Cashing Out Swagbucks

I am in process of cashing out two more $5 payments to my PayPal account. I like getting cash better than other things. Once I figured out the verification process, all further cashouts have gone smoothly.

Swagbucks awards you points simply for using their search engine. The drawback is that several of the top results presented will be filtered through their own advertising, but you don't ever have to click on them.

When you have enough points to cashout, simply go to swagbucks.com and look through the rewards until you find the one you want. Be sure you have enough points to cover it, then click it and follow any additional directions. Note that there is usually a time limit to claim the award, in addition to the verification process. Click "Snag it."



You will be shown a shipping address confirmation screen, and then the notice that you must verify this order. What this means is that you will receive an email from swagbucks, which contains a link that must be clicked. If you don't receive this email, check your junk folder, because you will not be able to claim your reward unless this step is followed.



Once you click the verification link in the email, you will see that your order is verified.

It still takes several weeks to get it. Sometimes up to 2 months. Still... money for doing almost nothing is pretty darn good! This will make $40 I have received from Swagbucks since I signed up.

Swagbucks (if you sign up under me it helps me, and will never hurt you in any way.)

Update: I was paid on May 13.

Year End Report- 2010 Online Income

The original purpose of this blog was to track whether I would be able to earn enough income online to sustain life. The big answer is, so far, no.

Earlier, I was reporting the amount earned every day, even though it was pennies. This took way too much time, and was impractical. But, for any faithful, or incidental, readers I may have I’d like to provide a year-end report of my efforts. It's long, but some of you have indicated that you are quite interested. So, here it all is... my successes and other attempts.

There are several categories of income included here: Online writing venues, pay-to-click, and other- mostly blog advertising. I’m not going to post proof of payments... You can either believe me or not, and I have no reason to make any of this up. I will make a few comments about each income source.

Total online income for 2010 is $2666.79. All in all, not bad, but not enough. If I were to write content for eight hours a day I could probably double that, but I would go stark raving mad at the tedium. I’m currently focusing on Shared Reviews, where I think I have the best chance of building significant residual income.

Highly recommended earning sites in green! Not recommended in pink! Your may or may not like in yellow.

If any of these appeal to you, might I ask that you sign up under me? Many sites will just sell your referral to someone else, so why not help a friend? It will cost you nothing. The site names are links, with referral info if applicable.

Online writing venues
for a comparison of four of these, see Comparing Four On-Line Writing Venues
Textbroker: reliable income for decent writers, payouts twice a month. You write, you get paid. No residual income.
date	income	outgo
9/21	$98.03
8/21	$39.07
7/21	$62.71
4/21	$30.82
4/6	$33.52
3/21	$75.06
2/21	$192.75
2/6	$66.03
1/21	$131.24
TOTAL	$729.23
Shared Reviews: reliable income for diligent writers, payouts seldom on time, but always come eventually. Residual income increases as the body of your work increases. See How to Write Excellent Content for Shared Reviews
date	income	outgo
12/9	$102.44
8/26	$64.69
7/26	$35.73
6/19	$40.18
5/21	$55.00
5/18	$36.45
4/7	$42.14
3/29	$33.80
3/9	$15.00
2/18	$51.87
1/14	$60.25
TOTAL	$537.55
Helium: horrible rating structure which is required for residual income, very frustrating. I reached payout threshold, and will not go back there.
date	income	outgo
12/9	$27.88
TOTAL	$27.88
Associated Content: submit for upfront pay (slow response time), or page views only. All carry small residual income which increases as the body of your work increases.
date	income	outgo
12/9	$7.06
11/10	$5.44
10/18	$2.30
10/13	$5.00
10/13	$4.11
10/11	$4.49
9/28	$2.97
9/22	$4.35
9/21	$4.02
9/15	$4.45
9/14	$4.64
9/8	$5.65
9/8	$4.61
8/11	$4.01
7/14	$3.62
6/9	$3.12
5/12	$3.02
4/14	$2.93
3/10	$4.98
2/10	$7.55
1/13	$9.14
TOTAL	$97.46
Seed: I haven’t had a lot of luck getting content accepted here
date	income	outgo
8/17	$12.50
TOTAL	$12.50
Vertical Blogger: was offered two assignments, and then no others
date	income	outgo
2/5	$45.83
TOTAL	$45.83
Advertising
Adgitize: primarily for blog advertising, not income, but advertisers who also participate can recoup expenses and make a little money
date	income	outgo
12/23		$14.00 for ad
12/6	$ 20.85
11/24		$14.00 for ad
11/7	$21.20
11/21		$14.00 for ad
10/9	$16.50
9/21		$14.00 for ad
9/9	$15.69
8/22		$14.00 pd
8/7	$23.01
7/19		$14.00 for ad
6/14		$14.00 for ad
6/9	$10.99
5/16		$14.00 for ad
5/7	$16.97
4/16		$14.00 for ad
4/7	$20.53
3/10		$14.00 for ad
3/6	$18.96
2/7	$17.93
1/30		$14.00 for ad
1/6	$28.56
TOTAL NET	$57.19
Project Wonderful: makes pennies a day, but it’s quite trouble-free, and I did better in the second half of 2010
date	income	outgo
11/2	$20.00
TOTAL	$20.00
Chitika: contextual advertising, similar to and compatible with AdSense
date	income	outgo
10/31	$11.27
4/30	$10.50
TOTAL	$21.77
AdSense: needs large traffic numbers, very strict regulations about click fraud and content
date	income	outgo
5/25	$102.56
TOTAL	$102.56
Private Client
date	income	outgo
12/10	$55.00
TOTAL	$55.00
Surveys
PineCone Surveys: you must be invited to join this Neilson survey site which pays $3.00 for most opinion surveys
date	income	outgo
12/23	$3.00
12/8	$3.00
11/24	$3.00
11/2	$3.00
10/20	$10.00
10/19	$3.00
10/7	$3.00
10/6	$3.00
9/7	$3.00
8/23	$3.00
8/6	$3.00
7/12	$3.00
6/28	$3.00
5/24	$3.00
5/14	$3.00
5/3	$3.00
4/8	$3.00
3/12	$3.00
2/8	$3.00
1/7	$3.00
TOTAL	$67.00
My Survey: I’ve been a member for many years. You don’t get paid a lot per survey, but you don’t fill out multiple questionnaires just to be told you don’t qualify. If you are shown a survey, you will be paid
date	income	outgo
9/22	$40.00
TOTAL	$40.00
Pay to Click
Cashium: pay to click- not very stable (I make about 3 cents a day)
date	income	outgo
12/13	$2.29
TOTAL	$2.29
Neobux: pay to click- reliable, need either basic membership or natural referrals- rented referrals lose you money (I make about 4 cents a day)
date	income	outgo
11/17	$2.97
9/10	$1.97
TOTAL	$4.94
Buxto: seems reliable- I bought permanent referrals, but payout threshold is $50, so I haven’t reached that yet (I make about 15 cents a day)
date	income	outgo
11/12		$18.00 to buy referrals
TOTAL NET	$-18.00
Clixsense: reliable, Alertpay charges processing fees, so this was my net from $20.77 worth of clicking (I make about 4 cents a day)
date	income	outgo
1/9	$18.50
TOTAL	$18.50
PalmBux: has had outages, and lost money for some investors (I make about 4 cents a day)
date	income	outgo
12/13	$2.29
TOTAL	$2.29
OnBux: seems reliable (I make about 4 cents a day)
date	income	outgo
11/11	$2.11
TOTAL	$2.11
Other
Swagbucks: get paid for internet searches- all it “costs” you is that their suggestions are the top few choices returned in the list
date	income	outgo
10/4	$10.00
4/28	$10.00
1/26	$10.00
TOTAL	$30.00
Microworkers: I made cashout and will not return- too many offers are illegal or shady
date	income	outgo
3/12	$10.69
TOTAL	$10.69
Other: not at liberty to disclose source- online employment, not permanent
date	income	outgo
3/24	$600.00
2/6	$200.00
TOTAL	$800.00

Swagbuck Award Claim Going Smoothly

Just a quick report that I began the cash-out process for two more $5 PayPal payments from Swagbucks. I learned yesterday that only two awards can be claimed per day. According to their estimate, I can expect to actually receive payment around Nov 10-13.

Swagbucks

web ad income Oct 27 (4 blogs, 2 web sites, writing): Adsense $.26 Adgitize $.52 Project Wonderful $.04 My Survey $1.80 Clixsense $.06 ______________________ Total: $2.68

Shopping for Swagbucks Rewards

I've been a member of Swagbucks for about a year, and have accumulated 462 points, all without having anyone sign up under me or winning any big point awards. So I decided to cash some of them out about a month ago.

Difficulties arose immediately. There was a Visa Debit card offer that was "on sale." I don't remember the points-to-cash ratio for it now, but it was a good deal, so I tried to "Snag It." That's their button that means that you want that item. Nothing doing. I got a message saying that my account was not verified. Now, I'm pretty sure that I had done this long ago when I joined. I try to take care of all those things when I sign up at sites right away, because it's too easy to forget later.

So I clicked the link to resend the verification email. The tricky part was that it also said that it could take up to 48 hours for the verification to arrive. No email. I checked my filter, I watched for the verification. Nothing. Meanwhile, the debit card that I wanted was removed from the list of prizes.

So, today I again looked for an award to cash out. There is currently a sale on PayPal cash- $5 for 70. But, it still said that I hadn't verified my account. Nuts! I clicked the re-send button again, and then it wouldn't even let me click it again. I was beginning to wonder if it was all a scam, except that I know someone who had successfully cashed out an award.

So I hunted for their "Contact Me" page and fired off a message. Again I was warned that it could take up to 48 hours to process. I am pleased to report that about 6 hours later I received a message saying that my account had been manually verified. Horray!

So I ordered one PayPal payment. In order to complete a transaction it must also be verified. I am relieved to report that this email came through immediately, and I completed the order. The next time lag is that it can take 12-15 days for the payment to appear in my account. So, don't expect to cash in Swagbucks for any immediate need.

Finally, I thought I would see if I could "buy" additional $5 PayPal payments. The answer is, yes. However, you can only check out two awards a day. I don't know if that's a calendar day or a 24-hour period. I hope I can cash out some more of my points for cash! I'll report back when I know how long it actually takes to credit my PayPal account.

Swagbucks
See Get Swagbucks - Lotsa Swag

web ad income Oct 26 (4 blogs, 2 web sites, writing): Adsense $.03 Adgitize $.58 Project Wonderful $.03 _____________________ Total: $.64