| The concept of
currency evolved from the fact that cattle, horses, grain, or similar forms of barter
weren't exactly convenient to keep in a hip pocket or saddlebag. As money grew smaller,
beads, cowry shells, whales' teeth, and precious metals shaped into coins became decidedly
more practical. Eventually, of course, we evolved to the point where paper money promising
to pay the bearer a specific sum came to represent gold or a valuable counterpart, which
remained safely (and conveniently) locked away somewhere in the bank. But even that wasn't
convenient enough. Given human ingenuity and our inherent desire to conduct more
convenient and timely exchanges, checks, certificates, and credit cards soon became
ubiquitous tools for commerce. And the faster our transactions become, the faster our
currency needs to flow. To keep up
with current demand, the latest model on the fiscal evolutionary chain resides on the
Internet. For both consumers and entrepreneurs, achieving a convenient and safe method of
exchanging currency on the Internet represents the Holy Grail of the hurried commerce. It
many ways, Web currency has gone full circle. In other words, the barter system is back
with a vengeance.
Points,
Rewards, and ... Flooz
Originally conceived to act as an
"information highway" -- the Internet created a venue for the exchange of
messages, ideas, and research material. But the 'Net quickly also allowed linkages among
computer systems that facilitated online banking and shopping, and it didn't take long for
entrepreneurs to figure out that a cyber-equivalent of money could also be exchanged via
the network. All they had to do was link the buyers and sellers to one another and
maintain an online accounting software system that tallied the exchanges. It was simple,
yet revolutionary.
Almost simultaneously, hustling to grab
customers through "incredible deals," Web-currency "earn-and-spend"
sites launched and introduced their innovative cybercoin concepts to the online
population. Foremost among them, and their corresponding Web currencies, are:
Whether
the currency is called points, rewards, S-coins, or Flooz, the concept is the same: you
earn it and spend it online.
Earn
and Spend
Web-currency
usage evolved alongside online shopping. As we consumers became more comfortable divulging
our credit-card information to cyberstores, we became more open to the idea that we could
also get discounts, rebates, and rewards in the virtual world. Merchants, of course,
scampered to create ever-increasingly attractive schemes to take advantage of this
perception.
Banding together as affiliates, merchants and
Web-currency sites are now interlinked, which allows points, rewards, and other
pseudo-cash forms to be earned and spent in hundreds of online venues.
Online users can earn Web currency by performing
various tasks or activities:
- Sign up to join the club. MyPoints awards 150
points for signing up.
- Answer survey questions. FreeRide gives 25 wallet
points for filling out specific market surveys.
- Shop online. PointClick gives shopping points
plus 10% off purchases from designated online stores.
- Visit other Web sites. Memolink offers points for
simply looking at other/affiliate Web sites.
- Refer friends. ClickMiles gives its members 1000
clickmiles for referring friends to shop at particular stores.
- Read email. MyPoints awards points for reading
promotional email (BonusMail) sent to members.
- Rate samples. FirstLook gives 5 points to each
time a member rates a music or movie sample using a star-rating system.
- Play games. GiantRewards awards points for
playing computer games.
- Participate in auctions. TargetShop gives out
S-coins for everything bought at their Buys & Bids auction site.
- Mail in UPCs. FreeRide accepts mailed-in product
UPCs or proofs of purchase in exchange for points.
Most of
the Web-currency sites offer a combination of ways to earn cyber cash. The methods they
use are all aimed at giving the customer/member fast-and-easy ways of accumulating
"cash" to spend for goods and services. Some sites give "instant"
points for specific tasks, and a lag time of days or weeks for purchases. Many sites
enforce a maximum earning capacity per day or per task to discourage abuse.
Consumers can spend their Web currencies to buy
products, gift certificates, discount coupons, subscriptions, memberships, air miles,
Internet access, and even travel packages. Points and rewards can also be donated as cash
to affiliated charities. A few sites allow members to "cash out" their rewards
by depositing the money directly to checking accounts or credit cards.
It all sounds so simple, convenient, and
extremely attractive. But what do experienced "point-clickers" say about it?
The
Good Side
Stephanie
Vie, Bella Online's
Graduate School Host, has been using point-earning opportunities for about 3 years. She
started out with Cybergold but has since appreciated others like FreeRide and MyPoints.
When asked what she thinks of the experience, she replied, "Incredibly profitable --
very worth it! Where else could I get free gift certificates and cash for a few minutes of
clicking? If you work it out, it comes to almost $15 an hour sometimes. If you're on the
Web a lot anyway, like me, it's like a bonus to get this free money."
Kathy
Schaeffer, freelance writer and author of "Here a
Penny, There a Penny (Making Money on the Net," didn't even have to spend a few
minutes of clicking to get her cybermoney. According to her, these point earning sites are
"very worth it -- I've even received (and used!) a $25 gift card for Lowe's simply
for having a certain site as my startup page when I load the browser."
But is
a $25 gift card incentive enough for online users to immerse into these Web-currency
deals? Kimberly Brown, Suite101 Contributing Editor of "Earning Money Online,"
shows us her earnings: "Using these programs, I have earned over $300 in cash
(CyberGold) and probably around $600 in merchandise. And it doesn't take that much effort,
the more you put in, the more you earn."
Vie,
Shaeffer, and Brown share the belief that Web currency is gaining a strong foothold among
online consumers. "People want free stuff," Vie elaborates. "It's that
simple. These points offers give them an opportunity to get free stuff simply! Many of us
can't afford a night at a restaurant or a movie all that often, but we can take a few
minutes every day to get those same things for free. I, for one, will be using online
points programs for years to come and hope that they continue to improve and offer more
opportunities for members."
The
Flip Side
Unfortunately,
not everyone is thrilled. After jumping through a lot of cyber hoops, many consumers feel
that the numbers just don't add up. There's often a lot of time and/or effort needed to
get a small return in most of the barter or rebate programs. And even if the Web currency
"exchange rate" is good and you end up with a lot of credits, those credits
don't necessarily buy anything in the Web stores where you really want to shop.
Chris McClean, owner of Pertinent Information Ltd, thinks that Web currency
is worse than struggling. "I don't think it will work. The Internet is heading
towards lower profit margins. I see the purpose of Web currencies as a way to reward a
person for doing relatively simple tasks. Regardless of how simple the tasks are, it still
takes time. I could take a survey, receive some form of Web currency for my time and
hopefully some day accumulate enough to buy something. On the other hand, the items I want
are already marked down to a steal, so this means I can buy what I want now. No waiting
for point accumulation."
Tossing the Cybercoin
Looking
at the big picture, consumers will understand that Web-currency sites are regular business
entities that exist mainly for profit. These sites make money from the promotion budgets
of affiliated e-tailers. The more people are encouraged to "click for cybercoin
earnings," the more sales the affiliates generate and the more profit the
Web-currency sites reap.As for the consumer site of the equation, ultimately, that's a
personal decision.
If you're a consumer with a busy schedule or
more lucrative means of income, Web currency is generally not the way to go. But if the
menial task of clicking to another Web site, filling out survey forms, or reading
promotional emails is worth the couple of cybercoins you can later spend for something
they would otherwise dispense hard-earned cash for, then the process makes sense. If you
have a good network of contacts who can be convinced to join the club, referral points
will be easy to generate. And especially where you are getting paid for something that you
would be doing anyway, effectively, the scheme gets pretty close to "money for
nothing." Maybe avid online consumers can find creative ways of taking full advantage
of these point-clicking opportunities. Who's to say that earning a mere six points for
every dollar spent won't eventually lead to a virtual wallet of 103,000 points to buy a
36-inch TV, or a cyberbank of 450,000 points to "Fish for Wild Trout in Chile"?
In the long run, as technology and online
culture continue to evolve, so will our methods of earning and spending money. But even as
currency transforms from cattle to coins to credit cards to cyberrewards, money will still
be money -- and people will persist in amassing, dispensing, and exploiting it --
virtually or otherwise. |
