So far, the reviews of Points2Shop I have read are all from 2012, 2013 and before, not to mention they have been quite contrasting. While one section of users claims the site to be genuine, the other thinks of it as a scam.
This has provided me with the perfect premise to write my very own review of the site where I will discuss threadbare the site’s various facets.
What is Points2Shop?
Founded in 2007, P2S is a Privately Held company of between 11 to 50 employees with headquarters in Alpharetta, Georgia.
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Points2Shop is basically an online as well as mobile provider of loyalty programs and among the biggest ones at that. It boasts of a community of (according to the site) more than 4.5 million users across 200 different countries.
The site gives advertisers an opportunity to leverage the large membership base it enjoys. Most advertisers on Points2Shop promote their services/products, conduct market research surveys and execute many crowd sourced tasks.
Points2Shop compensates its members by way of points (much like SwagBucks.com) once they complete its various offers. Most of the offers are in the form of links or banners derived from the advertisers’ website. Whenever a user fulfills an offer, advertisers pay Points2Shop and subsequently the site pays its members (the ones who complete offers) a share of this money.
If you have been reading SurveySatrap for a while, you know that all my reviews are accompanied by a look at the said company’s profile on BBB.org. However, despite researching for a few hours, I couldn’t find any profile for the company on Better Business Bureau’s site. Nothing to worry about though, as there are thousands of legit companies who do not have any profile or reviews on bbb.org.
How Does It Work?
The entire thing is very simple and doesn’t require you to spend a dime. The site also doesn’t need to you to divulge any credit card information, which is a sign that you can feel secure about the site and its practices.
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Points2Shop is also completely free. This holds true in all cases except when you opt to complete PAID offers. These offers have their own section on the website named “Paid offers”, which leaves no room for confusing them with free offers.
On registering with Points2Shop, you also earn automatically a membership of Cashle. This is a partner website of Points2Shop with the difference being that it pays you in cash rather than the points system favored by Points2Shop.
Earning Points
Every point that Points2Shop awards you is worth 1 cent on Amazon.com. Now, this might seem like small change to many but in real life, this helps you greatly to accumulate points in a quick manner as a single offer can be completed in around 30 seconds while earning you an average of 40 points.
That apart, you are also rewarded 250 points (amounting to $2.50) for simply signing-up and confirming your account via email.
This might not make you rich overnight or even enable you to win prizes instantly but with constant efforts, you can expect to earn the income you desire!
Here are some ways to earn points:
- Offers
You can earn points by completing “offers”. This includes clicking links, surveys, and even viewing advertisements. I honestly do think these are easy ways to earn a lot of points. If you are gunning for some costly items, do not look beyond this method. Most offers with the site are free. However, there also exist some trial/paid offers as well as shopping offers. Both are excellent ways to get hold of deals for some of your online buys! - Games
This, according to me, ranks as the second best and most fun way of earning points with Points2Shop. You can earn points by playing video games. How this works? Well, all you need to do is bet your points in a game against another member. The winner grabs the pot. This is a great option to earn a large amount of points for those good at playing and winning video games. Personally speaking, completing offers fetches me points at the fastest rate. And yes, I’m not good at playing video games. - Referrals
By far the most difficult way to earn points, referral means you gain points by convincing some of your friends and family into joining Points2Shop. You will earn 50 points every time you bring in a new member to the site. - Weekly Lottery
Lotteries are by nature earning opportunities that carry no guarantee whatsoever. However, take note that the jackpot goes up by $10 every week, which means the eventual winner stands to pocket more than $100. A lottery ticket is also free with all participants having an equal chance of winning the pot. - Monthly Contests
Points2Shop also conducts contests that carry maximum cash prizes of $15. Every member of the site can stake his/her claim to be included in the contests held on a monthly basis by either earning big through offers or referring a lot of people.
The Honor Levels
This is yet another avenue to earn points. You can earn points by graduating through different honor levels. To do so, you need to accomplish certain tasks. For instance, you need to buy an item to help verify your postal address, which eventually elevates you to the bronze level.
Bronze is also the lowest level while Legend is the highest. Every time you graduate to a higher level, you are awarded bonus as well as merit points. Also, offers that were previously locked get unlocked as you advance.
I should also mention that the site has apps for both Android and Apple devices. These apps basically allow you to do the same things on your mobile or other handheld devices, plus you may find some exclusive earning opportunities that are not available on their web portal.
Redeeming Your Points
You are able to exchange your points in return for prizes from Amazon. Starting off, you need to select the item you intend to buy. Having found the said product in Amazon, you are now required to search for it on Points2Shop.
You can place an order once you find the product in Points2Shop and from there on, the site will order the product on your behalf.
The payment for the said product is paid in full by the site in exchange for your accumulated points.
However, beware that you are not allowed to convert your points into cash. If it’s cash that you desire, head over to Cashle. The only catch here is that you cannot complete the same offer twice, i.e. once on Cashle and once on Points2Shop.
You are paid in cash via Alertpay, PayPal, E-Gold, Liberty Reserve and some other online payment mechanisms. You can view the complete list of payment methods, fees and minimums in the site’s “Withdraw Earnings” section.
Warnings
- Account Termination
I also want to warn you about a few reviews I have read online about the site. One of the biggest issues many people seem to have with the site is their accounts being labeled as “cheater” without any reason (at least known to the account holder).
While I personally never had that issue, I saw a quite bit of complaints regarding this issue.
I have actually read one review where the person claims his account was labeled “cheater” as soon as he tried to redeem his points. This is the only time I came across such claims, but I wanted to share it with you anyway.
- Telemarketers Calls
Another thing you need to be careful about is the issue of telemarketers. After all, sites like Points2Shop make money from their advertisers who are looking to introduce their product and services to new customers (you and I). A lot of people seem to be getting lots of calls to their home phone from telemarketers.
So, it may be worth using a different phone number than your home phone when registering with the site. You can get a free phone number online through sites like http://k7.net/. By the way, you can learn more about telemarketer calls and how to get on the national registry of do not call list, here on FCC’s (Federal Communications Commission) official website.
- Hack
I see lots of videos on YouTube on presumably teaching people Points2Shop hack and tricks. Please stay away from such tactics. You should not use hacks on any site.
These so called cheats and hacks provided are normally fake stuff anyway, they don’t work. Furthermore, you don’t want to have a run with the law. Yes, hacks are not entirely legal since you are basically stealing money.
So, is Points2Shop Legit?
It’s fair to assume that most of you are interested in the results of my findings and so here it goes.
I’ve used this site quite a bit over the course of a few weeks and have even received a lot of items via mail from Points2Shop. Yes, they weren’t exactly premium products but I too haven’t put in a lot of effort with the site.
You got to wake up to the reality that 10 minutes on this site doesn’t get you a free iPad. However, if you can spare those 10 minutes from your free time or can play a quick video game while chilling out or watching TV, you’ll earn enough points to buy stuff on Amazon.
In fact, I’ve seen that by spending close to 20 minutes every day completing offers while watching TV, I can easily earn close to 400-500 points per day. Simple math suggests this equals roughly $4-$5 on Amazon!
So, if you are looking for a way to earn a few dollars in your spare time, Points2Shop is an OK choice, but if you are looking for anything more substantial than a few bucks, I recommend you find another site.
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