Cashback sites - earning money for shopping online

For a few years I had heard about cashback sites, but didn't really believe that you could earn free money, so ignored them, thinking it was probably a scam or there would be a catch.  Then a friend told me more and I looked into it and tried one.  Yes it does work - you can earn money from your normal shopping online!
Basically a cashback website allows you to earn cashback on your normal purchases, as long as that retailer/website is listed on the cashback site. You follow the link and make your purchase as normal.  Then sometime later (normally about 2 months) you get your cashback and then this can either be paid into your bank account or to a PayPal account, or you can get it back in the form of Amazon vouchers.


The two cashback sites I've used are TopCashBack and Quidco.  Over the last 5 years, I've earned a total of £1,940!!  Well you haven't really earned it, it should really be considered as a discount or refund back on the purchases you've made.


How it works?
In basic terms, you create an account with the cashback site and then find the retailer you wish to purchase from.   Click the link and it then takes you to the retailer's website. You make your purchase and then this is tracked by the cashback site and later your cashback is given.


How much cashback can you get?
Typically the cashback is around 1-5% of your purchase, but this depends on the merchant.  Some offer a fixed price cashback and some only offer cashback on certain product lines.
The big ones are things like new mobile phone contracts where you can get around £100 cashback.  Or insurance policies pay quite well, so typically I would get £20-£30 cashback on my annual motor and buildings insurances if I change provider.  And this is of course on top of any savings I make from changing.


But what retailers?
I've found that about 60-70% of all my purchases I make online can generate cashback.  Often this is only pennies, but it's added up to £1,940 over the last five years.  Even some websites that offer a free service, like insurance comparison websites can generate a cashback.  And even all my eBay purchases generate a small cashback.


How do they work?
The tracking of your online purchases is done via 'cookies'.  These are files that are stored on your computer when you visit websites.  This is how websites can remember who you are or remember what you've got in the shopping cart.  They can also record where you came from or who referred you to the website.  Retailers give cashback for other referring or generating new business for them, and then the cashback sites pass some of this back to you.



So how do I start?
I would recommend starting with TopCashBack.  They have over 3,200 retailers onboard and it costs you nothing to use them.  It's likely that most of your normal retailers you use online are on the cashback websites and you've been missing out.
Create a free account and follow links to your chosen retailers.


What's the difference between TopCashBack and Quidco?
Not a great deal now.  Most retailers are on both, but TopCashBack often have a slightly better cashback percentage.  But it is worth having an account with both and checking both out and seeing who is offering the best cashback and the retailer you want.
Quidco does cost £5 per year, but this comes out of your earned cashback.  You may find that Quidco has a retailer that TopCashBack doesn't and therefore it might be worth the £5 annual fee.  Also Quidco pays cashback on some High Street purchases.  If you register your debit and credit cards with them, then when you make purchases in certain Hight Street stores (e.g. Halfords, Debenhams, NCP, Blockbuster and more) you also get cashback on this, so it's well worth forfeiting the £5 annual fee for this free cashback.


Therefore, my recommendation is use setup an account with both, follow my tips below and start getting money back.




Tips for successful cashback transactions
Not all cashback transactions will work.  Sometimes the retailer might not validate it and not pay, or sometimes the tracking might not work.
To get the best results you need to make sure the tracking between the cashback site and the retailer where you're making the purchase is recorded properly.  The easiest way to achieve this is to delete your web browser's cookies before starting the transaction and then login to the cashback site and find your retailer.  For help on how do to this go here.
My preferred method is to use two web browsers.  I use Chrome for all my normal internet surfing and to research the products I want to buy.  Then when I'm ready to make that purchase, I jump to Firefox, then login to TopCashBack and then find the retailer.  In Firefox I set it to automatically delete all cookies and history on exit, so it's always ready to good reliable cashback transactions.