beenz.com

Beenz were one of the most successful of the online rewards schemes. But notice I'm talking about them in the past tense.

Yes, Beenz were a great idea. Started in the UK, this innovative scheme, which rewarded members for visiting websites, shopping, recommending friends, playing games and doing surveys, soon spread all over the world. With websites in the USA, UK, France, Japan and Australia, Beenz really were the thing to collect. Beenz.com gave 100 beenz for opening an account and a further 50 beenz for each friend you recommended. With alliances with a whole host of different companies, members could sometimes get 500 beenz just for registering at a website. And 25-100 beenz for visiting some sites every day or every week or every month. You could exchange beenz for at various sites which accepted this new form of 'internet currency', use them to buy high street or online gift vouchers, donate them to charity, convert them to other currencies such as flooz or arenas, use them to get discounts on books or CDs, use them to buy domain names, gamble them at betting or gaming sites. And as fast as you spent them there were more to collect. If you didn't know where to go there were a whole host of sites that provided links to sites offering Beenz. It was almost too good to be true.

And it was. Many sites have now stopped giving out Beenz for vsiting. Many more have stopped accepting them. In the UK, the average daily collection is now just 10 beenz. Worth about 3p. With a further 10 Beenz available at another site every week. Beenz are still available at some shopping sites, but with an average spend of £10 netting you just 100 Beenz, it's hardly worth bothering anymore. A £10.00 High Street voucher costs about 3,500 Beenz.

So what went wrong? First of all, the Venture Capital that started it all ran out. And with sites all over the internet going bust when the internet revolution failed to materialise, it was only a matter of time. Many of the sites which offered Beenz soon found that customers with multiple accounts turned up for the Beenz, but seldom stuck around to shop or use the site. And many details that were given at registration were duplicated or false. If you don't beleive me, look at all the companies like Alladvantage who used to offer 'pay to surf' programmes. Many of these companies no longher exist or pay rates a fraction of what they did just a few months ago. It's the same with Beenz.

If you are thinking of joining Beenz.com then don't bother. The rich pickings have already been had, the best days are over. And if you have an account already stuffed full of Beenz, my best advice would be to cash out now, whilst you still have an account.Beenz.com has already closed sites all over the world and rumours are that only the US and UK sites will remain long term. And the number of online retailers accepting Beenz is declining. Registrars Asia, who used to sell domain names for Beenz, recently announced that they can no longer accept Beenz anymore.

There are lots of other sites offering online rewards. None of them will ever be exactly like Beenz, but some are suprisingly good value. But the glory days are over. Cash in your Beenz whilst you can.