Cashback sites are very straightforward and easy to use; you simply join up and then you shop via their site, and it gives you money in return. The sites get paid by retailers for successful transactions made through their sites, so there are no hidden costs or catches. The only slight downside to cash back sites is that you have to sometimes wait a while for your cash back to clear and be claimable. It can take a while, but it [almost] always arrives in the end. Some, such as changing your home insurance or car insurance, can bring big payouts.
Topcashback.
Firstly, there is TopCashback. This is my favourite cashback site. It is free to join up and use, although there is a Plus membership which costs £5 per year. However, you don’t need to pay this to use the cashback site, so I wouldn’t!
The percentage you get back from shopping at Topcashback does depend on the shop you’re using and the amount you receive can also fluctuate. Different types of companies offer very different rates. Also, it can also change if you’re a new customer verses an existing customer. Don’t let that put you off though! Cashback can really add up quickly. On the homepage there are what Topcashback call ‘red hot offers’ – look at the difference in cashback here:
How it works
So, for example, if I wanted to get some products from Boots, I’d log into TopCashback and type Boots in the search box. Then, if you click on Boots and then Cashback, it should open a new window (or tab) which is tracked by TopCashback. Boots is currently unto 8% cashback, so anything you purchase will be noted by TopCashback and you’ll soon have some cashback as pending. That’s it! You then have to wait until it’s conformed and then payable; you can then choose how you want your cashback to be paid, as either cash or vouchers!
Quidco.
Quidco is another cashback website, which essentially works in the same way. Again, it is free to join to sign up is quick and easy. Like Topcashback, there is a premium membership that costs £5 but you can use it without. If you can’t find the company you want to buy something from on Topcashback, chances are that Quidco will have it, and vice versa. You’ll get some cashback somewhere!
Quidco tends to be slower on payouts; it can take up to six months for payments to be cleared through them. You can get your cashback as money through BACS, Paypal or vouchers. So that is the same as Topcashback.
How it works
Again, Quidco works in the same way as Topcashback. You search for the company you want to buy something from and go via the Quidco website. The cookies on there will track your purchase and later on that day you should see it as pending in your account. Again, there are various offers Quidco offer on their homepage, which looks like this:
Swagbucks.
I’ve written a whole post about Swagbucks and how to boost your income using that site, so I’ll link to that here. But, the premise is the same again when your’e shopping; go through the website first and you’ll earn points on your purchase. You can then exchange these points for cash or vouchers, just in the same way as cashback. So simple!
Both Mr FC and I use cashback websites; they’re especially good when it comes to renewing home insurance, car insurance and larger, one off expenses as the cashback tends to be higher. We have recently renewed our home insurance and went through TopCashback after researching all of the deals online, and we could get the cheaper home insurance going via TopCashback and also gained £25 cashback for doing so. This is great because it’s something we were going to get anyway, as it’s an essential item in our annual budget, and we got some free cash as well.
Do you use cashback sites? What has been your biggest win with them? I’d love to hear from you in the comments!
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I had no idea swagbucks was a cashback website! I used it years ago for surveys but didn’t get on well with them so I haven’t looked again since. Thank you for the tip 🙂
Shopmium and Checkoutsmart are good apps to use for groceries