One reason you might shop online is because it is cheaper than buying the same product at a traditional store at retail price. It’s why sites like Amazon and eBay have been two of the most successful e-commerce sites. While you can save money at these two sites, you probably don’t do all your online shopping exclusively at them. These are some of the best cash back apps to help you save money on nearly every online purchase.
Ebates
Ebates is probably the largest and well-known cash back app due to their advertising campaign and the fact that you can also apply for the Ebates credit card to save an additional 3% cash back reward and you have the opportunity to get cash back on in-store purchases at 30 participating retailers.
You can earn cash back at over 2,000 online retailers with the average cash back rate ranging from 2% to 8%. Ebates will send you a “Big Fat Check” after earning more than $5 in cash back rewards on a quarterly basis. For example, if you earn $6 between January and March, you will get a check in the mail from Ebates in mid-April.
Sign-Up Bonus: You also have the opportunity to earn a $10 bonus credit after making your first $25 purchase.
Giving Assistant
This second cash back app recommendation is very similar to Ebates and is better is some ways. Giving Assistant seems to have a higher payout on more websites than Ebates (when there’s a payout difference) and it has more a more flexibile payout schedule.
Another unique feature of Giving Assistant is that they will donate a meal for each reward purchase made through their site! So, you get cash back and a person in need receives a meal.
You will need to earn $5.99 in cash back rewards, but, you can receive the payment weekly via PayPal or with a quarterly paper check for no additional charge.
Sign-up bonus: Earn $5 bonus after making a $25 purchase.
Honey
If you like to shop at Amazon, most cash back apps will not be able to save you additional money. With Honey, you have the best opportunity to save money at Amazon because this app will automatically enter the various coupon codes into the checkout screen to save you some additional bucks. This saves you time because you no longer have to enter the various discount codes you might see like “TRIPLE15” or “SAVE10” only to find out it doesn’t work.
Honey will also do this same function for just about any other online retailer, even when you place an online order for pizza!
Like Ebates and Giving Assistant, Honey allows you to earn cash back on your purchases with it’s “Honey Gold” feature that will reward you a mystery amount depending on the items you buy. For example, you might get a flat 6% cash back at Macy’s using Ebates but can get anywhere from 1-20% by using Honey. It’s a gamble as you won’t know your total reward rate until you have completed the purchase.
Once you accumulate $10 rewards, you can redeem them for Amazon gift cards.
Sign-Up Bonus: $1 for signing up
SwagBucks
If you like spending time along with spending money to get cash back, SwagBucks is the perfect cash back app for you. Like the others on this list, you have the ability to accumulate points called Swagbucks when you use their shopping portal and also earn additional bucks by watching online videos, playing games, taking surveys, or even surfing the web.
After accumulating enough points, you can redeem them for gift cards to your favorite restaurant, store, or for PayPal cash. When redeeming points, gift cards are worth 1% of the points you redeem. For example, a $25 gift card will cost 2,500 points. Redemptions start at 300 points for $3 gift cards to places like Dunkin’ Donuts or eBay.
If you want to redeem your points for cash, instead of merchandise gift cards, the minimum reward is $25. If you want cash rewards, it might be better using Ebates or Giving Assistant because of the lower redemption amounts.
Sign-Up Bonus: 50 Swagbucks after earning 250 in the first 7 days of membership
What’s the Best Cash Back App for Online Shopping?
The best cash back for you ultimately depends on how you spend & what rewards you want to earn (cash, Amazon gift cards, etc.). The sign-up bonus can also be influential as well as that’s “free” money. If you frequently shop online, you might even benefit from signing up for two apps!
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