We all have friends who use social media as their go-to for advice, right? They ask where they should eat when they visit a new city or they ask if anyone’s seen the latest movie. Or, maybe they just want to know what everyone is doing this weekend. And when I see those questions as I’m scrolling through my Facebook feed, I’m the friend who can’t help but give advice.

I’ve written at least 100 reviews on sites like Yelp and Amazon and Tripadvisor. At least. Maybe I have a helping my friends on social media just a little too much problem? Okay, I know I do, but to be honest, I probably won’t ever change. I love helping my friends out.

Recently, one of my friends put out a holiday advice red alert: “Getting an early start on my holiday shopping. I need to know how to earn Amazon gift cards for Christmas gifts the fast and easy way. THIS IS NOT A DRILL. Go!”

And go I did! Actually, I had to break my answer down into three different posts, which I’ve shared below. So, without further adieu, let me offer my favorite advice for stocking up on Christmas gifts early by earning free Amazon gift cards.

How to Earn Amazon Gift Cards for Christmas Pt. 1: Take Surveys

Why, you might wonder, do I spend so much time responding to my social media friends when they have a question? I know my husband definitely wonders this. Ha! Anyway, I’ll admit it: on social media, I can be a bit chatty. So, that’s why when I love something—like, really love it—all my friends and family tend to get an earful (or is that an eyeful since they’re reading it on their screens…). Anyway, you get the point.

I think that’s also why I’ve always been a good fit for this first way to earn Amazon gift cards online: taking surveys. Here are a few I like to use:

• Quick Thoughts: Quick Thoughts is probably the fastest and easiest way to snag Amazon gift cards. With Quick Thoughts, you fill out surveys and get paid between $1.00 and $3.00 for each, plus $.10 every time you try to qualify for a survey. You can take as many as five surveys a day. FYI, this app doesn’t generate its own surveys, but instead searches for paid surveys from more than 1,000 sources and then directs you to them. Once users collect $10.00, they receive a $10.00 Amazon gift card. Fast and easy!
• Opinion Outpost: Okay, to be honest here, I think the name makes me like this one even more. Like Quick Thoughts, you simply take surveys and earn credits that you can redeem for Amazon gift cards and claim codes. A bonus here is that they have a quarterly contest and every time you take a survey you’re entered into it. After each quarter ends, there’s a drawing and the winner gets $10,000. You can buy a whole lot of Amazon gift cards with that. Well, $10,000-worth to be exact.
• Survey Junkie: This is the third survey site I love to use. It works the same way as the other two except that the surveys come directly from retailers and brands, which always makes me wonder if my opinion influenced that new sheet set at Target that I want for my imaginary guest room (aka my kids’ playroom). Pretty cool!

How to Earn Amazon Gift Cards the Fast and Easy Way Pt. 2: Trade-Ins

I have to admit to something else I do all the time: I share my friends’ social media posts when they have something for sale like a car, a bike, their little ones’ outgrown clothes, you name it. I just think that part of being a great friend on social media is sharing posts the way you’d want your own posts to be shared. It’s the golden rule of the digital age.

When it comes to how to earn Amazon gift cards fast and easy, though, you don’t have to try and sell your old things online by having your friends share posts. Nope. Amazon actually has its own trade-in program! Basically, they’ll buy your old and used items in exchange for Amazon gift cards. It’s super easy to use and pretty fast to find out exactly how much they’ll pay you for that stuff at home that’s spilling out of your spare room closets or the cardboard boxes in your garage.

There are literally hundreds of items that I know you have at home that are eligible for this. Just go to Amazon, find out if your item is eligible, print out the free pre-paid shipping label, and send it in. Then the folks at Amazon evaluate it and send you an e-mail in about two days letting you know whether it was accepted. If it’s accepted, they put the money directly onto your trade-in balance. If not, they send it back to you free of charge, making this not only a fast and easy way to earn Amazon gift cards but also a great way to get your house organized!

Here are some items you probably have at home that might qualify:

• Video games
• Kindles
• Cameras
• Calculators
• Books
• Cell phones
• Smart watches

Easily Earn Amazon Gift Cards Fast Pt. 3: Shopping Apps

After I comment on my friends’ statuses offering them advice, I almost always go back a few times in the next day or two to see if they’ve responded. I mean, that’s the point of social media, right—sharing about your life with your friends? Another thing that’s more fun when shared? My third way for getting free Christmas gifts from Amazon gift cards—using shopping rewards apps that pay you in gift cards.

For those of you who don’t know, shopping apps are these really cool (and free!) apps that you can download right to your smartphone that give you points for the shopping you do every day, even when you’re out having fun with friends. The best ones also give you points just for walking into certain stores. What do you do with these points? By now, I bet you can guess: you cash them out for Amazon gift cards, or for gift cards to tons of other stores you know and love. Basically, these are free apps that pay you to shop.

My personal favorite, and the one I recommend to all my friends, is an app called Shopkick. They call their points kicks, and there are just so many ways to get your kicks with this app (pun intended). This app is seriously fun! Plus, how it works is really easy: shop like normal, get your kicks, and trade them in for Amazon gift cards.

Another thing I really like about Shopkick is that it’s a great way to stay social. Shopkick has a really cool social media atmosphere, and I don’t know how many hours I’ve spent on their Facebook and Instagram pages trading Shopkick tips with other expert kickers. So, yes, Christmas is coming and maybe you’re like my friend who wants to earn Amazon gift cards the fast and easy way just in time for the holidays. I just hope you find my advice helpful; that, my friend, is my little Christmas gift to you!

Learn how you can start to earn Amazon gift cards just in time for Christmas. Download Shopkick’s free app and get ready to be wowed. Welcome to the fun, Shopkicker!

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