I am often being asked about ways to make money and for my opinion about them. I’ve seen many other bloggers and finance hobbyists promote 20 Cogs but I don’t actually promote them myself, and I’m also often asked why. In this post I am going to provide a 20 Cogs review, as well as outline what it is, what you could potentially earn from it, and whether it is worth the effort.
What is 20 Cogs?
According to the 20 Cogs website, COGS stands for Competitions, Offers, Gaming and Surveys. The premise is simple, you have to complete 20 of these offers or tasks and then once you have completed all 20 you can cash out the monetary rewards that you have earnt. Sounds simple right? Well unfortunately although quite a lot of people do cash out at the end (and usually get between £100-200) it is a massive effort and faff for a payout of that level. You can actually end up out of pocket too, so it feels like a gamble to me.
Does 20 Cogs cost anything?
Whilst joining 20 Cogs is actually free, some of the tasks involve incurring fees, which unless you see the entire process through and complete the full 20 tasks will mean you are out of pocket. Even if you do complete the tasks, this money comes out of your profit and therefore reduces your profit. Some of these are free or low costs trial subscriptions, and unless you remember to cancel at the right time, you could end up being charged for additional time too. There are even tasks such as joining an online casino or gambling site and you have to wager through a minimum amount before you can earn the reward. Sometimes the reward only just covers what you have to put in and so it really is a waste of time, but you have to complete all 20 tasks in order to be able to withdraw your money.
Like my post about matched betting, I don’t feel comfortable promoting anything which gets people to gamble, even in a controlled environment such as matched betting, or in this instance where you are only going to wager through a set amount to qualify for the rewards. I feel that either of these can expose people to gambling who have never experienced it before, and this can open people up to an addictive behaviour which can have long term negative effects both financially and mentally.
My 20 Cogs Review
- There might be some of the tasks that you are not able to complete, for example if you do matched betting (which although isn’t gambling, I also don’t promote – and you can see why in my post) then you may already have an account with some of the online gambling sites, and the gambling and bingo sites are some of the highest paying offers on 20 Cogs so if you can’t do these, then you are limiting your possible payout.
- You CANNOT cash out until you have completed all the tasks. You therefore need to be patient with the deals and waiting for the retailers to approve them in your dashboard. It is definitely a quick way of making money.
- Your details will be used for spammy marketing. A lot of people recommend setting up a free email address (using Gmail or something similar) and using that for 20 Cogs (and perhaps any other side hustles) meaning that your personal email inbox is not overwhelmed. Your phone number will also be passed on, and you may receive a lot of marketing calls. Ways around this are to get a free O2 sim card and use that number (and that will mean you can O2 Priority for free too) or use a website such as Fake Number which lists numbers that are not in use which you can use for purposes such as this (or any occasion when you might need to give a fake number – bad date anyone?!?)
Overall, I don’t like 20 cogs and I therefore don’t promote it.
Is 20 Cogs Legit and genuine?
Ultimately if you can do all the tasks, make sure you cancel all the subscriptions and services before being charged additional money, then yes you can make some money. I know people who have personally withdrawn over £100. Do I think the amount of money you will make is proportional to the effort and time you will need to put in? No I definitely don’t, and that’s why I don’t promote it. It even has a 4 Star Rating on Trust Pilot and it does appear that the people who have left negative reviews may have had issues and not reached out to support. They are also complaining about the spam emails and calls as well. If you are prepared to put the time and effort into it though, then yes it is legit, but in my opinion there are much better ways of making extra money which are quicker, easier and don’t cost anything upfront. Some of my favourites are using the research and survey site Prolific Academic which I have earnt over £500 from, and mystery shopping which can earn you money and free stuff.
Another reason why you will see a lot of people promote 20 Cogs is that you can make a lot of extra money by referring friends and followers . You will receive 5% of whatever your friends earn FOR LIFE (not even on their first payout, but for as long as they use it) AND you get a £20 bonus when they cash out! I’m sure there are many people who promote 20 Cogs who have had a great experience, got through it pretty quickly etc and are happy to promote it for legitimate reasons as they want to help their friends, family and followers out. Unfortunately however there are some unscrupulous people who will promote anything online to make a quick buck and so I would encourage you to do your due diligence and thorough research of mine and other people’s posts before signing up for anything like 20 Cogs. I have been burnt more than once by signing up for something on the recommendation of someone online and then found out they are an affiliate of the service or programme and actually it’s not great, but that the affiliate rates are great so it is in their best interest to promote it.
Top Tips for 20 Cogs
If you decide you want to go ahead with 20 Cogs, here are my top tips for going through the process:
- Get a new email address and look up a fake number as outlined above.
- Read instructions really carefully.
- Screenshot anything you might want to refer back to – such as task completions, instructions etc. Keep these saved somewhere where you can refer back to it later if any of your tasks are queried.
- If you need to use a bank account to sign up for any offers, ideally use a bank account you don’t use often (like a savings account or second current account) as this will allow you to track any expenses caused by 20 Cogs.
