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• Discover Cashback Bonus Rewards Catalog
• Discover Card Cash Back Rewards

Making money through cashback is one of the easiest ways to create an extra income source. No matter how good you are at managing your finances, it’s inevitable that you’ll need to buy things from time to time – we all need food, after all – but you can soften the blow by getting cash back.

In a nutshell, cashback is given when you buy something and receive a small percentage of the money you spent back at a later date.

Although there’s no signup bonus available, you can earn a referral bonus equal to 5% of their cashback earnings up to $50. Pros Range of retailers and regions. Cash back cards with rotating bonus categories include the Discover it® Cash Back, Discover it® Student Cash Back and Chase Freedom cards. Five percent back can be a nice haul if you’re able to max out the spending categories each quarter, but it takes a bit of work.

It might sound too good to be true, but most major retailers offer the chance to get cashback. You can even combine multiple cashback sites to maximize your savings!

20 Best Cash Back Sites

Here are the 20 best cashback sites to start using today:

Capital One Shopping

Best For: Great Browser Extension + Local Offers

Capital One Shopping, known for its browser extension that acts just like your own personal shopping assistant to help you find better deals on items you are shopping for, offers credits from popular retailers.

For example, here are just a few top retailers you can earn credits (redeemable for giftcards) just by using the Capital One Shopping browser extension:

• Dell.com: 1%
• ebay.com: 1%
• QVC.com: 1%
• VRBO.com: 2%
• Priceline.com: 3%
• Zulily.com: 4%
• JCPenney.com: 9%

What’s more, they have a “Local Offers” section, where you can get 3% or more back from local retailers and restaurants according to your zip code.

So make sure to check out the local offers before you head out to lunch!

Pros

• Easy to use
• Works in the background
• 100% free to use

Learn More:Capital One Shopping Review

Swagbucks

Best For: More Ways to Earn Points + $5 sign-up bonus

Although it’s known for being one of the best survey sites, you can also use Swagbucks to get cashback. Just use its shopping portal to buy items online or add the Swagbucks browser plug-in to get points automatically as you browse the web.

The best thing about Swagbucks is that there are so many ways to earn points – known as ‘Swagbucks’ or SB. Swagbucks will send you a daily email listing the best ways to earn SB; these could be as simple as signing up for an email newsletter. You can also earn by taking surveys conveniently on the app, watching videos, and playing games on their website.

There’s also a significant amount of points to be made by joining and encouraging others to do the same. You’ll get $5 for signing up (if you spend $25 in your first month of registration) and, if you refer a friend, you’ll get a bonus plus a percentage of the Swagbucks your friend earns. Once you make enough SB, you can redeem them for gift cards or even a PayPal transfer.

Pros

• Signup and referral bonuses
• Can redeem points through PayPal

Next Steps:

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MyPoints

Best For: Shopping Portal

MyPoints is another site that gives you a few different ways to earn points. To get cashback, you can use their shopping portal and earn points by buying anything from one of their partner stores. You can also get points by taking surveys, watching videos, playing games, and even reading emails – as you can see, it’s quite similar to Swagbucks.

You can maximize your points by taking a $10 sign-up bonus (as long as you make a purchase of $20 through the shopping portal in your first month). You can also earn 750 points by referring a friend who purchases at least $20.

Although you can only redeem your points for gift cards, these include a Visa gift card, which is almost as good as cash.

Pros

• Generous signup and referral bonuses
• Lots of activities to earn points

Cons

• Easier to get points through activities than cashback

Learn More:MyPoints Review

TopCashback

Best For: Receiving Full Commission

Most cashback sites earn money by receiving a commission from retail partners once a user makes a purchase with them, and they give a cut of this commission back to the customer as cashback. TopCashback is slightly different as they give the full commission back to customers and make their money elsewhere.

You’re able to earn 3% consistently, which may not sound like much, but is a high percentage to be earning across all sites. There are also coupons you can find and special offers that give higher cashback.

TopCashback scores well on the customer service front, too. It has a five-star (out of five) rating on Trustpilot. You can make $10 per referral once your friend reaches the threshold of $10 too.

Pros

• Earn 3% across everything
• Good customer service

Learn More:TopCashback Review

Rakuten

Best For: Bonuses

Formerly known as eBates, Rakuten was one of the first cashback sites on the web and helps you earn up to 40% cashback on your purchases, although 5-10% is a more common percentage. You’ll also get paid in cash, which you can receive by PayPal or by check.

Cashback is available on most online sites out there when you buy through the Rakuten shopping portal, and you can also get cashback by shopping in-store if you link your credit card.

Additional features include coupons, promo codes, and seasonal promotions.

There’s a $10 signup bonus for anyone who spends $25 in their first three months of membership – this includes all websites online. You can also earn up to $25 in a referral bonus (depending on the offer at the time) if you get your friends and family to start using the site.

Pros

• Possible to get high cashback percentage
• Receive cash

Learn More:Rakuten Review

Paribus

Best For: Price Adjustment Refunds

Paribus is slightly different from the other sites. It won’t give you a guaranteed cashback rate from everything you buy, but if you buy something from a partner site and then the price drops, Paribus will do the heavy lifting to negotiate a refund for you. Therefore, you effectively get cashback – but only if the price is reduced within a set timeframe after purchase.

Paribus will access your emails and browsing activity to track what you’re buying and then monitor whether the prices of your purchases decrease. You can also download the app, which makes it possible to scan receipts too and cover you for purchases made in-store.

This allows you to get discounts from more than 25 retailers, which isn’t a comprehensive list but covers most major stores.

Cons

• Can’t get cashback on all purchases

Learn More:Paribus Review

Ibotta

Best For: Scanning Receipts

If you’re after a variety of ways to earn cashback, Ibotta is a great site to use. You can either earn by using the shopping portal, which gives you automatic cash back as long as you follow a link from the Ibotta website to an online store and make a purchase, or by uploading your receipts.

When you go shopping at a grocery store, scanning your receipt is the only way you can receive cash back. Ibotta makes this easier by offering an app you can use to upload your receipts on to, and it also doubles as a place to store receipts and therefore track your finances.

However, once you’ve identified the cashback offers you want to use, you’ll need to complete a quick task before you’re able to claim the points. This is a slightly tedious process compared to other cashback sites – but if you have the time to complete multiple tasks, then it can be a good way to boost your cashback points. Activities include watching a video or voting in a poll.

You can receive your points in cash or a free gift card within 48 hours after you redeem then.

Pros

• Multiple ways to earn cashback
• Receive cashback in cash

Learn More:Ibotta Review

BeFrugal

Best For: High Cashback Rate

BeFrugal offers an impressive cashback rate of 40% for over five thousand stores, which is far higher than competitors. All you have to do is shop using their portal, and the cashback will be added automatically to your account. There’s also a $10 bonus for signing up once you receive $10 in cash back, plus $10 per referral.

You can also use the site to find exclusive deals and coupons – these won’t give you any extra points, but they’re a great way to save money.

Cons

• Cashback only for online purchases

Learn More:BeFrugal Review

Earny

Best For: Refunds

Like Paribus, Earny monitors your purchases using your email and looks for price drops. As long as the price lowers within 14-90 days of your purchase, you’ll be able to get the money back.

This is possible because most credit cards offer price protection, which means you’re eligible to be refunded the difference after a price drop. In return for being the intermediary, Earny will take 25% of the refund, and you’ll get the other 75%.

They cover 15 major retailers including Amazon, Walmart, and Target – so most of your purchases should be covered if you buy from mainstream shops.

Cons

• Only works for price drops within three months of purchase
• No guarantee of getting money back

Fetch Rewards

Best For: Grocery Shopping

Although Fetch Rewards is best-suited to grocery shopping, the definition of grocery shops is quite loose. You can also use it for convenience stores, liquor stores, and drug stores, amongst others. All retailers are included and possible to earn cashback from.

The main way to earn points is by scanning receipts by downloading the app. However, you can also earn them online by browsing for products on special offer.

You can’t receive points in the form of a PayPal or bank transfer, but you can claim gift cards. There are bonus points to be made from signing up and referring others.

Pros

• Claim points at a variety of stores
• Can earn by scanning receipts

Upromise

Best For: Anyone Saving for College or Paying Off Student Loans

Upromise is slightly unusual because the site is geared towards giving cashback that can be used towards either paying off student loans or saving towards a 529 plan. Although you can still use Upromise without giving the proceeds towards anything related to college, this is how you’ll get the most benefits. Linking your account to a 529 savings plan will provide you with a huge 15% bonus. If you don’t use your points towards anything college-related, you’ll have to receive a payout by check.

In terms of normal cashback offers, you can earn up to 5% for partners and 2.5% at lots of restaurants, both of which are very respectable rates. You can earn cashback from a wide variety of stores – there are over 850 online partners, plus thousands of restaurants and grocery stores.

As well as using the website, you can order a Upromise Mastercard for an easier way to earn cash back on your purchases – you’ll get 1.25% cash back on purchases from all points.

Discover Cashback Bonus Rewards Catalog

Pros

• Especially suited to those who are saving or paying off college

Cons

• Cash payment by check only
• Not all 529 plans and student loan payments are eligible

Coupon Cabin

Best For: Special Offers

Instead of offering one generic cashback rate across all retailers, Coupon Cabin has special offers for specific stores at different teams. For example, you might be able to get $50 cash back when ordering on Amazon. This means it can be possible to get a very good deal on Coupon Cabin, but it’s unlikely these deals will coincide with what you’re hoping to buy.

However, thousands of websites partner with the site. You can choose whether you receive your payment as a check, through PayPal, or as a gift card.

Discover Card Cash Back Rewards

Cons

• Offers are very specific so may not be relevant

CouponCactus

Best For: Combining Cashback With Coupons

CouponCactus is a site focused on coupons rather than cashback, as you’d expect from the name, but they also have lots of cashback offers available thanks to links with more than 4,000 retailers. All you need to do is follow the shopping links on the site, and cashback will be credited within 3-7 days – you might even be able to combine cashback with coupons.

There’s also a bonus of $3 for sign-up, as long as you drop the site a ‘Like’ on Facebook – this bonus might be lower than some other sites, but it’s better than nothing. You can also earn more by referring friends.

Cons

• Designed more for coupons than cashback

ShopAtHome

Best For: A Range of Popular Retailers

You can earn cashback on ShopAtHome by following shopping links through the site and waiting for the cashback to be applied automatically. ShopAtHome has links with more than 2,000 stores, including big names like Walmart, Best Buy, and Amazon.

You can also install a Savings Button browser plug-in, which will update you about cashback offers whenever you enter a partner site.

There’s a $10 bonus for signing up. You can choose whether to receive your points in the form of a check, PayPal transfer, or gift card.

Pros

• Sign-up bonus
• Can get paid by check or cashback

Extrabux

Best For: Clothes Shopping

Extrabux has both cashback and ‘super cashback’ offers, some of which give you up to 30% back. These are mixed with coupons to help you maximize your savings.

It’s especially well-suited to clothes shops, and it’s easy to browse using the online portal since you can differentiate between stores from different regions then browse for websites of interest to you. Alternatively, you can use a browser extension.

There’s a generous $20 bonus for signing up, although you’ll only receive this in $5 chunks as you earn more cashback by using the site. You can also get a $5 bonus for referring a friend, plus 5% on the cash back they earn in the future. You can receive the money through PayPal, check, or credit card credit.

Cons

• Cashback through shopping portal only

Mr.Rebates

Best For: Low Threshold to Cash Out

Mr.Rebates have given millions of dollars back to their customers through cashback offers. They also advertise deals and coupons to help people get the most out of shopping in multiple ways.

If you refer a new member, you’ll receive 20% of their original rebate. You need to earn $10 to cash-out your rebate, which can be done by PayPal or check, but if you live outside the U.S. your only option is PayPal.

One factor that makes Mr. Rebates stand out is the speed of their returns: once you order a product, it will appear in the ‘pending rebates’ section within 1-3 days. However, it may take longer to receive confirmation.

Pros

• Receive rebates quickly
• Low threshold to cash-out

Cons

• Can only receive rebates by following the shopping links

Learn More:Mr. Rebates Review
Next Steps:Sign up with Mr.Rebates

iConsumer

Best For: High-Risk High Reward

iConsumer has a slightly different business model to other cashback websites. When you use their online shopping portal, you’ll become an investor who is buying shares in the site.

This might sound confusing, but it effectively means that instead of being given cashback in the form of cash you can use immediately, you’ll be given a share that might be worth more in the future.

This isn’t much good for anyone who wants instant gratification, but if you’re prepared to take a risk to earn more than just a $10 PayPal transfer, iConsumer could be a good choice for you. Even though the focus is on shares, you can also get ‘normal’ cashback once you reach the threshold of $25.

When you first join, you’ll be given 100 shares, and referring a friend will get you 100 more. Plus, the first time you get a qualifying purchase, you’ll get 500 shares. It’s possible to withdraw your shares as money, but this is a slightly complicated process.

Pros

• Potential to earn more
• The excitement of being an investor

Cons

• Not the best site for normal cashback
• Withdrawing shares for cash is complicated

Jewel

Best For: Luxury Brands

So-called because of its specialization in the luxury retail market, Jewel is a relatively new cashback site. Due to its unusual specialty, it has some partnerships other sites don’t have, such as luxury brands. If you’re interested in this type of goods, using Jewel is a no-brainer.

There’s a $5 sign-up bonus, and the threshold for withdrawing is $15. You can also earn $5 for each referral you make.

Cons

• Only for luxury retailers

EvoShare

Best For: Saving for Retirement

Similarly to Upromise, EvoShare helps its customers to use their cashback towards the causes that really matter. Instead of limiting itself to just college savings and student loans, EvoShare also allows you to save towards retirement. If you’re amongst those who struggle to put anything aside towards their retirement, then EvoShare can help you towards this.

Deposit cashback money directly into a 401(k) or 403(b) plan, as long as your employer participates in the program. Even if you don’t have such an account now, you can hold your earnings on Evoshare until you do.

You can earn up to 30% cashback on over 1,300 online stores, as well as 10% cashback at local stores by linking cards. There’s also a browser extension to make the process easier.

Cons

• Your employer might not be a partner
• Lack of choice about how to use money

Simply Best Coupons

Best For: Using Outside of North America

Simply Best Coupons is available to use in countries all over the world for stores that encompass a wide range of categories, from travel to automotive to clothing. It can be used for coupons and cashback.

You can also add the browser extension to ensure you never miss an opportunity for cashback.

Although there’s no signup bonus available, you can earn a referral bonus equal to 5% of their cashback earnings up to $50.

Cons

• No signup bonus

FAQ of Cash Back Sites

Do Cashback Sites Work?

Cashback sites have been around for almost two decades – they wouldn’t have survived this long if they didn’t work.

Having said that, each cashback site has its own advantages and disadvantages – they don’t all succeed in every aspect, so you need to ensure you know what your priority is.

For example, Paribus will only be able to try to help you get cash back if you buy something, and then the price gets reduced. So, if you never fall victim to buying something that subsequently drops down in price, that doesn’t mean Paribus doesn’t work – just that you’ve been lucky with your purchases.

Which other factors should you consider? Here are a few of the main ones:

• Cashback rate
• Partnered merchants
• Other earning opportunities
• Referral bonuses

If getting the highest cashback rate possible is important to you, use the Cashback Monitor site to compare rates among different sites. Doing this obsessively every time you want to make a purchase might be unnecessary, but it can be helpful as a first step when deciding which site to use.

Most sites will also let you know how many retailers they’re partnered with and in what categories, other earning opportunities available (like filling in surveys), and the referral bonuses. Figure out what works best for you and judge the site based on this.

What Places Give Cash Back?

Of course, all the sites mentioned in this article offer cashback. However, they’re not the only options.

As well as cashback sites, another great way to earn cashback is with cash back credit cards.

Some of the best options include:

• Discover it Miles

Once you apply for a credit card, you’ll be able to access the portal to shop through. The best part is that you can combine a credit card with other cashback websites to maximize your savings – a process called ‘stacking’.

How Do Cashback Sites Make Money?

Every time you make a purchase using a cashback website, the retailer you buy from will give the cashback site a commission. They then give a percentage of this back to you, the customer. Sounds like a win-win-win situation!

A few of the sites work slightly differently. Top Cashback doesn’t take commission and make money through advertising revenue and data instead. Likewise, Paribus and Earny make their money by helping you negotiate a discount when a price drops, then taking a percentage of any discounts obtained as commission.

So, Are Cash Back Sites For You?

If you’re not taking advantage of cashback shopping sites, you’re missing a trick.

With so many sites available, it can be tricky to narrow it down to a few to get started with, but once you get into the swing of things, you’ll realize how easy it is to make some extra money this way.

You can always try out a few different sites at once, but be careful not to spread yourself too thinly, or you might not be able to take advantage of the sign-up bonus on all of them.

• Rakuten (aka Ebates) is giving $30 sign up bonuses right now! And if your referral buys more than $30, you both get $30 too! That’s crazy rich!

A cashback reward program is an incentive program operated by credit card companies where a percentage of the amount spent is paid back to the card holder. Many credit card issuers, particularly those in the United Kingdom and United States, run programs to encourage use of the card where the card holder is given points, frequent flyer miles or a monetary amount. This last benefit, a monetary amount, is usually known as cashback or cash back reward.

Details[edit]

Where a card issuer operates such a program, card holders typically receive between 0.5% and 3% of their net expenditure (purchases minus refunds) as an annual rebate, which is either credited to the credit card account or paid to the card holder separately.^[1]

When accepting payment by credit card, merchants typically pay a percentage of the transaction amount in commission to their bank or merchant services provider. Merchants are often not allowed to charge a higher price when a credit card is used as opposed to other methods of payment, so there is no penalty for a card holder to use their credit card. The credit card issuer is sharing some of this commission with the card holder to incentivise them to use the credit card when making a payment.

Rewards based credit card products like cash back are more beneficial to consumers who pay their credit card statement off every month. Rewards based products generally have higher Annual percentage rate. If the balance were not paid in full every month the extra interest would eclipse any rewards earned. Most consumers do not know that their rewards-based credit cards charge higher 'interchange' fees to the vendors who accept them.^[2]

History[edit]

In the 1990s, major card issuers in the US raised the cash-back percentage up to 5%. The 5% cash back rate usually applies only to purchases made at grocery stores, pharmacies, and gas stations for 6 months.^{[citation needed]} This high rate of cash back was set to grab the attention of potential applicants for them to consider applying for the card. Typically the cash back rate for all other purchases is around 1%.^{[citation needed]}

A 2010 public policy study conducted by the Federal Reserve concluded cash back reward programs result in a monetary transfer from low-income to high-income households. Eliminating cash back reward programs would reduce merchant fees which would in turn reduce consumer prices because retail is such a competitive environment.^[3]

In 2012 in the United States, due to increased gasoline (gas) prices, gas cash back cards or gas rebate credit cards became very popular among consumers. Companies provide an average of 3% APR on new gas credit cards. The main idea behind gasoline discount cards is that cardholders obtain a sure percent of the sum they consume on gasoline each month in the form of a rebate check at the end of the year. It works similarly to a cashback discount recognition card with one noteworthy exception: the gasoline discount is frequently applied each month, whereas most cashback cards ship away discount checks formerly a year.^{[citation needed]} This makes the savings easier to view for most consumers.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

1. ^'Cash Back'. Investopedia.com. Investopedia. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
2. ^https://www.cardratings.com/bonus-or-bogus-who-pays-for-rewards-credit-cards.html
3. ^Who Gains and Who Loses from Credit Card Payments? Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, 31 August 2010