Join a Cash Back Site
There are many ways to earn a little bit of extra money each month, which is great news for those of us whose regular income could do with a bit of a boost. Some of these methods involve putting in a reasonably significant amount of work outside of our normal employment in order to make them successful.
Joining up with cash back sites, however, is a good way to earn some money without too much additional effort on your part. It’s never going to make you and your family into millionaires, but it’s still worth doing and could make a real difference if it formed part of a portfolio of ways in which you worked for extra cash.
What is a Cash Back Site?
A cash back site is basically a portal through which you will be able to do the majority of the online shopping that you already do. You can use the sites to purchase any products or services, as long as the retailer you require has joined up with the cash back site to work together.
What Do I Need to Do to Join?
To join a cash back site you will simply need to register with them. There should be no charge for this and if you are ever asked to hand over any money at this stage then the chances are it is a site that is not honest and trustworthy.
Two of the Biggest Cash Back Sites in the UK Are:
How Do I Use Them?
Once you are registered with the sites (and there is nothing to stop you joining more than one of them), you just visit the cash back site’s web page every time you wish to make a purchase online and click through from there to sites that you would usually visit directly.
Clearly you will only be able to visit online retailers who are linked with the cash back site, so you may not be able to claim cash back on every single purchase you make. However, given that major online stores such as Amazon are members, as well as retail giants such as Tesco and Debenhams, it’s unlikely that you will find too many things that you have to purchase elsewhere.
How Much Money Could I Make?
You will only make a very small amount (a few pence in most cases) for each individual transaction you undertake, but these will soon add up. The money you earn may well be a percentage of the value of the purchase you make, so if you buy a holiday through a cash back site then you will clearly be entitled to a larger reward.
You will usually need to accumulate a certain amount in your cash back account before you can claim it. You won’t be earning any interest on it in the account you hold on the cash back site however, so withdraw it as soon as you reach the minimum amount each each time and transfer it to your own bank account.
How Do Cash Back Sites Work?
Basically, cash back sites work by using the information you give them about your purchases to create leads for the retailers with whom they enter into a partnership. Data and customer information is incredibly valuable to all retailers and they will pay a premium to have this data organised and collated and sent on to them ready to use.
If you click through to a retailer’s web page from a cash back site, the cash back site will then inform the retailer about how you searched for the product, whether you clicked on any advertising promotions for it or whether you made any price comparisons with other products first. This is exactly the sort of information that is gathered by regular search engines anyway and then sold on to the retailer for a fee. Cash back sites simply pass some of the fee they receive back to you, the original customer.
It all sounds very complicated, but the fact is that you needn’t worry about ‘affiliate links’ or any other such terms. Cash back sites are not doing anything illegal or underhand, but are simply sharing the money that can be made by passing on useful customer data.
Are There Any Problems I Should Watch Out For?
If you are registered with legitimate cash back sites, there shouldn’t be a problem with any scams. Make sure that you never give out any information which you feel to be confidential and if you feel as though you are being asked for more detail than is appropriate, do not continue with the registration process or purchase.
Sometimes the cash back site can have a problem getting the money from the retailers, which means that they cannot pass it along to you. Therefore, never rely on your earnings from cash back sites and just treat them as an added bonus to your income each month.
If you are ever unsure about anything or wish to discuss it with someone objective, it’s always worth visiting an independent source such as MSE. There will also be articles there with information about getting started on cash back sites, as well as chat forums with those who’ve been using them for a while, so they could be a great place to go to get started.