Surveys for Gift Cards

How you can get gift cards for taking surveys

Many online survey panels offer gift cards in exchange for participating in online surveys. In fact, most offer compensation to their participating members in the form of physical gift cards or e-vouchers. This is often the preferred method of payment, as offering cash rewards can be particularly tricky when a survey panel has an international audience and has to deal with things such as currency conversion.

How it works

Just like with regular online surveys, if you're interested in receiving gift cards, it's best to sign up with survey panels who offer this specific reward to their members. Look for panels who offer gift cards for retailers that you actually shop at; there's no use in getting gift cards to places you never frequent, only to be faced with the additional task of somehow selling it.

Most survey websites offer gift vouchers to the usual suspects: Amazon, Wal-mart, Starbucks, iTunes, and Home Depot. Amazon, especially is popular because of its absolutely enormous product selection. They've come a long way from their original roots as an online bookstore, by now offering millions and millions of different products, making them the perfect retailer to offer gift certificates to, if you're running an online survey panel. After all, everyone can find something they want, like, or need on Amazon!

Tango cards - why they're attractive

Tango cards deserve their own explanation, as many survey panels also offer this as a rewards option. Tango Cards are very unique in that they are essentially many different cards in one. Tango Cards has partnered with dozens of retailers (including Amazon, Starbucks, Best Buy, Facebook, GameStop, iTunes, Macy’s, Nordstrom, Petco, Target, Rixty) which you can use your Tango Card towards.

It works like this: request a Tango Card from a survey panel, go to Tango Card's website, and choose which retailer e-voucher you'd like to exchange your Tango Card. Once you've made your selection, Tango Card will e-mail you an e-voucher for the retailer you've selected. This is all to say that if a survey panel offers Tango Cards and nothing else, don't be disappointed; the reality is that they are actually giving you the choice between a few dozen gift card retailers.

E-vouchers vs physical gift cards

Physical gift cards are self-explanatory; some survey panels actually mail out physical gift cards to their members when they've requested a gift card. The main downside of this is the processing times involved. The survey panel has to have someone get the gift card, ensure that it's for the right amount, and actually mail the gift card to the member of their survey panel. The member meanwhile, has to wait for the survey panel to process their request, and then has to wait on the postal service to get the card to them. Then, and only then, when they've set aside time to visit the store that the gift card is for, can they spend the balance of the card.

This is somewhat of an antiquated way of administering gift cards, and isn't nearly as common any more. Although there are still survey panels who mail out physical gift cards, this way of doing things is slowly going the way of the dinosaur. Its 21st century replacement? E-gift certificates.

E-gift certificates, or e-vouchers, are unique codes that are e-mailed to the recipient who can then simply input their unique code on a retailer's website in order to redeem the card. It's easy, fast, and is completely environmentally friendly! The code your receive is usually quite long (at least a dozen characters) and is typically a combination of numbers and letters. By copying and pasting the code (this is the fastest way to redeem it) into the "gift certificate" box in the shopping card checkout of a retailer, your purchase price will have the gift card amount subtracted.

Stacking gift cards

Especially to retailers such as Amazon, you can almost always "stack" e-vouchers. This means that if you have more than one e-voucher to the same retailer, you can input the different codes and have a single purchase fully or partially paid for by multiple gift vouchers.

With Amazon, you can even "store" your e-voucher codes and automatically apply them to your account, even before you're ready to make a purchase. Simply copy and paste the codes into your Amazon account under "apply gift cards" and your credits will be there waiting for you the next time you make a purchase. The best part is, these codes never expire, so you don't have to worry about feeling pressured to spend your balance.

Gifting cards

Whether in physical form or as an e-voucher, consider gifting the gift cards you've made taking online surveys to friends and family for Christmas, birthdays, and other occasions. Many survey takers do this, as it's a handy way to give out gifts without costing you anything out of pocket.