Microsoft Rewards undoubtedly disappointed many of their users by discontinuing PayPal redemptions a few years back.

The second-rate selection of gift cards on offer originally led me to believe that the site was not worth using at all.

It can’t be ignored, however, that they’re giving out easy points on a daily basis just for doing Bing searches, using Microsoft Edge, and clicking on activities.

Recently I returned to see if there was still a way to extract real money from the site.

Ending up with actual cash is possible, but requires some out-of-the-box thinking.

Here are the two methods I came up with:

1. Supermarket Substitution

If you happen to do your routine grocery shop at a store for which Microsoft Rewards offer a gift card (Tesco, in the UK), you could simply use the gift card in place of your own money, and then pay the same amount into your savings or investment account.  This is essentially the same as gaining this amount of cash directly from Microsoft Rewards.

What if it's not practical to shop at the store in question though?  Option 2 could be better for you.

2. Sell Your Gift Card

Gift cards can be sold online using a reputable site such as Cardyard.  Of course, you will have to accept a lower amount than the actual card value, to incentivise the buyer, and cover the transaction fee.

By comparing the points value of each gift card on Microsoft Rewards with the amount they sell for, you can calculate the most effective option.  In my case, it ended up being the Tesco card again, which retains £4.35 of the original £5 value.

Final Thoughts

These indirect approaches to gaining real cash from Microsoft Rewards save the site from being borderline useless.  With daily earnings estimated to be 10-14p for very little effort, this could be a solid addition to your side-income strategy.

Thanks for checking out this Lazy Money UK article.  Remember to join me on YouTube to discover more lazy money making tips.