4 Ways To Profit From Cashback Sites
Cashback sites have been around in some shape or form since practically the dawn of the internet. While they have always been a good way to get some money back for purchases you make, they are increasingly becoming an excellent way to actually earn a sizeable profit, with a little bit of time and minimal effort.
The general idea of cashback sites is simple: in exchange for referring you to various other sites, cashback sites receive
commission when you register or purchase something. The cashback site then passes some or all of this back to you.
This is a great way to get a discount on items, services or holidays you were already planning to purchase anyway. If you're about to buy something on Amazon or book a hotel with Hotels.com, it's always worth going via a cashback site.
Even better though is the opportunity to use cashback sites to actually come away with more money than you started with. Here are four ways in which you can do this.
Profit from loss leaders
The opportunity to make a really decent profit from these sites comes when the amount of cashback is actually more than the amount of money you have to spend. Strange as this may sound, there are actually loads of these offers available at any one time.
From the website's point of view this is a sort of loss leader. They'll pay you to try out their site in the hope that you'll keep using it thereafter and spend more money with them. But there's no obligation to do this so you can easily make a profit by spending the exact amount require to get the cashback and then never using them again (unless you really want to of course!).
The majority of sites that offer this type of reward (but not all) are either casino sites, poker sites, bingo sites or betting sites - please note however, this is NOT about gambling. This is about depositing and wagering only the exact amount required (as specified by the cashback site) in order to receive the higher amount of cashback. I suppose it goes without saying that if you've ever had a gambling addiction this probably isn't the best idea, otherwise there's nothing to worry about.
There are some great offers to be taken up in this. At the time of writing, for example, you can get £40 through Quidco by depositing and wagering £10 with Gala Bingo, or 7500 points on Maximiles points (worth around £30) if you deposit and wager £5 on Ladbrokes. So just by taking up these two offers you would receive a minimum of £70 for just £15 outlay. Not to mention all the other similar offers available to take advantage of.
I say a 'minimum' of £70 because, although the purpose of this exercise is certainly not to gamble, while you are wagering the required amount there's always a chance you may well win money on the website as well. For instance, while playing through £10 on Gala Bingo you may end up winning a couple of games and end up with £30 in your account. You're well within your rights to withdraw your winnings and will still be entitled to the full amount of cashback.
For this reason the key thing to do is to count every penny you wager, as you wager it. Any winnings will be lumped in with the rest of your balance, so you need to know when you've wagered the required amount so you can withdraw any winnings immediately once you have. One thing to note is that some websites have a minimum withdrawal limit (eg. on Gala Bingo you must have a balance of at least £30 to make a withdrawal). You can check this sort of thing in their terms and conditions before you register. Of course, any winnings should just be conisdered a bonus; remember that the primary reason for any of this is to make a profit from the amount of cashback you are offered.
By using this method for a number of different sites you can make several hundred pounds in a relatively short space of time (although do bear in mind that cashback can take weeks, or sometimes even months, to show up in your account).
Get paid for visiting stores
As far as we know, this one is only available through Quidco
at the moment, although I'm sure others will follow. This is also only possible if you have a smartphone.
When you download the Quidco app, there is a section which shows you nearby deals available, in order of which ones are nearest to you. These can either be deals for in store cashback, or what they call 'check in' rewards.
For the check in rewards, all you have to do is be present in the store (or just outside it usually works too!) and then click the check in button. The app will verify your location and then award you the cash automatically. You don't need to purchase anything.
These rewards are typically between £0.05 and £0.20 each, so they're certainly not worth a special trip out for. However, if you're already in town you will likely be able to find a few stores that you'll be passing anyway, so make sure you 'check in' to these as you're passing by to earn a bit of extra cash.
Get paid for trialling subscription services
Another way to earn money with no expenditure is to take up free trials of subscription services. TV subscription services are
perfect for this as they regularly offer good amounts of cashback for a free month's trial.
As an example, Top Cashback are currently offering £15.15 cashback if you take up a free month of Lovefilm.
The key thing to remember if you are doing this is to cancel your subscription before the month is up. For some of these services there is an auto-renew function that you can immediately switch off so it will automatically cancel when the month is up.
Unsurprisingly, many don't have an auto-renew function, in which case you will need to manually contact them before the trial ends to confirm you wish to cancel.
As well as TV services there are other types of subscriptions available that offer money for free trials, such as credit rating services, like Equifax and Experian.
Always check the cashback terms for any of these trials. Some require you to use the service a certain amount before they will pay out. For example, Now TV requires you to watch at least 90 minutes of footage during your trial to qualify, and other TV services have similar terms.
Free cashback offers
Cashback sites nearly always having a section dedicated to earning free cashback, which require no subscription
cancellation and no outlay.
These generally involve registering for a site, ordering free SIMs, entering competitions or getting quotes. Cashback is minimal, usually a couple of quid or less, but these types of offer usually require very little effort.
At the time of writing this the best example is £2.27 from Top Cashback for getting a car insurance quote on Go Compare.
Cashback sites are also not regulated so if one does go under any balance you have goes under with it. For this reason always make sure you request payments as regularly as possible to avoid losing out.
Are you a regular cashback site user? Ever had any particularly good or bad experiences? Share your thoughts below.
