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I have recently stumbled upon Rakuten and I think I am in love. I don’t really know what love feels like because I have been single for so long, but I am pretty sure this is it. Multiple bloggers have told me how great it is and how much money you can save when shopping online, but I never bought into it. I have I always pushed it off that I don’t shop online that much. Or I don’t really need to shop online and it will encourage me to shop online more. Well, let me tell you that I am pretty sure that I have missed out on THOUSANDS of dollars’ worth of discounts, sales and cash back in the time that I have been ignoring their plea for me to join Rakuten. I saved a ton of money using Rakuten with my Christmas shopping, but there are also a ton of other ways to save on Christmas as well!
During my Debt Free Journey, I have looked for as many opportunities as I can to save and earn more money. I LOVE getting great deals when I shop online. The cheaper I can get it, the better! I don’t know how I have been missing out on this great deal for so long.
I just got a $275 purchase for $210 and $22 cash back for it! Plus FREE overnight shipping. Find out how below?
What is Rakuten?
Rakuten is a website specifically designed to advertise coupon codes and discounts while you are shopping online. They also provide a cash back incentive for shopping through them.
Coupon Codes
When you go to an online store, you can see all of the active coupon codes for a store.Some may be 20% off or Free Shipping. It tells you exactly what and how much, plus the offer code. You can still use them on top of your store cash back! There are always tons of coupon deals that go unused because they aren’t well known. Raktuen finds those coupon codes and shares them for that extra savings!
Store Cash Back
Every store is a little different on how much you can get back, but there are a TON of websites. I looked through the deals for a little while and saw an average of 5% cash back, but there were ranges all over the place.
How It Works?
Rakuten is an affiliate company that makes money from the companies they are advertising for. When you make a purchase through Rakuten at Wal-mart.com, Rakuten makes a little commission off that sale. They do this, so they can give some of it back to their customers. They make a little money, but they also give it back!
Here is the very basic break down of affiliate marketing. Teavana is listed on the Rakuten website. When you make a purchase online, Teavana pays Rakuten for sending them another customer. To Teavana, it is like paying for advertising that has already been done for them. Rakuten then sends a little bit of their cut to the customer for making that purchase. Seriously, everyone wins. Teavana got your purchase and you are likely to go back to them if you like their product. Rakuten made a little bit of the cut and then you got FREE money just for making a purchase that you were likely going to make anyway!
How Great Rakuten is!?
Okay, I will tell you how I got that awesome $275 purchase for almost 35% off!
I have been saving up the money to switch phone companies for a few months. I wasn’t really happy with my cell phone provider’s service or prices My parents are on Straight Talk and LOVE it. While in the process of switching over to Straight Talk Phone Company, I had stumbled upon Rakuten . I was curious, so I looked and Straight Talk had an online coupon code for 20% off phones ($65)! What a great deal on something I was already planning on buying! Don’t you love when it works out like that?
I kept digging around and found out that Straight Talk offered 11% cash back ($22) when I bought my new cell phone online through Rakuten ! I was super excited!
AND THEN, Straight Talk was running a promotion for FREE overnight shipping (regularly priced at $15).That is a total of $102 in savings!
See why I am in love now?
What kind of online stores?
Rakuten partners with over 2,000 stores, so you are sure to find something that you would love! Just a few of my absolute favorites include Groupon, Walmart, Amazon, Teavana, Maurices, UGG, Columbia, North Face, Best Buy, and sooo many more. You can check out all of the stores on their website as well. The cashback offers range anywhere from 2-15% depending on the stores.
Don’t shop online a ton? I bet it is probably way more than you think it is, but there are other options too! You can also set up your debit or credit card you still get some of the cash back for in store purchases! This is a newer thing, so there are a lot less stores that this works with, but you can still get some killer deals when it comes to getting your shopping done!
Are you still not convinced?
If all of the above hasn’t convinced you that Rakuten is better than sliced bread, this piece might. It is FREE. Rakuten is a completely free and safe website designed to reward customers. There is no fees associated with shopping through Rakuten .
You can download the extension to your Internet browser and Rakuten will automatically track which websites you are on. When there is a cash back deal on a website that you are on, Rakuten will send you a little notification in the corner of the browser letting you know what the cash back percentage is!
BEST PART?
One very last thing. When you sign up for Rakuten today and spend your first $25 online, you will get a $10 Welcome Bonus JUST for signing up. I seriously didn’t think that it could get any better than a ton of cash back and coupon codes all in one place! What are you waiting for?
If you already love Rakuten , pass along this post on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest so your friends don’t miss out on the extra money!
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Great content.
You will need to update all words saying Ebates, as it is now Rakuten, not Ebates.
Oh gosh! Thank you so much!