Reward / Cashback
Sites
This
Is Basically FREE Money Just For Using The Internet Normally
If
you've never heard of reward sites before then you've been missing out on some serious money-saving,
and the chance of picking up some extra cash for nothing!
They won't make you a fortune because it's not a business,
but they will give you a steady stream of extra income, or help
you keep more of that hard earned cash so you can keep it
under the mattress (or even put it in the bank if you prefer).
Companies
partner with these sites and pay them for advertising, and you get back a percentage of that money when
you purchase something from the retailer, as long as you click through from the cashback site. You get
paid for signing up to newsletters, entering prize
draws, doing online surveys or just taking whatever is on
offer at the time. You can get paid for opening
bank accounts, applying for credit cards,
taking out loans and insurances, ordering free SIM cards, or joining online casinos & betting sites, among many other options.
It's
literally FREE money with no strings or hidden
costs, and you can make great savings when you buy almost
anything online from the partner sites. You can even earn
money every day just for using price comparison sites!
For
example, say you wanted to buy a laptop from a computer store
that is partnered with a reward site. If you bought it online for £499 that is what you
would pay. However, if that company is offering a 3% discount
by clicking through from the reward site you would get the
laptop for £499 and then get 3% back in cash, or points
that convert to cash when the transaction is complete, usually
after a set period of time like a month or two.
I
have saved so much money by using these sites
over the years, and made money by utilising many of the free services offered on a daily basis (see above). It's usually
only small amounts, but over time they all add up
to a nice cheque or Paypal payment once you have
collected the minimum amount for redeeming.
If
you're careful and don't get carried away by buying stuff
you don't need, you can never actually lose money because
you would normally go straight to the online store and pay
the normal price anyway, which is the worst thing that can
happen.
A word of warning though, companies don't always pay up. For instance, I bought car insurance from Marks & Spencer some years ago, but despite doing everything correctly they found some excuse to not pay me (they refused to tell me what it was when I phoned them, so you need to ensure you're getting it for a good price even without the cashback).
That was me finished with them for good, but when you're buying insurance in particular, be aware that there's always a chance you won't get your cashback. The main thing is that they don't like you checking price comparison sites before clicking through to order via the cashback site.
Why? I suspect it's because they raise the prices for reward sites so the discount isn't as good as it should be, and checking a comparison site will show this, so always check the forums or comments section of these sites to see how particular companies have fared with payouts, and just be aware that there's always a chance you won't get your cashback, or it doesn't track for some reason. However, if you're going to buy an item anyway then you can't lose, you can only gain.
One other thing is that the deals aren't as good now as they were a few years ago, especially at online casinos, and you have to ensure you follow the cashback requirements precisely, or you won't get paid. Some don't pay up anyway, so never spend money you can't afford to lose.
I'm no gambler, but using casinos via reward sites used to be an almost guaranteed way of making money. You heard that right, I'm well in the black playing casinos via reward sites, despite having lost every single penny I've ever deposited, because some of the deals you used to get were fantastic. I once joined a casino where the betting requirements to get the cashback were to deposit and bet (lose) £20, but I got £100 in cashback for doing this (after a long wait)!
Of course it's risky as you might not get the cashback (remember, you NEVER win at these places unless you have a massive slice of luck, so you're nearly always going to lose your deposit), but if you're disciplined and careful it can be rewarding and fun. However, if you do lose out never, ever, deposit more money trying to get it back!
I no longer do it as much as I did as the rewards are much smaller now and the chances of getting the cashback lower than it was then, but I've still made some gains recently because I pick and choose the ones I use, and always check what other members are saying about it, so it's up to you.
You also can't earn as much from price checking websites either, nor do so many do this as they were paying out so much money, but it's still free money.
Below
are some of the best Reward (or Cashback) sites I use, along
with some screenshots of my accounts. Since these screeshots
were taken, even more money may have been earned and redeemed.
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