What is cashback and how it works

2024 Author: James Gerald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 14:00

The economic crisis is not losing ground, and more and more people are looking not only for new ways of saving, but also for opportunities to earn extra money. You can do both with the help of cashback services that return part of the money from purchases in popular online stores. The creators of one of these services - BeSmarty - talked about how these tools work and why you shouldn't be afraid to use them.

Constant fluctuations in the foreign exchange market have taught people to be more careful with money. Today, more and more buyers prefer large online stores to shopping centers: they can find and buy the desired product much faster, the check, as a rule, turns out to be smaller, moreover, free courier delivery is often a pleasant bonus to the purchase. Everyone knows about these advantages of virtual shopping, but few people know that you can save even more on online purchases if you use special cashback services.

What is cashback and how it works:

Literally translated from English, "cashback" means cash back. The term quickly caught on and is now widely used to denote the percentage that a customer of an online store receives for making purchases.

The payment refund system consists of three stages: the client, following the affiliate link from the cashback service to the website of the online store, pays for the product or service he liked, the seller charges a commission to the service account, and the latter returns the buyer a percentage of the purchase price.

In other words, if you bought shoes for 5,000 rubles, then the store paid the cashback service 15% commission, of which 10%, i.e. 500 rubles, the cashback service gave you.

As a result, all three sides benefit: the buyer saves significantly, the store, thanks to such a client policy, stimulates the demand for goods and increases the loyalty of the target audience, and the service is guaranteed to receive a commission from each financial transaction.

Cashback services are much more attractive to customers than fictitious discounts and seasonal sales, during which stores try to sell unpopular products. Large manufacturing companies are aware of this and when planning an advertising budget, they necessarily lay in decent amounts for payments to such services for attracting customers.

3 pros:

1. Cashback services do not increase the price of goods. With their help, buyers actually spend less, and the more expensive the purchase, the greater the benefit. Well-known cashback services cooperate with many stores where you can find products and services for every taste and wallet.

2. These sites are easy to use, free and completely safe. They do not set commissions for users, do not trick with the terms of tariff plans and do not promise bonus points. To start using cashback services, you just need to go through a 10-second registration and confirm it by e-mail. Do not be afraid to leave your data to cashback services, as they do not get access to customer card data: purchases are paid on the websites of stores, and not on the website of the cashback service.

3. The main advantage of cashback services is flexible form of return of interest on the purchase. Depending on the store, its size can range from 1% to 20%. The money accumulated on the account can be withdrawn in any convenient way. Transfers are made in rubles, you do not need to calculate the accuracy of the amount received every time in accordance with the exchange rate.

Worldwide recognition

Abroad, cashback services have already found their audience. Topcashback.co.uk and Quidco.com are especially popular in Europe and the USA, the latter, by the way, already has more than 6 million users!

In Russia, this method of saving is not yet very common: there is too much love for walking in supermarkets and a high level of distrust for online purchases. Many people fear scams in virtual money transfers, but this is completely in vain: customer-oriented services take care of their reputation and take all possible measures to ensure data security. Despite this, some rules for choosing and using cashback services are still worth remembering.

User guide

• When choosing a service, be sure to read reviews about it on the Internet. A large number of negative comments should be embarrassing as well as overly laudatory posts: it is possible that they are written by the service employees themselves. Try to choose a service with a good reputation and a large customer base.
• Pay attention to the number of stores the service cooperates with: the more there are, the higher the guarantee that you will actually get a refund. From 300 is quite enough.
• Immediately focus on the size of the cashback. Usually it is indicated next to the store logo or an icon with a specific offer.
• In some services, the user can get cashback at any time, in others, he will have to wait until a certain amount is accumulated (most often it is about 500 rubles). For goods participating in charity events, cashback is usually not credited.
• The services offer different ways of withdrawing money: to a bank card, mobile phone, QIWI wallet, Webmoney, Yandex. Money, PayPal or through other services, and the set of these options may vary. If you do not have an electronic wallet and want to start one, look for a service with more convenient functionality.
• Some cashback services require you to disable ad blocking extensions at the time of ordering. If you do not have anti-virus programs installed and you are worried about the safety of your data, it is better to choose a service that is more loyal to blockers.
• Be sure to make sure that the service has a technical support team that can help in case of problems.

Follow the simple rules for working with cashback services, save money with them, and let online shopping only bring you positive emotions.