Couponing 101 – Rebate Apps
If you’ve been following our Couponing 101 series you’re probably getting pretty good at shopping for FREE. Now it’s time to kick it up a notch. There are lots of rebate apps and websites that are going to pay you even more just for buying the things you already buy.
SavingStar
SavingStar is a smart phone app (for non-smartphone users you can register for SavingStar HERE) that helps you save money by either scanning your receipts, linking your store card, or making in-app purchases with online retailers. It’s important that you select any offers you’re interested in before you go shopping. If you have linked your store card, once you make your purchase you don’t have to do anything else but wait for your rebate to be credited to your account. If your store is a receipt scan store, take a picture of the receipt and submit it either through the app or at SavingStar.com. To save online, choose the “shop now” option and you’ll be taken to the selected retailer’s website to complete your shopping. Your savings will automatically be issued to your account.
Your savings will not appear on your receipt when you make your purchase. You will see your savings anywhere from 2-30 days later in your SavingStar Account. You can cash out your savings at any time as long as there is at least $5.00 in your account. You can have the money deposited to your bank account, PayPal account, issued as an Amazon Gift Card or donated to charity.
Ibotta
Ibotta is an Android and iPhone app that allows you to earn money by purchasing participating items. You can earn this money in addition to using manufacturer and store coupons.
You can learn facts, watch videos and take one question surveys before purchasing a product to earn cash. Once you have purchased the product take a picture of your receipt showing your purchase of the item. Ibotta allows you to earn up to $40 cash per shopping trip.
You can cash out your earnings at any time as long as you have at least $5.00 in your Ibotta account. Ibotta lets you transfer your earnings directly to your PayPal account by selecting “Withdraw Cash” from the main menu of the app, then select “Get My Cash” to link Ibotta to your PayPal account.
Download the Ibotta App to your smartphone or sign up HERE to start saving!
Checkout 51
Checkout 51 offers can be purchased at any store. Offers run from Thursday to Wednesday and you need to upload your receipt while the offers are still “live”. Once the purchase has been confirmed you will receive your rebate in your Checkout 51 account. Once your account reaches $20.00 you can request your funds to be issued to you in the form of a check.
Keep in mind that the offers are available in limited quantities and may disappear at any time so it’s always best to check before your shopping trip and then upload the receipt as soon as you can. The nice thing about Checkout 51 is that some of their offers can be done more than once. If you tap on the offer, you’ll be able to see the rebate limit. Another bonus is that in most cases you can use Checkout 51 with other coupons and discounts – who doesn’t love a double dip?
Download the app to your Smartphone or sign up HERE and start saving.
MobiSave
MobiSave, like the other rebate programs we’ve highlighted is pretty easy to use. After you download the app, select the offers that interest you. You can even select the offers while shopping, just make sure you select them before you check out. Once you select an offer (new offers post at 12:00am on Monday and are valid until the following Monday at 12:00am) it shows up in your shopping cart to help make it easier when you’re in the store. Once you complete your purchase take a picture of the entire receipt and summit it through the app. If you can’t get the entire receipt in one picture you may take multiple pictures to submit. When you submit your receipt indicate which offers you are redeeming. Once your purchase has been verified (usually within 24 hours) you’ll receive a deposit directly to your PayPal Account. It doesn’t get much easier than that! Please note that most rebates are valid once during the week and you must submit the receipt while the offer is still valid.
What are you waiting for? Get stated by downloading the mobile app.
Shrink
Shrink is a brand loyalty app that focuses on healthy products. You can upload your receipt to the app and redeem cash back for specific items purchased. Shrink uses the information that you upload and uses the data to collect market research. This information is submitted anonymously so you don’t need to worry about your privacy being compromised.
Shrink gives you cash back depending on the item that you purchase. Since Shrink is brand loyal, you can purchase it at any retailer. Cash back can range anywhere from $1 dollar to $8.00. Receipts only take about 60 seconds to upload and are fairly easy to scan. Also, since this is a loyalty program some offers allow you to earn cash back every time you buy the product.
Shrink will credit your account $1 for downloading the Shrink App and setting up an account. Download the app HERE using the referral code ZKUYRT to earn your sign up bonus
Sign up and reserve your offers. Go shopping and then download your receipt. Once you have $20.00 in your Shrink account you can cash out to your PayPal account.
Receipt Hog
When I first heard about Receipt Hog I wanted to download it just because I thought the name was cool. But I refrained and looked into it first because sometimes we should just adult. Here’s how it works:
For every qualifying receipt you snap a picture of and submit, you’ll earn a sweepstakes entry for the monthly drawing. The monthly sweepstakes drawing could earn you up to 5,000 coins.
You’ll also earn coins or spins, depending on the retailer. Each time you spin the “Hog Slots”, you have a chance to win more coins and one winner each day will win the value of their last shopping trip in coins. Once you’ve earned enough coins, you can redeem them for either a PayPal transfer or an Amazon e-gift card.
The more active you are, the more opportunities you have to earn. You could become eligible for surveys, barcode scans, and spins at the “Hog Slots”.
So now that I’ve earned all these coins, how much are they worth?
1000 coins = $5
1800 coins = $10
3200 coins = $20
4500 coins = $30
When you redeem your coins you can choose your payout to be a transfer to your PayPal Account or you can receive an Amazon E-Gift Card. It can take up to 7 days to process your redemption.
Download it he app to start saving!
Shopmium
Shopmium is pretty similar to the other Rebate Apps. Download the app to your smartphone (use the referral code KMFMCKGL when you sign up and receive an offer for a FREE Lindt Chocolate Bar -who doesn’t love FREE Chocolate?). Once you sign up for an account chose your offers and then go shopping. Once you get home just scan the product barcode and scan your receipt. Once your purchase has been verified you will receive credit directly to you PayPal or Bank Account. You also have the option of donating your rebate directly to charity. That’s one of the things I like about Shopmium – I don’t have to request my money. It automatically deposits to PayPal (or your bank account if you prefer). Also, often you can cash in on a rebate more than once. I just activated a $2.00 offer for Cat Litter. I can do this offer up to 20 times, once for each box of Cat Litter purchased! There are no restrictions as to where you can make your purchase. As long as you can scan a barcode and receipt and buy the qualifying product you will get your rebate. Rebates usually credit in about 48 hours.
BerryCart
BerryCart is a rebate app for healthy products You’ll find deals on organic, gluten-free, or non-GMO foods. Whoever said you can’t get good deals on healthy items is not a How to Shop for Free Member. I love it when we can prove the “nay sayers” wrong 😎. One thing I love about BerryCart is that I can shop anywhere that can give me a valid receipt so I’m not limited as to where I can make my purchases.
After you buy the product and snap a picture of the receipt, you will receive credit to your account, Credits are usually issued within 24 hours. Once you have $5.00 or more in rewards you can transfer the funds to your PayPal account or purchase gift cards for retailers like Amazon.
Sign up HERE
Berrycart FAQ
Cartwheel
Cartwheel is a little different than the other apps we’ve featured since it doesn’t offer you a rebate. It’s more of a digital coupon that you would redeem in the store (or online for specially marked offers) and get your savings instantly at the register.
Cartwheel is super easy to use. Just add an offer to your Cartwheel list, scan your barcode in store from a printed copy or right from your phone and you will receive the savings right there at the register.
Sign up HERE or download the app to your smartphone
Savings Catcher
I got hooked on Savings Catcher a couple years ago when WalMart was offering to double your savings if you transferred your rebate to a BlueBird Card.
Here’s how it works – If a local competitor offers a lower advertised price on an eligible item you purchased at Walmart, Savings Catcher pays you the difference on a Walmart eGift Card or a Bluebird Card. Amounts credited to these Cards can be used to make purchases in-store at Walmart or online at Walmart.com.
Submit your receipt to Savings Catcher one of two ways:
Enter the receipt number (the TC number) into Savings Catcher or scan the code at the bottom of the store receipt. Savings Catcher compares the prices of the eligible items you bought at Walmart to the advertised prices found in the print and online versions of the weekly ads of retailers in your area. The ads must be valid at the time you made your Walmart purchase. If Savings Catcher finds an advertised price that is lower than what you paid for the same exact item at Walmart, you’ll get back the difference. It generally takes 48-72 hours for your receipt to process and any credit to be issued. You can submit up to 7 receipts in a calendar week.
Sign up HERE or download the app to your IPhone, IPad, or Android
Ebates
Ebates is one of my favorite apps. Do you shop online? Would you like to earn money for buying the things online you were going to buy anyway? All you need to do is start off at Ebates first and select your online store. Ebates opens up a ticket and tracks your purchase for you. Once the order has been processed, the rebate is credited to your account. Quarterly, you are mailed a check for your earnings.
Ebates is currently partnered with over 1800 online retailers including WalMart, Kohl’s, Lowes, Amazon, and Groupon. One of my favorite things to do is start at Ebates, do my shopping, then choose in store pick up for items at stores like WalMart, JC Penney, and Kohl’s. Right now Ebates is offering double cash back at some of the most popular retailers – Walmart (5%), Living Social (6%), and JC Penney (6%) to name just a few.
Sign up HERE and earn a $10 gift card when you complete your first qualified order.
Here are some of the Rebate Apps that our How to Shop for FREE Members love:
Marissa – “Ibotta and SavingStar are my favorite! They both have a lot of rebates for things I buy and I love that Ibotta has any brand rebates. Those are the two I’ve gotten the most back from”
Krystyna – “I make so much from savingstar!!”
Donna – “Savingstar, because I don’t have submit a receipt. My receipts are very long!”
Tracy – “Ibotta because it has any brand (milk, eggs, bread, laundry detergent) rebates. Savingstar is automatic when you select the offers & link grocery store card. Mobi is another great one for soap, detergent Etc. I also have checkout 51. I just started using shopmium, receipt hog, yaarlo, & shrink. I’m trying to take my savings to the next level.”
Noreen – “Savings star no receipts needed and mobisave it’s simple goes straight to PayPal”
Christina – “Shopmium doesn’t have a lot of rebates that I use but when they do they are usually high value ones and some of them you can get multiple times.”
Billie Jo – “Ibotta, saving star, find & save, checkout51”
Hopefully, you’ve got enough to get started in the wonderful world of rebates. This list is certainly not all inclusive but it does highlight some of the most popular and easiest to use applications. Also, as an added bonus, most of these rebates are stackable with other rebate offers (check the FAQ for the individual app to see if you can stack offers).
Happy Shopping!
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