If you’re a frequent online shopper, you should be using a cash back shopping site or portal to maximize your savings. Cash back sites are useful for earning cash, points, and credits for online shopping. Plus, they’re free to use! If you’re going to be making purchases anyways, why not get a little something back at the same time?
Wondering how they give you money back for free? Most cash back sites make money by earning a small commission each time you purchase from their partners using their direct link. Those partners have arranged a commission with the shopping portal. Then, they pass a chunk of these earnings to you. It’s a win-win for all parties!
Surprisingly, many large merchants, like Walmart, Amazon, eBay, and Sephora, are partners. So, if you’re not taking advantage of these cash back sites and portals, you’re losing out on some good earnings.
Choosing the Best Cash Back Shopping Site/Portal
With so many sites available, which one should you use? Make sure you consider these main factors before you go for one.
- Best rate. Bottom line, you want the site that earns you the best rate, right? Unfortunately, there’s no one-size-fits-all. Cash back sites compete with each other and rates change frequently. You can compare rates using Cashback Monitor. Many shoppers use 2 or 3 cash back sites and alternate between sites offering the best rates. Using more than 3 sites will be too much of a hassle.
- Partnered merchants. Some cash back sites will have many more partners than others. Though, it comes down to which site partners with most of the merchants you shop with, offering the best rates.
- Earning opportunities. Cash back portals will offer the opportunity to earn cash back online. However, some of them, like Rakuten, partner with retailers to let you earn cash back in-store. Just link your credit card to your account, and earn cash back in-store when you pay with your card. Some also let you earn points just by completing surveys and watching sponsored videos, like Swagbucks.
- Referral bonuses. If you’re popular and have a large following on a site, take advantage of referral bonuses offered by many shopping sites. You can earn $5 – $15 per qualified referrals depending on the site of your choice. Sometimes, you can score more through limited-time increased referral bonus promotions.
BankCheckingSavings features the best cash back shopping sites and portals found on the web. To help you find which site, or sites, fits your needs, below is a rundown of how each one works. I’ve included information on the types of rewards, payouts, and more.
Mr. Rebates
- Sign-Up Bonus: Sign up for free and get a $7.50 bonus after your first purchase. This is an exclusive bonus more than the typical $5.
- Referral Bonus: Start making referrals once you’re a member. Each time your referral gets cash back, you receive a bonus equal to 20% of their rebate. Referrals can be made via your personal link, email, Facebook or Twitter.
- Best Features:
- Established since 2002
- Shop at over 2,500 different cash back stores
- Once you’ve earned enough rebates in your account, simply cash out and Mr. Rebates will send your balance via a mailed check or PayPal
- Mobile app is available for both Android and iOS
- Mr. Rebates Full Review
Rakuten
- Sign-Up Bonus: Sign up for free and earn a $10 welcome bonus. Rakuten hosts a variety of bonus promotions throughout the year for different seasons and holidays.
- Referral Bonus: Earn $5 – $25 per qualified referral depending on the current promotion. Referrals can be made via your personalized link, email, Facebook or Twitter.
- Best Features:
- The original cash back shopping portal, and one of the best ones available
- Shop at over 2,000 different stores partnered for cash back, coupons, and promo codes
- Earn through online shopping or in-store by linking your credit card to your profile
- Save more with coupons and special promo codes
- Frequent seasonal promotions for double cash back at popular stores
- Featured Daily Deals for bigger earnings
- Great unlimited referral bonus system with frequent promotions for $25 per qualified referral
- Rakuten Full Review
TopCashBack
- Sign-Up Bonus: Sign up for free + $20 sign-up bonus.
- Referral Bonus: Make $10 per qualified referral after you’ve joined. For the Tell-a-Friend bonus to be applied to your account, your friend must authenticate their TopCashback account and reach a minimum cashback threshold of $10 cashback.
- Best Features:
- Shop at over 4,380 different online stores
- Stack your savings with cashback and coupons
- No minimum pay-out threshold
- Payout through ACH, PayPal, Amazon.com Gift Card and American Express Rewards Card
- Get a bonus on your cashback rebate when requesting payout by Amazon.com Gift Card or American Express Rewards Card
- TopCashBack Full Review
Extrabux
- Sign-Up Bonus: Sign up for free and earn a $5 welcome bonus.
- Referral Bonus: Earn a $5 cash bonus for every friend you refer once you’re a member. Earn additional cash when your friends shop. This is equal to 5% on the cash back your friends earn. Make referrals using your referral link and social media platforms.
- Best Features:
- Shop at over 2,500 stores
- Earn up to 30% cash back, get coupons, and find the best price on every purchase
- Receive your cash back via your credit card, PayPal, mailed as a check, or donate it to a charity
- Hot Deals section for bigger cash back and coupon promotions
- Extrabux Full Review
RebatesMe
- Sign-Up Bonus: Earn $40 when you sign up for free. Sometimes RebatesMe offers increased sign up bonuses, up to $40. When you’re earning cash back, make sure that the items you purchase are in the cash back category. For example, if you’re on Amazon buying toys and the cash back is not available for toys, you won’t receive your cash back bonus.
- Referral Bonus: Once you’re a member, you can earn an unlimited $10 per referral.
- Best Features:
- Relatively new cash back shopping portal offering many seasonal/holiday promotions
- Shop at over 2,000 stores worldwide
- Find deals, discounts, and cash back services
- Receive your cash back via PayPal or mailed as a check
- RebatesMe Full Review
BeFrugal
- Sign-Up Bonus: Sign up for free and earn a $10 bonus when you earn $10 in cash back.
- Referral Bonus: Once you join, earn a $10 per qualified referral. To qualify for a $10 referral bonus, new referrals must use your referral link, join, and earn $10 or more in cash back (not including bonuses and earnings from non-purchase activity) within 365 days of creating their account.
- Best Features:
- Earn up to 40% cash back at over 5,000 stores
- Cash out via mailed check, PayPal or Amazon.com Gift Card
- Thousands of exclusive coupons stackable with your cash back earnings
- Find printable restaurant and fast food coupons, with the latest coupons for over 250 popular restaurants
- BeFrugal Full Review
Simply Best Coupons
- Sign-Up Bonus: Sign up for free. Simply Best Coupons doesn’t always offer an initial sign-up bonus.
- Referral Bonus: Invite your friends to join and receive 5% of their earned cash back, up to $50 per referral.
- Best Features:
- Available in many different countries worldwide
- Receive cash back via Direct Deposit, check, PayPal, Amazon Gift Card, and more
- Local Coupons and Grocery Coupons are offered for more savings
- SimplyBestCoupons Full Review
Swagbucks
- Sign-Up Bonus: Sign up for free and earn a 1,000 Swagbucks (SB) bonus points (worth $10), when you spend at least $25 at a featured store in Swagbucks.com/Shop within 30 days. Swagbucks has the most opportunities to earn, but it will require much time to maximize your points. This may not be the best option for someone just looking for a portal for earning cash back for shopping.
- Referral Bonus: Earn $3 per qualified referral. Also get 10% of your referrals’ earnings indefinitely.
- Best Features:
- Earn cash back for online shopping at over 1,500 popular retailers
- Take advantage of many other options Swagbucks offers for earning points, like watching partnered videos, completing surveys, browsing offers, entering contests, and more
- Earn SB points for every dollar you spend
- Get access to exclusive deals and coupons to your favorite retailers
- Redeem for gift cards or cash back through PayPal
- Swagbucks Full Review
Paribus
- Sign-Up Bonus: Sign up for free. Paribus doesn’t always offer an initial sign-up bonus.
- Referral Bonus: None.
- Best Features:
- Paribus works with a cash back shopping portal of your liking. You don’t earn cash back shopping online. Instead, Paribus watches purchases you make online for price reductions afterwards, and claims price adjustment refunds for you.
- Purchases are tracked from 25+ major retailers
- Shipments from select online retailers, like Amazon, are tracked; receive compensation for late deliveries
- Book a hotel online and receive a lower rate from Paribus to help you rebook and get your money back
- Acquired by Capital One
- Paribus Full Review
iConsumer
- Sign-Up Bonus: Join for free and get 100 shares of iConsumer.
- Referral Bonus: As a member, invite your friends to join iConsumer. The first time each friend shops and earns cash back, you’ll earn 100 shares of stock in iConsumer. Refer via your referral link, Facebook, Twitter, Email or LinkedIn.
- Best Features:
- Get cash back, find great deals and coupons at over 1,900 stores online
- Earn shares of iConsumer
- iConsumer Full Review
Giving Assistant
- Sign-Up Bonus: Sign up for free. Giving Assistant doesn’t always offer an initial sign-up bonus.
- Referral Bonus: None.
- Best Features:
- Earn up to 30% cash back at over 3,200 cash back stores
- Donate any percentage of cash back earned to a charity of your choice
- Each time you shop with Giving Assistant, they’ll donate a meal to a needy family on your behalf
- Giving Assistant Full Review
Affinityy
- Sign-Up Bonus: Join for free and earn a $20 welcome bonus.
- Referral Bonus: After you sign up, refer your friends and family to earn up to $25 per referral. Earn money when your referrals complete tasks. For instance, you’ll earn $5 when your referral earns their first $5 in cash back. Then, earn another $5 when your referral makes their first premium purchase of at least $250. Finally, earn $15 when your referral signs up for a credit card through Affinityy.
- Best Features:
- Get cash back at hundreds of stores
- Redeem cash back through your PayPal account or have it mailed to you as a check
- Earn up to $50 cash back through Affinityy when you apply and get approved for a credit card
- Use Share & Earn to create your own unique affiliate links that you can share on social media. Every time someone clicks on your link and makes a purchase, you earn a portion of that cash back. This program is free, but there’s an option to pay $6.99 per month to earn twice as much on your qualified sales.
- Affinityy Full Review
Jewel
- Sign-Up Bonus: Earn a $5 bonus just for becoming a new member and reaching $15 in cash back earnings.
- Referral Bonus: For each qualified referral, you’ll receive a $5 bonus.
- Best Features:
- Earn cash back on luxury retail merchants
- Jewel features several exclusive merchants you won’t find on other cash back shopping sites, offering better rates for particular luxury brands
- Jewel Full Review
GoCashBack
- Sign-Up Bonus: Earn a $5 bonus when you create a free account.
- Referral Bonus: For each qualified referral, you’ll receive a $5 bonus.
- Best Features:
- Earn up to 31% cash back with thousands of stores, including Aliexpress
- Redeem cash back via PayPal, a mailed check, or Alipay
- Mobile app is available for iOS and Android
- GoCashBack Full Review
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Conclusion
Make sure to choose the cash back site(s) that fits your needs best. Always check the cash back site to see with the best rate for everything from goods, services, and travel. Consider setting your chosen cash back site as part of your tabbed home pages at browser launch. Finally, maximize your earnings by referring friends and family to use these shopping portals!
