Rakuten: Cash Back on Online Shopping
I’ve received $242 in cash back from Rakuten with almost no effort.
I hate gimmicks, so I’m going to tell you straight:
Rakuten isn’t a way to “save” money. It’s a way to spend a little less on the shopping you’re already doing anyway. It’s a low risk, low reward tool, but I still use it on any online purchases that I can, because it’s very easy to activate.
Here’s how it works
- You download the Rakuten plug-in on your computer/laptop.
- When you shop on major retailers’ sites (Nordstrom, Sephora, Target, etc.), you get a pop-up showing if the store offers cash back.
- Click the pop-up, and Rakuten applies the cash back amount to your account.
- Every quarter, Rakuten deposits your account balance to your PayPal account.
For example…
I just checked Rakuten’s website to see what the best deals are today. If you buy flowers from 1-800-flowers today, you will receive 30% cash back. So, if you’re buying a $100 bouquet to send as a gift, you’ll receive $30 cash back. Wow!!
This sounds too good to be true, but it’s not! I’ve been using it for 2 years, and I can attest that it’s easy & straight-forward.
My recent purchase!
On a recent purchase I made online from And Other Stories (see my new dress below!), I added $200 in clothes to my cart, and headed to check out. I clicked my little Rakuten button and they automatically gave me 3% cash back on that purchase, or $6 for just one click.
Every transaction I’ve had with Rakuten is just as easy, quick, and seamless. And that’s why I’ve continued to use it since 2020.
Free money?
If it seems like free money, I have to ask myself, “Well, what benefit do they get for providing this service?” And the answers are simple:
- Rakuten receives a commission for “referring” you to the retailers’ websites. Part of that commission is paid forward to you in cash back.
- Rakuten receives the data of your shopping habits. They share that data with their retailers, e.g. if you’re shopping at Target, they might share which products “you” bought with Walmart. The data is anonymized — meaning they don’t know “Priska Jordan” bought G-2 pens at Target, but rather a user with my previous shopping history. The retailers collecting that info will likely use it to send ads to you for similar products. (To me, this isn’t an issue, because I use Instagram and Amazon and lots of things that track my purchase history, etc. At least this way I get a kick-back for it, too!)
Word of Caution
If you’re tempted to overspend and justify it on “savings”, I’ll advise you not to use Rakuten. It’s the same reason I’d advise an overspender to not use credit cards “for the points”. You end up spending more with flawed logic.
However, the way I use Rakuten, I don’t even know what cash back I’m receiving until I’m already checking out on the retailer’s site. So, I was going to buy it for the listed price anyway. But with Rakuten, I’m now getting a little bit of cash back. Yay!
Sign up for Rakuten, and receive $30 cash back…
…on your first $30 purchase. And I get $30, too!
If you think it would be a valuable tool for you AND you want to thank me for explaining the cost & benefit, then click this link and sign up:
