Rakuten review – Have you heard of Rakuten, but aren’t sure if it’s a scam or legit?
Totally understandable. In today’s world, there are a lot of scams out there, especially with regard to online shopping.
Keep reading for some info about Rakuten and what’s it’s all about.
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Table of Contents
What Is Rakuten?
Rakuten is one of the top “cash back” websites that you can use to save money when you’re making website purchases.
It’s a cash back portal. So as long as you log in to the portal and shop from there, you’ll get cash back money from Rakuten.
It’s legit. I personally have been an Rakuten user since 2014, but the company has been offering cash back since 1999. So my Rakuten review encompasses years of experience.
Click here to learn more about Rakuten.
How Does Rakuten Make Money? How Do You Make Money Rakuten?
Online stores give Rakuten a percentage of the sale for sending them business. So Rakuten makes money when you make a purchase on an Internet website that they refer you to.
Then Rakuten gives YOU a percentage of that referral money – basically sharing it with you. All you have to do to earn money from Rakuten is to be sure you’re logged in to the website when you do your online shopping.
Keep reading this Rakuten review to make money Rakuten and find out exactly how it works.
Say you want to buy something on Ebay for $243. Before you purchase the item, you go to your Rakuten account.
In the top tool bar, you search for Ebay. Click the Red Shop Now button.
Now your session with Ebay is “open,” and you’re earning 1-2% from Rakuten on every purchase (some stores offer higher percentages).
You click through to find the item you want on Ebay, and complete the purchase.
Now check back to your Rakuten dashboard, and look at shopping trips under My Account. Within a short time, you’ll see the amount you earned.
In the case of the Ebay 1% example, you’d earn $2.43 from Rakuten. Most of the time, you’ll see your cash back pending in your account within 48 hours.
Sometimes there is extra verification from the store required. This isn’t a big deal. Rakuten makes it easy to contact them if you don’t get your cash back automatically and you were supposed to.
It’s actually very simple to make money Rakuten.
How Do You Get Paid by Rakuten? An Rakuten Review
Every quarter, if you have a cash back balance above $5, Rakuten will mail you a Big Fat Check (if your balance is below $5, it just sits in your account until you meet that threshold). You can also check your Account Balance and Pending Shopping Trips in your account at any time.
It’s easy to get started with Rakuten! In fact, they’re willing to give you money the first time you try their cash back shopping portal.
All you have to do is create a new account, spend $25 in a session with any of their cash-back stores, and you’ll get $10 automatically if you sign up using our link.
You can also get paid by Rakuten for shopping you do in-store, too! You simply enter your credit cards in your Rakuten account, and then link to in-store offers. Say you link an offer for 4% off Jos A Bank to your card.
When you go shopping at a Jos A Bank store with a linked credit card, you’ll get the cash back to your Rakuten account. Check out more about getting paid by Rakuten for in-store shopping with this explanatory video.
Finding Rakuten Stores
How can you find out what Rakuten stores are currently offering cash back? Some of the most popular online shopping websites offer Rakuten cash back, such as:
- Overstock.com
- Etsy
- Amazon
- Macy’s
- Ebay
- Nike
- Blue Apron
Even insurance and services companies offer Rakuten cash back. Maximize your cash back by adding the Rakuten toolbar to your browser and you’ll never miss money back (see below).
There are currently several ways to go about finding Rakuten stores:
- Rakuten Cash Back Extension – You can download the Rakuten Cash Back extension to your Internet browser if you want help finding Rakuten stores. Every time you visit a site that offers Rakuten cash back, a little popup will appear on your toolbar. You click it and shop as normal and your cash back will be logged to your account. Honestly, out of all of the strategies listed in this Rakuten review, I think this one is the simplest.
- Rakuten on Desktop – You can simply go to Rakuten.com and type the name of the store you want to shop at in the top toolbar if you’re finding Rakuten stores.
- Rakuten on Mobile/Tablet – If you do a lot of shopping from your phone or tablet, get the Rakuten app to earn more cash back with Rakuten easier and making it easy when you’re finding Rakuten stores.
Finding Rakuten Double Cash
Sometimes online stores offer even greater cash back opportunities. Rakuten calls these Double Cash Back stores. A lot of stores also offer higher cash back during online shopping holidays, like Black Friday or the back to school season.
Once you make an account with Rakuten and start getting cash back, Rakuten will notify you about upcoming Double Cash deals, special promos (sometimes up to 25% cash back), and new stores they’ve added. So make sure you enter your email address to get those notifications.
Make sure to check out Rakuten Double Cash opportunities here to maximize your savings.
Is the Rakuten Credit Card for You?
Another way to maximize your Rakuten savings is to sign up for an Rakuten Credit Card. What are the benefits of an Rakuten Credit Card?
- You earn an extra 3% back on Rakuten purchases (on top of your Rakuten cash back for the store) with the Rakuten Credit Card.
- You earn 1% cash back any time you use the card (like to buy gas or groceries) with the Rakuten Credit Card.
- You can use the Rakuten Credit Card anywhere merchants take Visa.
One Thing to Know about Cash Back Shopping with Rakuten
If you use the Rakuten toolbar, you’ll get a popup when you visit a site that has Rakutens cash back. But if you then visit another cash back portal and login with them, you’ll “lose” your Rakuten referral (your session logs you out, so they can’t track your cash back).
The easy way to do this is to just make sure that the Rakuten button is green (not red) when you click through to make your purchase. If it’s green, you should see the cash back to your account within a few days of your shopping trip. If it’s red, you’ll just have to ensure you’re properly logged in to Rakuten.
My Rakuten Review
In this 2019 Rakuten review, I’ve offered lots of info about how to use Rakuten and some of the benefits to online shoppers. It’s just one strategy I use to save money – since I love shopping online, I enjoy that I can get extra cash back by using a shopping portal like Rakuten.
