Confused about Swag Code expiration? Introducing the CODE EXPIRES line.

Hi All…

Lately we’ve had a lot of comments being made on older Swag Code posts about problems people are having finding and entering the codes.  You can see a common theme of confusion and at times frustration becoming apparent in these types of questions and comments:

• “It says the code is in affect on here, but go to put it in, and its expired.”
• “I tried it like you said to enter, but it says “the code has expired” what do i do now??”
• “Hey the codes didn’t work.  It said it was invalid.”
• “Wow weird I got it but it said it was expired?”
• “I found it but it says its expired”
• “I found the answer and tried to enter the code …would not let me! ??”
• “I dont get it ..it tells me code expired. What am i doing wrong?”

etc… etc…

Swag Codes are a mysterious and enigmatic part of the Swag Bucks experience and can take some time to get used to.  First of all you need to know three things:

1. What are Swag Codes?
2. Where do you find Swag Codes?
3. What do the messages mean when you enter Swag Codes?

All of these questions are answered in our tutorial Swag Code 101 (which was featured on the official Swag Bucks blog).  Click on the following link  to read the tutorial (then come right back ):

►Swag Code 101◄

Once you have familiarized yourself with the intricate workings of Swag Codes you will be much better prepared when hints pop up on the WLSB blog.

Remember, Swag Codes are fleeting… they are always temporary, limited to a short time or a small number of users.  If you are reading a WLSB post that is even one day old chances are that any Swag Code mentioned has long since expired.

In an attempt to help people with this last point, a few weeks ago we began including expiration times in our Swag Code posts.  All of our Swag Code posts are based on the same basic template and near the end of each post, whenever possible, we include the CODE EXPIRES: line.

The CODE EXPIRES: line will only ever have one of two basic forms.  One for codes that have not expired, and one for codes that have expired.  Here’s an example of each.

Here is an example of a CODE EXPIRES: line which has not expired.  Notice it says CODE EXPIRES: in ___ and is counting down:

► CODE EXPIRES: EXPIRED 6055 hours, 56 minutes, 28 seconds ago ◄

Here is an example of a CODE EXPIRES: line which has expired.  Notice it says CODE EXPIRES: ___ ago and is counting up:

► CODE EXPIRES: EXPIRED 14815 hours, 56 minutes, 28 seconds ago ◄

The in and ago are the best ways to tell if the Swag Code for that particular post has ended.  Once the Swag Code has expired, we do our best to update the post with an EXPIRED: line at the very beginning of the post.  You can see this on all of our past Swag Code posts.

Finally we recommend you read our tutorial on Never Missing Another Swag Code to maximize your chances of catching those codes early.

Hopefully this sheds some light on expiry times for Swag Codes and will send less of you eager Swaggernauts on wild goose chases.  If you have any questions please leave a comment.

Good luck!

7 comments July 9, 2009