I had come across cash back services several times over the years but never signed-up for one. I think the main reasons I had not joined were:
1- I wasn’t sure what was involved. I’m always a little wary when something seems too good. Was there a catch?
2- By cash back, did they mean some sort of credit to spend with a specific site?
3- Time. Would that be complicated and time consuming to get started? To understand how it worked? To claim cash back?
4- Would these services make me spend with specific sites/stores? I wanted to keep my freedom to shop wherever I wanted.
5- Would I have to give my credit card info or bank info to get paid? I didn’t want to do that.
I finally took the plunge with 2 services that I researched and had great feedback from their users: Rakuten and iBotta. After using them for a few months, I have to say I wish I had started using them sooner! I have already made over $100 in a short period of time so imagine what I could have earned in a few years since i started hearing about these services.
1- Rakuten: it’s a great site for all your online shopping at sites like Target, Macy’s, Kohls, Gap, Old Navy and even Amazon. I keep shopping at the same sites I shopped before, the only difference is that I first go to the Rakuten site to click to go to the site I want to shop at so they can track my purchase and credit me accordingly. For the same purchase I would have made before, I now get a percentage back (sometimes 6% or even 10%). Rakuten then send checks in the mail with the amount earned. I do my shopping like I used to but now i get money back. 100% gain!
2- iBotta: it’s a great service for all of your grocery shopping. It’s an app that you download. But you don’t have to do your shopping on the app; it’s only to claim your money. Same as Rakuten, you do your shopping the same way you used to, you go to the same grocery stores, drugstores and national stores like Target and Walmart. Buy whatever you need and check on the app what products are eligible for cash back. I was surprised to see that many of the products that i have been buying regularly were eligible for cash back! There’s cash back available on egg, bread, banana whatever brand you get too. Just take a picture of your receipt in the iBotta app and it will detect the eligible items and credit your account. You then redeem your credit for Paypal cash or gift cards (I do Amazon cards). Plus there are many opportunities to earn bonus cash like referring friends etc… So 100% gain for this one also.
I am definitely going to keep using these 2 services. Nothing to lose, everything to gain.
I’d love to hear about your experience with these 2 services and/or other ones in the Facebook comments.
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