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MyPoints Review: Get Rewarded for Surveys, Online Shopping, and More

MyPoints Review: Get Rewarded for Surveys, Online Shopping, and More

I’ve often said that one of the easiest ways to make a few extra bucks is by participating in online surveys. While paid surveys are never going to make you rich, it’s something that you can try while you’re doing other things, like watching Netflix, or sitting in a waiting room.

MyPoints is one of the many online survey companies available in Canada, and they let you earn points other ways too, such as shopping online at your favourite retailers. If you’re unfamiliar with MyPoints and would like to know more, read on!

Introducing MyPoints Canada

Founded way back in 1996, MyPoints is one of the original online survey companies. It actually began as a partnership with United Airlines. It’s US-based but is also open to Canadians. I should point out that MyPoints does partner with a lot of US only retailers however, which means that not all deals are available in Canada.

How Does MyPoints Work?

There is no cost to open an account with MyPoints. In fact, new members are currently eligible for a $10 sign-up bonus, in the form of an Amazon or Visa gift card. That’s a fairly generous offer. When you register, you’ll need to provide them with an email and password. Once that’s out of the way, you’re ready to go.

Ways You Can Earn with MyPoints

One of the things I like about MyPoints is that they give you so many ways to earn points. From online surveys to online shopping, there is no shortage of activities you can participate in:

  • Shop online
  • Fill out surveys
  • Play video games online
  • Watch videos online
  • Redeem in-store coupons
  • Referring a friend to MyPoints

Taking Surveys with MyPoints

Every time you complete a qualified MyPoints survey, you’ll earn points that will be credited to your account. Once you’ve saved up enough points, they can be redeemed for gift cards or converted to cash with a Visa or PayPal gift card.

How Many Points Can I Earn?

There is no fixed amount of points that you will earn for each survey. In fact, one of the common complaints about MyPoints, as well as other cashback apps, is that not all surveys will qualify for points. Often, you’ll find yourself a few questions into a survey before realizing that you don’t qualify based on your profile or personal preferences. This can be aggravating, although if it is, online surveys might not be your cup of tea.

Looking through the MyPoints website, it appears that 700 points have a redemption value of $5.

Where Do MyPoints Surveys Come From?

Top brands across a wide variety of industries pay MyPoints to conduct market research surveys on their behalf. This is how they determine what products and services consumers are interested in purchasing. Because of this, the volume of surveys will vary as it depends on what data brands are looking for at any given time.

Online Shopping with MyPoints

Perhaps the easiest way to collect points and rewards is by using MyPoints when you shop online at your favourite stores. According to MyPoints, they’ve partnered with over 1900 retailers, so there should be something available for everyone.

To earn rewards from shopping, simply link to your favourite stores directly from the MyPoints website. This way, you’ll be able to see the MyPoints offers that are available before you buy, and your points will be automatically added to your MyPoints account upon checkout. You can also earn by buying gift cards.

MyGiftCardsPlus Powered by MyPoints

MyPoints lets you earn cashback when you buy gift cards, through the MyGiftCardsPlus program. Here’s how it works, in 3 steps:

  1. Select from hundreds of electronic gift cards to top merchants and receive cashback (in the form of MyPoints points) of up to 30%.
  2. The gift cards will be delivered to your email within 1-2 business days
  3. As you collect points, you can redeem them for free gift cards at over 80 retailers.

The cashback percentage varies for different gift card denominations. For example, at the time of this writing, Sephora gift cards were paying up to 4% cashback. To qualify for the 4%, however, you would need to purchase a $100 gift card. A $25 gift card would earn you 2%, which is still a good deal.

This can be a valuable program if you can find special offers at places you normally spend money. Alternatively, you could buy the card as a gift for a friend or family member, and save the cashback rewards for yourself.

Redeeming Your MyPoints for Gift Cards

The following is a list of just a few of the gift cards you can receive when you redeem points.

  • Amazon
  • Applebees
  • Bath & Body Works
  • Burger King
  • Google Play
  • Groupon
  • Dominos Pizza
  • Old Navy
  • Paypal Rewards
  • Safeway
  • Staples
  • Walmart Rewards
  • Visa

Note: Remember, not all gift cards are available in Canada.

Other Ways to Earn with MyPoints

While surveys and online shopping are the two main ways to earn with MyPoints, you can participate in other activities and get rewarded:

Play Video Games

You can earn points for playing online video games on your phone. Not a bad way to kill some time if you’re waiting in line somewhere.

Watching Videos Online

Here’s another way to be rewarded for passing time with MyPoints. You’ll have access to videos that you can watch while accumulating points along the way.

Checking Your Email Inbox

When you sign up to receive emails from MyPoints, you can earn points just for opening up the emails in your inbox.

The Pros and Cons of MyPoints

After doing my research on MyPoints, it’s pretty easy to come up with a list of pros and cons. Here are a few things to consider, good and bad, before you sign up:

Pros

  • Quick and easy: Sign up and get started within minutes
  • Flexible reward payouts: Redeem for gift cards or cash in $5 increments
  • Gift card discounts can add up to big savings

Cons

  • Some MyPoints retail partners and gift cards are not available in Canada
  • High disqualify rate for surveys

The Bottom Line on MyPoints

Overall, MyPoints is a solid app that offers members several ways to earn cashback. For surveys alone, there are better options, as it can be difficult to qualify for enough surveys on MyPoints to make it worthwhile. However, if you combine survey completion with the online shopping discounts, it becomes far more valuable. Again, it won’t make you rich, but that’s not the point. If you can combine MyPoints with activities you are already doing ie. online shopping, why not make a few extra bucks.

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