How Do Cash Back Sites Work?

Cash back sites like RebatesMe are legit ways of earning some extra money from each of your purchases. They function similarly to the way credit card reward perks do – you make a purchase, and you get rewarded.

For credit cards, using a specific card will earn you the reward. For cash back sites, you get the reward by going through the site links. Each store will have a different cash back rate attached.

Cash back is usually store specific, not item-specific. What this means the cash back rate you see will apply to anything that the store sells. This isn’t always the case, and sometimes exclusions do apply. We update our store pages to include special exclusions, but if you every have any questions about a specific purchase – feel free to contact us at any time and we’ll clarify the bonuses you’ll earn.

Is earning cash back really free?

Yes. Earning cash back doesn’t cost you anything, but you do have to make a purchase in order to get the rewards.

Cash back sites don’t charge money for their services. Instead, they make commissions by sending people to certain stores.

To illustrate this model a bit more; when someone makes a purchase, they earn some cash back, and the site earns a little amount of commission.

Can you add cash back and sales bonuses together?

Absolutely. Often, cash back sites will have bonus cash back events or even offer special savings deals for certain stores or items.

Often, we’ll promote sales events and cash back offerings at the same time so that you can get the most out of your purchase.

So if you see a special sales offer, like 25% off a pair of shoes from a store that offers 10% cash back, you’ll get that sales price and then you will also get the cash back rate as well.

Keep in mind, cash back is ALWAYS earned from the amount you pay at the end AFTER sales are applied.

Original amount – sales percentage = amount eligible for cash back.

If a store with 10% cash back offers 25% off a pair of shoes costing $100, you’ll pay $75 for the shoes and earn $7.50 cash back.

Is earning cash back instant?

No. Cash back takes time to both appear in your account and get eligible for cash out.

Cash back earned will usually appear in your account within a week but cashing out can take up to 90 days.

Why so long? Well there’s quite a few complicated reasons, and it actually differs slightly from store to store, but the main reasons revolve around stopping people from cheating the system, along with just the time frame for doing business.

Let’s talk about the fraud topic first. Most stores have some sort of return policy in place – usually this you are eligible for a refund if you return the item within 90 days. If cash back was able to be earned before this, then that opens the door for people to buy an item, get cash back, and then simply return the items – successfully cheating the stores and cash back site.

The second reason is that business just takes time. Purchases, sales, and cash back rates have to be confirmed between the buyer, cash back site, and store. Because of other policies in place (like the return policies, fraud detection, and many others) this whole process of confirming if a purchase was actually a purchase can take more time than you’d think.

How will I get paid cash back?

We offer three different ways to cash out cash back earned. Onto a credit or debit card, gift card, or check. Checks will be sent in the mail and may take an additional week for arrival.