In the US, online shopping is extremely common. Major brick-and-mortar retailers such as Walmart, Target, Nordstrom, and Sears all have their own websites for online purchases. While shipping may still lag behind Taobao in China, the service quality and after-sales support are absolutely top-notch. In recent years, especially around Black Friday, major retailers have also offered many great deals online, and online sales have continued to climb year after year.

As consumers, when we shop we should not only compare prices across stores and choose the product with the lowest price and biggest discount, but also take advantage of special offers provided by certain US websites. Before we get into the details, let’s look at an example of earning 2% cash back:

  • Suppose we want to buy a pair of headphones worth $100 at Target.
  • First, we click into a cash back site (ebates.com)
  • Then we find the Target link on that site, which shows 2% cash back.
  • We complete the purchase on Target’s website.
  • We then receive $2 cash back from ebates.

It’s a very simple process, but while buying the headphones you also earn some extra cash back. Below is a detailed introduction to cash back portals:

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What is a cash back portal?

Simply put, a cash back portal is an advertising platform for merchants. Here’s how it works: you see a merchant advertisement on the portal, click through the link to the merchant, and complete a purchase. The merchant then pays the portal an advertising commission; the portal keeps part of that money and returns part of it to the shopper as a reward for making the purchase through the portal. That way, everyone benefits.

Which cash back portals are good?

A good cash back portal usually stands out in several ways: high cash back rates, accurate tracking, broad merchant coverage, fast payouts, and solid customer service. Below are a few reliable portals that the blogger has personally used.

2.1 Ebates 

  • Sign-up bonus: sign-up link ($10 gift card upon sign-up, including Walmart, Target, and Macy's)
  • Tracking speed: usually 2–3 days; you can generally see the cash back after the item ships
  • Merchant coverage: fairly broad; most merchants can be found
  • Customer service: very good; if your cash back doesn’t track, you can submit an inquiry and they will usually honor it
  • Cash back rates: pretty good, and there are often double cash back promotions
  • Payout speed: cash back is paid out once each quarter, either by check or via PayPal

2.2 TopCashback

  • Sign-up bonus: sign-up link (sometimes $10)
  • Tracking speed: usually 2–3 days; you can generally see the cash back after the item ships
  • Merchant coverage: extremely broad; most merchants can be found
  • Customer service: average; if your cash back doesn’t track, you have to wait a month before submitting an inquiry
  • Cash back rates: high; many merchants offer strong rates, and sometimes exceptionally high ones
  • Payout speed: once the merchant pays, you can cash out (about 1 month), either to a bank account, PayPal, or as an Amazon gift card

Upromise (detailed introduction link)

  • Sign-up bonus: sign-up link ($20+$5 upon sign-up)
  • Tracking speed: slower, usually 2–3 weeks
  • Merchant coverage: fairly broad; you can often find niche merchants here
  • Customer service: haven’t tried it; it’s so slow that I forgot about it myself
  • Cash back rates: some unique merchants offer 5% (Staples, Best Buy, Walmart)
  • Payout speed: about 3 months, paid by check

The reason for choosing these three sites is that the first two cover most merchants with high cash back rates, while the last one is useful for certain merchants that offer a high 5% cash back only through that site.

How do you use one?

Let’s use ebates as an example. Suppose you want to buy cosmetics from sephora.com. (If you’re already registered, start from step 2.)

  • Click ebates.com to register, choose the gift card you want, and sign up with your email and password
eb1
  • Search for the store you want to shop at, sephora.com
eb2
  • Click to enter the Sephora page on the cash back portal
eb3
  • Click shop now and complete your purchase on sephora.com
eb4
  • After 2–3 days, ebates will send you an email letting you know that your cash back was successfully tracked.

What should you watch out for?

If you follow the steps in section 3 one by one, you will usually receive your cash back. That said, as a seasoned cash back portal user, I do have a few tips to share.

  • Before logging in to the cash back portal, first decide what you want to buy. Then close all pages, open only the portal, and enter the merchant’s site through the portal for the final shopping step, whether that’s adding items to your cart or checking out.
  • Turn off your browser’s adblock and similar ad-blocking extensions.
  • It’s best to use a browser you don’t normally use to open the portal and make purchases initiated through it.
  • If your cash back doesn’t post in time, you can submit an inquiry through the portal’s help function.
  • No matter where you find a deal, when shopping online don’t forget to start from the cash back portal.
  • When getting started with cash back, it’s best to focus on one site first. Once you’re comfortable with it, then add more.

Summary

Cash back portals are an essential tool for online shopping. While it may feel a little inconvenient to go to the portal before shopping, the rewards can be substantial, so why not? The same logic also applies to points-earning portals. For more, check the shopping portals offered by major credit cards and airlines.

Finally, here are the blogger’s cash back totals from the three major portals:

  • ebates
lal
  • TopCashback
ttt
  • upromise
uuu

Cash Back Portal Series