SR FAQ - Updated 3/26/08 Outdated. will work on a revision

Hello guys! I'm working on a FAQ thread. It is a work in progress. Please pm me with anything you think should be added as multiple posts by other users will mess up the general layout I have going and there is a limit on how much I can put in each post. Thanks!!! All input is appreciated.

I will organize by category later as I know this is messy.

If I do get a new email for all the spam, do I have to switch from the email address I currently have listed with SR to the new one? Is that how it is tracked here through the email address?

Nope offers are tracked by user id. Go ahead and open up a new email account and start doing offers with it. If you are OCD like I can be you can change your SR email at any time to match the email you are currently using but you do not have to do that.

I usually do all the offers in the Fast Crediting category. Today I went into the Free Stuff category and saw several that I thought I had done a while back, but they said NO under credit received and weren't marked as pending, so I thought I would try again. Then I was back in the Fast Crediting category, and I saw the same offers with slightly different names (ex. "Dove Lotion" in one category, "FREE: Sample of Dove" in the other) and those said YES under credit received. Can I do these new offers?

Yes you may complete these offers. As long as an offer is listed separately from another and it is marked as “No” then you are allowed to complete the offer. You are not allowed to complete an offer that you have already received credit for either on Sunshine rewards or any other sites.

Can another SR member log in on my computer?

No. You can have many isp addresses assigned to your account but each ISP can only be assigned to one account. So if she signed in on your computer it would look to advertisers and SR that you had two accounts which is against the terms of use. She might have to go to the library or a different friend who does not belong to SR and will not ever be a SR member to sign up and complete offers.

My problem is in my account history and earnings I see where my credits are on hold (I understand all of that and why) but there are some that I did late last week already credited but there are others from early this week that I don't see there.

The amount of time it takes for sales to show up depends on the merchant. Most take anywhere from 7 -10 days. A good practice is to wait until 10 days pass and if they don’t show up then file a trouble ticket. Another thing is to make sure you are going back in your account history far enough. When these thing show up they are put on the date that the order was placed and not the date the pending credit shows up. Sometimes they can show up on page 2 or 3 and you don’t even know it. Look through your account history and make sure they aren’t already there before you post a trouble ticket.

Paypal minimum/Paypal fee: I have $20.xx in my account, but it won't let me redeem the whole amount. Is there a fee for Paypal redemptions, or is the minimum actually higher than the stated $20 when the button appears?

There are no fees associated with paypal cashouts. Chances are that one of your offers was an offer that doesn't allow paypal redemptions. Once you have another offer come through try again. It could have been a small offer. I would keep trying to cash out as you earn more credits. The other option is a gift card. All of the earnings are eligible for gift certificate redemption. There are just some offers that the advertisers don't allow paypal cashout on and they usually state that on the posting for the offer.

How long should I wait before I try an offer again? I have several in my pending from my first couple of day which was exactly 2 weeks ago. Does it depend on the offer or can I go ahead and try some of them again?

Due to some recent advertiser feedback and credit reversals for trying to redo noncrediting offers too fast we need to adjust this answer. As a result of reversing credits, we would like to ask that people not redo offers for at least 30 days. It looks like redoing offers quickly is not only causing us to get credits reversed but it is flagging some of your IP addresses so that we are losing credits for legitimate signups as well.

If I want to cash out via Paypal, if I cash out before the 15th, is it paid out at the end of the month? And if I cash out right before the end of the month, is it paid out by the 15th of the next month?

In September paypaly cashouts were changed so that ANY payments that are requested in a given month are paid on the 15th of the next month. This will help with the confusion that was caused before. All paypal payments will be made on the 15th of the month after you request it unless it falls on a holiday.

I can't seem to get credit for any of the offers lately. I will do 3 or 4 a day and only get credited for 1...IF I am lucky. I see that most other people are getting credited within the hour after completing the survey. Does Firefox have anything to do with it? Would I get more credits by using IE?

SR is set up to ONLY use IE. Now some other programs will work but in order to get the best results it is best to use IE. Try it out and see how it works for you.

Do we earn any points/credits for playing games?

Nope, its just something fun for you to do.

Does paypal charge a fee for cashing out through them?

You will not pay a fee through paypal if you use a paypal account that is not set up to accept credit cards. If you have business account that has been set up to accept credit cards for payments then they will charge you a fee to accept your payment.

I'm a newbie and just learning on the computer. I've taken quite a few surveys and have been credited for some but I still have a long list of pending ones. I keep reading about "clearing cookies". Could someone be very specific and tell me exactly how to do this. Is this why I still have offers in pending? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Some offers will be in pending if they are a manual upload meaning tricia will have to wait until the advertiser gives her a list of credits and then she will have to go in and credit our accounts.

Other times, doing too many offers in one sitting can make offers not credit (advertisers think you aren't serious about the offers and thus don't give credit) or other times yes cookies can throw off your crediting.

So to combat all of this:

don't overdo offers each day. Ie keep it around 5-7 a day no more than 20 a week.

clear cookies once per day or after you receive credit for an offer and before you do the next (not recommended when you do online shopping though).

Are you on a MAC or on Windows? If you are on windows go to the stickey in the technical issues page titled -> "Common software and where to find them" and download ad aware, spybot, and ccleaner. CCleaner will clear your cookies and the other two run once per day or every other day to make sure you aren't picking up spyware or adware which can mess up your tracking and crediting too.

How do i put a SR banner image in my Sig?

You need 25 posts before it will show up. Once you reach 25 posts head to the referrals section of SR and pick your banner. Copy the entire code from the text box then go to the forums and click on User CP then Edit Signature and paste your text in that box and hit save. It will take a few minutes for your text to turn into a banner.

Which is the best cash out option, paypal or GC? It seems there is much more flexibility if you choose GC's. When I signed up just a few weeks ago, I chose Paypal, but now I think I want GC. How would I change that?

You don’t need to change anything. When you are ready to cash out you go to the rewards link and chose the GC you want to cash out for and then hit redeem. You will probably get GC in a more timely fashion since Paypals are only done once a month. In September paypal cashouts were changed so that ANY payments that are requested in a given month are paid on the 15th of the next month. This will help with the confusion that was caused before. All paypal payments will be made on the 15th of the month after you request it unless it falls on a holiday.

Okay, question, but what's the difference between "credit hold" and "pending?"

The only difference is that shopping "pends" and offers "hold." So your shopping will credit in 3 days (as an SM) or 21 days (as a nonSM). The offers all hold until the 15th of the next month no matter whether you are an SM or not.

How do the Daily Surveys work? When will I see credit for them? What if they don’t have any surveys available for me? How many can I do in one day?

Credits Monday through Thursday Surveys will USUALLY credit the next day. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday Surveys usually credit on monday.

You can complete one survey a day, so if you get a "sorry you don't qualify for this survey" message, try again, keep trying until you get to complete a survey. If you complete a survey and get the congrats message DO NOT try to take another one. Taking more than one per day is fraud and can result in your bannation from both GF and SR.

If you get a connecting to partner site message during a survey.. go ahead, greenfield has many partner sites that pay for surveys via SR

If you get a no more surveys available for you message, go back through SR and try again... they add surveys at all times, so keep trying even a minute later. If you get the no more surveys available message multiple times in a row, you can try several things to get more surveys...

Effective Immediately you may only take daily surveys with one email and one set of demographics. Due to fraud, Greenfield has changed their policy and they are no longer allowing multiple people per household to try and take surveys under 1 SR account. So with that said pick 1 email and 1 person to do surveys under your account.


Can I dispute free offers?

No since these offers are free offers and you are not paying anything for doing them SR is not able to dispute these offers. If you would like to try these offers again remove them from your pending list and try with a new email address. This is in regards to the offers that are $3 or mostly the 50 centers.

Can I use outside coupons and codes to shop on SR?

Unfortunately, many merchants will not allow shoppers to use a coupon and receive credit through a rewards program for shopping unless it is a coupon code directly negotiated between SR and the merchant (those appear on the SR coupons page) or are listed directly on the merchant's site. Outside coupons are those coupons you find on other websites by using google, or they can be coupons emailed to you or sent to you in the postal mail. We recommend that you weigh the value of your coupon against your reward through SR and shop accordingly. It never hurts to try to use both but know that you may not receive credit if you use an outside credit. You may use coupons that are on the merchants website when you shop through SR. Please also note that if you are using an outside credit and do not receive credit you cannot file a TT for those shopping purchases.

Do I need to do the whole offer in order to get credit?

It really depends on the offer. It will never hurt to finish an offer until you reach the end or a congratulations message. The same goes for a confirmation email. It will never hurt you to click and confirm your email. In most cases finishing an offer and clicking on the confirmation email will actually increase your odds of receiving credit. Due to a recent revoking of credits I want to make a strong suggestion that you complete the entire offer (free or otherwise) until you get to a congrats screen AND click on the confirmation email that they send in your email.

How long does shopping take to credit/pend?

Shopping credits are manual credits SR must receive from the merchants and then manually import to our accounts typically on Sundays. Most shopping will credit/pend within a 7-10 business days and then will pend for 3 days if you are a SM or 21 days if you are not. Merchants have been known to hold your credits until after the item ships so please take that into account as well. There are some shopping items that will take longer to credit such as travel shopping. These items typically will credit/pend after you complete your travel.

How do I complete an offer?

Before starting to complete offers each day make sure your computer settings are set properly. Some items to remember:
Use Internet Explorer, Go to Tools-> Internet Options -> Privacy->Advanced-> Check off override automatic cookie handling, accept 1st & 3rd party cookies, and always allow session cookies. Make sure you allow pop-ups as well.
Next you need to clear your cookies. The best way to do that is through the free program Ccleaner (go to technical issues stickies to download). After clearing then run Adaware and Spybot to make sure all the junk is off your computer.
Next open up a 2nd window with your email account open. Clear out all junk/spam so you can easily find your confirmation emails.

Ok now we are ready to complete an offer. For this demonstration we will do one of the simplest ones -> My Insider Deals (aka MID).
1. Go to the News and Links page and in the drop down box choose Aveeno Lotion Free Sample (MID).
2. When it opens up enter your email address. Click continue/next
3. Next page enter your name/address/etc and then choose one or two newsletters from below. Then click next.
4. Now you are being led to more “offers” for you to sign up for. You do not have to sign up for any if you are not interested in them. If you are enter your information or click the “yes” next to them and move on. Otherwise click “no” as applicable.
5. Continue this until you get to the end/congratulations page.
6. Open up your email and look for a confirmation email from YourGiveaways and open it. Click on the confirmation link to confirm that you have a valid email address. Then wait another minute or two and look for a 2nd confirmation email from MyFree. Click on the confirmation email as well.
7. You are officially done. Move the offer to pending and wait for credit. Sometimes its within 2 hours and other times it is going to take a few days to credit.

Note: #6 above varies for each offer. Some have 1 confirmation email, multiple emails, or none at all. It is also wise to keep a window open for your email account while you do these and click on the confirmations when you see them (even if you are still doing the offer) so you don’t forget.


How do I join Flashchat?
Once you reach 75 posts you are eligible to join the flashchat. A script is run on the hour to add people as they reach the 75 post mark. Once you reach it just wait until the top of the hour and you should be able to enter the chatroom.

Which freebie offers send email confirmations? Do I need to click on the confirmation?
Certain offers send email confirmations to confirm that you indeed signed up for their offer. Most commonly any survey or research panel will most likely send you a confirmation and require you to click on it to get credit. Other offers such as offers run by these advertisers: MID (My Insider Deals), SE, Consumer Expressions (CE), What She Has To Say (WSHTS), Big Bucks Surveys, Winning Surveys (WS), and Win Moohlah send confirmation emails that sometimes you will receive credit when you finish the offer and click on the confirmation sent and other times you will receive credit without clicking the confirmation email. Since it is not painful to click on these emails and it will increase your chances of receiving credit I would strongly recommend taking the time to complete the entire offer and click on the confirmation email before moving the offer to your pending section.