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What if I were to tell you that there is a way you could earn money back for buying things online and it’s completely free to use with no catch and no hidden costs or fees? Would you use it?
If the answer is yes, then Rakuten may be right for you!
Rakuten is an online shopping portal that gives you cash back for your online and in-store purchases. Online purchases even include travel booked on sites such as Expedia and Hotels.com.
I first started using Rakuten back in December of 2017. Since then I have gotten over $600 in cash back and 612 Amex Membership Rewards points (worth $6.12) in a little over three years.
Here’s the breakdown:
- Total Money Spent: $10,237.25
- Total Cash Back from Purchases: $536.66
- Total Cash Back from Bonuses: $67.36
- Total Cash Back: $604.02
Excluding the bonuses (sign-up bonus and referrals), I got $536.66 back on spending $10,237.25 for a net return of 5.2% in three years.
Not too shabby!
Every purchase made was for things I was already going to buy regardless of whether I was going to get cash back or not. But because I used Rakuten, I was able to get some money back.
Here is everything you need to know about Rakuten so you can start earning cash back for your online purchases and whether or not it is worth it.
What is Rakuten?
Rakuten is an affiliate marketing company that has its own online shopping portal. Formerly known as Ebates, Rakuten helps consumers like us save money on things we buy.
They were founded in 1998 and have been giving consumers cash back for over 20 years! I only wished I had learned of them earlier so I wouldn’t have missed out on all the cash back I would have earned from all of my online purchases.
They have partnerships with over 2,500 retailers and consumers like us can earn anywhere from 1% to 40% cash back (though I personally have only seen 20% as the highest so far). Retailers such as Target, Walmart, Macy’s, Apple, and many others are all on Rakuten.
Now, some of you may be thinking what’s the catch with Rakuten, and are they a scam.
They’re definitely not a scam. There really isn’t a catch other than them tracking your online shopping habits and decisions and they may sell this data to their partners. So you may get emails from retailers you’ve never shopped at or heard of before, but it seems like we all get these types of emails nowadays no matter what we do.
Pros and Cons
Getting cash back for your purchases is definitely great, but sometimes it may not be a great thing. Let’s look at some of the pros and cons.
Pros
- Easy to use: Rakuten makes earning cash back from your purchases easy with its browser extension and user-friendly website.
- Cash back: This is the reason why I’m writing about Rakuten and why you are reading this. You essentially are getting paid for buying things you were already going to buy. This can help you put more money towards savings or pay off debt.
- Cash back up to 40%: You can get cash back as high as 40% although personally, I’ve seen it typically around 10% to 20% for most stores during Rakuten promotions.
- Cash back posts the next day: By far one of my favorite things about Rakuten. Cash back is posted on your account the next day. This has been true for me for the most part with a few exceptions.
- Thousands of cash back opportunities: Rakuten has over 2,500 stores. Chances are you can get cash back no matter what you are shopping for.
- Referral program: Rakuten has a generous referral program that allows you to earn money for referring your friends to join Rakuten. Your friends often can get a higher sign-up bonus through your referral link compared to signing up on their own, which encourages them to use your link.
Cons
- Pays quarterly: You only get your money once a quarter and a total of 4 times a year. This is a bummer if you are in need of money. Rakuten also only pays you if you have more than $5.
- Impulse buying: Getting cash back for your purchases can be quite appealing and encourage impulse buys, particularly when the cash back deal is great. But remember, you are still spending money so make sure you are intentional with your shopping and buy things you need and were already planning on purchasing.
- Certain categories are excluded: Nearly all stores have products that are exempt from getting cash back. Be sure to read the fine print in the Cash Back Terms section on the Rakuten website. It’s located at the top of the screen when you select a store on the Rakuten website, making it easy to find.
Why does Rakuten give you cash back and how do they make money?
As an affiliate marketing company, Rakuten makes a commission for referring you to the retailer and they give you some of their commission in the form of cash back or Amex Membership Rewards (MR) points. By doing so, they incentivize people to keep making purchases through them.
Affiliate marketing is when companies reward influencers for helping them promote their brand, product, and services.
It’s a win-win-win situation. The retailer gets marketing help, which in turn leads to more sales. Rakuten makes some money and we as the consumer also make some money. How great is that?
How does Rakuten work?
Purchasing through Rakuten is no different than how you would normally shop. Instead of going directly to the retailer’s website, you first go to Rakuten’s website and search for the retailer you want to shop at. Then you activate the cash back by clicking the “Shop Now” button.
Rakuten will then bring you right to the retailer’s website and you can begin shopping.
Since you are directed straight to the retailer’s website, shopping through Rakuten is no different than if you had gone directly to the store site. The only difference here is that you’ll earn some money back on qualifying purchases because you accessed the store through your Rakuten account.
Doing so, Rakuten places cookies in your web browser so that it can track your shopping activity. These cookies are what make it possible to earn cash back. The retailers use these cookies to track that you were using Rakuten so that they can pay Rakuten, which in turn pay us a portion of their cut.
Rakuten browser extension button
An easier way to use Rakuten is to install their web browser extension. It’s a button that automatically prompts you the cash back earning rate whenever you visit a retailer site that is a partner of Rakuten.
To activate the cash back, you simply click the button when it pops up on a retailer’s website.
Smart Living Tip: Sometimes the button does not work. When you are on a store’s website and the button does not pop up, click the Rakuten icon button and type in the store’s name in the search bar to make sure there is no cash back offer.
Installing the web browser extension also automatically shows you the earning rate directly above the participating retailers that show up in your Google search results. This is a great feature because it allows you to search for a product with Google and quickly see which retailer offers the highest cash back without having to go to each retailer site individually.
Is Rakuten safe to use?
Rakuten is perfectly safe to use. The only thing here to be aware of is that Rakuten does place cookies in your web browser to track your shopping history and habits.
They may also provide this information to their partners, which means you may see the same items pop up in ads the next time you visit a website. The thing is, in today’s data-driven online world, information on our shopping habits and decisions are tracked all the time.
Have you ever visited a retailer’s website and browsed a few products only to see them show up in ads when you visit other websites? If you have, that means your data was tracked.
And because of that, I personally do not mind using online shopping portals like Rakuten. If my data is already going to be tracked regardless, then I might as well get money back from my purchases.
Does it cost anything to use Rakuten?
Nope.
Rakuten is completely free to use. No hidden fees and costs because retailers pay for their affiliate marketing services. It wouldn’t be smart for Rakuten to charge their users as they will most likely not gain many users.
When and how will you get paid?
If you have money (more than $5) in your cash back balance, Rakuten will pay you once a quarter based on the schedule below.
| Purchases Made | Payment Issued |
|---|---|
|
January 1 - March 31 |
May 15 |
|
April 1 - June 30 |
August 15 |
|
July 1 - September 30 |
November 15 |
|
October 1 - December 31 |
February 15 |
You only get paid a total of 4 times a year, which may or may not be a good thing for you. The positive is that since you cannot use the money until you get paid, you end up saving and accumulating money every quarter. The negative is that you cannot use the money if you really needed it such as in emergencies.
There are two ways in which you can receive your cash back balance from Rakuten:
- Big Fat Check
- PayPal
If you choose the “Big Fat Check” option, Rakuten will mail you a check once a quarter based on the schedule above to the address listed on your account. This is your only option if you do not have a PayPal account.
If you choose PayPal, your money will be deposited directly into the PayPal account of your choice. This is the faster and safer option if you need money quickly.
Unique Rakuten features
Rakuten does more than just help you earn cash back for your online purchases.
They also allow you to earn cash back from purchases made in the store and automatically apply available discount codes from the retailer to help you save money on your purchases.
Automatically applies discount codes
Rakuten has the most recent and up-to-date discount codes from the retailer and automatically applies these codes to your purchase at checkout (sometimes when viewing your bag/cart). A pop-up automatically appears and prompts you to apply a number of different available codes.
Be careful when using this feature as my latest experience showed me that Rakuten does not stack discount codes that are combinable. It only applies the one code that provides the greatest savings even though there are multiple codes that can be used together. As a result, you will have to manually add the other codes.
In-store cash back
Prefer to shop in the retailer’s physical store? No problem.
Rakuten also allows you to earn cash back when you shop in the store just like you would online. All you would need to do is activate the in-store offer through either the site or app, link a credit card to the offer, and pay with your linked credit card at checkout.
If you have multiple credit cards saved in your account profile, the in-store offer will automatically link to all your cards, which makes choosing the card to use that gives you the highest earnings a lot easier. If you have the mobile app, you can do easily do this while you are in the store.
You will earn the cash back once Rakuten gets confirmation of your purchase from the retailer. This process may take a few hours or it could take days.
Based on my experience, the number of retailers available with in-store cash back is fewer than if you were to shop online. The cash back rates are also usually lower. So if you want to maximize your earnings, shopping online is your best bet.
Getting started
Getting started with Rakuten is very easy and straightforward. All you need is an email address and create a password.
You also will need to provide your mailing address so they can send you a “Big Fat Check” each quarter or link a PayPal account if you would like Rakuten to deposit the money directly into your PayPal account. You do not have to link a bank account or credit card unless you want to shop in the store and earn cash back.
You can typically get the best sign-up offer by joining through a referral link. The regular sign-up bonus is only $10 but currently, you can get $20 and I’ve seen it as high as $40 recently. You can sign up through my referral link below.
Rakuten
Sign up with my referral link and earn free money from your every day online and in-store purchases with Rakuten!
Once you sign-up, you can then search for a specific retailer on their site for cash back offers.
Rakuten makes it easy to find cash back deals by category with their Double Cash Back Stores, Hot Deals, In-Store Cash Back, and Travel & Vacations categories.
Once you decide to shop at a particular store, click the Shop Now button and Rakuten will direct you to that store’s website. From there, it is no different than if you had gone directly to the store’s website.
I recommend installing the Rakuten Button browser extension to make activating the portal easier and so you will not forget to activate your cash back offer and get free money.
Rakuten referral program
If you want more ways to earn money with Rakuten, they also have an incredibly generous referral program that can help BOTH you and your friends earn cash just for referring your friends.
The process is simple. You refer your friends to Rakuten. They sign up with your referral link and spend a minimum required amount (between $20-$40 depending on the offer), and you both get cash.
It’s a win-win for everyone!
Rakuten’s referral bonus changes from time to time. I have seen it as high as $40 for both you and your friend. Currently, if your friends sign-up and spend $20, you get $20 for each referral and each of your friends gets $20 (the regular sign-up bonus is $10 so it’s best to sign up through a referral link to get the most cash).
Rakuten cash back Visa credit card
Rakuten has their own credit card that allows you to earn cash back on top of the cash back you earn from using the portal. It’s like getting double cash back. The drawback to this card is that the cash back you earned with this card is also paid to you according to the same quarterly schedule.
I personally do not recommend this card as there are many better credit cards out there. But, here is everything you need to know about this card.
Welcome bonus
The Rakuten Cash Back Visa credit card gives you a $10 welcome bonus offer for signing up. You will receive this bonus after making your first purchase.
Cash back earning rate and annual fee
The Rakuten Cash Back Visa credit card allows you to earn an extra 3% cash back on qualifying purchases made through the Rakuten portal (includes in-store purchases) and Rakuten Dining. It also allows you to earn 1% cash back on all other purchases made everywhere Visa credit cards are accepted.
The amount of cash back you can earn is unlimited and there is no annual fee for the card.
You can stack the cash back earned with this card with the cash back you get from using the portal. For instance, if the portal offers 3% cash back, then you will be earning 3% + 3% = 6% cash back.
Smart Living Tip: The ability to stack cash back is not unique to this credit card. You can stack any credit card rewards, whether it’s cash back or points/miles, with the cash back earned with the Rakuten portal.
Other perks and benefits
Since Rakuten’s credit card is a Visa card, it has a few standard perks and benefits such as price protection, return protection, extended warranty, and rental car insurance.
Security
Rakuten is a very secure site so you do not have to worry about having your information stolen or hacked. They are certified as compliant by the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council (PCI), which means all of your sensitive data is sufficiently encrypted and safe.
They do not require you to enter any payment information such as credit card information to use their services. You only need is an active email address to sign-up and use the portal.
Be sure to read their Privacy Policy to understand what and how Rakuten uses your data and information. They do state that they collect various types of information, including information about you and your spending habits, location, and history of purchases. They also state they do share the information collected about you with their third-party partners.
Collecting and sharing consumer information for marketing purposes is common practice these days that it is nearly impossible to completely avoid. This is the reason why you sometimes see ads on other websites for the exact items you were browsing online or get emails from retailers and merchants that you never heard of. This is something to be aware of if you are concerned about how companies use your data.
Final thoughts
All in all, Rakuten is a great way to passively earn free money from online and in-store purchases you were already going to make if you are not too concerned about having your information tracked and shared.
It is nearly impossible to avoid having any of our information collected and shared in today’s technology-driven world. The way I see it is if my information is going to be collected anyway, why not get some money back. Rakuten is also accredited by the Better Business Bureau (BBB), which may help ease your mind.
I’ve been using Rakuten for three years now and it’s still one of my favorite online shopping portals to earn money from shopping online.
Just remember to be wary of and resist the urge to spend just because you get free money from Rakuten, especially when there is a great cash back offer. Be sure to be intentional and purchase things you need and were planning on buying. Also, make sure to stay within your guilt-free spending money based on your H2O Money Plan.
When used wisely, Rakuten is definitely worth it and can be an asset of yours, putting money in your pocket. If you are ready to start shopping smarter and earn money back, you can sign up for Rakuten here through my referral link and earn the referral sign-up bonus.
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