Smartphones
are great but they are also very expensive to own. Fortunately there is
a growing number of ways to make extra money with your smartphone. I
have been downloading and testing apps that pay you
for close to two years and I would like to share some of the best ways
to make extra cash with your Android. These apps probably won't make you
rich but they will help offset the high costs of your phone and add
some extra spending money into your pocket each month if you use them
Checkpoints
Get Paid To Check In And Scan Items
I
really enjoy using this app to get paid for going on scavenger hunts at
local stores, it is not the only a way to make extra money with your
Android but it is one of the most fun. Checkpoints is the best paying
app, that I have used, that is currently available for Android. With
Checkpoints you are paid to check in to stores and scan products. You
earn between 10 and 50 points for each scan and you get at least 1 coin.
Each coin is worth a chance to spin the slots or play a scratcher. The
games pay 20, 50, 5,000 or 150,000 points if you win.Update - As of January 29th, 2013, I have been paid by Checkpoints a total of 35 times. My total earnings to date are $425.00 in gift cards.
Prizes start at 300 points which will get you a $1.00 gift card. Points can be redeemed for different prizes such as: Amazon Gift Cards, Subway Gift Cards, Sky Miles, iTunes Gift Cards, iPads, or laptops. You are also given the option to donate your points to a charity of you choice. I personally have only ever ordered Amazon and iTunes gift cards, at this point I have earned $210.00 using Checkpoints in my first year. Make sure you read, understand, and follow the terms and conditions. If you don't they can close your account and you can lose your balance. Usually the way people lose their accounts is by misrepresenting the referral program and by posting their affiliate links in the iTunes reviews.
When you cash out you are usually paid within a day, sometimes they have to review your account and that can take up to a week. There is a decent referral program, currently it pays the referrer 5 coins and the referral 300 points at sign up. Recently Checkpoints did a major upgrade to offer new ways to earn points anywhere. You can now scan certain items at home, download apps, and watch very short videos about apps to earn.
Here is the link to download Checkpoints from the Google Play Store for free on Android: Checkpoints
My code is sodaguy I really appreciate anyone using it.
Shopkick
Get Paid To Check In To Stores And Scan Products
Shopkick
is an app that is similar to Checkpoints. It pays you to check into
stores with your Android, iPhone, or iPod Touch. You will also be paid
to scan selected items and shop at certain retailers. I initially left
Shopkick out of this lens since I only made $15.00 in gift cards for the
first year that I used it. They have added paid check ins nationwide
this year and in the last month they rolled out Shopkick 3.0. This App
is now a great earning opportunity. After being paid 11 times my total
earnings with Shopkick are currently $120 in iTunes gift cards.Update - As of January 19th, 2013, I have been paid by Shopkick a total of 16 times. My total earnings to date are $170 in iTunes gift cards.
With Shopkick you earn virtual points called Kicks that you can redeem for physical items, gift cards, or even charitable donations. The value of most gift cards to places like Starbucks, Target, Best Buy, and Toys R Us, or Old Navy is 2,500 Kicks for a$10.00 gift card but they offer most cards in different denominations above $10.00. There are other rewards that can cost much more or less depending on the reward.
When you open the Shopkick you will see a list of all the available kicks in your area. The walk ins will vary significantly depending on the store and whether there is a bonus available. The best walk ins can be found at Shopkick's main sponsors which include: Target, Best Buy, Macy's, American Eagle, Old Navy, and Aerie. They have introduced something called Look Books in Shopkick 3.0 where you can earn a larger walk in that is generally between 85-125 Kicks each but you need to look through the sales and coupons inside the app for the store you will be walking into. Sometimes you can find small 1 to 3 Kick bonuses inside the Look Books. After you get a walk in the app will let you know how many days until you are eligible for another walk in bonus.
After you walk in to some stores including Target, Best Buy or Macy's, you will sometimes be able to scan certain products for bonus kicks which will vary between 10 kicks to100 and sometimes even more per item. You can only do a certain number of scans on each item in a 30day period, if you are past the limit the app will tell you when you try to scan the item again. There are bonus sets for some scans will pay you between 50 and 100 kicks to complete the scan mission. Unlike Checkpoints, Shopkick is very particular about item scans so if you do not scan the exact item, instead of the brand, you will not get credit for the scan.
Shopkick puts on several different events at retail chains throughout the year, this is when you can earn the most kicks. The biggest retail event is Black Friday and they like to pretend it is Black Friday several times throughout the year. Sometimes retailers will have big Shopkick events to drive extra customers to their sales. I got a huge amount of Kicks at a week long Macy's event earlier this year when they had 200 Kick check ins and 12 different items at 100 kicks per scan.
The Shopkick referral program with Shopkick 3.0 is now very generous. The amount you get per referral is a match of their earnings for the first month up to 2,500 Kicks and up to 100 referrals. Sometimes Shopkick provides gifts that a referrer can send to referrals, I send them whenever I get the chance.
They require you to give them the phone number for the device you will install Shopkick on for verification purposes. I have used Shopkick for two years and I have never received a call or text message from them.
Here is my Referral Link, I appreciate anyone using it. http://get.shopkick.com/neptune1499
Here is a Non-Referral Link if you would prefer: http://shopkick.com
Swagbucks
Get Paid To Search
Swagbucks is a bit of an anomaly since
it is the only program I have used that has an official Android App but
no official iPhone App. There are actually 2 official Android Apps, one
is for searching and one is for watching videos through SBTV. Swagbucks
pays you points for doing many different activities that include:
searching, watching videos, playing games, voting in polls, and making
purchases. On July 25, 2012 Swagbucks announced the addition of a mobile
optimized site.
Update January 5th, 2013 - I have been paid a total of 81 times by Swagbucks. My total earnings are $474.00 in gift cards and PayPal Cash.
I can't stress enough how important it is to pay attention to the daily goal in Swagbucks. Once I started to do this a couple of months ago my daily earnings went from about 20-25 dollars a month to at least 50 dollars or more per month. It is a really simple change that can increase your earnings substantially.
With Swagbucks search, most wins are between 6-12 SB but I have gotten as much as 50 at a time. When you watch SBTV you earn 3 swagbucks for every 10 videos you watch with a maximum of 75 SB per day. Points are redeemable for things like Physical prizes, PayPal cash, and gift cards.The $5 Amazon Gift Cards cost 450 SB, where the $5 PayPal cards cost 700 Swagbucks. The Amazon cards go up in price for larger denominations and the Paypal price goes down, the other gift cards and physical products vary in prices.
Swagbucks gets their search results from Google but tend to be a little different since they sell their own ads. The referral program pays you matching SBs for every search win your referral makes with a maximum of 1000 SB. This means that after your referral gets 1000 SB you don't get paid from them anymore. If they don't reach 1000 you get a matching amount for whatever they do make.
I have been using Swagbucks now for about a year, my total earnings to date are 18,995 Swagbucks and I have 51 referrals. The only downside to the referrals is that more than 50% have not ever had a search win. My earned swagbucks are the equivalent of $211 worth of $5 amazon gift cards, the last time I checked there was a limit of 5 in a month. I really like using Swagbucks and I have found it to be an extremely fun and easy way to make a little extra cash.
My referral link is http://Swagbucks.com and I would really appreciate anyone using it.
Here is the link for the free Swagbucks search widget for Android: Swagbucks Search
Here is the link for the free SBTV app for Android: Swagbucks TV
Update January 5th, 2013 - I have been paid a total of 81 times by Swagbucks. My total earnings are $474.00 in gift cards and PayPal Cash.
I can't stress enough how important it is to pay attention to the daily goal in Swagbucks. Once I started to do this a couple of months ago my daily earnings went from about 20-25 dollars a month to at least 50 dollars or more per month. It is a really simple change that can increase your earnings substantially.
With Swagbucks search, most wins are between 6-12 SB but I have gotten as much as 50 at a time. When you watch SBTV you earn 3 swagbucks for every 10 videos you watch with a maximum of 75 SB per day. Points are redeemable for things like Physical prizes, PayPal cash, and gift cards.The $5 Amazon Gift Cards cost 450 SB, where the $5 PayPal cards cost 700 Swagbucks. The Amazon cards go up in price for larger denominations and the Paypal price goes down, the other gift cards and physical products vary in prices.
Swagbucks gets their search results from Google but tend to be a little different since they sell their own ads. The referral program pays you matching SBs for every search win your referral makes with a maximum of 1000 SB. This means that after your referral gets 1000 SB you don't get paid from them anymore. If they don't reach 1000 you get a matching amount for whatever they do make.
I have been using Swagbucks now for about a year, my total earnings to date are 18,995 Swagbucks and I have 51 referrals. The only downside to the referrals is that more than 50% have not ever had a search win. My earned swagbucks are the equivalent of $211 worth of $5 amazon gift cards, the last time I checked there was a limit of 5 in a month. I really like using Swagbucks and I have found it to be an extremely fun and easy way to make a little extra cash.
My referral link is http://Swagbucks.com and I would really appreciate anyone using it.
Here is the link for the free Swagbucks search widget for Android: Swagbucks Search
Here is the link for the free SBTV app for Android: Swagbucks TV
JunoWallet
Get Paid To Download Apps
JunoWallet
is an app for Android and Windows Phone 7. It pays you to do different
tasks like watch videos and download other apps. There is a different
version called BambooWallet that is available for IOS. With JunoWallet
you are paid in JunoCredits that are redeemable for gift cards
including, but not limited to: Google Play, Starbucks, iTunes, Amazon,
and Xbox. Each Junopoint is worth .01 and the lowest priced gift card is
$10.00 but the amounts can vary depending on which one you pick. I have
been using this app for about 7 months and I have made a total of $40
in iTunes and Google Play gift cards.Update December 31st, 2012 - I have been paid a total of 5 times by JunoWallet. My total earnings are $50.00 in iTunes and Google Play gift cards.
With the JunoWallet App there are several different offer walls that you can complete offers on. Under rewards per engagement there are apps you can download for 16 Juno credits each. At the time of this writing there were offers from Everbadge, SponsorPay, W3i, Aarki, Radium One under the rewards per task tab. There is a rewards per video tab that gives you several videos to watch each day. Most videos are about other apps and pay 1 JunoCredit each. The Rewards Per Fan tab has offers that pay you to like pages on Facebook.
JunoWallet has a generous, but somewhat confusing, referral program that pays the referral 25 JunoCredits which is .25 and pays the referrer for 3 levels. The referrer gets 50 credits for the initial referral which is level1, and then 25 credits each time the referral gets referrals which become 2, and 50 credits for that referral's referrals which are level 3. Referral bonuses are locked until the referral makes a qualified install, meaning they need to download an app, and also make at least $1.00. The $1.00 minimum does not include rewards per fan or rewards per referral.
Please use my referral code SA65925 when you sign up that way we can both get extra points. If you use my code, I will send you a welcome message from within the app, sometimes it takes up to a couple of weeks. If you have any questions or need help please reply to my message and I will do what I can to help.
Here is the free download link for Junowallet on Android in the Google Play store.
Appredeem and Apptrailers
Get Paid To Download Apps and watch short videos
AppRedeem
is apps for Android that pay you to download apps and rate them on
their site. Apptrailers is a companion app that you use with the same
account to watch short videos about apps. Appredeem usually pays a
little more on iPhone but is a still a worthwhile opportunity for
Android. I have been using Appredeem and AppTrailers for about 9 months
and I have been paid 17 times for a total of $113.77 in PayPal cash.
$10.83 of my total was a duplicate payment that Appredeem support told
me to keep.Update - As of January 4th, 2013, I have been paid a total of 22 times by AppRedeem . My total earnings to date are $219.47 in PayPal cash.
Although I do recommend using these apps for downloading free apps and watching videos, I tried purchasing a paid app and I was not credited for rating it. I contacted support about it a couple of times but I did not receive a reply. I suggest only downloading free offers or apps unless you plan to make that particular purchase anyway.
With Appredeem you are paid points.1000 points is equal to a dollar that you can redeem for either in PayPal cash or gift cards. All you need to do is download free or paid apps and you will usually receive between 90 to 200+ points each in AppRedeem. Offers have a wide range of point values and videos on AppTrailers are usually about 5 points each but the gold ones can pay 10 points or more.
There is a Very good referral program that currently earns the referrer 250 points, the referral also gets bonus points when they enter the bonus code.The amount the referral earns changes sometimes but as of right now I think it is 90. Sometimes there are bonus points for the referrer, I have seen it as high as 2000 points per iPhone referral at times. I appreciate anyone using my bonus code sodaguy so we can both get some extra points.
Update December 20th, 2012 - I got a message from Appredeem today saying that the referral program has been discontinued. This is likely because of widespread abuse by people taking advantage this generous program by posting referral codes in places that they don't belong. This spam was being put all over the place and usually included lies about the income potential of Appredeem. I personally have been spammed on my lenses and websites by many of these individuals. This is unfortunate for legitimate users but it is probably the only way this problem could be addressed.
These are the links to download Appredeem and Apptrailers for Android for free in the Google Play Store.
Warning: Do not ever post your AppRedeem referral code in any app store. Doing this will get you banned and you will forfeit all unpaid earnings.
Viggle
An App That Pays You To Watch TV
The
official Viggle app for Android has arrived! Viggle had previously been
available only for IOS since it launched in January of 2012. Since the
original launch of Viggle, I have been paid a total of 25 times for
total lifetime earnings of $235 worth of Amazon and iTunes gift cards,
just for watching a little TV.Update October, 2012 - Since I wrote this review of Viggle the earnings potential has been reduced substantially. The amount you get for activities has been reduced and the amount you pay for gift cards has increased. I still believe this is a worthwhile opportunity, it is just a much smaller opportunity than it used to be.
Update - as of October 10th, 2012 - I have been paid a total of 30 times by Viggle for a total of $285 worth of Amazon and iTunes gift cards.
With Viggle, you get paid points that can be redeemed for different prizes. All you need to do to get points is check in to your favorite TV shows while you are watching them, watch in app commercials, and play games. To get paid for watching TV all you have to do is open up the app and check in while it is on. Viggle actually recognizes what show and channel you are watching. There is a limit of 12 hours of paid check ins per day, currently they are paying about 60 points per hour for watching TV. When you watch the in app commercials they pay anywhere from 5-125 points per commercial. Recently they updated the system so you don't see the commercials until you have checked into a show that day.
Viggle Live is a trivia game that Viggle does during shows they really want you to watch and during major events like the Super Bowl. During Viggle live events they not only have you answer trivia questions, but also make predictions,and vote in polls during the show. I was a really big sports fan when I was a kid, at some point I grew out of sports. Now that I have Viggle live I enjoy watching games much more because it gives me the fun of gambling without the potential to lose any money. If you play Viggle live during the major events the correct answers usually pay between 100-300 points. I have seen predictions pay up to 5000 points for predicting the Daytona 500 winner. For incorrect answers you usually still get 5-15 points each, just for playing.
There are always a fair amount of shows that pay bonus points that you get on top of the regular 60 points an hour for checking in. The Bonus points per show frequently change but they tend to be between 100-400 extra points per check in. In order to recieve bonus points for a show you must be checked in for at least 10 minutes, if you check in to a show that is offering bonus points during the last 5 minutes it is a Violation of the TOS and Viggle can terminate your account. It is best to try to do all check ins at the beginning of a show.
Viggle does have a referral program that pays 200 points for each active referral. You get paid the bonus after your referral makes their first check in.
It is very important to understand that the selection of prizes available and the cost of those prizes can change at anytime. Viggle says they restock prizes everyday and they have not quite figured out exactly what everything will be consistently. The first week Viggle went live there was a Viggle Deal on Amazon $5 gift cards, they cost only 4000 points each. As of this writing the featured prizes have changed many times and there are no Viggle Deals right now.
Viggle points can be exchanged for prizes at the rate of about 9000 points for a $5 gift card if the prize is not on sale. Amazon Gift Cards appear very sporadically and tend to sell out very quickly.There are a large amount of other gift card prizes available that can include but not be limited to: Best Buy, Lowes, Old Navy, Hulu Plus, Starbucks, Spotify, Hot Topic, Cvs, Chilis, Facebook Credits, Barnes and Noble and iTunes. Sometimes there are also some Physical products like a MacBook Air for 3,750,000 points. Even a Royal Carribean Cruise for 4,000,000 points. If you prefer to donate your earnings, there is an option to donate either to the National Breast Cancer Foundation or the Boys and Girls club. Viggle prizes and availability can change at any time.
Viggle has instituted a maximum amount of $550 in earnings per person in a calender year. Also, there is a 12,000 point per day maximum cap on earnings on days where there is no major Viggle Live event.
Please don't try to cheat or hack Viggle, they have provided us with such an amazing and generous opportunity to earn a large amount of prizes for doing almost nothing, if you cheat them it will only result in lowered earning potential for everyone.
Here is the link to download Viggle for free in the Android store: Viggle
Cash4Books
Get Paid For Used Books And Games
Turn used books into cash with
Cash4Books and your Android. The way you earn money with this app is to
find used books that are being sold, then you scan the barcodes of a
book to check their database and if the price is lower to buy the book
than they pay you for it, you can make money by buying the book and
selling it to them. Some good places to find used books are garage
sales, flea markets, and used book stores.
Within days after they receive the books from you, they will pay you either by PayPal or check. The books they buy must have been published within the last 5 years and meet the quality criteria. Of course the prices you get will vary by market conditions.They cover the shipping of the books your sell them. I have not personally used this app but I have done a few scans on books around my house and they seem to have a very extensive database. There is a referral program that pays $5 for every new referral once they sell a book.
Here is the link for the free Cash4Books Android app in the Google Play Store: Cash4Books
Within days after they receive the books from you, they will pay you either by PayPal or check. The books they buy must have been published within the last 5 years and meet the quality criteria. Of course the prices you get will vary by market conditions.They cover the shipping of the books your sell them. I have not personally used this app but I have done a few scans on books around my house and they seem to have a very extensive database. There is a referral program that pays $5 for every new referral once they sell a book.
Here is the link for the free Cash4Books Android app in the Google Play Store: Cash4Books
We Reward/Staree
Get Paid To Check In
WeReward from Izea is an app that pays you for doing various things on your Android. You earn points by downloading apps, checking into stores, taking pictures, and answering profile questions. Each point you earn is worth .01 and the activities have different payment levelsUpdate - As of January, 2013 - I have only been paid by WeReward 1 time by and that was over a year ago. WeReward has been replaced with Staree and my pending balance was cleared due to inactivity. I do not recommend these apps due to really slow earnings and questionable business practices.
At this point I have 17 referrals and the total I have cashed out is $15.05, I still have a $3.91 pending balance. I personally prefer to get paid for downloading and trying apps instead of me paying for them. The largest single amount I have received so far was $10 for signing up to Nielson Digital Voice .
They also have a nice referral program that pays 10% of your referrals earnings. The minimum to cash out is $10.00 and it is paid directly to Paypal.
Here is the link to download Staree for free on Android: Staree
