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Swagbucks offers a $10 shopping bonus to new users who spend $25 through the site’s Shop & Earn portal within 30 days of signing up.
This is currently Swagbucks’ only active new member promotion.
To get the bonus, you have to make a single transaction of at least $25 (multiple smaller transactions will not qualify).
Purchases through MyGiftCardsPlus.com and travel do not qualify.
If you’re unfamiliar with shopping portals, here’s how it works:
- When you’re ready to shop online, visit Swagbucks and search for the store you want to shop at. (You can also search for an item rather than a store.)
- Click a link to go to the store (or item) of your choice.
- Complete your shopping on the merchant’s website.
Swagbucks earns a commission for referring you to the merchant, and they give you a portion of that commission in the form of cash-back.
While Swagbucks claims you can earn as much as 20% cash-back, the rate is usually more like 2% to 6%.
Cash-back takes about 30 days on average to credit to your account, and is earned in the form of points that can be redeemed for gift cards.
Swagbucks $10 Sign-Up Bonus Link.
Swagbucks $5 Any Activity Bonus Link
Editor’s note: This offer was deactivated on December 31st, 2022. The shopping bonus offer described above is the only promotion currently available for new Swagbucks users. We’ll update this if and when the any activity bonus is offered again in the future.
If you’re not interested in using the Swagbucks shopping portal, you can still earn a $5 bonus from Swagbucks via this link.
To claim the $5 bonus, you have to earn 2,500 SBs within 60 days of signing up. (2,500 SBs is equivalent to $25.) Note that while the landing page for this link talks about surveys, you can earn the 2,500 SBs from any activity on the site.
Surveys are the most popular way to earn points on the site, but as we note in our Swagbucks review, there are over 20 different ways to earn, including watching videos and playing games.
The amount of time it takes to complete a survey varies from a minute to an hour. To maximize your time, aim to take the ones that offer the most points for the least amount of time.
For example, in the image below, there’s a survey opportunity worth 400 SBs ($4) that takes 27 minutes on average. That comes out to a decent $8 per hour.
If you can find surveys with similar payouts, it would take you just over three hours to earn the $5 bonus.
If you’re looking to earn the bonus much faster, check out our best Swagbucks hacks article, where we discuss the fastest ways to earn points on the platform.
Swagbucks Referral Program Overview
Once you sign up for Swagbucks, you get a link to start earning via their referral program. There’s no Swagbucks referral code; instead, you share a custom link with friends and family.
Once your referral has earned 300 SBs, you’ll be awarded 300 SBs ($3). Your referral must earn those 300 SBs within 30 days of signing up for you to get the bonus.
When does Swagbucks pay the sign-up bonus?
For the Swagbucks $10 Shop and Earn bonus, points normally appear in your account within 30 days after making a qualifying purchase — although the amount of time it takes can vary depending on the retailer you shopped with.
The $5 bonus is available one day after hitting the 2,500 SB threshold.
Do you need a sign-up code to earn the welcome bonus?
No sign-up code is needed. Just visit the respective links, sign up, and you’ll be eligible for the bonus.
The confusion often comes from the fact that Swagbucks has something called Swag Codes, which are small snippets of text hidden throughout the site, the Swagbucks app, and the company’s social media pages.
When you find a Swag Code, you can enter it into a form in Swagbucks to earn free SBs (the typical amount is 1-4 SBs.)
/SwagCodeSpoilers is an active Reddit group where users post new Swag Codes whenever they find them.
Where is Swagbucks available?
Swagbucks states that the platform “is live in most countries in the Americas, Europe and Asia.”
In other words, there’s no official list of countries Swagbucks is available in. Furthermore, offers and survey opportunities may differ based on where you live, and it may be harder to earn a bonus via surveys in some countries.
Swagbucks Promo Code: Our Verdict
Swagbucks is one of our favorite overall survey sites and one of the best cash-back sites.
Personally, I’ve earned over $500 in SBs since I started on the site.
The variety of ways to earn, the low minimum payout, and the global availability make it an easy contender for the best overall online rewards site.
The $10 shopping bonus is a nice way to kickstart your earnings on the platform.
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R.J. Weiss
R.J. Weiss, founder of The Ways To Wealth, has been a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ since 2010. Holding a B.A. in finance and having completed the CFP® certification curriculum at The American College, R.J. combines formal education with a deep commitment to providing unbiased financial insights. Recognized as a trusted authority in the financial realm, his expertise is highlighted in major publications like Business Insider, New York Times, and Forbes.
