Get cash back and save money on online purchases with this simple trick.
You will be kicking yourself that you hadn’t tried this sooner, you can literally save a fortune on purchases at zero cost to you.
What is cashback?
Cashback sites work through something called affiliate marketing, this is essentially where websites will link through to another companies products or services using a trackable link. If the customer then buys something, the website that referred the customer can get a referral fee for bringing them that customer.
Where does the cashback money come from?
So cashback sites essentially just remove the middleman and give you the referral fee. Say you want to buy a laptop from Apple, you would go to TopCashBack or Quidco, search for Apple, click through to the Apple website using the referral link and then make your purchase. Apple then pays Quidco or TopCashBack for that referral and they pass on the full amount to you.
How long does it take to get the money?
The purchase is tracked and will show in your Quidco or TopCashBack account, ready to be confirmed by the store. This generally can take the length of the returns period plus a bit of extra time for it to be processed. Once you start using these types of sites you will find that after a while you just have a steady flow of payments trickling in.
Will it cost me any money?
No payment details are needed for cashback sites apart from to withdraw the money you earn. TopCashBack takes the first £5 of your earning per year, if you don’t meet that threshold then you don’t pay anything.
Quidco, on the other hand, has a completely free tier where you pay nothing and then a premium tier that takes the £5 a year of your earnings in exchange for higher payment rates and some other little extras.
They are both essentially free services because the £5 you are paying is money that you couldn’t otherwise obtain yourself without going to a lot of hassle.
How much will I make per transaction?
This is entirely dependant on what the retailer is offering at the time, the best cashback amounts tend to revolve around subscriptions like utility bill or broadband provider switches. But you can generally earn between 1% – 20% cashback on single purchases.
What is the minimum payout amount?
At the time of writing this, both TopCashBack and Quidco offer payouts from £1 in the form of vouchers and then cash thresholds start from £5. You can get a bank transfer or Paypal as cash payments or choose a retailer voucher or gift card that generally offers you a little more for your money.
Can I use multiple cashback sites on one purchase?
No, only one referral link can be used on a purchase. So the last link you click will be the referrer for that purchase. So if you click on a Quidco or TopCashBack link and then do a little research online of the product and link to it from another website, the odds are you will have overwritten that Quidco or TopCashBack link. You need to make sure that is the last link you click outside of the store before making the purchase.
What happens if I return items?
Any returned items will be declined for cashback, sometimes a straight swap will go through and be honored, but a refund or store credit return will be declined, as the money was never spent or retained by the store.
What if I want to buy in-store rather than online?
A lot of companies offer cashback on click and collect, meaning you can pay online and collect in store if you don’t want the hassle of waiting on deliveries. There is also an option to add your debit or credit cards to Quidco or TopCashBack and they will then track in-store purchases for associated retailers and automatically add the cashback claim to your account. This is great because it means you can make impulse purchases in the high-street stores and still get cashback on them.
Can I do this with anything bought online?
The vast majority of things you can get cashback on including
– Electronics
– Insurance
– Travel
– Clothing
– Holidays
But there are certain stores that don’t offer it and some that offer much better cashback rates than others. You just need to shop around and work out what saves you the most money.
Which is better, Quidco or TopCashBack?
If you want my opinion, just sign up to both. Use the one that has the best cashback rate for the product/s you are buying. Both have different retailers so you may need to search both to find the one that you want to buy through.
What will stop me from getting cash back on products and purchases?
Now, this varies from store to store but usually the rule is that if you use a discount coupon / promo code or any other offer then you may have your cashback legitimately declined. Returns will also get your cashback declined, as mentioned above.
What country do I need to be to use these sites?
The beauty of cashback sites is that they work almost anywhere. There can be some restrictions, but you can check these before buying.
So what are you waiting for? Sign up and start saving today!
You can sign up to Quidco here
You can sign up to TopCashBack here
