MyPoints.com is one of the most favored online rewards and cash back shopping programs amongst stay at home moms and dads. But, since their start back in 2004, the site has introduced many other ways to earn points, including paid surveys, which is why I thought it would be appropriate to review MyPoints on SurveySatrap.
Now, mind you, I have been a member of this site since 2008 I believe. So, I have seen the site go from a small tightly focused on coupons and cash back shopping to a full fledged reward site offering variety of ways for members to earn and redeem points.
An Overview of MyPoints.com
When it comes to rewards for online shopping, MyPoints is considered to be a pioneer as well as the leader. By making simple purchases online from the many retailers in their network, users stand to gain reward points every time a transaction is completed. These points can then be redeemed for travel miles, cash back or gift cards.
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This online rewards site is operated under MyPoints.com, Inc., a California based company, which is a branch of the multi million dollar company, United Online, Inc. who also owns famous websites such as NetZero, FTD and Juno.
The site provides direct marketing and online advertising services to a huge number of consumer products and service providers. There is no way of confirming this, but they claim they have more than 60 million registered users.
It’s worth mentioning that the site was originally owned by one of the aviation industry’s giants, United Airlines which had developed the site in 2004 as a way to enable its customers to keep track and redeem their air miles. It wasn’t until April 2006 that United Online acquired MP from United Airlines.
Over the years, the site has developed a solid reputation as a rewards website that offers some wonderful deals and reward incentives, which ensures customer loyalty of the highest order.
The company is accredited by the BBB (Better Business Bureau) and holds TRUSTe certification as well.
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Membership
You can sign-up with MyPoints without paying anything. However, there are some preconditions like you must be 18 years of age, enter accurate information during enrollment and be a resident of Canada or the USA.
Registering is free and possible through the link “Join Now” posted on the site’s top right section. Fill out the form before submitting it. On doing so, you’ll get an email from the site for confirmation purposes. “Confirm my Email” is the button you need to click in this email for your sign-up process to be completed.
Once you have confirmed your account, you can login and browse the site. Initially you may get overwhelmed and lost. This site is huge, so be prepared! I remember when I first joined the site, it took me a while to figure out where everything was.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing, as the reason its huge is because they have so many different advertisers and offers for you to earn money with. So, you will never run out of offers to complete.
Now, granted, the majority of earning opportunities come down to online shopping and opting for trial offers. But they also have lots of free ways you can earn points.
Ways to Earn Points
Speaking of earning opportunities, here are all the ways you can rack up those points:
- Reading Email
The site sends you emails containing links, which you need to click to earn 5 points (equating to around $0.035). On average, going through one email takes around 10-15 seconds. - Surveys
Surveys are sent through email. For completing one survey, you are paid 50 points, which equates to $0.35. This is not much compared to what panels like MySurvey.com pay. The duration for the same is around 10 minutes. However, in case you attempt to take a survey but do not qualify for the same, you are paid 10 points (or $0.07). Among the initial questions that members are asked is if anyone in their home works in the areas of “Marketing Research or Marketing”. - Shopping
Rebate and cash back shopping is possibly the single most used way many stay at home moms use this site to earn points. If you buy stuff via their site, you are given a percentage amount back. eBay is one place where I do a lot of purchasing so I make it a point to visit the site through MyPoints. This way, for each dollar I spend on eBay, I earn 2 points. - Easy Points
Around once every month, I visit the site and click on the “Easy Points” section. The site asks me if I need a contractor to get some household work done or whether I’d like to save a few bucks on grocery shopping through coupons. I decline the offer and here the site presents me with another opportunity to earn points by clicking on a link. By simply clicking to know more about their offer, I earn 5 points ($0.035). - Offers
The site also has many offers you can complete to earn some additional points. Some of these include website sign-ups, free as well as paid trials, newsletter subscriptions etc. If it interests you, you can also earn money by completing offers in different ways. However, you ought to maintain a detailed record in case you intend to earn money through offers as otherwise; there is a real danger of you losing money. - Online Games
Just like InboxDollars, this site also offers online games, which are nothing but gambling games where you play with your money. If you lose money, you receive a part of the same in terms of points. To me, that doesn’t look like a good strategy to “earn” money. - Referrals
Whenever a person you referred joins this site, you are paid 25 points for the same. Additionally, as your referrals start making money, you stand to get 10% of the points they earn every month. - Book Travel
By making travel arrangements through MyPoints, you can earn both rewards points AND miles. - Print Coupons
What’s the point in clipping when once can simply click? Just print the grocery coupons they offer and earn reward points by using them. - Search the Web/Toolbar
A new addition to the site, this feature allows you to get points by downloading and installing MyPoints’ toolbar on your browser and using the same for all your web searches.(more on that below)
By fully downloading the toolbar alone, you can get an easy 100 points. From here on, you can earn additional points every time you search for stuff on the web using the MP browser search, their toolbar, or even the internet search bar you can find on the site itself.
Every month, you can get:
- 1 Point for 1-10 searches
- 10 Points for 11-25 searches
- 50 Points for 26-40 searches
- 100 Points for 41 or more searches
You are awarded the points at every month’s end.
Redeeming Your Points
When I first started out with this site, the only cashing option members had were gift cards. Thankfully, and in keeping with what the competitions like MemoLink and eRewards offer, the site now has many more options to cash out. Here are some ways to redeem points you earn:
Gift Cards
With MyPoints, you have the option of choosing from more than 100 unique businesses when cashing out through gift cards. Right from CVS to Walgreens, Burger King to Chili’s restaurant, Target to Old Navy, and many more!
In the past when I was a regular on this website, I preferred to use my accumulated points in the online stores where I shopped at. I also earned more points by using my gift cards back then.
MP doesn’t set any minimum limit for you to cash out. This is simply because the site has different points’ requirements for different rewards.
However, you cannot redeem less than 1,450 points at a time, whose value translates into a gift card from Restaurant.com worth $25. Next in line is 1,600 points, which gets you gift cards from a variety of stores. This continues till 12,850 points, which equals a gift card worth $100.
PayPal
There also exists the option of exchanging your accumulated points for cash through PayPal. However, to do so, you have to redeem at least 4,550 points. Doing so earns you $25.
Visa Prepaid Card
In case you’d like to get a Prepaid Card from Visa in exchange for your points, you must redeem at least 4,600 of them (equaling $25).
Red Cross Donation
If you want your money to go towards a noble cause, you can donate to Red Cross directly. The minimum you have to donate here is 500 points.
Air Miles
You can also receive air miles from United Mileage Plus. Redemption of 11,100 points earns you 500 air miles.
Is MyPoints Worth It?
Generally, sites like these based on rewards do not pay very well. That is partly due to the fact that they do not ask for much effort and time from their users in the first place.
MyPoints operates on the basis of you being awarded a certain amount of points in exchange for carrying out different activities. Once you earn these points, they can be redeemed for cash. The conversion rate being 5 points equal to $0.035.
And looking at their offers and points they give, I think for most people it is just a waste of time. Don’t get me wrong, the site is not a scam, it is as legit as it gets. But to be honest, I signed up with this site a long time ago when I had first started earning extra money online. If it was today, I would not waste my time since it takes a long time to earn enough points that could translate into anything substantial.
I would instead go with a site like QuickRewards (read my review) which has almost the same number of earning opportunities, but the pay is much higher, not to mention you get paid very fast (usually 24 hours or less in case of PayPal).
But, you are welcome to join MyPoints and give it a try for yourself. I guess it all depends on your expectations and how much you value your time. Anyway, I hope you find this review helpful and good luck.
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