Rakuten Review: Is it legit or a scam?
Rakuten (formerly called Ebates) is a cashback shopping rewards company that provides discounts and rebates for shopping with their thousands of affiliated businesses from Amazon to Groupon. But what does that even mean and is it legit?
I have been a Rakuten (Ebates) user since 12/2017 and in that time I’ve received $327.70 in cashback with most of my rebates accruing the past year. So how is it possible for Rakuten to give out “free” money like this? Simple: affiliate marketing. The stores give Rakuten a commission for driving sales to their site and Rakuten, in turn, shares half of their commission with you in a form of a rebate.
For example, right now 1800Flowers is offering a 10% rebate, which means if you spend $200, you will get a $20 rebate. Some companies offer a flat amount like Mintmobile that gives $10 for any purchase amount. My biggest payout was in November, I’m an early Christmas shopper!
Recently, Rakuten has added In-Store rebates. So you can go to your favorite brick and mortar store on their list and with a credit you have linked to Rakuten you can earn rebates.
Now that you know how Rakuten works, let’s cover the pros and cons:
Pro
- It’s 100% free
- Easy sign-up
- PayPal or Check Payout
- Browser Extension so you can just shop normally and it will let you know if a rebate is available on the site you are on has a rebate
- Helpful FAQs and quick turn response and resolutions from customer service.
Con
- Payouts are 3 months apart
- You can only choose PayPal or Check
- Sometimes your order is not tracked and you have to contact customer service (see above)
- The rebates % are variable and change often
Conclusion:
Get a little more from your online shopping habit. It is a great way to earn a little money back for free and they make it easy and simple.
The Skinny:
Also, if you use my sign-up link you get $10 after you make a purchase of $25 and what I get is a referral a commission from Rakuten. Obviously, you don’t have to use my link, but I’d appreciate it if you did!
