Cashback websites are one of the easiest ways to make a little extra cash with almost no effort.
You don’t need any initial investment to get started, and the returns are pretty instantaneous – what’s not to love?! This really is one of the most straightforward ways to make money, and in this article I’ll explain more about how it works and tell you which is the best UK cashback site to use.
I’ve been using this method myself for over 5 years and have racked up a lot of extra money from it. Further in this post I’ll tell you exactly how much I’ve made – you might be surprised.
Before we continue, you should know that this page does contain affiliate links to these sites. These links will pay us a small referral bonus if you choose to sign up through them. It won’t cost you anything (and helps us cover our website costs), but you certainly shouldn’t feel obliged. Here are the non-affiliate link versions: TopCashback / Quidco.
What are Cashback Websites?
Cashback websites give you a percentage of your online spending back as cash when you sign up and follow their referral link to the retailer you make a purchase from.
Usually the cashback is between 1%-10% but some merchants are even higher. There are also some that offer fixed amounts (utilities and phone contracts tend to be in this category).
Cashback sites explained in a nutshell, image courtesy of TopCashback
It’s not just limited to the obvious things like online shops – some phone companies, banks, credit cards, gambling sites and even investment platforms all offer a cash incentive to choose them over their competitors.
Tip: The best things we’ve found cashback sites to be used for are:
- Holidays and travel – there are usually chunky refunds on hotels, in particular
- Insurance – usually lots of great deals so worth checking when you renew
- Household bills and utilities – you’ll find everything ranging from gas and electricity suppliers to TV and broadband giving you cash back.
- Fashion and electronics – you can get some big savings on fashion items, often giving you a further discount on items that are already on sale!
If you buy any of these online, you want to sign up to one of the websites below – or you’re missing out on free cash!
What is the best UK Cashback website?
There are two major Cashback websites in the UK; TopCashback and Quidco.
In my experience, TopCashback almost always beats Quidco for the cashback rates offered. They even have a ‘highest cashback guarantee’, to make sure it stays that way. So, for those who want to keep things simple and straightforward, I would recommend signing up for that.
A typical topcashback page
For the more hardcore among us, it can be worth signing up to both so you can compare and see which one offers better rewards. From time to time, Quidco does come out on top. It also seems to run more bonus offers so if you really want to maximise your cashback, it’s worth having an account at both.
Both are entirely free to join and use, though they have optional premium/plus tiers which delivers some extra perks and benefits.
Whether the premium membership is worth it is up to you and generally depends on how much you are expecting to earn through the site. With both, they charge you a fee which is taken out of cashback you’ve earned – so you only pay if you actually make more than that.
An example of the Quidco dashboard – all of the offers are easily searchable.
How do Cashback Sites Make Money?
Cashback sites receive a commission from the store that they direct you to. Good cashback websites pass most of this on to you, and keep a small amount for themselves.
Many websites earn money through referral bonuses like this, called ‘affiliate links’. The difference with Cashback sites is that they pass a portion (usually most of it) back to you for using their service.
The idea is that the cashback sites make enough money through advertising and membership fees so they don’t need the actual referring bonuses they get – so these can be passed onto the user.
One natural question is ‘why do retailers give commission to these cashback sites in the first place’? That’s because:
- Retailers are happy to pay the cashback sites for generating new customers and encouraging purchases.
- The cashback sites say that people who receive money back from their purchases browse more products and add more to their basket, giving the retailer extra benefit.
In the early days, these sites were met with some suspicion, but they’ve been going for over a decade now, and it has become a well-established way that online shoppers can save money on their purchases for very little extra effort.
Are there any risks of using Cashback Sites?
Although they are mainstream and have been around for a long time, there are a couple of risks you should be aware of.
Firstly, there are sometimes issues in tracking the cashback for your purchases. This can occur if you’ve not enabled cookies (as that is what tracks your purchase), or if the retailer is very slow to pay. Thankfully, most of the retailers do pay reliably, and the cashback sites provide customer service if you believe your purchase has not been tracked properly.
Personally, I haven’t had any issues with my cash being tracked.
The second risk is that any money you’ve got stored up in these sites would be at risk if the cashback site went out of business. The two sites we’ve recommended in this article are well established, so the risk of this should be small, but it’s best to take regular payouts just in case.
Lastly, you should monitor your spending when you use these sites. Just because you’re getting something back, it doesn’t mean you should over-stretch or go crazy buying things you otherwise wouldn’t. Remember, it’s not completely free money – you’re only making it because you’re spending it!
Remember, just spend normally on these site. Don’t go all ‘Supermarket Sweep’
How much can I make out of cashback websites?
The possibilities are almost endless. There are two main ways of making money through cashback:
- Simply clicking through these sites when doing your normal shopping to earn a nice little kickback.
- Taking advantage of the “free” cashback offers. This is more complicated and time consuming, but the potential rewards run into the hundreds of pounds.
Option one is easy, so just about anyone can do it. It takes almost no time and lands a little bit of money back on your online shopping – it’s a no-brainer.
Option two is a little more time-intensive so may only be for the more dedicated. But there are serious rewards to be reaped by taking advantage of free offers. The “Free Cashback” section of TopCashback always has offers to get started.
To give you an example of the possibilities, here are my earnings through using TopCashback since 2013:
That’s more than realistic to achieve as I am not a huge online shopper – my frugal nature sees to that.
On top of that, here’s my more modest but decent haul from Quidco, which I also started using in 2013.
In case you think my earnings are unusual, both of the other The Money Mountain members, Ben and Chris, have similar results.
Is this one of the easiest possible ways to make extra cash?
As you can see, in the time I’ve been using Cashback sites, I’ve netted just over £2,000! The vast majority of that is from things I was going to buy anyway (though around £400-£500 of that comes from the ‘free cashback’ offers I mentioned above).
It’s crazy to think that I’ve earned nearly all of it just by simply checking these sites to see if there’s a cashback deal before I buy something. Each time it takes about 20 seconds!
No wonder this is the lazy person’s guide to making money. Who wouldn’t say yes to an extra couple of hundred pounds a year just for a few extra clicks when shopping online?
If you’re not using these sites yet, it’s time to get involved. Let us know below which cashback site you prefer and why. Can you beat my cashback totals?