How to Earn Cash Back Rewards When You Shop Online

Archive  •  August 14, 2019  •  4 mins read
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In a perfect world, we could shop with unlimited money, and our bank account balances would never change. A perfect world might be all in our imagination, but there are very real ways that you can make money online just for shopping.

How to Earn Cash Back and Rewards Online When You Shop

Get Paid for Scanning Your Receipts

Brands will pay good money to learn more about how you shop. In fact, gathering data on the things you buy (and the things you don’t) helps them serve you better.

While opportunities like mystery shopping, focus groups and online surveys will often pay you for your opinions, finding the right ones (and being accepted) can be challenging. There are digital opportunities you can take advantage of today to earn rewards online instead.

Shopkick

Download the Shopkick app to earn points (called “kicks”) for scanning barcodes–on things you do and don’t buy. Scan barcodes on select items on the shelf to earn kick, and earn more when you purchase items from a variety of brands. When the app is activated, you can rack up points that you can redeem for gift cards to “treat yo’self!” Choose from some of your favorite retailers including Target, Starbucks, and Amazon.

Pros:

  • Shop in-store or online through Shopkick retailers
  • Earn kicks for just walking into a store (must have GPS and Bluetooth activated)

Cons:

  • Earn points, not cash
  • Only redeem for digital gift cards

Fetch Rewards

With Fetch, you can earn points for scanning grocery receipts. Every time you shop at a scan your receipt. You’ll earn points that you can redeem for gift cards.

Pros:

  • Earn points at hundreds of your favorite grocery stores
  • Use print or digital receipts

Cons:

  • Earn points, not cash
  • Only available for select grocery food brands

CoinOut

CoinOut gives you the opportunity to scan receipts and earn cash. With the app, you can easily see how much cash back you earn with each receipt. Then, you can have your funds transferred to your bank, Amazon, or PayPal account.

Pros:

  • Earn cash back, not points
  • No minimum required to cash out
  • Use print or digital receipts

Cons:

  • Funds can take up to 90 days to clear for cash out

How to Get Money Back with Special Offers

Some companies offer special exclusive offers that let you earn money back for your purchases. You can activate an offer to take advantage, or simply use your card and start swiping.

Ebates

Ebates is a giant in cash back retail. Just sign up and shop your favorite stores through their online portal. Discover exclusive cash back offers you can activate anytime to get started. Brands pay Ebates a percentage every time you make a purchase, and they pass that onto you in the form of cash. Then you can redeem for a check or PayPal deposit.

Pros:

  • Earn cash back, not points

Cons:

  • Receive checks once a quarter

Ibotta

With Ibotta, you can earn cash on your purchases. Take a photo of a receipt, link your supported store loyalty card, or shop brands directly within the app. Be sure to activate relevant offers before you buy to take advantage.

Pros:

  • Earn cash back with your receipts, loyalty card, or in-app shopping
  • Earn cash back, not points
  • Choose payment through PayPal or a gift card to select stores and restaurants

Cons:

  • Redeem when you have $20 in your account
  • Must activate offers before making a purchase

Dosh

With Dosh, you need to link your bank card to start earning cash back. Dosh regularly updates offers from major retailers, so you don’t have to keep up with online portals or activating offers. The deals change all the time, so you can always take advantage of offers to earn cash back. Just link your bank card and spend as usual. If Dosh has an active offer on something you purchase, they’ll automatically add the amount you’ve earned to your Dosh Wallet.

Pros:

  • Just link your bank card and spend as usual
  • Redeem to your bank account, PayPal or the charity of your choice
  • Earn cash back

Cons:

  • Redeem when you have $25 in your account

Be sure to check out these sites for the most current terms and offers. Always read the company’s Privacy Policy to learn about how they handle your personal information.

1. *IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR OPENING A NEW DEPOSIT ACCOUNT: To help the federal government fight the funding of terrorism and money laundering activities, the USA PATRIOT Act requires us to obtain, verify, and record information that identifies each person who opens an Account. WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOU When you open an Account, we will ask for your name, street address, date of birth, and government ID number. We may also ask to see a copy of your driver’s license or other documents at any time. All Accounts are opened subject to our ability to verify your identity by requiring acceptable types of identification. We may validate the information you provide to us to ensure we have a reasonable belief of your identity. If we are not able to verify your identity to our satisfaction, we will not open your Account or we may close the Account if it was previously funded. Your Account is subject to fraud prevention restrictions at any time, with or without notice.

2. Netspend Payback Rewards is an optional program. You may opt-out at any time by visiting your Netspend Payback Rewards Summary Page at your Online Account Center. The reward offers we choose and send to you are based on your shopping habits. Netspend will not share any personal information about you with the merchants who sponsor offers. When you activate an offer and make a purchase with the card, the merchant will not know you are a Netspend Payback Rewards customer, but you will become their customer. For more details about how and when you get rewarded, see the program FAQs, terms and conditions in your Online Account Center. Cash back rewards are credited to your Account and are not available in the form of a check or other direct payment method. Program sponsor: Netspend Corporation. MetaBank® is not affiliated in any way with the program and neither endorses nor sponsors it. Any information, recommendations, as well as optional programs and products directly offered by or made available through Netspend Payback Rewards are neither endorsed, guaranteed, nor administered by MetaBank for which Netspend Corporation is a service provider.

3. Faster funding claim is based on a comparison of our policy of making funds available upon receipt of payment instruction versus the typical banking practice of posting funds at settlement. Fraud prevention restrictions may delay availability of funds with or without notice. Early availability of funds requires payor’s support of direct deposit and is subject to the timing of payor’s payment instruction.

The ACE Flare Account is established by MetaBank, Member FDIC. Netspend, a TSYS® Company, is a service provider to MetaBank. Certain products and services may be licensed under U.S. Patent Nos. 6,000,608 and 6,189,787.

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