www.quidco.com
www.topcashback.co.uk
This is a review of two of the best cashback sites in the UK that I have used for a number of years which are both free to join. During that time, I have claimed over £1,200 from purchases I have made over the internet. Whilst I do a lot of purchases over the internet, most of the cash reclaimed has been from insurance, energy or mobile phone companies.
Christmas can cost a tidy sum these days, with plenty of expensive gadgets being bought for partners and children, so any way to save money must be worth trying out.
How do they work?
Nearly every company selling something on the internet is interested in attracting more people to buy from them. They often give a referral fee or affiliate fee to anyone that sends customers their way. The difference with a cashback site is that you get a large portion of that referral fee back in the way of cashback. There are thousands of big companies operating through quidco and topcashback giving people money back.
As an example, I recently changed my energy company over the internet. I could have done this directly on their site, but instead used quidco.com. The only difference was I clicked the link from quidco.com rather than visiting the energy site directly or using an energy comparison site like uSwitch.
This extra click meant I received £139 in cashback. Roughly 10% of my annual bill.
How do you get your money?
The time it takes to receive cashback from companies can vary from a few days to a number of weeks. So, don’t expect to get an instant discount. If you are buying for Christmas, you probably won’t receive anything until the New Year.
One warning however – these sites work by tracking your clicks. This means if you visit a site via some other link, the referral (and hence your cash) may not be sent to the cashback site, but to some other site instead.
I usually clear my cookies before making a cashback purchase, or use another browser to ensure the clicks are tracked properly.
Once your account has been credited with your cashback, you can get it paid to you via paypal, direct to your bank, or in Amazon vouchers.
How are the two sites different?
Both these cashback sites are pretty much the same. The key difference for me is Topcashback will increase the value of your cashback if you choose to be paid in vouchers. This is why I usually choose Amazon vouchers, as I get an extra 5% on top of my cashback.
That’s nice, but I don’t live in the UK
Unfortunately, I don’t know the equivalent sites in other countries. If there aren’t any, then perhaps that’s a business opportunity for someone.
Great, where do I find out more?
Both these site are free to join, so there’s nothing to lose.
If you want to find out more, you can either click on the (non-affiliate) links at the top of the page, or my affiliate links below:
www.topcashback.co.uk
www.quidco.com
Danny Boy 