ipoints.co.uk

I know that there are a lot of iPoints reviews however most of them are years old and none seem to take into account the new points system. So here are some of my thoughts on iPoints.

~Overview~
Firstly I am a big fan of loyalty schemes and survey sites; I am a member of quite a number and have a dedicated email account so as not to block my normal one up with the dreaded SPAM. Basically iPoints is a reward scheme which gives ...
...offers; points can then be cashed in to claim almost any reward under the sun! (The same idea as Nectar points but on the net)

~Signing up~
It's very simple really. I have just had a look at the iPoints signing in page and it all is simple as pie. You have to complete a 5 step form; don't panic it's not as scary as it sounds there are all very short forms and it won't take longer than 10 minutes if it even takes that.
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I know that there are a lot of iPoints reviews however most of them are years old and none seem to take into account the new points system. So here are some of my thoughts on iPoints.

~Overview~
Firstly I am a big fan of loyalty schemes and survey sites; I am a member of quite a number and have a dedicated email account so as not to block my normal one up with the dreaded SPAM. Basically iPoints is a reward scheme which gives you points for shopping on the internet and completing various offers; points can then be cashed in to claim almost any reward under the sun! (The same idea as Nectar points but on the net)

~Signing up~
It's very simple really. I have just had a look at the iPoints signing in page and it all is simple as pie. You have to complete a 5 step form; don't panic it's not as scary as it sounds there are all very short forms and it won't take longer than 10 minutes if it even takes that.
The first form takes some basic information such as Name, Email, Address, a password and date of birth. It explains why all of this information is needed; put simply email and password become your login, name and address is so they can send you rewards and your date of birth is to confirm you are over the minimum age of 18. Just for filling in this short form you have earned your first 50 iPoints! Congratulations you can now move on with the form and earn extra points as you go! The next two sections are just some simple questions. I can't say exactly what these are as it was a long time ago that I joined iPoints; but i believe they are the normal geographical questions that you get when you join most sites. Congratulations are in order you have just earned another 150 points giving you a grand total of 200!
You are now almost at the end of the sign-up process you are given the option to refer a friend if you wish but you can opt out of this and move on. The final stage is letting you know that you are now able to redeem your 200 points and claim a reward. I can't say what this reward is but I would personally not get it and keep collecting points to get a reward you really want.
As long as you are over the age of 18 and a UK resident you are ready to start earning points:

~Earning Points~
This all depends on the amount of shopping that you do on the internet, the amount of emails you don't mind receiving and also the odd thing through the post.

• Free Points*
  I would first suggest that you check out the 'Quick Points' section. This is under the 'Earning Points' tab and is basically all of the free iPoints you can earn. Apparently you can earn 8000 free points but that is only if you sign up to EVERY offer on the page. Below I will give you an example of the offers you have to complete to get free points.
• Open a HSBC account and earn 2000 points
• Request a brochure and earn 150 points
• Enter competitions and earn between 20 and 160 points
• Free trials earn between 500 and 1000 points
• Earn up to 4600 points when taking out a loan
  The free iPoints section can be anything and everything, depending on iPoints current partners. This page changes regularly as offers are added and some removed I would recommend checking here regularly to see if there are any more ways for you to collect points.
  WARNING: You can also earn 'free' points when you gamble on the internet however you have to wager anywhere in between £10 and £50 to earn this. Please DON'T do this just to earn iPoints; the iPoints you are given may be large but only do this through iPoints if you were going to do it anyway. You shouldn't have to spend money to get things free. I do not agree with the amount of gambling sites iPoints are partners with as I think this could cause people to be tempted to start gambling.

*Earned Points*
This is basically cash-back given in the form of points when you spend money on certain sites on the internet. I do a lot of shopping on the internet as its quick and easy and I don't have to get all caught up in crowds and pushed around which I hate! I would recommend looking through the list of sites that you can receive iPoints for shopping with them but don't pay extra prices just to receive points. The good news is there are some big name shopping sites who partner with iPoints such as:
*Amazon.co.uk: 5 points per £1 spent
*Ann Summers: 10 points per £1 spent
*Sendit.com: 10 points per £1 spent
*WH Smiths: 7 points per £1 spent
*and literally 100's more.
If you were going to buy something from a site anyway why not claim the points!
It is also worth a note to check out the 'New Partners' (found under the earning points tab) as this lets you know the new ways for you to earn iPoints.

~Top Earning Points Tips~
1) Visit the site regularly as new offers appear all of the time
2) Click the links received in emails as these earn you a few extra points for the 2 seconds it takes for an internet page to load. (Note: you don't have to do anything on the page to receive points you just need to have clicked through form your emails!) I only receive about 1 maybe 2 a week emails if that so don't worry about these spamming up your inbox.
3) Don't spend extra just to receive points it's not worth it.
4) Don't get drawn into the gambling empire just to earn points!
5) Finally complete the iPoints quick polls as these give you 5 points for every one; which all add up in the end!

~Rewards~
Now here is for the interesting bits what can you spend your well earned points on? Now that really is a question the answer being; pretty much anything you can think off!
Personally I have a bit of a TV Box set addiction which I fuel with all of the internet survey and reward schemes that I am a member of. Recently I ordered my first reward from iPoints I spent 3578 of my hard earned points on the Charmed Season 1 Box set. Claiming your rewards is very simple you go to the 'Spend iPoints' part of the site, search for what you want. If you have enough iPoints it will give you the option to claim your reward where all you have to do is login again (a security measure) confirm your address and wait! I found that the points were taken instantly from my account (which was a little scary!) But I was very pleasantly surprised when exactly a week later my box set was plopping onto my doormat! Exactly the same as if I had ordered it off the Sendit.com site; and to top it off I even got the iPoints I would have got had I brought the item! A nice added bonus I thought.
Obviously not everyone will be ordering the same as me so here are a few examples of what else your iPoints can buy:
* 650 points gives you a free movie rental from Blockbuster.
* 80,000 points will buy you a Playstation 3
* 2590 points will get you a Now That's What I Call Music CD.
* You can even donate things to charity using your iPoints. The possibilities really are endless.

~Negatives~
So far I have had very good experiences with iPoints. I have been a member since January 2007 but I only started doing iPoints properly in June 2007. In this time I have collected enough free points to claim my first DVD box set (mentioned above) and when the rest of my earned points come through I will have enough to redeem against a second; all without spending a penny.
One annoying thing I do find about the site is the length of time it takes for points to be credited to my account. This can be anything from a couple of weeks to 2/3 months; which is an unnecessarily long wait in my opinion. I did however email iPoints about missing points and I got an email back within a few hours explaining that the site I was waiting for points from had yet to update iPoints with last month's users. I have also emailed them a general enquiry but I am still waiting to hear back about that. Reading around on the internet it seems that the general opinion is that there customer service is appalling. I however am one of those people who would keep bugging them till I get an answer, if I ever have to do that I will let you know!

~Overall~
I would recommend iPoints to anyone, it's easy and it's lovely getting something for nothing!
I hope everyone enjoyed reading and please if someone joins iPoints because of my review I would love it if you could send me a message first and I will refer you.
Thanks. Guys. 

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