Friday 30 November 2012

Fastest Rewards - SLOW REWARDS!

Another quick note of caution. I may have to revise my recommendation of the site Fastest Rewards. Twice now have I tired to cash out and not received anything for 72 hours despite the site saying it takes 24 hours to receive payment. Both times I've emailed and chased and to their credit, have received a response and then the amount has been credited. But I wonder what would happen if I didn't chase? next time I'll try and see how long it takes, if it comes through at all.....

QuickRewards - Virool Videos Not Credited!

Quick word of warning. If anyone is using QuickRewards (I'm giving it a go so will fully review soon) note that I have watched quite a few videos through Virool Videos on the site and none of them have been credited and it's well over 48 hours since I viewed them.

I'll take it up with QuickRewards but wanted to offer a word of warning....

Wednesday 28 November 2012

Free Gifthulk 5 HC Traesure Code!

Here's a treasure code for Gifthulk that can claim you 5 HC. Can only be used twice so first come first serve...

txlty4umb

Tuesday 27 November 2012

Neobux Challenge - Day... I've lost count!

Been a bit quiet from me on the whole Neobux challenge thing. This is primarily because I got bored... and thought you probably would too if I updated daily. Suffice to say, I've lost my enthusiasm for the whole thing now and am clicking myself the bare minimum of 4 orange ones and any juicy bigger clicks (like 1 whole cent!).

My 3 amigos have picked up the pace a wee bit but are hardly stretching themselves. Here's how they are doing:

clicker 1: Total of 8 clicks at an average of 2.000
clicker 2: Total of 16 clicks at an average of 2.286
clicker 3: Total of 16 clicks at an average of 2.286

I haven't a clue if this is good or not but I'm guessing it's not great. They seem to be doing just enough to not get the dreaded recycle treatment! I'll give them a few more days and see where we are then. I also think I'll start extending the ones that are performing well.

Monday 26 November 2012

No-Minimum Site Review - There is a minimum and it will take an age to reach it!

No-minimum.com in my mind is one to be avoided. It's not that it's a scam... by all accounts it's legit and does payout. It is a ptc site like Neobux or Clixsense and if you've been following my musings on this blog then you'll probably start to get the impression I don't much like these sites... and I don't.

Here's why I don't like this one:

It's incredibly ugly to look at and very confusing to use. I can't seem to navigate my way around the site whatsoever. The tabs are located half way down the page and as you click on a link you are returned to the top of the page again, only to have to scroll down to get to where you want to.

The money is dreadful. i can't see any offers that give you more than 0.1 US cents... so that's one tenth of a cent... one thousandth of a dollar! To reach the payout threshold, which I agree is low at $1, you would need to click on 1000 ads!

It still baffles me that sites like this are in business when people like swagbucks offer so much more for watching an ad? I still don't know why people use these ptc sites but maybe someone can explain it to me? Perhaps it's the referrals they get or the territories they're available in?

I won't be recommending any until I experience myself the benefit and earning potential.

Get-Paid.com - Legit and Pays Out/ Low Threshold

Just stumbled across a new gpt sites called Get Paid. For those unfamiliar, a GPT site is one where you sign up for an account by giving some personal details and can earn money by completing offers, watching ads, surveys, etc... I tend to only use the ad watching as I can run this in the background while I do something else.

It all seemed a bit too good to be true with this site as the Paypal payout threshold was as low as $1. Because it's so low there is little to lose so thought I would give it a go and see if it works. Well, I reached my $1 in just 3 days with clicking on ads. Each ad is worth $0.01 and you usually get 20-30 in a day... sometimes more.

My skepticism has not been founded as I received my Paypal $1 cashout today after requesting last Thursday. It's not the quickest paying site I've known but given the low threshold and how easy it is to reach, it's a worthwhile one.

Link below:
 
paid surveys

Ciao Review

Read my review on Dooyoo to get the basics of how these sites work.

Ciao is a review writing site that works much the same way as Dooyoo with the exception that you do not get paid a flat fee for each review you write, only per rating received from fellow Ciao members. This means that earning really hinges on the quality of your writing and also being an active part of the Ciao community in terms of reading and rating other people's reviews.

I find the products on the database for review are very similar to Dooyoo but that Ciao's policy for accepting new products to review is more open and they tend to be approved the following day. Dooyoo limit what categories you can suggest products in and it sometimes takes a week for approval.

The rating system is also very similar in both sites. On ciao you can rate a review from not helpful through to exceptional. Rating in the latter category means that a review can be eligible for the premium fund. This is a lump sum that is shared between what Ciao deem to be the best reviews of the month - the top prize earning an additional £15 with a sliding scale down to £2. Those that consistently write quality and are known for it can often earn well through this as well as their other rating earnings.

Earnings per rating are based on the product category you are writing in rather than the ratings you receive although reviews have to have an average of 'helpful' in order to earn. Top earning products such as electricals earn 2p per positive rating. Many other items are valued at 1p and 1/2p. Bear in mind that on this site there are also a number of products that earn nothing at all unless nominated for the premium fund.

How much a product can earn is denoted by the number of ££ next to the product title. £££ = 2p, ££ = 1p & £ = 0.5p. If the product has no £ then it won't pay anything unless nominated for the premium fund.
Obviously the surface, ciao isn't as lucrative as Dooyoo but it's well worth joining as they accept previously published content meaning that a review you've written for Dooyoo can also be posted hereto increase its earning potential. If it's well written and you are good at reading and rating other people's reviews, without the premium fund, you can usually amass an additional 50p- £1 from this site for high ranking product reviews.

Ciao also have a monthly bonus for certain product categories e.g health and beauty - this can range from a further 20p - 50p per review so it's also worth looking out for this in the news section on their site and trying to write about those products in that month.

Another bonus not on Dooyoo is double earnings for the first month on products that you are the first to write the review on. This also applies to new products you suggest so it's worthwhile suggesting new products to the site.

With each of these earning streams and that payment is based on members directly and not the lottery of ad sense revenue, this site acts as a reliable and steady earning stream, especially when combined with Dooyoo. It's been around and paying for years so definitely a legit and reliable site.

Link to site below....

Saturday 24 November 2012

The Neobux Challenge Day 4 & 5

... well, my recycled clicker is just as bad as my previous one and isn't clicking at all! The other 2 are doing OK and have 8 clicks each with an average of 2. Not the kind of form that will make my million though....

I can see disappointment on the near horizon. Think I might extend the 2 that are performing though to cut my loses. Come 27th of this month I can rent again and I think I might go for broke and put all the rest of my money into more referrals and extend them to 150 days.

Thursday 22 November 2012

The Neobux Challenge - Day 3

I've doubled my clicks! I now have a total of 8 from my rented referrals after 2 days. That's the 4 from yesterday from ref 1 (who's been lazy today and had no clicks) and 4 from ref 2 from today (who was lazy yesterday and didn't fancy a single click). I imagine both have plenty of referrals and are doing their minimum 4 clicks... or it's a scam and a robot is doing the minimum so I don't recycle them. The third is still not playing ball... and is going to be recycled today! Still nowhere near breaking even after 2 days though. I wish I had me as one of my referrals, because I'm still clicking like a madman. Someone out there is very lucky indeed and will be profiting heavily from my index finger! Hopefully tomorrow will yield more profitable clicking!

Wednesday 21 November 2012

The Neobux Challenge - Day 2

Okey dokey. Day 2 commenced and I was able to purchase my 3 rented referrals for a period of 30 days at a total value of $0.60.

And now... let the clicking commence!

I think my guys have opted more for the tortoise approach rather than the hare. In the first 24 hours of activity, between them they have amassed a mighty 4 clicks! That has all come from one individual. The remaining 2 are idly sitting by waiting for me to lose money. I'll give them another 2 days and if still nothing, they're for the chop!

Me on the other hand, I can't get enough of the clicking! It's become something of an obsession. I'm now logging in hourly and clicking wherever possible with the conviction of an addict (which I hope I'm not becoming, as to some, this whole process could easily be construed as gambling... because it basically is).

I'm hoping day 3 will produce an upsurge in clicking from my 3 amigos... but I'm not holding my breath.

Current balance without referrals has lept to an impressive $0.225. Who needs these guys? I'm gonna make a million on my own at this rate!

Tune in tomorrow for more enthralling excitement.

Monday 19 November 2012

The Neobux Challenge - Day 1

I put the cat amongst the pigeons a little recently on a forum board suggesting Neobux was a waste of time and effort as after a week of furious clicking I had only earned myself a meager $0.049. It was suggested to me that the only way you can realistically make money on this site is to rent referrals... in other words, speculate to accumulate.

 So... I thought I'd give it a go and run a diary here of how my money is coming along. I am going to invest US$5.00 dollars in this scheme and see where that gets me and how quickly. My understanding of the referral practice is that for $0.60 you can rent 3 referrals for 30 days and hope that they all continue to click as frantically as you. If they don't, for a price you can ditch them... or lose your shirt... or your %5 in this instance.

Being of hesitant and careful nature, I will not be investing my full $5.00 into referrals in one go but will see how my first 3 friends get on. In the meantime, I will be frantically clicking myself recalling memories of Lost, the hatch and the numbers.

Day 1 - opening balance is $0.065

I'm paid up and about to rent my first 3 referrals..... and I've already hit a snag! Apparently I didn't click yesterday at 'server time'. Yikes! What is this? I didn't realise I have to click too? It really is going to be like Lost....

An inauspicious start. Tune in tomorrow for my first referral friends getting underway!

SurveyMad has a sister - Fastestrewards!

Seemingly SurveyMad (see separate post) has a sister and they're very similar - they dress kind of the same, have the same friends and have a similar threshold for payment. I've had a look and opportunities seem a little less than on SurveyMad but everything else seems very familiar including $0.20 payout! Now you can have twice the fun!

Link below...

Sunday 18 November 2012

SurveyMad - $0.20 Payout and Legit!

Just signed up to a new gpt site called SurveyMad. Plenty more to do here than just surveys and works very similarly to sites like Swagbucks - you can earn from surveys, watching ads or doing offers. The great thing about this site and what attracted me was the seemingly very low payout threshold of 20 points (1 point = $0.01). Watching videos and some paid to click stuff earns you 1 or 2 points each and there are usually a few available everyday.

Payout is possible through vouchers and Paypal. If using Amazon vouchers or Paypal you can cashout with a minimum of 20 points.

Sounds too good to be true? I thought so! To test it, I tired to cash out with 61 points to see if what they promise is true and cashed out with Amazon vouchers. They claim payment comes within 24 hours. 24 hours passed and I'd still received nothing so assumed it was a scam... until the following morning when my voucher for $0.61 (£0.40) for Amazon was emailed over to me! OK, not 24 hours quite but still alot faster than most other sites.

I think this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Based on this initial experience, I can strong recommend signing up (which is free) and using this site.

Link below....

Saturday 17 November 2012

New Gifthulk code

Free code to earn 3 Hulk Coins. Can only be used once by 2 different people. When it's gone... it's gone.

8jtvcrmyh

Friday 16 November 2012

Dooyoo Review

Dooyoo is a site where you can write a review on a huge number of different things and get paid for your opinion. The premise is simple: find something you want to review, check if it is already on the Dooyoo database, if it is, review it, if it's not, see if you can suggest and add it. Income is tiered depending on what you write about. Certain products command the biggest fees such as electronics and banking - the highest is 600 points for a review (in English money that's £0.60 of her majesty's finest - 10 points equals a penny) and the lowest 100 points (£0.10 in real money). In addition, you earn from each members rating of your article above a certain criteria (range goes from not useful to very useful and anything over useful earns). Again, this is tiered based on the category of product ranging from 20 points down to 10 points. How much each category earns can be found on the site-map so you can know what you'll make before you review something. Reviews must be of good quality, informative and original and over 150 words in length.
                                                   
Using the site is very simple and straightforward. It works like a community. You need to open a free account and sign up to be part of the community and the key to success is being an active community member. Anyone intent on coming here and quickly penning 150 words of rubbish just to earn will quickly be found out and ostracized. The community are a ruthless bunch and won't accept or allow people obviously in it for a quick buck. You earn, yes, but in that majority people on the site care about what they do and won't abide by those abusing it... myself included. You have been warned!
       
Keeping people on side is also important as their ratings can really add to your earnings. Again, being a team player counts for a lot. If you don't rate and read other members reviews then don't expect many in return.

Dooyoo can pay by Amazon voucher, cheque or PayPal. You need to amass 20,000 points to get a £20 voucher which is the minimum payout offered (other than charity contributions that can be any amount). For cheque or PayPal, the minimum is a huge 50,000 points which will take a while to accumulate unless you are dedicated.

Writing exceptional quality can also be rewarded by having an article nominated for a crown - this is rewarded for the highest quality and is nominated by your fellow Dooyooers.  Getting one of these is worth 1,500 points and can happen frequently if your writing is of the highest calibre. 
 
Dooyoo used to be more lucrative than it is now. A few years ago you could earn 500 points for every review but recently they changed the system to the tiered one they have now. I suppose it was being abused a lot and they weren't earning from certain product categories so introduced the new system. It's a shame as some things that are interesting to write about are no longer that lucrative but I can see why they did it.

Communication from the team if you have any questions is excellent and they definitely payout. I have received both cheque and Amazon vouchers and both took a couple of weeks to come through.

One real plus to this site is that they don't restrict entries to previously unpublished material so you can submit here and to other sites as well, which increases your earning potential for one review.
More will follow with subsequent posts on other sites and how you can accumulate income from one article. From Dooyoo alone though, for a review on one of their top end products that is good quality and you are a good Dooyooer, you could earn around £1.40 based on review and 40 positive rates. Depending, this could have the potential to be more too.

I highly recommend using this site if you enjoy writing and are able to string together a sentence or too of critical analysis. If you can't or are not willing, please don't bother wasting your time and ours.

Here's a link to the site should you wish to join under my referral (for which I would of course be grateful):
http://members.dooyoo.co.uk/my/new/?ref=3110241190-1098341

PTC Investigation

Just found out about this site. Apparently they are legit and looks like a good resource for finding sites that will pay and pay well and quickly....

Best starting point is the Elite sites. 

http://www.ptc-investigation.com

clixsense - at this rate I'll be able to cashout in May 2013!

You'll all probably familiar with various PTC sites and members of a few yourselves. I've never really got into them but for the purposes of research for this blog I thought I'd start giving them a go. First one I'm trying in clixsense as it seems to be highly regarded by people online - this high regard usually comes with a referral link so I'm going to regard most of these recommendations as dubious. Judging by my first week using the site, referral fees might be the only way to make any actual money on this site.

1 week in clicking on the 'high' earners each day (I'm not going to even entertain those that will earn me 0.1 US cents) and my account is at a whopping US$0.36!!! Bare in mind that you need to be on a US$0.01 page for 30 seconds so this accumulation has cost me 18 minutes this week. Note that with Clixsense you must have the page open for that length of time and any deviation means that the timer stops - i.e you can't open another window in your browser or even look at any other program on your computer.

Is this really a good use of time and energy for a grown man? I'd categorically say that it is not. At this rate, I will hit the US$8.00 cashout limit by May 2013!

Surely there are faster ways to earn online? For now, this is one I'd recommend leaving alone unless you are really desperate. The fact that you can't run the page loading in the background limits you as you can't even do anything else online at the same time unlike many other sites.

Thursday 15 November 2012

zapper.co.uk - do they actually accept books?

Zapper.co.uk is like musicmagpie.co.uk but seemingly accept books as well as CDs, DVDs and games. Great! You may think. Finally a chance to get rid of all those old paperbacks on the shelf gathering dust? My advice would be: don't bother.

I tired 15 books ranging in type from paperback novels through to travel to sociology to music books. All except 2 were rejected as they weren't interested in them. Of the 2 that were accepted, they were willing to offer a total of 50p for them.

I also tried a few CDs and in general they would offer less than musicmagpie.co.uk

I gave up after a while as there is a minimum requirement for the value of books, etc... until you can send. This is £10 and at the rate I was going I probably wouldn't have got there.

The site says it accepts 20% of all barcoded books but from my experience and the trial I did, it seems to be alot less.

I'd suggest not wasting your time and energy on this one.

Wednesday 14 November 2012

Swagbucks Overview

Search & Win
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There are a wealth of sites available now that offer rewards for clicking on pages, searching the web, entering contests, purchasing online, watching videos, surveys and other tasks and other ways to earn. Of the many that I have tried, far and away the best, and the least waste of time, is Swagbucks. Within a month of using the site I have genuinely already received 5 x £5 Amazon vouchers and this is through light use and not making a single online purchase.

The set up is straightforward and using the site incredibly simple. You need to give basic personal details to set up an account including an email address. For this I set up a new address to use in anticipation of the huge amounts of spam I would invariably receive. To my surprise, this hasn't actually been too bad and is mostly limited to emails from sites I've signed up to.

The site is fun and enjoyable to use. Other similar sites can be quite bland and usually functional and plain. Not so with Swagbucks - this is lively and entertaining and makes the site fun to use. There is a menu at the top of the screen with dropdown options for how to navigate through the pages. This includes different pages for ways to earn (which I'll come to later), setting options and other menus such as referral choices. On the home page you will find news updates and direct links to some choice new earning activities, often a link to a video to watch. Alongside this is your progress meter for how many points you've earned in a day.

In Swagbucks, you don't earn money but Swagbucks that are points that can be redeemed for prizes that include goods such as video game consoles or vouchers for retailers such as Amazon or even cash through Paypal but for the latter the exchange rate of SB to $ is worse.

Each Swagbuck is worth $0.01 (or £0.0059) based on the exchange rate for Amazon and many other vouchers they have on offer. These come in a minimum quantity of $5 or £5 (849 SB) depending on the territory you are in. Paypal pays slightly less at one Swagbuck being worth £0.0048 and again pay at a minimum of £5.

Racking up points is easy and can quickly be done by the following methods.

Searching

Simply by searching the internet through their site or though their customised toolbar, you can earn Swagbucks. By using the latter, you automatically earn 1sb each day by opening your browser. The search engine is pretty good although not quite as comprehensive as Google in terms of the searching options (e.g can't search by 'shopping') but for simple word searches it works well. I have found that on occasion the search result page won't load and gives an error message. This aside, it works fine.
On average you can earn from about 3 searches per day if you use the engine for genuine searches. I don't think these are necessarily based on specific search words but are more arbitrary. Earnings per search are usually 7-10sb but can on occasion reach into the 20's or even 30… on very special occasions, even higher. There seems no rhyme or reason to it so better not to try and second-guess or tactically search. Genuine searches will earn you bucks.

Watching Videos

This can be done 2 ways: watching TV clips on various subjects from entertainment to comedy to news items, or watching ads. The former isn't that lucrative - you need to watch in their entirety 10 clips to earn 3sb. These clips can range in length from 0:30 to a few minutes. Often they'll have a commercial before them too. It's a slow earner but can be watched in the background whilst doing something else. Be warned though, there is a limit to the number you can watch and any too frequent viewing might alert Swagbucks to become suspicious that you are a robot and your account could be closed.
More lucrative is watching commercials. I have found that there is usually 10-15 per day earning 1-2sb each in most cases, occasionally more. These videos can be found on the home page but also in the special offers section (more on that to follow) so it's worth checking both. Some ads can be as short as 0:20 but others 4 mins plus. Again they need to be watched in their entirety to earn (although sometimes it can credit a little before the end).

Daily Poll and NOSO

These are really easy ways to earn. By giving your opinion in the single question daily poll you can earn 1sb. NOSO just requires you to click through some offers to the end and you'll earn 2sb. An easy no brainer!

Special Offers

This is a section where marketing companies offer various ways of making more Swagbucks. These often involve signing up for a competition or something 'free'. These can earn often 20-30sb each so a good little earner but be warned, in exchange you are giving away your personal details. I have found that I've not been swamped by junk emails, junk mail or calls as much as I would have thought but am still wary. I don't do ones requiring a mobile number but am considering getting a free SIM card and putting it in an old phone and giving that number. I have also set up a specific junk email account, which I think is worthwhile. As yet, I haven't received anything unwanted through the post. It's more the fact that you are giving away personal data that would concern me but if you're happy to do this, then you can earn considerably.

Also in this section are other ways to earn that often include downloading a free bit of software or adding something to your Facebook account. Similar to the above, I have set up a specific Facebook account purely for this purpose. It generally works fine although some require you to have a minimum number of friends for it to work. 
              
Surveys are a big part of the special offers with many available through each company. These again range in length and earning but will discuss surveys more later.

Finally there are purchase offers that work like most other cashback sites although rather than cash you get points you can exchange for prizes.

Surveys

If you like surveys, you'll love Swagbucks as there is a plethora available ranging in earnings and length - the lowest paying start at around 20sb but go to 70sb or occasionally even higher. There is also the Swagbucks daily survey that you get invited to participate in which earns a flat 70sb for each completed.

Surveys I find are a blessing and a curse. When they work and are quick, they're a great earner. The main problem is the number that reject you after you've already answered a number of questions because you don't fit the criteria. I'm eternally suspicious of this and would love to see stats as to whether the answers you give before rejection get used for anything. Occasionally it feels like a scam because you get rejected from so many but if you are willing to persevere, one will eventually accept you. I take issue with it on principle, but occasionally do them and they can earn you some quick bucks!

Games

Swagbucks has a huge amount of games available and by playing them you can also earn nominal bucks. I’ve found this takes a lot of effort for little reward but if you’re bored and like playing games it’s probably worthwhile but you’ll only accumulate a handful.

Daily Goal Meter

Swagbucks likes to reward loyal users and to that end they have introduced the daily meter. This offers you a bonus if you reach a certain goal of swagbucks in a day – the bonus is usually around 10% and the target is often manageable ranging from 40-100+.

Swagcodes

Most days, Swagbucks will publish online somewhere a code that can be redeemed for bucks. This is often through their Twitter or Facebook but there are also sites that publish them too. They usually have a time limit and can be territory restricted but get there in time and they can earn you 4-9sb each time on average.

Referrals

As with all these kinds of sites, you can also earn through referring friends – send them an invite and if they join and participate you can earn equal of their earnings up to 1000 SB.

I have tried and tested many of these sites and this is by and far the best of the bunch for ease of earning and entertainment. As mentioned at the beginning, within the first month I cashed out 5 times with £5 Amazon vouchers each time (bare in mind they limit cash out of the same item to 5 per month). The voucher came through within a week on each occasion and I’ve experienced few issues. On occasion I have submitted a task and it has not registered but I have found these to be few and far between and in the majority Swagbucks get credited within minutes of completing something.

As with all of these things, it will never substitute a full time job but for a little extra and for a bit of fun, it’s definitely worthwhile and one I can highly recommend.

Click below to join...
Search & Win

Sunday 11 November 2012

UK Only - Make Money From Musicmagpie.co.uk

Here's a smart way to make an extra buck or two. All you need is to live in the UK and have a smartphone. You may already be familiar with musicmagpie and you may already have tried to shift a number of CDs, DVD's or games and received 30p for them because they are popular titles? With a little effort though, you can actually make money from the site.

I've found this only really works with CDs and you need to have a bit of music knowledge for it to work... or to save time at the very least. Many charity shops in the UK sell CDs for £1 or sometimes even less. By downloading the musicmagpie app onto your phone you can scan barcodes in shops and see what Magpie would offer you for the title. The trick is to hunt out the things that look obscure. Anything populist isn't going to make anything but I've found small independent releases can sometimes fetch £2+ as can smaller label classical music releases. It's a bit of trial and error but can make you £10's if you invest some time and know what to look for. The most you can make from musicmagpie on 1 x CD is £3.00 but find the right disc and you can triple your money.

Please bare in mind that musicmagpie can take a month for the money to come in. Discs also need to be in good condition with few scratches for them to accept them. Also any artwork needs to be undamaged (and this includes holes or lines through barcodes).

If you find a few shops that reliably stock good CDs then money is there for the taking.

Wednesday 7 November 2012

musicmagpie.co.uk - Any good?

Musicmagpie.co.uk is a website where you can sell any unwanted CD's, DVD's or games. How it works is that you enter on their site the barcode for the CD or DVD and they give you a price for the disc which ranges from roughly £0.30 - £3.00 depending on the disc. Once you have 8 discs you wish to sell to them you can submit your order. Musicmagpie will send you a postage sticker, you package the discs and send them back using the repaid postage. Assuming all is well and they are happy with the condition, they send a cheque in the post for the total amount.

To date, I have 3 orders with musicmagpie and can offer a mixed report on them all. The first thing I will say about the service, is that this is not quick money. The labels take around a week to arrive in my experience if you chose to have them posted and then, because they are through a special shipping system, the package can take forever to reach the destination, and likewise for you to receive the cheque. If you do chose to get sent the postage by email, I have found that 1 in 3 emails seem to go missing and you have to chase them to get it resent.

So, of my 3 items, with each set the postage took a week to arrive and then a further month on average to be processed and for me to receive the cheque which duly came. They also offer a bank transfer or M&S vouchers. The bank transfer is not really any quicker than receiving a cheque and I have no use for M&S vouchers so haven't tried that.

So, would I recommend this service? It depends if you're in a hurry for money and the kind of collection you have? If you are and you want to shift a lot of Westlife, Robbie Williams or Dido CD's, don't bother. You will get measily money for them and it will take at least a month for the cash to come. If you want to unload some more unusual selections, you can often get between £1.50 - £3.00 for them. I sent some of what I would call cheapish jazz compilations and got between £2 - £3 each for them. Some I only paid £1 for. So in this respect, it can be good. The delay in receiving payment is the only down side.

Customer service is usually good and if you send a question you'll get an answer within 24 hours. Discs have to be in good condition and packaging intact before sending. I have heard of others not getting paid for inadequate goods and as far as I'm aware, if they're not happy, they won't send it back either so will be lost for good.

In conclusion, if you're happy to wait for the money then this can be a good service. I'm not sure how regularly things 'go missing' and I am slightly worried for my second package as it's gone very quiet. If anything changes, I will be sure to update this review with words of warning.

Website: musicmagpie.co.uk (UK only)

Gift Hulk Code

Here's a Gift Hulk code to collect 5 HC. Can only be redeemed 2 times by 2 individual users. Once it's gone.... it's gone.

If you want to sign up to Gift hulk and wish to do so under my referral, feel free to use this link: http://www.gifthulk.com/refer/nilo0901

Code: jdmjaefyd

Tuesday 6 November 2012

Topcashback.co.uk - Why Not Get Cashback?

There seem to be hundreds upon hundreds of cash back sites out there at the moment and it is very difficult to know which ones to trust and which ones to avoid. topcashback.co.uk comes recommended by Martin Lewis of moneysavingexpert fame and it is for this reason that I have given it a go. I feel I am in a position to review the site properly as I have received over £200 in payments from them now! So from the off, let me say firstly that this site is certainly legitimate and not a con.

The way these sites work is that you click via them to make online purchases from a number of stores and by doing so, receive a percentage of what you have paid back. The percentage varies depending on the site but with many major online retailers listed there is something for everyone. This is where topcashback.co.uk really succeeds. I have found that many other similar sites don't support retailers that are well known, or for that matter much use. Here however you can get percentages back from such top companies as eBay, lastminute.com, Apple, Virgin... the list goes on. Sometimes it's a percentage and sometimes a fixed amount.

The one frustration is that receiving money is not fast. It can take over a month for an amount that is pending to become payable. This is not the fault of topcashback.co.uk but of the retailer who delays the payment.

Once your payment is in the payable category you can receive it via PayPal, bacs transfer or cheque. I have only ever received payment through PayPal and again this can take quite a few days on top of the time you have already waiting.

The site itself is very easy to navigate with a very simple search engine to search for a 'merchant'. When in your own account, again the layout is very straightforward and simple to navigate with an easy to use toolbar.

I can't comment on customer care as I have never had the need to use it which I suppose in itself is testament to the site.

For the sake of an extra click, if you frequently purchase online, and that can be anything from electronics to insurance policies, I can highly recommend using this site to make a few extra pounds.

Link Here: http://www.topcashback.co.uk/ref/nilo0901

Slicethepie.com - A Wasted Oportunity

Slicethpie in theory is an excellent idea although I still can't see how it is financially maintainable. It's fairly convoluted so I will try to be brief and precise in how it works...

It is a website where new bands can post music they have recorded for amateur music lovers to review and rate. Reviewers can earn money from reviewing provided their reviews are successful. A short written review with constructive criticism and a scoring out of 10 is required to fulfil the criteria. Success is dependent on how accurate your scores are compared to others, your use of the full spectrum of scores (1-10) and the quality (and quantity) of the writing. Tracks are selected at random across all genres and you must listen to a minimum of 60 seconds of the track to review.

Once you've started earning you can withdraw money after you have reached £5.00 payout threshold (into a Paypal account) or you can also invest in a band that you think may be successful. Reviewers have a star rating that increases as their success does. If you are a one star reviewer you receive vouchers per review to invest in artists. Two stars plus you can earn cash (2= 5p, 3= 6p, 4= 7p, 5 = 10p).

From the bands perspective, if they get enough positive reviews they are put forward to the 'showcase' where people can invest in them using vouchers or cash. If you reach an investment of £15,000.00 you get a recording contract.

It's a fascinating idea but in practice, at least from the reviewers point of view, it doesn't quite work as it is incredibly frustrating. I've been a member for a month now so didn't experience the glory days when it was fun and profitable but it appears that they have enforced so many regulations now that make it very difficult.

The first problem is the accuracy, as you are not rating music for it's quality but trying to predict what others will think. Therefore any act that is on the margins or mildly avant-garde will never be successful, even if musically they are very good. This is a shame because the site is populated with alot of fairly bland music that you have to rate highly in anticipation that others will. Fine if it's an X Factor kind of process but it's not billed as one.

The 'spread' system is also incredibly annoying. You must use the spectrum of ratings in order to succeed or you lose stars. This leads to alot of lying. Many times I have voted honestly and inexplicably lost stars despite my high accuracy. This has led me to giving the most tedious and mediocre trite a high score simply because I have to. By nature, alot of the music is not great but palatable so naturally scoring should reflect this and the standouts should be rewarded. This doesn't happen with this system and I think it's harder to separate quality because of it... exactly the opposite of their intentions.

It was a nice idea but too many restrictions have made it a frustrating experience. I'm sure this is due to improper use in it's early days which they had to counter and the measures are understandable but put you off being involved. I have all but stopped altogether now.

pigsback.com - A Waste of Time

Pigsback.com is yet another cash back site and a ptc (paid to click) site that allows you to earn a little extra money by clicking onto other websites through theirs. I was turned onto Pigsback by money saving expert as a possible way of making a little extra money. Now, usually I trust Mr Lewis but in this instance I'm afraid his advice is a little wayward.

The site itself is fairly easy to navigate and use. It's also quite an attractive site... if you like pink and pigs! The tool bar is self explanatory and the user guide very simple to understand.

This said, they do use a rather baffling system for earning on the site. How it works is rather than a cash sum or percentage of revenue as in the case of other such sites, you get pigpoints for clicking through to websites from the pigsback website. This includes purchases, just clicking onto a website or signing up and register to sites, request brochures, enter competitions, etc... basically giving your details away. Tasks can vary from 5 pigpoints through to 100s depending on the scale of what you are doing.

It all sounds fine so far. Where this site is particularly inferior to others is with the payout threshold where the first meaningful payout is a charity donation at 1500 pigpoints then it's 3000 for a £10 Amazon voucher.

This would be all very well but unfortunately opportunities are rare with this site especially with the ptc options. These come about only a few times a week so as you can imagine, reaching the payout threshold could take some time indeed - especially as each click earns you 5 - 15 points each.

Registering to sites is more lucrative but sometimes they 'forget' to give you the points or take forever (6 weeks plus in some cases) to be credited to your account. I wasted a good few weeks on it and still didn't get to 500 points but at least I am 3 Icelandic getaway, 2 tacky clothing retailer and 2 pet plan brochures richer!

I have read that in the past it was a good money spinner but is perhaps now a victim of its own success as the market as be saturated by others doing it better. I would advise steering clear of this one and not wasting your time as it can become very frustrating.

Money Saving Expert

For anyone looking to save money and if you are UK based.... this site should be your first port of call. The site is run by Martin Lewis and offers advice on money management, how to save money and make a little extra, how to do one over banks and credit card companies that try to charge you additional fees, etc...

I both love and hate this website. Most of the time, his advice is generally good.

Credit card recommendations are mostly very shrewd as are account suggestions, insurance and utility offers and all weekly special offers. If you have the time, they work and will save you money. I have got lost in his pages and have mostly found all his advice to be sound and good.

My only slight criticisms would be that sometimes his information is out of date - I don't mean his news letter which is always up-to-date but on the main site. I suppose we can't really criticize as this is apparently a non-profit exercise but it would be good if they updated more regularly. Nothing is glaringly inaccurate it's just small things like possible rewards from sites not being updated when the company changes policy. For example, slicethepie.com, the music review site, Martin still claims you can earn up to 25p per review but this is n longer the case and the maximum is 10p. It's a small quibble, I won't lose sleep over it, but though I'd mention it in case you're reading Martin.

The site can also be a little hard to navigate but only marginally.

Check it out for yourself here: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/