What is Swagbucks?

In a nutshell, Swagbucks is a search engine similar to Google. The more you search, the more points you earn. I love Swagbucks because I was able to cash in on some great gift cards just in time for Christmas. I have challenged my family to see who will get the most points in time for Christmas! Now I challenge you!

Here is everything you need to know about Swagbucks and how to get started. Thank you to Jennifer Bruce from Saving & Giving for this awesome guest post on Swagbucks.

If you’re a frequent blog-reader, you may see a steady stream of bloggers singing the praises of Swagbucks. You might be wondering what in the world is so great about Swagbucks. For me, Swagbucks is a great way to pay for birthday and Christmas gifts by simply searching the Internet as I normally would. Let me explain.

What in the world is Swagbucks?

Swagbucks is a search engine that pays you to use their site. You register with Swagbucks and then search the Internet as you normally would. When you register, you’re started with 30 Swagbucks just for signing up. If you register by 12/31 and enter the Swagcode JoinIn2010 (case sensitive) in the registration area, you’ll get a bonus 60 Swagbucks when you sign up!

To search, you can either go to the Swagbucks website, or you can download the Swagbucks toolbar for your Internet browser. I chose to download the toolbar, because it’s easier for me than having to navigate to their site each time I want to search.

Once you have the toolbar, you simply enter your search terms into the search box. You’ll get high-quality search results, and every so often you’ll be rewarded with Swagbucks for a search. There’s no rhyme or reason to the prizes. You won’t win with every search. They’re just randomly awarded. You’ll know that you’ve received Swagbucks when you see something like this above your search results.

You’ll earn a different number of Swagbucks each time you win. Those randomly-awarded Swagbucks pile up in your account. In fact, if you opt for installing the toolbar, you’ll always know how many Swagbucks you have. There’s a little counter icon right on the toolbar.

What can I do with my Swagbucks?

Now that you’re regsitered and are earning Swagbucks, you’ll need to be a little bit patient. You need to let them add up. Once you have a nice little stash of Swagbucks, you’ll be able to head over to the Swagstore to redeem your Swagbucks for prizes.

I personally save my Swagbucks and redeem them for Amazon gift cards. To earn a $5 Amazon card, you’ll need to accumulate 450 Swagbucks. A $25 Amazon card is 3,150 Swagbucks, and a $50 Amazon card is 5,900 Swagbucks. That may seem like a lot, but you’ll be surprised at how quickly they add up, especially if you’re using Swagbucks as your primary search engine.

There are other prizes available too, including iTunes gift cards, Target gift cards, Disney Store gift cards, movie swag, posters, and all sorts of other things! They regularly add merchandise, so you never know what you’ll find in the Swag Store.

How can I get extra Swagbucks?

The Swag Guy (the guy who runs Swagbucks) has some additional ways for you to earn Swagbucks. Fridays are Mega Swagbucks Days! That means that instead of earning 7 Swagbucks for a search, you might earn 40 or 100. So plan to do a lot of your searching on Fridays!

You’ll also find a Ways to Earn tab at the top of the Swagbucks website. If you choose Special Offers under that tab, you can look through the No Obligation Offers section. You don’t have to sign up for anything, and you’ll win a Swagbuck just for looking through them. These reset each week, so you can check back regularly for another chance to win Swagbucks.

You can also choose Daily Poll under the Ways to Earn tab. There will be a different question each day. Answering it will earn you another Swagbuck. All of these little things add up.

If you choose to download the Swagbucks toolbar, you’ll find an occasional message from The Swag Guy. It will be under the “From TSG” section in the toolbar, and it will look like this.

Click the icon as soon as you see a new message. (You’ll know there’s a message if the zero changes to another number.) If you catch it in time, you’ll find a code for bonus Swagbucks. You simply copy the code, head to the Swagbucks website, and enter the code to claim your Swagbucks prize.

The Swag Guy also has a blog. You can follow his blog for clues for additional Swagbucks codes. You can also “like” Swagbucks on Facebook, allowing you access to code information posted there.

One of the ways I that I increase my Swagbucks earnings is to refer friends. Once you register with Swagbucks, you’ll receive a referral link made just for you. You can share this with your friends and family. By doing this, you not only help them earn great prizes from Swagbucks, but you will get bonus Swagbucks for referring them them.

How I use my Swagbucks

I’m a stockpiler of Swagbucks. I save mine until I have enough for a $50 Amazon gift card, and then I redeem them. These are perfect for buying birthday and Christmas gifts for my friends and family members. In fact, I’ve bought most of my family’s gifts this year from Amazon using Swagbuck-earned gift cards. If I have a $25 or $50 gift card, I can buy enough items to qualify for Amazon’s FREE Super Saver Shipping, saving me even more. It’s a great way to gift high-quality gifts while paying little or nothing out-of-pocket.

So what are you waiting for?

If this sounds like something you want to try, head over to the Swagbucks website and register. If you do this before 12/31 and enter the code JoinIn2010, you’ll end up with a bonus 60 Swagbucks just for getting started!

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Jennifer Bruce is wife to Jason and mom to five-year-old Emma. She blogs at Saving & Giving where she encourages her readers to save money and give generously.