Swagbucking into 2014

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We've included this fab post in our Make Money Online guide. Read more about Swagbucks there

Back to the original post...

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Last thread http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=4755472

Many thanks to Fairyclicks for the original thread, and Cally & everyone for their contributions over the previous threads, i've rearranged this first post a little to hopefully make it a bit clearer.

NEWBIES to Swagbucks this first post is well worth reading to get you up to speed, give you hints and tips on using the site and give you an idea of what the hell we are going on about in the thread sometimes.

The rest of you We all know how this works

Guide to Swagbucks

Joining Swagbucks (SB)

To join swagbucks you do not need to be referred you can just sign up with your email address. As with most sites like this however if you use someones referral link that person with will earn some extra swagbucks when you earn/win them (up to a maximum of 1000sb which is approx £5 depending on how they are claimed)

Please do not post referral links on this thread - they must be posted on the referral board: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=1406969

(SB means both Swagbucks the site and the points currency)

Homepage Directions - left to right across the top blue toolbar

Shop: You can earn swagbucks by shopping online with a selection of vendors.

Search: Random amounts of swagbucks are won from random searches, up to 3 wins a day, sometimes you might be lucky & get 4 wins.
You can also use the search bar at the top of the homepage
Search shorthand: 2nd win referred to as 'dubs', 3rd win = 'trips', 4th win = 'quads', ie 'dubs up' someone has got a second search win of the day. People may post what they searched when they won, sometimes others win with the same search term
Sometimes you are awarded collectors bills for searches (see below)

Watch: Earn points by watching Swagbucks TV, 10 videos to fill the meter = 3SB, meter can be left part filled overnight to top up the next day

Play: Earn points by playing games for free, 2SB usually awarded for every 2 games completed and score submitted (but can vary at times) - max of 10SB a day can be earned from games. Quickest game is probably falling leaves.
Pay to enter tournaments available as well to try and win more swagbucks.

Answer: Surveys, Daily Poll, Tasks
- Surveys: Answer surveys to earn points from;
-- Targeted/CINT Email Surveys: 2SB per profile filled in when you first join, the invitations, when one comes available, to these email surveys are sent to the email address you signed up with. These surveys are credited manually in US office hours therefore do not expect the points immediately
This button is just another way of getting to the profiles.
-- Survey Dashboard/Trusted Surveys (TS): Check you have opted in for trusted surveys (there is a questionnaire to complete to get started), check the dashboard regularly during the day for survey opportunities. You get 1sb for getting disqualified for a maximum of 5sb a day (but only if you see the message telling you this!) (originate from the ipoll survey dashboard)
-- Peanut Lab (PL) Surveys: Peanut labs sometimes release surveys at the top of their special offer wall. Some PL surveys give you 1sb for getting disqualified, some don't.
This button is just another way of getting to this, make sure you have opted in (button at top right of PL wall)
-- Daily Surveys
--- You can complete up to 5 of these day through to the 'Congratulations' screen, each worth 70SB in the UK (originate from Toluna surveys)
PLEASE NOTE - DOING MORE THAN THE ALLOWED AMOUNT OF DAILY SURVEYS ... MAY RESULT IN SWAGBUCKS TERMINATING YOUR ACCOUNT PERMANENTLY
** For all surveys it is recommended to get a screenshot of the completion page incase you are not credited and need to raise a support request to be credited later.
Trusted Surveys (TS) and Daily Surveys (DS) are the most reliable for payment however there are also many survey options on the offer walls most of which you can try daily or more often (likelihood of screening out or not crediting is higher on the walls surveys though).
If you keep getting DQ from surveys it might be because of out of date information here - it is possible these questions are used to check for consistency as well as sending you relevant surveys so its a good idea to keep these up to date.
Some people get lots, some people get surveys that you won't get.
Do not worry about it, keep checking and surveys will appear eventually
- Daily Poll;
-- Earn 1SB per day by answering the Daily Poll question
- Tasks: Complete online tasks to bank points;
-- Points are paid to your balance and the meter reset once you have filled the meter to 20SB. People commonly complete the investment (Fisher) tasks and casino tasks

Discover: Special offer walls, NOSO, toolbar
- Special Offers: Special offer walls for;
-- Trial Pay (TP); occasionally extra videos, TP Daily Survey (not the same as SB Daily Survey), Opinion Surveys, Ampario Long & Short, SSI Surveys, Samplicious Surveys
-- Radium One (RO); occasionally extra videos, sometimes additional surveys
-- Payment Wall; sometimes extra surveys, will show at the top
-- Peanut Labs (PL); occasionally extra videos, extra surveys
-- Sponsor Pay (SP); occasionally extra videos, Neilsen Surveys, Inspired Opinions Surveys, *Survey Savers - this is an offer sign up not a survey!
-- SuperSonic; occasionally extra videos
-- OMG (finance offers, tread with care!)
- NOSO No Obligation Special Offers: link used to be available on this menu now only available via the 'To Do List' on the left of the homepage
-- Just click right through to the video box and play for the capture, no need to sign up for anything! 2SB per day
- Extension/toolbar
-- 1SB per day if you have downloaded, can make your computer run slow, suggested to turn off this extension when not using.

Rewards: Rewards Store, Swagstakes
- Rewards Store: Link to the Swagbucks store where you can redeem your swagbucks balance against e-giftcards such as Paypal, Amazon, John Lewis, Marks & Spencer, etc
- Swagstakes: Use your swagbucks balance to buy tickets for draws to win prizes, some UK users have won previously.

Swagcodes: Click on the wheel/safe icon to enter any swagcodes that are given out during the day, codes are posted on the facebook pages, twitter and in blog articles.
Codes can now be shared with other users, please post up in the thread if you come across one, ideally highlighted with the expiry time

Inbox: Swagbucks may sometimes send you offers to your swagbucks inbox found here, this can occasionally include survey opportunities and extra videos.

Total Points: This is your current swagbucks balance

Your Account: Drop down menu
- Your Swagbucks: Swagbucks ledger of points received over the full history, can be filtered by earning types and date, and record of collectors bills received (see below)
- Shop & Earn: record of shop & earn qualifying orders
- Settings: including survey profiles
- My Referrals: record of your referrals and how much they have earned for you.
- My Gift Cards: Your received gift cards
- Order Status: Record of all giftcard orders
- My Swagstakes: Record of swagstakes entries
- My Wishlist: Customisable quick order list of things from the reward store, add by clicking the ‘add to my wishlist’ button on the item in the reward store


& Going down the left hand side of the homepage you will come across;

Daily Goal (Bonus Targets)
Swagbucks have individual daily targets for users, your target is shown at the top left of your homepage with a meter showing your progress. By hitting the target they have set you you will earn yourself a bonus for that day [daily meter bonus] (generally 10% of the target, so 100SB target = 10SB bonus).
(People may post how far they have got through their target as X/Y, X being how many they have got, Y being what their target is they are aiming for)
You will have 2 targets each day (1st = blue and 2nd = red) you can earn larger additional bonuses when you consistently meet your daily targets in a ‘winning streak’, winning streaks are recorded by meeting your 1st/blue daily target only and run by the calendar month.
A day can only count in 1 winning streak and it is the maximum number of days you get in a row, ie 15 days in a row in 1 month you would get paid 1 bonus for 14 days only plus the daily bonuses for all 15 days, you can get separate winning streaks though ie 2 runs of 7 day streaks that were separate in that month.
Which winning streaks you have obtained will be highlighted if you expand the ‘Show my Winning Streaks’ bar below your target information.
Winning Streak Bonuses (meter super bonus)
- 7 Straight Days: 25 SB + Daily Bonuses
- 14 Straight Days: 100 SB + Daily Bonuses
- 21 Straight Days: 200 SB + Daily Bonuses
- Full month: 300 SB + Daily Bonuses

Bonuses are paid once a month on the 5th (Dec bonuses paid 5th Jan), they are not paid daily. They are paid as 2 amounts 1 for the Daily Meter Bonuses and 1 for the Super Meter Bonuses (winning streaks). Bonus payments do not count towards your daily target, they are usually paid late on UK time (10pm sometimes after midnight).

You can look at previous days/months targets/earnings by navigating through the calendar via the very small calendar icon to the right of the current days date

To Do List
Checklist/quick links for easy daily earning methods, checked off as they are completed that day.
This is now the only link to the NOSO.

Stay Connected
Quick links to the Twitter feed, Facebook page, Youtube channel, SB Blog
** SB Blog homepage top right: Hourly Random Winner: If your picture/username comes up here you can claim 1000SB, check regularly while you are online, UK users have won previously.

Homepage cards
The majority of the homepage under the search box is made up of ‘cards’ these are links to various earning opportunities.
**There will be commonly be additional videos show up in these cards, they are commonly a red box with a white play button/arrow on it or a blue box with similar or an image in it, worth 1SB or 2SB and sometimes credit repeatedly for long periods of time if the homepage is refreshed after viewing/credit.
This will likely be mentioned as the ‘Blue Box’ in the thread , if the blue box is about it is worth taking advantage of!


Daily Earning For anyone new to SB here is a quick guide to things you can do every day to earn a few guaranteed SBs:
Daily Poll - 1SB
NOSO - 2SB (just click right through to the video box and play, no need to sign up for anything!)
Toolbar - 1SB if you have downloaded, can make your computer run slow, suggested to turn off this extension when not using
Games - 10SB - 2SB usually awarded for every 2 (but can vary at times) completed and score submitted

Once you have done the guaranteed SB above then move on to;
Searches - random amounts allocated for random searches
SBTV - 3SB for every 10 videos
Surveys - easiest and quickest way to earn (and possibly the most frustrating) way to earn large amounts of SB. You will find you get DQ (disqualified) a lot from surveys - this is normal as each survey is designed to be answered by certain groups of people only and this varies with each survey. It is not recommended that you change your responses to qualify for surveys as inconsistent answers will result in getting fewer survey opportunities, increased levels of being DQ and possibility of being investigated and having your account terminated. It is therefore best to be honest in your answers (and be consistent with profile survey answers as well!) - check you have opted in for trusted surveys (there is a questionnaire to complete to get started)
Special Offers - watch out for more videos and surveys in there, we will also let you know which other offers track ok in the thread
Inbox - check out your inbox for extra earning opportunities.
Tasks - some can be complicated and some quite easy - usually the check the details of website ones are easy.
**Check of reoccurring videos in the homepage cards!

Other Useful Info
The swagbucks day starts and ends at 8am our time in the UK
The facebook page is a good source of info, though tends to be relating to offers in US rather than here.
It is not against swagbucks terms to hold multiple accounts at the one address (however they seem to have an issue with more than 2). Multiple accounts are not to be held by one person or to be shared.

Collectors Bills
Sometimes swagbucks release limited collections of ‘swagbills’ of various denominations on a theme (Christmas/New Year/Halloween/Mothers Day) which you can earn on searches randomly, if you collect them all during the time they are available you earn a bonus (usually 25SB does not count towards your daily target).
Eg. Gingerbread bill/Gingerbread collectors bill/Snowflake bill

Challenges
Sometimes swagbucks run ‘challenges’, you can join one of the teams to contribute points to that team by going about your normal daily earning, the members of the winning team get a bonus (usually 25SB does not count towards your daily target)
Recent challenges: Naughty vs Nice, Vampires vs Zombies


Terminology Guide:
SB - Swagbucks (either the site or the points/currency)
NOSO - no obligation special offer - relates to the NOSO section of the site
DS - Daily Survey
GC - GiftCard (ie Amazon vouchers)
TS - Trusted Survey (survey dashboard)
PL - Peanut Labs (special offer wall)
RO - Radium One (special offer wall)
TP - Trial Pay (special offer wall)
SP - Sponsor Pay (special offer wall)
Dubs - The 2nd search win in a day
Trips - The 3rd search win in a day
Quads - The 4th search win in a day
DQ - disqualified - usually relating to surveys

Rewards
- You can only claim 5 of any one reward in a month, but you can claim other rewards as well.
- You can only claim 2 rewards per day.
- Pay outs take approximately 7-10 days to receive once requested (they send an email once it is fulfilled), sometimes it does take longer!
- To find GBP rewards in the reward store search GBP in the reward store search box
- Swagbucks have removed the option for UK members to claim USD paypal payments. Some members may have USD payments in their wishlist so still able to claim them
- It is up to you when you cash out, but if your account is investigated and shut for any reason you would lose all the points Existing posters on the thread are split on saving up for big amounts (£50) and cashing out as soon as possible with cashing out sooner probably being slightly in the lead.

Paypal payments
Swagbucks/Paypal do not charge for receiving paypal payments (likely already factored in)
Paypal payments are sent to the email address that you registered on swagbucks with, if this is not the email address of your paypal account add it as a second email address on the paypal account (see paypal help menu)
- £5 = 999 sb
- £10 = 1,999 sb
- £25 = 4,949 sb
- £50 = 9,399 sb
- £100 = 17,999 sb = best value

Amazon Vouchers
If you choose to cash out to Amazon vouchers Please apply the code to your amazon account as soon as you receive it to avoid losing it should your account get closed for any reason.
Amazon vouchers are valid for approximately 10 years once added to your amazon account and amazon use your giftcard balance in order of expiry date automatically.
- £5 amazon voucher = 849 sb
- £15 amazon voucher = 2,525 sb
- £25 amazon voucher = 4,199 sb
- £50 amazon voucher = 8,389 sb
- £100 amazon = 16,749 sb
- £500 amazon = 82,999 sb = best value

Also available are these E-Gift cards (so will be used for spending online only)
- Marks & Spencer
- John Lewis
- HMV
- House of Fraser
- Itunes
- New Look
- Pizza Express
- Mango
- Landsend
You will be asked to verify your order - this can be via the verify link which may ask you one of your security questions, by email, by mobile phone (does not appear to work anymore for UK mobiles) or by postcard.
Postcards take approx 7-10 days to arrive and give you a PIN code to enter.


Hope that helps do shout if you need any guidance - we all know lots of bits to do and are happy to share our knowledge!


Useful Links
Swagbucks USA Facebook page - http://www.facebook.com/swagbucks?ref=stream
Swagbucks UK Facebook page - http://www.facebook.com/SwagbucksUK?ref=stream
Swagbucks Twitter page - https://twitter.com/swagbucks
Swagging 101 website - https://sites.google.com/site/swagin101/
(lots of useful information on here)
Swagbucks Swidget Link - http://www.themommysaver.com/
(scroll down to see the widget on the right hand side, click SC to see if any swag codes are out, doesn't always tell the truth)


Not receiving credits for offers completed ? Read This ...
(copied from GiftHulk website but same things apply to Swagbucks and Superpoints)

Possible reasons for not receiving credit for Offer Completion:
1- If you did not fulfill or meet all of the requirements necessary to be awarded.
2- Your browser security settings are configured to not accept third-party cookies, causing the report to fail.
3- If you have ad blocking software it will prevent advertisers from placing the cookies required to track the offers.

If all these reasons are irrelevant in your case, you can always get help from the Support Staff!

General rules:
Keep all proofs of completion (PIN numbers, confirmation texts, member registrations, payment receipts, invoices, etc.) for your records.

In some cases a confirmation link is sent to your email address. Be sure to check your spam folder for pending confirmations.

FAQ:
What steps do I need to take to complete an offer?
The instructions to complete an offer are written under each offer description. For all offers, you MUST provide accurate information and meet the advertiser’s requirements. Points will not be awarded if you submit incorrect information. Also, do not refresh the page anytime during the completion process. It could harm our ability to track your progress.
Can I complete an offer more than once?
No, each offer may only be completed once. You will not be awarded for any additional attempts.
If an error occurs during the completion process, do I still get my points?
Unfortunately, points will NOT be awarded if an error occurs and you were not able to complete the offer requirements. Please report problematic offers to our customer support team and we will investigate the matter.
How do I cancel or unsubscribe from an offer I completed?
Products and services subscribed or purchased through Offer Walls and Swagbucks offers are all from third-party advertisers. To cancel or unsubscribe from an offer, you will need to contact the advertisers directly.
I keep seeing things about the Swagbucks TV Mobile App
This is currently US users only, UK users can not install it and can not earn from it.
What is the mystical Blue Box?
See above, a video box on the homepage which may credit repeatedly if you refresh the homepage after viewing/credit.
What are collectors bills?
See above, sometimes swagbucks release limited collections of ‘swagbills’ of various denominations on a theme (Christmas/New Year/Halloween/Mothers Day) which you can earn on searches randomly, if you collect them all in the time they are available you earn a bonus (usually 25SB).
Eg. Gingerbread bill/Gingerbread collectors bill/Snowflake bill
Should I save up before cashing out?
It is up to you when you cash out, higher giftcards are better value for money, but if your account is investigated and shut for any reason you would lose all those points and therefore not get anything at all. Only you can make the decision, existing posters on the thread are split on saving up for big amounts (£50) and cashing out as soon as possible with cashing out sooner probably being slightly in the lead.