Cashback Sites

Lanera123

Hi all,

I'm new to the Forum but not this site, I've been following its advice for years and done very well. Something I've recently tried and been gobsmacked by are cashback offers. Has anyone had experience with them? I used TopCashBack,

Today I upgraded my mobile. I saved on the monthly tariff and received £50 cashback

I also renewed my cat insurance saved £2 a month and got £66 cashback

I also re-arranged my energy bills, got an equivalent fixed rate and £30 cashback

I can't quite believe this is for real £146 cashback for doing practically nothing.

Has anyone else done this?

tykesi

You've obviously not read much of the site if you'd never heard of cashback sites.

Flyonthewall

Topcashback and Quidco are the two biggest cashback sites and they've been around for years.

All cashback and offer sites work in basically the same way. Companies are willing to pay to get customers, these cashback/offer sites use affiliate links or do advertising deals with the companies and pay a percentage to the people who go on their site and use their links.

So very real and a great way to get some money back when you buy.

Lanera123

I was surprised at the amount of cashback given as I'd assumed they'd be a few pounds at most, particularly the cat insurance one as the amount I paid for a whole year's cover was £85 - I was given £66 cashback for that (OK, it's 'pending' don't know if that means it won't actually appear)

Do the amounts offered vary much between TCB / Quidco ?

LMG1305

I've been using cashback sites for a few years now & have earned nearly £2k on TopCashBack. I dont tend to go for the offers like bingo sites etc as it's a bit of a risk if it doesn't track for whatever reason, but if I am buying something anyway then I definitely check the cashback sites first to see if cashback is offered. Most of my Christmas shopping was done online & I also check insurance deals, switching gas & elec etc.

Don't get caught in the cashback trap though. I got a car insurance quote once after following the link on the cashback site and the insurance quote came back higher than if I went directly to the insurance company, so the difference in price cancelled out the cashback amount. I did get a good deal this year though as my car insurance quote came back around 10% cheaper and I got £45 cashback from TCB, then I had a similar deal with my home insurance. It's just worth checking everywhere, don't just take the first deal you see just because they're offering you cashback.

I use TopCashback the most but always check Quidco and TCB to check which one offers a higher amount. I tend to find TCB are higher unless Quidco have a special offer on.

tonycottee

Lanera123 wrote: »

I was surprised at the amount of cashback given as I'd assumed they'd be a few pounds at most, particularly the cat insurance one as the amount I paid for a whole year's cover was £85 - I was given £66 cashback for that (OK, it's 'pending' don't know if that means it won't actually appear)

Do the amounts offered vary much between TCB / Quidco ?

They do vary, but I often find that TCB have the better rates.
Just think of it like this - when you shop at Tesco and that guy from the RAC is stood out the front trying to get you to sign up for cover, he would get between £15 and £50 commission. If you use a cashback site, it's you that gets the commission.
It's surprising how much it is, especially when you look at how much companies like Sky pay.

And nearly all cashback says pending for a while. Usually, products such as insurance and phone contracts will not be payable until a couple of months in, just in case people cancel and run off with the cashback.

gdreyer

I use TCB and Quidco all the time.. close to 2k across the two myself

Flyonthewall

Lanera123 wrote: »

I was surprised at the amount of cashback given as I'd assumed they'd be a few pounds at most, particularly the cat insurance one as the amount I paid for a whole year's cover was £85 - I was given £66 cashback for that (OK, it's 'pending' don't know if that means it won't actually appear)

Do the amounts offered vary much between TCB / Quidco ?

Yeah, they can give really good amounts. Sometimes higher offers will only be for a limited time, but cashback on things like insurance and mobile contracts are often higher because you're paying more out.

Cashback usually goes to pending. It rarely, if ever, will go straight to payable. It's just to check the transaction has gone through and follows the terms and conditions. How long it stays pending varies. Some can be a few weeks, others a few months.

Amounts can vary, especially if one site has upped the cashback for a specific site and the other hasn't, but they're often pretty similar overall. Both sites are free so you could always sign up to both and use whichever has the highest amount.

stephaniebuddie

I have recently used both TCB and Quidco. The offers do change (sometimes on a daily basis) so check both before your purchase as one will sometimes offer more than the other