This is really really bad news. Apparently Swagbucks is only letting you redeem 5 (!!!) prizes PER MONTH now (when I think before, it might have been 2 prizes per day - at least that was my cap whenever I tried to redeem my SBs for more than 2 Amazon gift cards).
Thankfully I've been redeeming my Swagbucks for Amazon.ca gift cards every time I hit that 45 SB mark because I knew that if something like this were to happen (or if Swagbucks went under), I'd still have those gift card codes to use.
But I think it's really crappy and a sneaky thing to do, especially with Christmas right around the corner. I know a lot of people were saving their Swagbucks up to buy presents.
This news definitely makes Swagbucks less appealing, because if I can only redeem 5 Amazon gift cards per month, but I earn significantly more Swagbucks than that per month, I'm never going to be able to cash out. Unless I start to redeem my SBs for different things that they offer - but since Amazon cards are the most value for your SBs, it doesn't make sense to.
What do you think about this news?
(news and picture via Moms By Heart)
19 comments:
I think they're going to kill interest in the smaller prizes they offer, like iTunes downloads and donate-a-tree.
What if you redeem them for paypal ? then you can use the cash however you chose.
Erica: Even if you redeem for PayPal, you can still only redeem 5 Swagbuck prizes per month. TOTAL. So that’s still only $25. :(
So not cool.
I've already started to move away from SB. I really didn't appreciate their 2/day rule--especially since I only found out about it after trying to order them all at once in time for-- their 1st and 16th delivery dates, and then the whole kerfuffle with delivery this month.
I'm still trying to figure out how you people get anywhere with swagbucks, lol. :P I guess I just don't do enough searching for it...?
It makes sense for things where the number of prizes is limited, but aren't their gift cards unlimited? Gift cards shouldn't have the same limit. I don't think I'll have a problem with only 5 a month because I haven't been getting that many swagbucks - you would have to get over 200/month for this to be a problem. But if people have saved up, then this isn't nice at all. They should have given some warning.
Then again, it is all free and maybe we shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth or whatever the saying is?
The thing about swagbucks I don't understand is how does it benefit them? Ads, sponsorship etc.?
@Erica - it is 5 prizes TOTAL per month, regardless of what you redeem.
I found this out yesterday when I tried to redeem my 6th Amazon.com giftcard for the month. I'm SOOOO bummed.
I think they may be trying to encourage people to redeem out higher value prizes instead of just Amazon.com gift cards and Paypal payouts.
I don't like it at all, especially since I was planning on using my Swagbucks for Christmas, and now I have a lot that I wouldn't be able to redeem in time for the holiday. =(
@April - they sell the information of what you are searching for to companies who want that data. That is how it benefits them.
I was just reading the post and it now looks like you are limited by the type of prize, rather than prizes generally - i.e. you can get 5 $5 amazon cards, 5 paypal cards, etc. they also responded to some of the complaints already by introducing a few higher value amazon.com which are a bit more expensive than stacking the $5 cards but still a deal i suppose. they haven't introduced higher value amazon.CA cards though - i hope they do! if i ever get more swagbucks per month, i am going to be upset if i can't redeem them all because of the new limit.
hm..i don't think this will affect me all to much. I hardely get any SB at all...i think SB is really only a good thing if you got a bunch of people to use your sign up code.
I can see how this would be a bummer if you rack up enough SB per month to redeem more than 5 prizes, but honestly I doubt it will effect most of their userbase. I managed to convince only two friends to sign up for and actually use SB. I earned the 200 matching points and am now on my own. It takes a long time to earn enough SB for a prize if you're not getting many referral points (which I'm sure popular bloggers who post their referrals links do).
SOBs!!
I do the Paypal cash thing, so.. no bummer for me as I don't earn many bucks anyway...
Only like $15/month or 3 prizes lol
I should note that I don't do referrals, only searches, and I've found it affects me too!
I have a lot of fun looking for codes, those really help with the number of swagbucks I get per week.
I hope they come up with a higher redeemable amount for amazon.ca too!
This sucks! I don't usually redeem more than 5 a month, but it's still annoying. :( Maybe I'll look into higher prizes, but I was just redeeming for $5 amazon gift cards to buy an ipod nano.
Hi, came across your inspiring blog! I'm starting out trying to manage my finances too, trying to pay off my debt, it's amazing seeing where all your money goes if you actually look at it...on the SB note, well I only get 2-3 amazon gcs a month anyways so it doesn't really apply to me. I need to get people to jump on the referral bandwagon.
Not cool. Just Twittered them unhappily. Thanks for the FYI.
I am very new to Swagbucks and after 2-3weeks have only come close to earning 1 amazon gift card so this doesn't affect me that much. It's a good thing you have been periodically cashing out your swagbucks.