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The holiday season is a great time to use cashback sites like Rakuten.
While you are buying gifts, you can get some extra cash.
There are many shopping portals to choose from, and no one portal offers the best rate at all stores.
You will need to probably use different portals if you want to get the highest rate at different stores.
For example, Rakuten may have the highest rate at Macy’s while Be Frugal may have a higher rate at Amazon.
In that example, if you wanted the highest rate, you would need to use both portals.
Again, we suggest you sign up for several portals but have 2-3 to use as your primary portals.
Things To Note About Cashback Sites
Read reviews about the pros and cons of each site.
Some sites give you an immediate refund, while some pay monthly or quarterly.
If you want your money quickly, you will need to know this.
The immediate cash is after the retailer’s pending period.
The pending period is decided by the store you shop at.
The average is between 30-90 days. This is done by the store and not the portal.
This is done so that people don’t get cash back and return the item.
After the merchant approves your cash back, then the portal will pay in the above mentioned periods.
So the fastest a portal can pay is 30-90 days.
Some portals will pay by check, or other portals will pay byPayPal.
How to get the highest rate at each store
Rates will vary by stores and can change daily.
To find the best rate at your store, always go to cashbackmonitor.com first.
There, in the search bar, enter your store (i.e. Macy’s, Amazon, etc).
You will then see all the below portals listed (except Ibotta) as well as others.
You can then choose the portal with the highest rate or the best one for you..
RELATED: Cashback Monitor: The Secret To Getting The Highest Rate With Online Cashback Portals
The List
- Ebates (Rakuten) : Get $10. Sign up here
- Swagbucks: Get $3 Sign up here
- Ibotta: Get $10 Sign up here
- Be Frugal: Get $10. Sign up here
- Top Cashback: Get $10 Sign-up here
- Lemoney Sign up here
- Giving Assistant Get $5 Sign up here
- Mr. Rebates Get $5 Sign up here
- Coupon Cactus Sign up here
- Rebates Me Instant $5, Sign up here
If you want to just sign up for these, use our links above.
If you sign up for all, you should get about $100 because each usually gives $10 as a sign up bonus.
Use our links again.
I am signed up for all of these. When I need one, I just click the portal I need.
Follow the rules for each sign up bonus.
They usually give you a year to meet the minimum spending requirement which is usually $25 or less.
The Top Cashback Sites This Holiday Season
Rakuten is the most popular and well known cashback site. Most people have heard of it.
They only pay every quarter which is one of the negatives though.
On the positive side, if you like travel points and have an American Express Membership card, you can transfer Rakuten cash at 1:1 ratio to American Express and increase your travel points.
Overall, if you do not yet use a cashback portal, Rakuten is the one we suggest you start with.
It is simple to get started with and one of the oldest portals.
They also have a great referral program. At times, they can give as much as $25 for each friend.
2. Swagbucks
Swagbucks is known for earning points with other activities like surveys, surfing the internet, and watching videos.
It’s cashback portal has competitive rates too though.
Swagbucks is great when you use with other activities mentioned earlier because your cash will build up.
I use Swagbuck regularly when they have the highest rate because they tend to pay quicker than other portals.
It is easy to cash out with PayPal too.
3. Ibotta
Ibotta is known as a grocery app, but it has a competitive cashback portal too.
Make sure to compare to other sites to see if it has the highest offer though.
They don’t have as many offers as other portals, but when they do; they are competitive.
Ibotta is not listed on cashbackmonitor.com but you can compare rates of other sites to see if they have the best rate.
4. Be Frugal
Be Frugal is another popular site.
They get a lot of positive reviews.
They have over 5000 retailers which is more than most.
You can cash out once you reach $25.
It is free to join.
Topcashback.com has some very high rates at times.
They claim to be able to give you the highest rate every time.
I don’t know about every time, but a lot of times they did have a higher rate.
Again, no cashback site has the highest rate at every store.
6. Lemoney
Lemoney is a newer cashback site.
It has this stand out feature called “turbo cash” that you can use once a month.
It gives you five times the normal rate.
Lemoney does take longer than normal to pay though (about four months). If you can use their turbo cash feature each month, you will come out ahead.
Giving Assistant is different than other portals.
They allow you to donate part or all of your cash to charity.
They tend to pay quickly too.
8. Mr Rebates
Mr. Rebates has more than 2300 retailers.
You earn more from their Store of the Week.
They have extra specials during the holidays.
You get paid monthly when you earn enough rebates.
This site is not only a great cashback site, but it also has some great coupons.
The coupons are for popular stores like Walmart and Target.
They only pay every quarter like Ebates. You need to have $10 in your account.
10. Rebates Me
Rebates Me is another cashback site. They partner with over 3000 retailers.
I recently used Rebates Me for the first time to get IPage hosting for my new blog.
They had the highest rate, $90.
It was much higher than the other portals, by as much as $70.
I still have not gotten paid though.
How to Get the most out of portals
- Always start with cashbackmonitor.com.
- Use coupons from each site.
- Enable cookies to make sure your purchase will track.
- Stack other cashback techniques like discounted gift cards and rewards credit cards.
Summary
The holidays are a great time to use cashback portals.
Most will have higher rates during the season.
Cashback portals should be used whenever you shop throughout the year too.
Just by taking the extra step to go through a portal, you get free money.