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Many of you know what Ibotta is, you’ve seen the commercials, internet banners, and my frequent mention of it throughout my posts. But many people assume it’s just a cash back shopping App – Shop online. Click. Save.
But there are so many more ways you can make money with Ibotta, so let me show you how. The best part? You get a $10 bonus when you sign-up and scan your first receipt.
Table of Contents
1. Mobile In-App Purchases
This is the most common way to use Ibotta. You simply search the app (or the website) for the cash-back offers that interest you, click through to the store’s website and purchase the offer, and then just wait for your cash back to be confirmed to your account.
The amount you can receive back depends on the store, but you can receive anywhere from a few cents for a box of tea to $47 back from Blue Apron. From 1% per dollar up to 50% off.
There’s a variety of offers to choose from including groceries, clothes, subscription boxes, beauty and wellness products, prescriptions and a lot more. Popular stores include Amazon, Sears, eBay, Walmart, and Apple.
2. Scan Receipts
Another way to get cash back on your shopping purchases is to scan your shopping receipts. You first will need to search for offers for the ones you want and add those to your physical grocery list – don’t forget to check for any offer limits or exclusions too.
After you’ve purchased everything you open your Ibotta app, choose the offers you bought and then scan the receipt and the cash back will be added to your account within 48 hours.
Bonus: If an offer gives you a money value (instead of percentage) back and there are no exceptions to the product size – buy the smallest container for the maximum savings. One more bonus trick – Ibotta’s rule is “one rebate offer per receipt”, so if you find a really good deal, buy them separately and then claim the offer with each receipt – a little time consuming, sure, but for great savings why not?
3. Link a Loyalty Card
If you have a loyalty card from a “preferred partner” you can add your loyalty card or the phone number connected to that card.
Then you search for offers to add to your list, shop with your loyalty card or phone number when shopping and Ibotta will take care of the rest and your cash will be deposited into your account. Be sure you claim your offers first (click on them in the app to add to your offers).
Preferred partners with Ibotta include a huge variety of grocery stores, even local ones, and a few pharmacies (like Walgreen’s). You don’t need to scan receipts or take any further action after you’ve selected your offers.
The best way to know what loyalty cards are accepted is to find your store and click on it, the app will then inform you to add your loyalty card for that store.
4. QR Codes
One extra special bonus I have not seen on other shopping or cash back apps, except on the Walmart Savings Catcher, is Ibotta’s new use of QR codes. Most apps require you to scan the whole receipt – even needing to take several pictures to complete long receipts to make sure you’ve got everything.
Just like with your loyalty card, you simply pick the offers you want to redeem, shop for them and then scan the QR code at the cashier kiosk, or scan the QR code on your receipt with your Ibotta app. Everything else is taken care of.
This will soon be Ibotta’s choice for in-store shopping instead of scanning long receipts. With this new advantage, Ibotta is keeping up with changing technology and are even ahead of the cash-back competition.
5. Hidden Offers
Ibotta has a few hidden offers in its app and website that are not offered elsewhere.
One such offer is getting 50% off an Amazon Student Prime account. For students to get free shipping, free movies and music as well as textbook rentals – this is a great deal!
How about getting a rebate for a Sam’s Club membership? Buy a new membership and get $10 back. Sam’s Club membership is $45 a year but with the Ibotta rebate it’s only $35, which is great if you wanted to check the warehouse out. Or how about a free $5 for your next Uber ride?
6. Bonus Rewards
As a member of Ibotta, there are several bonuses and goals offered for even more cash rewards. There are seasonal offers to match upcoming holidays and events, offers for purchases in a certain time period – such as $2 for claiming 2 offers (Level 1), $3 for claiming 5 offers (Level 2), or $5 for claiming 5 offers (Level 3).
Other bonus offers are getting $20 for referring 3 friends, $5 for your first mobile purchase, or a variety of bonus offers to buy certain products (plus their cash back).
7. Better Cash-Back Options
Ibotta has better cash-back options than many shopping apps out there. The largest number of cash-back options available are for groceries and most of these can be claimed at Walmart and many local grocery stores. There are more coupons listed on Ibotta than a popular couponing website.
Not only do they have more produce rebates (such as $1 back on Grapefruit), and more pantry items that us parents actually need to buy (like 80¢ back on Kraft Mayo), but they have offers on “any item” such as 25¢ back on any receipt claimed, 25¢ back on any organic milk, 25¢ back on any size apple juice, and a few others.
8. Find Rebates on the Spot
Ever swipe through a long list of coupons or rebates looking for a specific product? That can take a long time, especially when you’re in the store shopping. Ibotta has 2 easy ways to find products and if there are any rebates for them.
One is using the search bar at the top of the app for a product and Ibotta will give you a list of where that product can be bought and the rebate value. The other is to simply scan the product barcode with the app. Any coupons associated with that product will be listed and you just click to add to your offers and put the product in your cart. How easy is that?
9. Claim old Purchases
Yep, you can claim purchases you’ve made up to a week old on Ibotta. This is great for busy parents running errands and using the shopping app slipped their minds. Most shopping receipts only permit a few days for receipt scanning, but rarely for online purchases.
10. Promo Codes
You can also earn by finding promo codes from a variety of sources. You’ll find them in Ibotta’s emails, push notifications, and social media pages. You can also search online for promo codes from various websites as well.
The various Promo Codes that can be offered are for $5 rebate on groceries, $5 rebate for shopping on Walmart, $20 cash back when you buy Amazon Prime through Ibotta, and many other rebates.
When you find a promo code, you then go to the app or website, go into your account settings and look for the Promo codes option and enter the code exactly as shown.
11. Teamwork
One way to earn on Ibotta that I have not seen on any other shopping app is the ability to connect to Facebook and all the people on your friends list who also use Ibotta (and are also connected) become your teammates. They also become a teammate through your referral link (explained later).
Every month is a bonus for the team to work towards – such as for Level 1 to earn $1 you must redeem 10 offers plus your team redeems $10 in offers too. You all can work your way up to Level 4 each month for even more money back. It resets back to Level 1 at the beginning of each month.
12. Invite Friends
Everyone’s who’s used any of the shopping, survey, and other apps are familiar with the “Refer a Friend” option as a way to earn cash back. Usually, this is a small amount – around $3 – $5 per friend.
With Ibotta you can earn up to $150 – Refer 10 friends and get $5 per friend plus a bonus $20 bonus for 3 friends, a $30 bonus for 3 additional friends, and $50 for 4 more friends. Basically, the more friends you sign up, the higher the earnings.
You can refer friends by sending your referral code through text or email or sharing your referral link on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter.
13. Be an Influencer
Earn affiliate marketing money from Ibotta by becoming an Influencer. Share Ibotta offers and promotions on your blog or website and drive new referrals to the app and website.
You’ll get access to extra savings and bonuses, a library of banners and advertising, a sneak peek to upcoming updates and new content, free one on one support and a monthly newsletter.
Now you can see why Ibotta is a very popular shopping app that offers way more than its competitors. So, why not get your first free $10 bonus and sign up now?
If you’re still not totally convinced with these 13 ways to get free money, you can check out this review.
