Special Offers Breakdown part 5 - SuperRewards! & SBTV Day 2

Good Morning Swaggernauts!

It looks like today's post will be early, but don't expect that every day :P I'm putting them out in the afternoon most days so I can get stuff done around the house, play with my son, take care of family first. Wasn't much to clean today, and the little booger is happily watching Barney's Rhyme Time Rhythm ordered with Amazon gift cards thanks to Swag Bucks! YAY!

Before I get to talking about SuperRewards, I'd like to take a second to discuss the new autoplay feature on Swagbucks TV. First let's look at the blog post about it from yesterday, November 9th.

According to The Swag Guy, this autoplay feature could potentially mean winning several times in one sitting. That Sounds Great!

I'd assumed from my experiences with SBTV that once you had a win, it was like searching, and better to wait a while to watch more. I noticed what appears to be a pattern for me; whatever category I start with, if I watch a few using Related Videos, and am not winning, once I switch to another category I get a win within 1 or two. Most of the time. I can't say any of this is valid or true but these are what seem to work for me from trial and error.

So I was wondering, before the blog was posted and I was test driving Autoplay, how the wins would go. Once I hit a win, could I let it play 100 more and win nothing? Would I get a win every 5-10? Would I win at all if I just let autoplay run without switching categories?

My morning trial wasn't great.. I had already won once before I noticed the Autoplay feature, so the fact that I didn't win after watching 10 videos in a row didn't phase me too much. I figured I would come back later- maybe it is indeed like searching and it's best to spread it out.

Then I read the blog. I got pretty excited at the thought of winning multiple times from one session! So I went back to test it out. While ads were playing between videos I would hop over to the Swagbucks Facebook page and see what everyone else thought of it.

I let the videos play, and play, and play, and PLAY! Not a single win. I was asking myself, "Is it because I tab over to FBSB during ads, I'm being punished? Do I have to stay on that screen the whole time?"  So after about 15 videos with no wins, I left it alone for a bit, kind of a reset even if such a thing is untrue- it's half about your mental constructs you know?

I went back later and let 20+ videos play in a row. Not a single win. Really?  I was not alone. All over the the Facebook wall were people complaining about not winning ever since autoplay started. Well, TSG asked for feedback, he sure got it! :P

One more thing I noticed about Autoplay is that my laptop got Really, Really hot. It gets hot watching Netflix too, if I don't lift it to vent better, but not nearly as hot as quickly as with Autoplay. I wonder why that is? Is it because Netflix loads a ton of the data then just plays, so it's just my video card heating up, whereas SBTV Autoplay keeps loading over and over and over, using my processor more as well as the video card? Sounds logical..  but what do I know :P My laptop is WEAK in the graphics department, but it was free so I can't complain!

I'm not downing Autoplay at all. It's a great idea! I think it's just got some bugs to work out, as does everything on first launch. We are beta testers, but we should be HAPPY to be so, instead of getting disgruntled and up in arms. At least for the first few days :P You and I both want Swagbucks to get better and better. There's no way to do that without adding and altering features, and no way to do that without inevitable bugs. It's our job, if we want it to get better, to provide feedback, to let them know what's not working. Just as it's important to let them know what we love about new features, what does work and should stay!

So I would ask you, with SBTV, with any new feature, to let The Swag Guy know what your experiences are, but to take a second with your frustrations, your anger, and remember - it will get better, if you give CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK. I enjoy reading the comments people post, when they give information, even if they express a little frustration, because that's natural. But when folks start griping and saying nasty things, getting so mad you can almost see their faces turning red, I cringe a little inside. It's embarrassing to me for some reason. It's not helpful, and just makes the poster look bad :P Complain, it's part of feedback for sure, but is there any reason to name call, swear, threaten, use verbal dynamite?

Anyway, the gist is, Thumbs Up on the concept of Autoplay. Thumbs Down on how it works right now. Thumbs Up for the idea it will improve if we give them the right kind of feedback (including writing to the Contact Us link on the homepage and letting them know our technical experiences with SBTV). Thumbs Down to people who get so mad they blow their tops. If it's that frustrating, just walk away and try again the next day.

OKEEDOKEE! On to SuperRewards wall!

SuperRewards is a virtual currency company I have mixed feelings about. They credit more often than TapJoy or Gambit, but some of the things I've been denied swagbucks for make no sense. I guess I like them, since I have more than a 50% success rate :P

Here you see their wall, with Video highlighted yellow, and two tabs the others do not have - Mobile, and Magazines. One would think since Video is highlighted, maybe that would indicate there's a video available. Nope! Today it was just a blank page :P After I clicked it, and refreshed the page, the Video tab was gone. What a tease! Mobile also was blank, has been whenever I've looked at it, so I have no idea what that is all about. When I see something there, I'll let you know with screenshots :)

Let's take a look at the Magazines tab, then I'll show you a nice offer that credited for me.

There's a fairly good selection of magazines to choose from, 96 in all. But are the swagbucks payouts worth the costs? I decided to check a few, compare prices from SuperRewards versus prices I could find by swagsearching.

Sports Illustrated - $39.95 through SR, $39 on the web. Not bad, not far off.
Cosmopolitan - $18 from SR, $15 from the web. A little more there.
MAD Magazine - $14.99 from SR, $14.99 from the web. The same! Ok, worth the swagbucks.
Time - $18 for 28 issues (6 months)  from SR, $20 from the web for 56 issues (1 year). NOT a good deal.

I guess the verdict is - Shop Around. The prices seem to be the same, or higher. The swagbucks payouts in most cases do not seem to be worth going through SuperRewards, but there are gems that are worth it, if you really want a magazine subscription.

Now let me show you an offer I did a couple of days ago that made me pretty happy. I have never done a "purchase required" offer before. I can't afford them generally. Mostly I started this offer out of curiosity, not expecting to complete it.

I've seen a lot of swaggers talk about VistaPrint offers, how good they are, so I was curious. There's an offer to design a free t-shirt & just pay shipping on TrialPay, but the payout was less than this- 493 swagbucks to make a purchase, no limitations listed in the requirements. I wondered what kind of things VistaPrint sold, and if I could score that free t-shirt (with shipping) and get these swagbucks.

When I got to the site, the first thing I looked for was the word FREE *chuckle*. On the left sidebar the first listing was Free Products.

Ooh yah, Business cards! Ok, so I don't technically have a business, but I've been watching for those nifty Swagbucks business cards to go on sale again- a pretty good idea! Printed with your referral link, they look pretty cool. Maybe I could just get some through VistaPrint.. Will a free item with shipping get me swagbucks? How much would the shipping be? What kind of cards do they have, are they cheesy and cheap looking?

I was pleasantly surprised to see that on the four pages of designs to choose from, there were several I liked. I looked through the pages over and over but kept coming back to the same design on page 1.

As you fill out the boxes on the left, the text on the preview window changes to show what it will look like. After some creative rearranging of the information I wanted on it, this is what I had, and I Wanted it!

You can't change the font or font size or layout unless you want to pay for the cards, but this was good enough for me, for now. The back is blank except for VistaPrints web site (so That's how they give it away "free'!) and I couldn't put anything on it unless I wanted to pay like, oh, 4 bucks I think? So blank was good! I still wasn't sure if I would be getting them though- my prepaid visa gift card is getting low on balance because we needed stuff for the house this week. How much would the shipping be?

Along the way through checkout I was offered many other deals that would have been great to get- a stamp with my blog address for example, would have been nice, to stamp on the back of the card. There were some FREE offers worth taking a look at, one of which I pounced on. $50 Google Adwords credit, to get my blog listed with Google AdSense. YES! Free? Sure! Send me the code, baby! (It will be coming in the email hopefully when the order ships.)

So, 250 nice looking business cards and $50 Google Adwords credit for $5.67 shipping. I ..  want... Now!

I went all the way through the checkout process to the Payment screen, and YAY YAY YAY YAY ! They take PayPal payments! That means I can buy these, cause I have like $40 in PayPal from Swagbucks! Plenty for this order and 3 months more of Netflix!

I was hooked, good and hooked, and even more excited about getting 493 swagbucks for it. If it credits *laugh*. That's a $5 Amazon card! Doesn't quite cover the swagbucks to paypal ratio, but I want more Amazon cards so, Good, to me it's close enough to an even trade to consider the order Free, to me! (Man I love shifting things around for maximum gain LOL)

I placed the order, received my confirmation in email, saw the charge come up on PayPal pretty quickly.  After about 30 minutes I checked the "View Offer Status" button (top right, green button, main SuperRewards wall.) and saw that it was marked as Viewed. UGH! If an offer is still waiting to report, it says, "Waiting". This said viewed, and my heart sank. I was going to have to inquiry it.

So I clicked the "Missing These Swagbucks?" link and submitted a ticket.

Their form asks for the email you did the offer with, gives you a box to enter your proofs, and a CAPTCHA. I submitted a link to a screenshot of my PayPal statement with all non-pertinent information blurred out. Also went into my email, pressed "Forward" on the confirmation letter, and copied everything, header included, pasted it into the proofs box. Typed the CAPTCHA and away I went to wait.

I was concerned that maybe because the offer said "purchase of product" versus "order free business cards" *laugh* I wouldn't get my swagbucks. Crossed my fingers though!

The next morning I opened my email and found a response from SuperRewards.

Woah! They credited me sometime in the middle of the night, before looking at my inquiry. *Face Red!* I suppose I should have been more patient. I jumped the gun! But when that status said "Viewed", what was I to think? I'm finding out more and more that I should really wait at least 24 hours before I try for my credit- at least on 4 out of the 6 walls. Gambit and TapJoy can suck an egg outta my ear, I already know to inquiry those as soon as the status changes.

Lookie Lookie.. Isn't that a nice site! 493 swagbucks deposited while I slept.. GOTTA love it. It's SO nice when things go well, especially when there's money spent involved!

I can't Wait to get my cards. I don't get out in the world often, but I find myself talking about swagbucks a lot the few times I do. The 7-11 by my house has some pretty cool ladies that work there, I've talked with them about it some. I will give them my cards. I will post the cards around the USF and New College campuses, and drive to the next town over to put it up at State College (a community college despite the name lol). It may take a while to go through 250 cards, but I think it's a pretty cool tool to have handy when talking to folks about my passion, FREE SWAG!

I have really horrible handwriting though, so writing the SwagMelt blog address on the back might not be a great idea.. I think my next VistaPrint purchase will be a stamp with a tiny blurb and the web URL.

There you have it folks, another Positive special offers experience. I'm glowing just thinking about it, that after-shopping glow you get when your order basically works out to Free... You know what I mean, I know you do, or you wouldn't be addicted to Swag Bucks too!

If anyone reading this is not yet a member of Swagbucks, but wants to get on the swagtrain and start earning the free loot, there's no time like the present! Just go to the swidget , up top on the right there, press the Sign Up button on the bottom right. Fill out a short form, confirm your email, and get 30 swagbucks to get you rolling! Then come back here and start with October's second blog post, "Beginner Tips for Swagsurfing!", for tips on how to get started!

That's All For Now! Go get your swagbucks, that's what I'm heading out to do! Until tomorrow...

HAPPY SWAGSURFING!!