is much better. Work for dollars and work on a business that will grow your success cumulatively, not one that pays you pennies for performing certain actions.
You are quite right about Swagbucks … you can earn a few Swagbucks. But it is GLACIALLY slow. It is far better to put the time into something else that may earn a few dollars, than in this that earns fractions of pennies.
Yeah, I am an advocate of working for dollars not pennies! There are many ways you can create a business online and Swagbucks is definitely not one of these. If you like working for $1 per hour, this may be the program. LOL.
Hi there read your post and you’ve got me curious… how can you LEGITIMATELY make more money online with NO out of pocket expense…I really do not have ANY money to put in to anything. lol Thanx
It starts with a website. There are several places you can get a website up and running for free online and this is going to serve as the foundation for your business. If you want help getting started on a limited budget, I would suggest you check out my getting started page here as it will walk you through the process of getting up and running online with a bootstrap budget.