In this article, we will compare Swagbucks vs Ebates. Everyone likes making extra money especially when that money is made doing the things you normally do every day anyway.
That is the premise behind cashback sites and there are many of them on the internet and those numbers are growing every year.
What is a cashback site?
Cashback sites are sites that offer members cash back from their purchases or other things they do online. Depending on the site, you can earn by surfing the internet, filling out surveys, shopping and much more. With so many different sites like this on the internet to choose from it helps to understand the different ones you can choose from and how they work. In this article we’re going to introduce you to two of these popular cashback sites: Swagbucks and Ebates.
How does Swagbucks work?
Swagbucks offers members multiple ways to earn from shopping to doing surveys. Start by signing up for a free account. Members get paid in “SBs” (Swagbucks) that they can redeem for gift cards and cash once they have accrued enough. In most cases, once you have earned 400 to 600 SBs you can redeem them for a gift card of $5. The more time you spend on the internet the more SBs you will make and the higher the rewards are. The site offers several ways that you can earn SBs including daily polls, surveys, playing games, and watching videos as well as shopping. You can even earn just by doing searches on the internet.
How does Ebates work?
Ebates is a cashback site that offers money back from purchases that you make from one of the more than 2500 stores that are part of the Ebates site. The process is very simple; sign up for your free account and whenever you want to purchase services or items, browse the stores in the Ebates portal and purchase from that site. You will get up to 40% cashback on any purchases made from the Ebates site and it’s not difficult to do at all.
Reputation and reviews comparison
Swagbucks and Ebates are listed on the BBB site. Below we have given a rundown of each and how they stack up on the BBB site as well as Trust Pilot, another reputable site that offers reviews and information about each of these long standing companies.
Swagbucks – Swagbucks is accredited with the BBB and has been since 2010. The company has been in business for 13 years. Accreditation is not something all companies get so this is a big positive for Swagbucks. The company holds an A- rating and has had 470 complaints filed since 2010. Keep in mind that Prodege, LLC is also the parent company for MyPoints, MyGiftCardsPlus, and ShoptAtHome as well and some of the complaints filed are with the other companies Prodege, LLC owns and not JUST Swagbucks. The company is very responsive to any complaints filed and does their best to resolve the problem to the customer’s liking. They hold a 4 star rating with over 305 customer reviews. On Trust Pilot, the company holds a 4-star, “great” rating with over 12,000 customer reviews.
Ebates – Ebates is another cashback site that is accredited with the BBB and has been since 2016. They have been in business for over 19 years. They have a 4.5 star rating from over 326 customer reviews and have had 241 complaints filed. This is another company that does what it can to resolve the complaints to the customer’s satisfaction as much as possible. On Trust Pilot, Ebates holds a “great” rating from over 829 customers.
Features and benefits of each company
There are many different benefits that members can enjoy with each company.
Swagbucks benefits
- 11+ ways to earn Swagbucks that can be converted to gift cards or cash
- Free to sign up
- Easy to use website
- Earn more SBs by referring other members
- Large variety of stores
- Provides goals and bonuses to keep you motivated
- Contests and bonuses offered regularly
Ebates benefits
- Free to sign up
- Over 2500 stores to choose from when shopping
- Easy to use website
- Referral bonus when new members referred by you make $25 in purchases from the Ebates stores
- Quarterly payouts
- Special cashback bonuses offered regularly
- Sign up bonus
- Offers two methods of payouts: check or PayPal
- Double cash back options on many stores
Start Ebates for free today and earn $10!
What stores are on Swagbucks?
There are literally thousands of stores that you can earn from when shopping through the Swagbucks portal. Some of the popular stores that you can enjoy rewards from include:
- Vistaprint
- Wal-mart
- Bed, Bath and Beyond
- Microsoft Store
- Payless Shoesource
- Walgreens
- Vitacost
- Shutterfly
- Advance Auto Parts
- 1800 Contact
These are just a super small example of all the fantastic stores you can earn from when you shop through Swagbucks. You’ll be shopping anyway, why not shop through Swagbucks and get rewarded for it?
What stores are on Ebates?
As mentioned in the comparison between Befrugal and Ebates, there are more than 2500 fabulous, popular stores on Ebates to choose from. Some of the popular stores you will be able to shop at include:
- Office Max
- Bealls
- A T & T
- Amazon
- Aliexpress
- Macys
- Wal-mart
- Vitacost
- Old Navy
- JCPenny
There are many more stores for you to enjoy and benefit from on Ebates… 2490 more and counting, to be exact. No matter what you’re looking for, you will probably be able to find a store that has it on the Ebates site so you can enjoy cash back.
How much can you earn?
Earning from both of these sites is not going to replace your income but there are still MANY benefits that make it worth your while to use them. Since both offer the opportunity to earn gift cards and cash, you can earn spending money, holiday cash, birthday cash and other small amounts.
How much you can earn with either program is dependent upon how much you shop or in the case of Swagbucks, how many other things you do such as the surveys, watching TV through the app and much more. Keep in mind that these sites are not meant to replace a job but they certainly can add to your extra cash and are not hard to do.
The cost to sign up
Swagbucks and Ebates are both free to sign up for and never charge member fees, monthly charges, or anything else. Their whole purpose is to help you earn cashback for shopping and other activities you normally do. They do not charge you for this opportunity.
Join Ebates today and get $10!
Refer-a-friend bonus comparison
When you find something great you want to share it with others, right? Swagbucks and Ebates offer additional rewards for referring others to their sites to sign up.
Swagbucks – Swagbucks referral program is simple and easy to use. They provide you with your own referral link that you can post anywhere as well as the easy ability to just click the FB, Twitter, or Tumblr icons and advertise your link that way. Additionally they offer banners that you can put on your blog or website.
To receive the referral bonus of 300 SBs, the person you have referred has to earn 300 SBs on their own. Once they have, you each get a 300 Swagbucks bonus and you can earn 10% of everything they make as long as both accounts remain active.
Ebates – Ebates referral program changes occasionally to include additional bonuses and percentages back. Initially, your referral has to make $25 in purchases and then you will receive the bonus for that referral. The amounts can vary so be certain to pay attention to what they are offering each month for referring others to sign up through your referral link.
Customer Support comparison
Both companies offer members the ability to send in support tickets through each respective website. Swagbucks also encourages members to visit the Facebook page for answers to any general questions they might have. Customer service is the mainstay of any business and the attention that both of these companies offer their members is why they are so popular years after starting.
The phone numbers of both companies can be found on the BBB site but when it comes to asking questions and getting help, email support is encouraged.
Which platform is better?
Even though both of these cashback sites are extremely popular, what determines which one is better largely depends on what you want to accomplish. Ebates focuses on providing a percentage of cashback from the purchases you make on the site’s portal. The more you shop the more that can add up.
Swagbucks offers many different ways to earn SBs which can be redeemed for gift cards or cash. Their program offers everything you get from Ebates in terms of shopping but it also offers many other ways you can earn SBs which can really start to add up.
With that said, they both are awesome platforms but I believe Ebates is the better platform. Ebates offers better reviews, more stores, and they offers better payouts. I encourage you to sign up for Ebates today for free.