MyPoints - Get points, earn stuff (yes, it really is that simple--and I love it!)
Written: Feb 12 '09 (Updated Feb 12 '09)
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I've been a member of MyPoints.com since January 17th of 2006. Since then I've earned a grand total of 27,660 points. My most recent point redemptions have come in the form of a $25 Wal-Mart gift card, a $25 Target gift card, and a $25 CVS card. But what is MyPoints.com? And why should you care?
The Function
MyPoints.com is a website with a pretty simple purpose: you shop through them or click links they send you in emails, and you get points. As your points add up, you can eventually redeem them for a plethora of gift cards; their list of merchants and charities numbers over 70 at the moment. I know, it sounds WAY too good to be true, but read through their Frequently Asked Question area and you'll find everything you need to know (it's free, you must be 18, they don't want your credit card information, and as long as you shop through them and click the emails, you'll get points).
They're getting paid by all the retail stores and other websites you'll see slapped up on their page. Don't worry--this isn't a banner ad/pop-up ad horrorshow with adware leeching all over your computer. I have proof of that because I run adware programs to hunt them out and you know how many I've found while being with MyPoints? Zero.
I Want My Points!
There are four ways to earn points on MyPoints (if you don't count visiting the site and clicking the occasional 5 point surveys they post).
1.) They send you emails that contain offers from their partners and 9 out of 10 times, clicking the link will credit you 5 points. Sometimes offers are "sign up now!" and you'll get 25--but only if you sign up. No points for clicking the link. However, those are few and far between. They'll tell you at the bottom of the email whether or not you'll get 5 points just for clicking the link. And yes, you may even use those offers from time to time. While I'm not going to join the Mystery Book Club, I have purchased ink cartridges through ink websites and what's more, I've gotten 10% off using the MyPoints coupon offered as well. These points are credited immediately. You'll often receive multiple emails at once which leads to nice point chunks every day. 5 emails worth 5 points each = 25 points for doing nothing but clicking. Jackpot. You will also get the occasional survey and not qualifying typically gets you 10 points. Qualifying will get you 50 and yes, I've gotten 50 points from a survey before. Double Jackpot.
2.) If you're an avid online shopper or even if you're not, you can get oodles of points just by clicking through the MyPoints site first. You'll get a certain number of points for every dollar you spend at an affiliate site (tax and shipping not included) which are credited within 30 days. It's a good idea to always check MyPoints because they seem to be adding places every day. They'll often have extra offers as well where they jump up the point value from 5 to 10 points per dollar. I had a fantastic shopping spree last Christmas where I purchased a $77 item at Barnes and Noble. B&N is typically 10 points per dollar so I got an easy 770 points right there.
3.) Referrals. If you refer someone to MyPoints, once they hit the 125 point mark, you get credited 100 points (sometimes this number jumps up--during the holiday season it was 250). I've referred about 10 people so far; you can refer about 5 people a month. So far it hasn't earned me anything, but hey, your friends might be keener on the idea than mine.
4.) My favorite method of point earning alongside the emails: the MyPoints credit card. MyPoints has an agreement with a Visa company and every dollar you spend equals a point (even better? They always round up, so even if you spent $25.42, you'll get 26 points). Now, I'm not suggesting you put everything on a credit card, goodness knows no one needs debt, and the interest rate is high, but if you're the sort of person that pays off your credit card every month, then this could be a good one to get. Even better is when you use the card to pay for something you're going to buy online. That $77 I spent at B&N? Not only did I get the 770 points from just shopping there, I got an extra 77 with the card for a total of 847 points. Super Jackpot.
**An important note: MyPoints used to be partnered with Washington Mutual to provide people with this card. Since JPMorgan Chase has taken over WaMu, they have since sent letters to all the cardholders about canceling their affiliation with MyPoints and the cards will turn into some sort of Chase Rewards Card (whose rewards suck utterly when compared to the MyPoints rewards, I might add). I'd like to state for the record that once I pay off my card-and the final bill is laying on my desk at this moment-I'm going to cancel the card. MyPoints has promised cardholders that they are working on a new deal and should have another card out as soon as possible.
How Long Before I Can Redeem?
Depends on what you want. The points needed for gift cards range from around 1,400 (often $10 gift cards) to as much as 13,250 (there's only one at that amount and it's a $100 Sears gift card). The more expensive merchants tend to reflect their high-endness in their point values, but so does the demand. I remember when a $25 Target card was 3,750, but now it's 3,800.
Despite all that, the speed at which you earn points will determine how quickly you can redeem them for something. For a while, all I did was click the email links, so I was only getting around 5 points for every click. When you want a 3,800 point item that can take a while. So I started to sign up for newsletters and those gave me 10 extra points. Surveys were more, but I don't shop online that often so it took a while before I could get my first gift card. For me, it was the credit card that really upped my point earning, but then I also pay it off every month. I do all I can now to get the points and they've added up a lot faster. I got a 3,800 point, $25 Target gift card back in December and was left with only around 1,000 points. I'm about 40 points away from having 3,000 once again.
There are little things you can do to get extra points. MyPoints has a tool bar, similar to Google's, that you can download and use to do searches with. It's free, and for every # of searches done, you get a chunk of points. I did 21-30 searches last month because I recently received 50 points. If I'd done more than 31, I would have gotten 75. These point values will occasionally jump up as well during holidays or promotions; the above 75 to 100 for example. You can sign up for free trials, newsletters, or print out online coupons. That's also handy because while you're saving money on yogurt, you're getting points. I redeemed a couple of coupons last month and got 20 points out of it. I've signed up with a survey panel I'd never heard of (and I'm with 8) so now, after getting 50 points for signing up, I'm getting points through the survey site and am close to redeeming those for yet another gift card. Super-duper Jackpot.
So yes, the time will vary depending upon what you want to do and how far you're willing to go to get the points. Likewise, how long you're willing to wait before redeeming. I often get too excited and redeem before I get too far past 4,000 points. The most I've ever redeemed at once was 6,950 for a $50 Kohl's gift card. I needed pants.
Customer Service
Yes, MyPoints has customer service and they're pretty good. They're prompt, though sometimes you wonder who the original letter went to because it doesn't seem like the rep understood what you were saying. I once made a "Hey this might be a cool idea" suggestion and got a completely unrelated response (and I was quite clear) explaining how to do something. I corrected them and I think the second time they got it. Another time I wasn't getting credited for using the coupons I'd printed and after at least one extra email banter, they wanted all the information from the coupon so that maybe they could credit me. Well, I'd used the coupon so I didn't exactly have it anymore, and I also don't memorize coupon info, and by then the coupon was off the site, so I just let it go. However, they're pretty on top of the coupon ball now, so no worries.
Other than that, I've never had a problem. I did email them once after 30 days (since for online purchases it can take up to that long for points to credit) about a B&N purchase I made when the points never showed. I gave them all the information necessary and boom! The points were in my account the next day (or at least very, very soon after).
Anything Else?
The site layout is straightforward and easy to use. They've revamped it a few times over the years, and it's pretty easy to browse the entire site in a matter of minutes. Help information, account information, merchant, reward and other information is easy to access. They include a search for both the web and their merchants for quicker pinpointing of the website you're looking for.
Occasionally (almost every month, actually), MyPoints will host some sweepstakes and extra point-winning opportunities. And when I say point-winning, I mean POINT-winning. Usually it's some sort of flash animation that involves clicking a few things (last March it was leprechauns and at the start of the new school year, lockers) in order to find a special item or one of those "get all 3 and you've won" sort of things. It's all themed, and yes, you can win stuff. I once won a total of 1,500 points, which helped as I was on my way towards buying some jeans from Kohl's. People have won points in the millions and a few have won cars. You just never know.
In the End
MyPoints is awesome. That's all I can really say about it. I was scandalized when Chase cut out the MyPoints credit card agreement (no joke, I was really unhappy and everyone got to hear about it), but look forward to when they cook up a new agreement elsewhere. I've used my gift cards for both personal use and as gifts. I've gotten my sister some lotion from Bath & Body Works, I've purchased rechargeable batteries from Wal-Mart (so MyPoints has helped me help the environment, whoo hoo!), gotten new pants, random necessities for life, and most recently, a card to help pay for a new bookshelf as I have books all over my floor. I'm always planning ways to budget my money in order to get the most points out of everything and rubbing my hands together wondering just what I should get next with all my points.
Give me your email address so I can refer you! Muwahahahahaa!
NT
Recommended:
Yes
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About the Author
Member: Nicole Taft
Location: Blue Springs, MO
Reviews written: 902
Trusted by: 201 members
About Me: Dum-dee-dum-dee-doo
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