How to Make Money With Rakuten (Formerly Ebates)

Want to make money with Rakuten? It’s so easy! Read my full Rakuten review below to learn how to earn more with Rakuten by shopping online and taking advantage of cash back offers!

{Looking for more ways to make money online? Check out these 40 Ways to Make Money, How to Earn Free Gift Cards from Swagbucks, and you can also earn cashback from Mr. Rebates.}

What is Rakuten?

Rakuten is a website that pays you for shopping online. Yes, for real.

After you sign up for Rakuten, you just go to the site and choose the online store you want to shop through and then click over to that online store. Then, when you make a purchase, you’ll earn a small percentage of your purchase back in cold, hard cash. Plus, for a limited time, get a $10 bonus with your first $25 purchase!

Most of the percentages you’ll earn are somewhere around 3-10% in cash back. That might not seem like much, but it can really add up over time. And if you’re already going to be making the online purchase, you might as well get a little kickback, too, right?

After all, it’s essentially “free” money. I don’t think any of us are going to turn that down!

Is Rakuten legit?

Rakuten is one of the oldest cash back sites on the Internet. Rakuten offers an easy-to-navigate website and, in my personal opinion, is the best cash back program out there.

They currently offer cash back at over 1800 stores including Walmart, Target, JCPenney, Staples, Lands’ End, Sephora, and many, many more. They also offer daily deals and coupon codes to help you save even more on your purchases.

I have personally earned a lot of money from Rakuten over the years and can’t sing their praises highly enough. But don’t just listen to me!

Here are real unsolicited Rakuten reviews from my followers about their experience with Rakuten:

Jennifer shared a picture of her check from Rakuten on Twitter. I posted about it on my Facebook Page and the comments were brimming with people giving rave Rakuten reviews and saying how much they had earned from Rakuten.

See more comments from readers on how much money they have made from Rakuten.

How do you make money with Rakuten?

Earning money with Rakuten is simple. Here’s how it works:

1. Sign up for a Rakuten account.
2. Before you make a purchase online, check to see if the online store is listed on Rakuten.
3. If the online store is listed on Rakuten.com, click on it on the Rakuten site to be redirected to it. You’ll see a pop-up confirmation letting you know you’re ready to shop and earn cash back at that store. (it’s very important that you click through Rakuten to the site. If you don’t do this, you won’t earn your cash back.)
4. Make your purchase as usual.
5. When you have earned at least $5.01 in approved cash back in one quarter, Rakuten will send you a check (You can also choose to get paid via Paypal.) Make sure you have updated your account to include your address and chosen method of payment.

Is Rakuten worth the effort?

Well, that’s your decision! 🙂 Personally, I think that taking 30 seconds to login to Rakuten and search for the online store you are going to be shopping from and to click over to it from Rakuten is absolutely worth the extra step — especially if you are going to be earning a few dollars for doing so.

(I mean, think about it: making $3 in 30 seconds would add up to being REALLY good hourly wage!)

You can also download the Rakuten Extension for Chrome and you’ll be notified anytime an online store you are shopping from offers cash back on Rakuten. That way, you’ll never forget to shop through Rakuten! Plus, you’ll be notified of online coupons that are available, too.

How much money can you make?

If you do a lot of online shopping, you’ll make more money from Rakuten. If you don’t do much online shopping, you won’t make as much money.

But if you do ANY online shopping, you should sign up for Rakuten. Because even if you only make $10 per year, that’s still $10 for almost very little effort on your part!

If you regularly book flights or travel or make big online purchases, the cash back you earn from Rakuten can add up really quickly!

3 Tips for Making More Money With Rakuten

1. If you love Rakuten, be sure to grab your Referral Link and tell your friends about Rakuten so they can save money, too! Just post your link on Facebook, Instagram, or your blog or send it out to friends via email. If they sign up and spend $25 within the first quarter, you’ll earn a $25 cash bonus!
2. Pay attention to the Double Cash Back offers! Rakuten runs special Double Cash Back offers that will allow you to earn just that: double the amount of cash back. Be sure to keep tabs on these so you can earn even more!
3. If you make a lot of in-store purchases, you can link your credit or debit card to earn cash back on in-store purchases, as well.

How to sign up for Rakuten

Ready to sign up and start earning cash back for your online shopping? Just go here and sign up. And as a limited time offer, get a $10 bonus when you spend $25.

Then, the next time you’re shopping online, be sure to go to Rakuten.com first to see if the online store you are shopping at has a cash back offer. If they do, click through Rakuten before you make your purchases and you’ll be well on your way to getting your first check from Rakuten!

Have you signed up with Rakuten? If so, I’d love to hear your Rakuten review and how much cash back you’ve earned from them! Or let us know about any additional tips you have for earning more money through Rakuten!