The Offer
Scan a Swagbucks QR code at Best Buy stores checkout and earn the following:
- 500 Swagbucks
- 1% or 2% back in Swagbucks
On the page linked above it shows 1x Swagbucks, but on the next page click-through it shows 2x. I’m not sure which is accurate.
The Fine Print
Here’s the fine print mentioned on the regular online portal earnings which might apply for in-store earnings too:
-
The following purchases are not eligible for SB: Apple-branded products (Apple Watch, Laptops, Tablets, Desktops, iPhones, etc), Mobile devices, Best Buy Business orders, Bestbuy.ca orders, gift cards, warranties, transactions on 3rd Party Websites, online photo center sales, digital downloads, Geek Squad Services, phone activations, long-distance and internet service sales and Reward Zone Purchases. Items eligible for SB are subject to change without notice.
Our Verdict
I’d guess the 500 Swagbucks can only be earned once while the 1% back can be earned on multiple purchases. Ebates also offers 1% back for Best Buy in-store purchases. Though it doesn’t show up in the full list of Ebates In-Store cash back, it shows up under Best Buy.
A lot of people will be doing $400+ in Best Buy in-store purchases due to the Chase Freedom offer there, and with this Swagbucks offer you’ll earn $9 extra on the $400 purchase ($5 + 1%).
You presumably won’t be able to use both Ebates and Swagbucks. You also can’t stack Ebates/Swabucks along with Shopkick as per the comments, but it will stack with Best Buy Rewards. Be sure to scan these rewards QR codes before the Chase Pay QR code since once the payment completes it can’t be added on.
There is a gift card exclusion for both Swagbucks and Ebates: Ebates excludes Best Buy gift cards indicating that third-party gift cards do earn while Swagbucks has a more general ‘gift cards’ exclusion mentioned above. In practice, both will likely work the same way. Learn more about buying gift cards at Best Buy in the post Everything you ever wanted to know about Buying Gift Cards at Best Buy.
If you’re new to Swagbucks then please read our review. You can also get a bonus of up to $13 by using a referral link.
Hat tip to reader Alex
you can stack the expense rewards app. it’s another 5 cents… but its another 5 cents for free
I can confirm that this worked for GIFT CARDS for me. I was fully expecting it to not work, but figured I may as well have them scan it anyway. I purchased $50 worth of Disney gift cards using Best Buy gift cards (earned from Swagbucks ironically) on Friday and Swagbucks posted yesterday.
Did you get 2 Swagbucks per dollar spent or was it just 1 Swagbuck?
I got email from swagbucks about my cash back, I bought $900 shell gift cards with chase pay, and I got 1,800 pts .
Thanks for the info!
Hmm, so it seems the 2% works, but not the 500 bonus.
The 1,800 pts are pending, and the 500 SB posted today.
Awesome. Thanks for the follow up.
Did you get email from Swagbucks for the purchase right away ? The cashier scanned the QR code after he scanned the GC, I still haven’t received email after 3 hours..
I think it will take 24-48 hours .
Can I know when I should ask the cashier to scan the QR code? Should it be after I enter my email address before scanning the giftcard I am going to purchase?
I will also need to redeem my bestbuy gift rewards. Please advise the sequence of the scanning.
Thanks.
Sigh… Swagbucks. Seem to always email me “I noticed you visited store x but didn’t make a purchase…” but whenever I actually visit store y to claim one of their offers they can’t ever get it straight that I even clicked there. I would recommend ebates just because of what I consider shady business practices.
No hat-tip and no allowing my referral after I posted this info on the other thread?
As I mentioned there, I’m pretty sure you only get the 500 bonus swagbucks if your purchase is from items within the weekly circular and over $50 (I have some evidence of this from online purchases using their portal, which has the same terms). You only get the 2% back if your purchase is over $50 and isn’t on the exclusions list (ymmv on third party gcs etc, haven’t tried it). You CAN get multiple 500 bonuses on separate purchases (of items in the circular). The offers don’t stack, meaning if you get 500 SB, you won’t get the extra 2% (at least from what I’ve experienced). Not sure about shopkicks but I’d guess it would work. Would prob do the swagbucks QR last, since those are more valuable. Don’t forget to free walk-in Kicks on the shopkick app just for walking in the building.
Sorry about that, I’ll add the hat tip. (It was an active discussion there so I forgot it started with you.)
I don’t see a referral there, I assume Will pulled it out. We ask readers to leave referrals to dedicated threads, else the comments become flooded and hard to navigate.
Hmm, I don’t read the ad that way since it states: “Earn an additional 500 SB when you spend $50 or more on the Weekly Ad or In-Store.” Anyone else have experience with this?
It states clearly “1x + 500”, I don’t see any other way of reading that.
Have you ever used it in-store? I’m reading these like two separate offers: 500 SB for $50+ weekly ad purchase online or 500 Sb for in-store purchase which also comes with 1-2% SB.
No problem. Yeah, Will pulled it last night I think, which is fine. You guys have saved me a ton of money. I believe (not 100% sure) the wording there is mentioning the two separate offers, which they indicate at the end with “Offers cannot be stacked” (haha they even use churner vernacular). The one offer is for 2% back if you spend over $50 in store and the other is 500 SB for a $50 purchase of circular items (both require the QR code, obviously). My understanding is that if you spend under $50, you only get 1% back in SB. Spending $50 of non-circular items is what would yield 2% back; $50 of circular items is flat 500 SB.
The shopkick QR code will not stack with other offers like either the 1% or 2% from Swagbucks or the 1% from ebates. I once tried scanning the QR codes for both ebates and shopkick. Looks like the system did take both and the response from the person at the register was, you can’t stack both ebates and shopkick. So only one offer can be used.
Thanks RB, I’ll update
Yeah I removed the link, in cases like this I’d actually link to leave it but the problem is then everybody starts spamming their links and it becomes a nightmare. It’s much easier to just moderate a no link policy, unless it’s a referral specific thread. Sorry about the lack of hat tip