The Beginner’s Guide to Getting Paid for Shopping (It’s True)

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You’re probably thinking, ok get paid to go shopping, but like…for what?

Since it’s a pretty general word, we’ll break down all the different ways:

  • Groceries run
  • Online purchases
  • When you go to Target for 1 item and come out with 7
  • Mall or in-store purchases
  • Even dining out and signing up for free trial offers

You can get cash back for doing all those things (and more, which we’ll detail below.) Even if you don’t like shopping, you like free money, right?

Shop. Scan. Save. Every Grocery Trip Will Now Earn You Free Gift Cards

When an app is fun and profitable, you should definitely have it installed on your phone.

Especially if it’s already related to your everyday activities.

Enter Fetch Rewards, an app where you can scan ANY grocery receipt or e-receipt to get points for gift cards. It’s like a game: just shop, scan, save.

It’s really simple:

  1. Download Fetch Rewards
  2. Go normal grocery shopping
  3. Scan your receipt after (or link your email for e-receipts)
  4. Get points towards free gift cards

There’s no need to pre-select any offers before shopping. You don’t need to give your phone to the cashier to scan a barcode. And there are no restrictions on which grocery store you go to.

Since I shop at multiple stores, I’ll just collect the receipts and scan them all at once. Pro-tip: I even ask my family for their grocery receipts so I can scan them into my account.

You can grab a 2,000 points bonus ($2!) when you enter this referral code: REWARD before you scan your first receipt!

Get Up to $240 or More Cash Back Every Year With This App

Ibotta has grown a lot over the past 8 years. They started with groceries cash back, and now they’ve expanded into other destinations like Best Buy, Kohl’s, Costco, Amazon, eBay, CVS, Sephora, Priceline, almost anywhere that’s popular. (Target and Walmart are still my favorite spots).

Even restaurants and bars! Currently, there are over 750,000 locations that you can get cash back on.

That’s why it’s essential to keep the Ibotta app in your cash back arsenal. With it, you can earn cash back on every purchase, whether it’s in-store or in-app. On average, active users can get up to $25 a month cash back!

And it’s simple.

  1. Add cash back offers in the Ibotta app
  2. Go shop at your fav stores, restaurants, and apps
  3. Redeem the offer via uploading picture of receipt or online
  4. Get cash back via PayPal, Venmo, or gift cards

A Facebook fan, Claudia Z. told us she’s earned $1,672.36 since using Ibotta! Teammate Kelsey B. has earned over $500 since starting too.

Ibotta is free to download and you’ll also get up to $20 in Welcome Bonuses when you sign up so stop leaving free money around!

Up To 40% Cash Back Automatically? Sign Us Up!

Saving money and getting cash back on purchases always sounds like a great idea – until you completely forget to take the steps to get the savings. There are SO many ways to save money while shopping, who can remember if it’s not automatic?

Ebates can help you get cash back on everyday shopping as well as apparel, beauty, and more, automatically. With Ebates, you don’t even have to upload your receipts after your purchases. They’ll send you simple push notifications when your favorite stores increase their cash back deals or have a good sale.

Offering simple one-tap savings with no points or fees helps ensure that you get the most out of your purchases. So, before buying anything, hop into the app to see if you can get up to 40% cash back at over 2,500 stores.

They also have an amazing referral program where you can earn $25 for each eligible friend. New members get a $10 bonus too!

Why Yes, More Free Gift Cards Please

Good mood? Go shopping. Bad mood? More shopping. No mood? Still probably shopping. If this sounds like you, all this shopping is obviously not great for your wallet, and that can be stressful.

Take a peek at Drop though, an app that gives you gift cards on stuff you already by from your favorite stores and brands.

Your everyday purchases from Amazon, Trader Joe’s, and Walmart? You’ll get points for that. Points translate to gift cards so the more you collect, the more you can redeem!

You’ll get access to many offers that you can activate ranging from Entertainment, Personal Care, Grocery, Apparel and more.

The only thing you need to do is link any credit or debit card you usually use for buying stuff and that’s it! Drop will automatically recognize when you buy from your activated offers to reward. If you suffer from a shopping addiction, this can be a helpful app to get gift cards for your purchases.

Bought Something Online and Price Dropped? Zero Effort to Get $$ Back

We do a lot of price comparisons before we buy something. But after the purchase, it’s out of sight, out of mind.

That jacket you bought a few weeks ago, might have dropped $11 and you wouldn’t have even known. However, major online retailers actually offer price drop refunds, but who spends time keeping track of their previous purchases?

A free tool called Paribus cross-references their list of major retailers with your email receipts and gets you money back if there’s ever a price drop.

After the first initial set up, it’ll monitor for you aka zero effort on your part.

Your purchase from Target dropped $7? You’ll get $7 back. Your shoes from Zappos dropped $12? You’ll get $12 back.

Paribus is free to use and they don’t take a cut for getting your money back. Why isn’t everyone using this?

Get $20 Sign Up Bonus + Up to 15% Cash Back Stores = Happy Online Shopper (You)

If you don’t buy anything online, then you can skip reading this.

But if you do, you need to know about Affinityy, an online shopping portal, that gives you up to 15% cash back on purchases at thousands of major brands.

You’re basically getting free money since you’re earning cash back to buy things you were already going to buy. Offers include cash back at Target, Macy’s, Kohl’s, Best Buy, Walmart, and much more!

Here’s how it works:

  1. Sign up for free with just your name and email
  2. Earn $3 when you download the app and another $3 when you install the browser extension
  3. Get a $20 bonus after your first purchase (limited-time offer!
  4. Earn $5, $10, and $20 cash bonuses when you shop frequently

As you accrue cash back from purchases, you’ll be able to cash out via PayPal or check.

Affinityy also has one of the best referral programs we’ve seen on their user-friendly site. For every friend you refer, you can earn up to $10!

Since it can get a little overwhelming using all of these cash back services at once, pick a few to start out with until you’re more comfortable. Eventually, using all of these will turn you into the cash back queen or king you’re meant to be! (Your wallet will thank you).