I received this email from Points2Shop today:
"Your order is approved and ordered at Amazon.com. As soon as we receive the tracking number we will update the status of your order. You will receive notification of this by email."
This means I should get my CD soon. I haven't received a tracking number yet.
Unfortunately, many of the offers and surveys I've taken on Points2shop recently seem to be stuck in "approval limbo". I hope that it doesn't turn out to be the same situation as GamingLagoon all over again. From the announcements, though, it looks as if they are doing a major site overhaul. Hopefully, the 'approval limbo' is linked to this, and things will get better once they're done updating the website.
Anyway, Points2Shop is also linked to something called Cashle. Instead of Amazon points, you earn cash. Cash can be converted to Amazon points on Points2shop, but Amazon points cannot be converted to cash. I mainly ignored Cashle since many of the offers only give you a few cents, but some of the Daily Surveys look like they have a decent payout, so I may switch over to Cashle for a little while and see what my experience with that is.
As for Reviewstream, I got burnt out on review writing and let it rest for a little while. Part of the problem is that they only want to pay the full rate for certain kinds of reviews. I'm not sure about some categories, but I know that makeup and electronics reviews are in demand. And I was sort of sick of reviewing makeup and shampoo. Right now, my opinion is to only review things such as food if you're willing to accept the bulk rate. Nonetheless, I'll be writing a few more reviews over the next few days while picking my brain for more ideas for Associated Content articles.
Showing posts with label free gift cards. Show all posts
Showing posts with label free gift cards. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
MyPoints Is Legit
I actually got this gift card in the mail last week, but I've been busy and hadn't gotten around to taking a photo of the letter and the gift card:
So there it is. My Bath & Body Works $10.00 gift card from Mypoints.
Was it worth it? Well, honestly, I didn't put a whole lot of 'work' into getting this gift card. It was just a slow burn - clicking Mypoints ads sent to my email every day or every other day, and using coupons from the Mypoints website or filling out whatever offers or surveys struck my fancy. Is it a huge payoff? Not really. But it was "free". Did I put a ton of effort into it? Honestly, no. If you put a lot of actual effort into using Mypoints, in my opinion you're doing it wrong.
So there it is. My Bath & Body Works $10.00 gift card from Mypoints.
Was it worth it? Well, honestly, I didn't put a whole lot of 'work' into getting this gift card. It was just a slow burn - clicking Mypoints ads sent to my email every day or every other day, and using coupons from the Mypoints website or filling out whatever offers or surveys struck my fancy. Is it a huge payoff? Not really. But it was "free". Did I put a ton of effort into it? Honestly, no. If you put a lot of actual effort into using Mypoints, in my opinion you're doing it wrong.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Progress, Monday June 22.
Associated Content accepted another article. It's currently processing, and I hope it posts later today.
I redeemed my third Swagbucks prize, another $5.00 Amazon gift card.
MyPoints - I finally have enough points for the $10.00 Bath & Body Works gift card, however, some of those points are still "pending" and I can't order it until they officially post.
Sendearnings - up to $16.93 (cashout is $30.00)
ReviewStream - Writing several reviews a day and up to $18.80 (cashout is $50.00). A dozen more are still pending. You can find links to posted reviews here.
Neobux - up to 50 whole cents!
Points2Shop - 764 points. Not really a 'minimum' cashout, but it's the equiv. of about $7.64 on Amazon. Got my sights set on a $25.00 pair of 'pirate' boots. It's gonna be a while. Some offers I completed last week are still 'pending' but others post almost immediately - I'm hoping this doesn't turn into another GamingLagoon situation.
Survey Spot - As of yet, I have not qualified for any paying reviews.
MyLot- have been signing in and posting every few days, I'm up to $2.54 (that only took, what, 6 months?).
Gaminglagoon - What's that? My pending offers are still pending? Surely, you jest.
I have found a few other places to join but won't be discussing them until I have an idea of how they may pan out.
A relative also emailed me a list of paid survey websites. The list is incredibly long! I don't think I could ever evaluate all of these, although I'm sure some will clearly be garbage the moment I look at them. I plan on leafing through it over the course of this week, however.
I have a lense on Squidoo, predictably called Shiny Little Pennies.
I redeemed my third Swagbucks prize, another $5.00 Amazon gift card.
MyPoints - I finally have enough points for the $10.00 Bath & Body Works gift card, however, some of those points are still "pending" and I can't order it until they officially post.
Sendearnings - up to $16.93 (cashout is $30.00)
ReviewStream - Writing several reviews a day and up to $18.80 (cashout is $50.00). A dozen more are still pending. You can find links to posted reviews here.
Neobux - up to 50 whole cents!
Points2Shop - 764 points. Not really a 'minimum' cashout, but it's the equiv. of about $7.64 on Amazon. Got my sights set on a $25.00 pair of 'pirate' boots. It's gonna be a while. Some offers I completed last week are still 'pending' but others post almost immediately - I'm hoping this doesn't turn into another GamingLagoon situation.
Survey Spot - As of yet, I have not qualified for any paying reviews.
MyLot- have been signing in and posting every few days, I'm up to $2.54 (that only took, what, 6 months?).
Gaminglagoon - What's that? My pending offers are still pending? Surely, you jest.
I have found a few other places to join but won't be discussing them until I have an idea of how they may pan out.
A relative also emailed me a list of paid survey websites. The list is incredibly long! I don't think I could ever evaluate all of these, although I'm sure some will clearly be garbage the moment I look at them. I plan on leafing through it over the course of this week, however.
I have a lense on Squidoo, predictably called Shiny Little Pennies.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Progress
Alrighty.
So far, I am up to 157 points in Scour. Still a few thousand to go, but getting points is easier than I thought it would be. I was using the Scour engine to run phrases through (checking for plagiarism on Ciao) but realized that when they reviewed my account for payout, it might look suspicious to them. So I stopped doing that (Scour wasn't pulling up much in that area that was useful for me, anyway).
I am around 100 points away from cashing out on MyPoints. I was frustrated with MyPoints - I get disqualified for every single one of their surveys, and accumulating points has been very, VERY slow. However, they recently introduced something called the "Frogpond", where you can visit and write short reviews about websites to get points. 25 points per website! And on MyPoints, that's a pretty good amount of points. I don't get anything for referring you (their referral system works off of email only) but now that points are easier to get on MyPoints, it may be more worthwhile to look into it.
I have also joined SurveySpot. I have been taking free surveys - not making money yet. I guess before you get a chance at paid surveys, they want to make sure you're trustworthy/serious. That's the impression I get. SurveySpot is a member of the BBB Online Reliability Program, so I trust them right now. They don't use referral links, but if you want to maximize how much you benefit from this and make the most out of joining, your best bet is to find a link to it and join through somewhere like Points2Shop, where you get points for joining.
And as for Points2Shop, accumulating points there isn't as rough as GamingLagoon. Unlike GamingLagoon, they seem to actually approve offers you complete! It's hard for me to find offers - I'm choosy and loathe giving away any of my contact information unless I think a website is trustworthy - but their daily surveys really aren't bad (when you can qualify, anyway, and you won't always qualify). I'm nearly up to 500 points there, which I guess is like 5 bucks on Amazon.com, which really isn't all that bad when you think about it.
So far, I am up to 157 points in Scour. Still a few thousand to go, but getting points is easier than I thought it would be. I was using the Scour engine to run phrases through (checking for plagiarism on Ciao) but realized that when they reviewed my account for payout, it might look suspicious to them. So I stopped doing that (Scour wasn't pulling up much in that area that was useful for me, anyway).
I am around 100 points away from cashing out on MyPoints. I was frustrated with MyPoints - I get disqualified for every single one of their surveys, and accumulating points has been very, VERY slow. However, they recently introduced something called the "Frogpond", where you can visit and write short reviews about websites to get points. 25 points per website! And on MyPoints, that's a pretty good amount of points. I don't get anything for referring you (their referral system works off of email only) but now that points are easier to get on MyPoints, it may be more worthwhile to look into it.
I have also joined SurveySpot. I have been taking free surveys - not making money yet. I guess before you get a chance at paid surveys, they want to make sure you're trustworthy/serious. That's the impression I get. SurveySpot is a member of the BBB Online Reliability Program, so I trust them right now. They don't use referral links, but if you want to maximize how much you benefit from this and make the most out of joining, your best bet is to find a link to it and join through somewhere like Points2Shop, where you get points for joining.
And as for Points2Shop, accumulating points there isn't as rough as GamingLagoon. Unlike GamingLagoon, they seem to actually approve offers you complete! It's hard for me to find offers - I'm choosy and loathe giving away any of my contact information unless I think a website is trustworthy - but their daily surveys really aren't bad (when you can qualify, anyway, and you won't always qualify). I'm nearly up to 500 points there, which I guess is like 5 bucks on Amazon.com, which really isn't all that bad when you think about it.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Just Joined Two More Sites
...shall we see how they pan out?
I joined EasyHits4U in order to try to get some traffic. Not that many people know about this blog. I think it's a shame since I really do try to be genuinely helpful, and I try to update regularly. If you arrived here via EasyHits4U, please spend a moment to read this blog. Even if you think ppc/paid survey/review for money/get free stuff search engines are a load of crap, I hope that my enthusiasm and wit will make this blog worth reading.
For those interested in EasyHits4U, you can't have Adsense ads up. It's against the program policies! That's why I have taken my ads down for now, until I get a decent flow of traffic. You can actually make money directly off of EasyHits4U, but honestly, it's not going to be a lot even if you sit there and click madly all day long. I like to keep it running in the background and click when I remember to. While some of the sites are just Internet crappy crap, I have actually found some neat sites and fellow bloggers through it.
I have joined Points2Shop. I don't yet know how it will pan out. Unfortunately, it is one of those "COMPLETE FREE OFFERS" sites, which I loathe. Yes, you can play games for points, but the games are limited and you have to spend points in order to compete - no guarantee that you will win more points. Still, it has daily surveys, and you get a point just for logging in every day. That's 365 free points per year (which comes out to about $3.65, so don't get too excited).
The interesting thing about this one is that there's no dinking around with gift cards. You buy things directly from Amazon with your points, and they seem to have a 1 point: 1 US dollar ratio.
And, of course, the well-known Neobux. I've held off on joining because I've heard good and bad things about it. You only get 1 cent per ad you click. On the other hand, clicking ads isn't much work, is it? It's one of those things you can just do for 2 minutes a day. You get about 4 ads. That's, uh, $1.00 a month. Minimum payout - I'm not sure, I think it's 2 bucks. I'll check later. I guess Neobux is another one of those "get referrals to make anything worthwhile" websites.
But I'd have to say that one of the websites with the best payoff-to-effort ratio is still Swagbucks. That's why I have some advice for you:
I joined EasyHits4U in order to try to get some traffic. Not that many people know about this blog. I think it's a shame since I really do try to be genuinely helpful, and I try to update regularly. If you arrived here via EasyHits4U, please spend a moment to read this blog. Even if you think ppc/paid survey/review for money/get free stuff search engines are a load of crap, I hope that my enthusiasm and wit will make this blog worth reading.
For those interested in EasyHits4U, you can't have Adsense ads up. It's against the program policies! That's why I have taken my ads down for now, until I get a decent flow of traffic. You can actually make money directly off of EasyHits4U, but honestly, it's not going to be a lot even if you sit there and click madly all day long. I like to keep it running in the background and click when I remember to. While some of the sites are just Internet crappy crap, I have actually found some neat sites and fellow bloggers through it.
I have joined Points2Shop. I don't yet know how it will pan out. Unfortunately, it is one of those "COMPLETE FREE OFFERS" sites, which I loathe. Yes, you can play games for points, but the games are limited and you have to spend points in order to compete - no guarantee that you will win more points. Still, it has daily surveys, and you get a point just for logging in every day. That's 365 free points per year (which comes out to about $3.65, so don't get too excited).
The interesting thing about this one is that there's no dinking around with gift cards. You buy things directly from Amazon with your points, and they seem to have a 1 point: 1 US dollar ratio.
And, of course, the well-known Neobux. I've held off on joining because I've heard good and bad things about it. You only get 1 cent per ad you click. On the other hand, clicking ads isn't much work, is it? It's one of those things you can just do for 2 minutes a day. You get about 4 ads. That's, uh, $1.00 a month. Minimum payout - I'm not sure, I think it's 2 bucks. I'll check later. I guess Neobux is another one of those "get referrals to make anything worthwhile" websites.
But I'd have to say that one of the websites with the best payoff-to-effort ratio is still Swagbucks. That's why I have some advice for you:
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Scour.com and More about GamingLagoon, Hits4Pay
Hit cashout on Ciao again. My first time, it took a week and a half - this time, it took 3 days. Why? Well, now I have a backlog of 44 reviews. The more reviews you write, the faster you make money, I suppose. I guess I'd better get cracking on those reviews again, eh?
I've also returned to my Scour.com efforts. I dropped it before because of complaints that Scour was not paying people who hit cashout - they were banning people and other shady things instead. However, I have since decided that perhaps this was because people were violating the Terms of Service (I see it constantly on other websites, right?) and unlike certain online counterparts, Scour actually DOES something about this. The only way to find out is to try to hit cashout on Scour myself, and either verify that it's legit or get conveniently banned. We shall see. Either way, it's gonna be a while - I've only got 90 points. If you want to give it a shot in the meantime, I say go for it.
GamingLagoon is on my shitlist. GamingLagoon has been sending me spam mails about their NEW OFFERS, so I signed up for another free "send me spam email" type offer to see if they've gotten any better about denying everything. For those not in the know, GamingLagoon is another free gift card/free stuff/free money type website. You can save up points to get stuff like a Nintendo DS, convert your points to Paypal money, or get gift cards with them. It's not nearly as good as Swagbucks, in my opinion - earning points is super slow, you have to sign up for "offers" (most of which involve too much money, or too much personal information), and they tend to reject the offers you've submitted as completed and refuse to reward you points, even when you have proof. I'll update this blog post with some images later, in order to demonstrate what I'm talking about. Nonetheless, persistent members claim that they have gotten their gift cards and such, I highly suspect that the only REAL way to do this is to recruit aggressively. If you're into that, I guess GamingLagoon can probably work pretty well for you. But I can't recruit people in clear conscience if I know that there's no way for them to be successful on the website without recruiting a whole bunch of people, themselves. I guess it's all about what you are or are not willing to do in order to earn points.
Hits4Pay still wants my social security number, but they're not getting it. I doubt I'll ever make enough off a PTC website to warrant needing my SSN for tax purposes.
I've also returned to my Scour.com efforts. I dropped it before because of complaints that Scour was not paying people who hit cashout - they were banning people and other shady things instead. However, I have since decided that perhaps this was because people were violating the Terms of Service (I see it constantly on other websites, right?) and unlike certain online counterparts, Scour actually DOES something about this. The only way to find out is to try to hit cashout on Scour myself, and either verify that it's legit or get conveniently banned. We shall see. Either way, it's gonna be a while - I've only got 90 points. If you want to give it a shot in the meantime, I say go for it.
GamingLagoon is on my shitlist. GamingLagoon has been sending me spam mails about their NEW OFFERS, so I signed up for another free "send me spam email" type offer to see if they've gotten any better about denying everything. For those not in the know, GamingLagoon is another free gift card/free stuff/free money type website. You can save up points to get stuff like a Nintendo DS, convert your points to Paypal money, or get gift cards with them. It's not nearly as good as Swagbucks, in my opinion - earning points is super slow, you have to sign up for "offers" (most of which involve too much money, or too much personal information), and they tend to reject the offers you've submitted as completed and refuse to reward you points, even when you have proof. I'll update this blog post with some images later, in order to demonstrate what I'm talking about. Nonetheless, persistent members claim that they have gotten their gift cards and such, I highly suspect that the only REAL way to do this is to recruit aggressively. If you're into that, I guess GamingLagoon can probably work pretty well for you. But I can't recruit people in clear conscience if I know that there's no way for them to be successful on the website without recruiting a whole bunch of people, themselves. I guess it's all about what you are or are not willing to do in order to earn points.
Hits4Pay still wants my social security number, but they're not getting it. I doubt I'll ever make enough off a PTC website to warrant needing my SSN for tax purposes.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Ciao and Swagbucks Cashouts
Currently up to my eyeballs in Message box spam in Ciao. Also angry - discovered some members who had copied my reviews. I reported them - unfortunately, one of the continually frustrating things about Ciao is that they do nothing about the plagiarists.
Otherwise, I am pennies away from the $5 cashout on Ciao after just 2 days of renewed activity. That's not bad, really. I won't be cashing out at $5, however - it's not worth it, at this point. I'll wait until there's more in my account.
On Swagbucks, I just 'bought' another $5 Amazon gift card. My order has been verified, and I am currently waiting for the gift card number.
If you haven't joined these two sites yet, you're definitely missing out!
In the meantime, at MyPoints, I am about 150 points away from ordering my first gift card.
Otherwise, I am pennies away from the $5 cashout on Ciao after just 2 days of renewed activity. That's not bad, really. I won't be cashing out at $5, however - it's not worth it, at this point. I'll wait until there's more in my account.
On Swagbucks, I just 'bought' another $5 Amazon gift card. My order has been verified, and I am currently waiting for the gift card number.
If you haven't joined these two sites yet, you're definitely missing out!
In the meantime, at MyPoints, I am about 150 points away from ordering my first gift card.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Legitimacy Verified - Associated Content and Swagbucks
I actually got my Associated Content payment deposited in my Paypal account several days ago, but a lot has happened since then in my personal life. I had to put a few things on hold for a while, and I have not been able to update this blog.
Here's the screenshot of the payment. It's only $3, but it's $3 more than I had, right?
As for Swagbucks, I got my first Amazon gift certificate code today. I actually redeemed the Swagbucks a few days ago, but it takes some time for them to post the code (my guess is that they request codes from Amazon either in batches every week, or else they request them on an individual basis, I don't know). You don't have to worry about missing it - they send you an email when the code is ready. When you go to My Account and check under My Gift Cards, there it is. I think it's clever - this way, you don't have to worry about your spam filter causing you to miss a gift card code that was emailed to you.
Here's a series of screenshots, from putting in my request for the gift card to actually entering it into my Amazon.com account. I have pixelated anything that might compromise the security of my account or otherwise cause problems (including the gift card code, my last name, and order numbers). Please do not email me asking for these things "as proof". I'm not going to send them to you, because I'm not stupid. Anyway:
And now the actual redemption of the gift code:
So there you go. I'm now $5.00 richer, which isn't a whole lot but it's free money so I can't really complain. You won't be rolling in dough but if you're a gamer looking for a way to support your monthly WoW habit, or you're trying to figure out how to buy birthday or Christmas gifts that you otherwise can't afford, just run a few searches a day (some in the morning, some at night) on Swagbucks.com. It's not that hard to win, and it's somewhat useful as well. I haven't downloaded the toolbar because I generally loathe toolbars, but I've heard that it's quite handy, so maybe I'll change my mind.
As for this $5.00, it's going to help pay for my brother's birthday present.
Here's the screenshot of the payment. It's only $3, but it's $3 more than I had, right?
As for Swagbucks, I got my first Amazon gift certificate code today. I actually redeemed the Swagbucks a few days ago, but it takes some time for them to post the code (my guess is that they request codes from Amazon either in batches every week, or else they request them on an individual basis, I don't know). You don't have to worry about missing it - they send you an email when the code is ready. When you go to My Account and check under My Gift Cards, there it is. I think it's clever - this way, you don't have to worry about your spam filter causing you to miss a gift card code that was emailed to you.
Here's a series of screenshots, from putting in my request for the gift card to actually entering it into my Amazon.com account. I have pixelated anything that might compromise the security of my account or otherwise cause problems (including the gift card code, my last name, and order numbers). Please do not email me asking for these things "as proof". I'm not going to send them to you, because I'm not stupid. Anyway:
And now the actual redemption of the gift code:
So there you go. I'm now $5.00 richer, which isn't a whole lot but it's free money so I can't really complain. You won't be rolling in dough but if you're a gamer looking for a way to support your monthly WoW habit, or you're trying to figure out how to buy birthday or Christmas gifts that you otherwise can't afford, just run a few searches a day (some in the morning, some at night) on Swagbucks.com. It's not that hard to win, and it's somewhat useful as well. I haven't downloaded the toolbar because I generally loathe toolbars, but I've heard that it's quite handy, so maybe I'll change my mind.
As for this $5.00, it's going to help pay for my brother's birthday present.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Swagbucks & The Search For Swag
A person I met on Ciao - he has a good rep, does good reviews - told me about Swagbucks. Now, I'd heard of it in the past - and may have even checked it out - but for whatever reason, I never signed up. It's a gift-card website (like MyPoints) that also offers prizes you can "buy" directly with your points. He said he'd gotten his gift card and it didn't take too long (unlike my months-long estimates about MyPoints) so I decided to sign up and try it out.
I started yesterday with 3 Swagbucks. As of today, I have 6. My goal is 45, to get a $5.00 Amazon gift card. I don't know what the hell I can buy with $5.00 (maybe pay for shipping for something) but that's not the point. The point is to find out if it's possible to get it, how long it takes, if it's possible to do it on your own rather than having to recruit a whole bunch of people, and if they actually "pay out".
They don't ask for a ton of personal information, which is a good start. Like MyPoints, you can accrue Swagbucks by shopping through their website. The interesting thing is that they seem to have a different list of websites to shop through, and it includes sites like Newegg.
Unlike MyPoints, they do not offer any sort of pay-per-click method of earning points. There are Polls, but they seem to be for amusement only, although you can earn points by submitting a poll question that they use. The main methods of earning points appear to be using their search engine (which will randomly award points), posting in their blog, shopping through their website, and referring friends. And while the gift card values may be lower, the number of points to buy them is also lower.
I run a ton of searches every day for various reasons, so that's no problem for me. They have a toolbar you can download, but I dislike and distrust most toolbars. I'm sure theirs is fine, but I won't be installing it after all of the trouble I've had removing crap like Yahoo! Toolbar from browsers in the past.
Doing the Math:
I seem to be averaging about 3 points per day (from searches) but I've only been a member for one day, after all. At this rate, it will take 13 more days to accrue the 45 points necessary for a $5.00 gift card.
It doesn't require a ton of effort - just regular everyday use running searches through their search engine (they have an algorithm to detect if you're running bogus searches and spamming searches, so doing that won't help you much).
Observations:
The blog is somewhat boring at the moment. The search engine isn't quite as good as Google, although they claim otherwise, and their Image search is annoying (it takes you to the webpage, not the image itself). On the other hand, it tends to spit up different results than Google, which can be useful in and of itself. I tend to run searches through different engines to see what each one picks up, so this isn't a problem for me.
I started yesterday with 3 Swagbucks. As of today, I have 6. My goal is 45, to get a $5.00 Amazon gift card. I don't know what the hell I can buy with $5.00 (maybe pay for shipping for something) but that's not the point. The point is to find out if it's possible to get it, how long it takes, if it's possible to do it on your own rather than having to recruit a whole bunch of people, and if they actually "pay out".
They don't ask for a ton of personal information, which is a good start. Like MyPoints, you can accrue Swagbucks by shopping through their website. The interesting thing is that they seem to have a different list of websites to shop through, and it includes sites like Newegg.
Unlike MyPoints, they do not offer any sort of pay-per-click method of earning points. There are Polls, but they seem to be for amusement only, although you can earn points by submitting a poll question that they use. The main methods of earning points appear to be using their search engine (which will randomly award points), posting in their blog, shopping through their website, and referring friends. And while the gift card values may be lower, the number of points to buy them is also lower.
I run a ton of searches every day for various reasons, so that's no problem for me. They have a toolbar you can download, but I dislike and distrust most toolbars. I'm sure theirs is fine, but I won't be installing it after all of the trouble I've had removing crap like Yahoo! Toolbar from browsers in the past.
Doing the Math:
I seem to be averaging about 3 points per day (from searches) but I've only been a member for one day, after all. At this rate, it will take 13 more days to accrue the 45 points necessary for a $5.00 gift card.
It doesn't require a ton of effort - just regular everyday use running searches through their search engine (they have an algorithm to detect if you're running bogus searches and spamming searches, so doing that won't help you much).
Observations:
The blog is somewhat boring at the moment. The search engine isn't quite as good as Google, although they claim otherwise, and their Image search is annoying (it takes you to the webpage, not the image itself). On the other hand, it tends to spit up different results than Google, which can be useful in and of itself. I tend to run searches through different engines to see what each one picks up, so this isn't a problem for me.
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