Ibotta is one of the best cash-back apps available. It saves you money on things you buy every day.
But how does Ibotta work? How does Ibotta make money while offering you great deals on items you would buy anyway?
Our guide to Ibotta will answer all your questions about the impressive money-saving app.
Hey folks! Transparency Disclosure- Some of the links in this article are affiliate links. That means I’ll receive a small commission if you decide to click on it and buy something. Don’t worry, it doesn’t cost you anything extra!
How Does Ibotta Work?
Ibotta works by connecting shoppers with brands offering great deals on everyday items. However, it’s not that simple.
There’s a lot of nuance to the offerings and tricky marketing schemes to avoid. To get the most out of the app, you must understand:
- How Ibotta Works
- How to Make Money with Ibotta
- Using Ibotta
- The Catch
- How Ibotta Makes Money
Learn how to use Ibotta to score great deals and make extra money!
What is Ibotta
Ibotta is a cashback app. You earn money when you purchase an item with an offer on Ibotta.
I mainly use it at the grocery store, but users can find offers from various retailers, grocers, and restaurants, both online and in-store.
How Do I Make Money with Ibotta?
There are three ways to make money with Ibotta. Users earn cashback through the app’s offers and brand bonuses and can make money by referring friends.
You can also earn cashback by purchasing store gift cards through Ibotta and then using them to make your in-store purchase.
Ibotta’s Offers
Red Deer via Shutterstock.com.
Making money with Ibotta starts with savvy shopping. Depending on the store’s offerings, you can earn money through online and in-store shopping.
How To Earn Money In-Store with Ibotta
Make a list of what you need, then check the platform to see if any offers are available for the items on your list. Click the little plus sign next to the offer to add it to your list.
When you’re done shopping, click the “redeem” button at the bottom. Choose the store and upload your receipt. Sometimes, the app will automatically find the offers on your receipt, but often, you’ll have to take a photo of the product’s barcode to ensure it matches the offer.
The whole process takes about five minutes.
The first time I used it while grocery shopping, I got six dollars back in rewards after spending $100. Ibotta basically saved me 6% on groceries.
Earning Cashback Online
Ibotta also caters to online shoppers. Many travel sites and big box stores offer cashback deals on nearly all purchases if you shop online via Ibotta.
Best Buy offers up to 4% cashback on certain purchases, and Chewy offers 2%. Kohl’s, Petco, Lowes, Nike, Lego, Barnes & Noble, and numerous other retailers offer deals on Ibotta.
Check it out and see if your favorite stores participate!
To shop your favorite retailer on Ibotta, open the app and search for it by name. Alternatively, you can browse all the online offerings using the explore tab.
When you find the store, click the ”online” offering and click the “shop” button. You’ll be redirected to the company’s website to explore the online offerings.
Use Gift Cards To Earn Even More
Some companies, like GameStop and Barnes & Noble, don’t offer cash back at the store, but they do offer it on gift cards.
You can buy a gift card on Ibotta while shopping in the store and then use it to pay for your purchase.
I’ve used this strategy to earn money on stuff I was ready to buy at checkout. Most notably, I used it at GameStop to buy a PlayStation. GameStop pays 3.5% cashback for gift cards, so I earned nearly twenty dollars by pre-purchasing a $500 gift card and then using that card to buy the PlayStation.
Brand Bonuses
Many brands also offer additional cash bonuses if you redeem their offers multiple times.
The bonus varies by brand. Some offer fifty cents if you redeem two offers, while others offer up to two or three dollars but require you to redeem three to four offers. They’re constantly changing, so checking the bonuses page to see what’s available before each shopping trip is best.
The bonuses add up if you buy the same brands every trip.
Referral Bonuses
A final way to earn money on Ibotta is via referrals.
If you have friends who still haven’t tried the app, you can earn five bucks if they give it a go. You make money as soon as they upload their first receipt.
When Do I Get Paid?
One drawback to using Ibotta is that you don’t get paid immediately. You have to earn twenty dollars before you can cash out.
In addition, Ibotta no longer allows you to keep the money earned indefinitely. If you don’t redeem offers regularly, they will remove money from your account. They subtract a $3.99 monthly maintenance fee if you’ve been inactive for six months.
They only take money from the offers you’ve earned. If your Ibotta balance is 0, they can’t take anything from you.
Using Ibotta is Simple
One of my biggest fears in experimenting with Ibotta is that earning money would be tedious and not worth the effort. Fortunately, that fear was unfounded.
Using Ibotta is easy. It only takes a few minutes to scan your shopping list for offers and another few minutes to upload your receipt. In total, it takes about 15 minutes per shopping trip.
You’ll have to explore the app to get used to its layout, design, and features, but it’s user-friendly and shouldn’t take much time to learn.
What’s the Catch?
Everything has a catch, and Ibotta is no different. The catch is that if you aren’t paying attention to what you are buying, you may spend more money than you usually would.
For example, Ibotta had a fifty-cent cashback offer on Ball Park hot dog buns. It sounded good, but Ball Park buns typically cost over two dollars, while the generic brand only costs a buck. If I had used that deal, I’d have spent a dollar more on hot dog buns than I usually do.
You must pay attention to prices to avoid that trap. Don’t buy a more expensive product to get cashback unless you’ll earn more money than you save.
The other catch is that you must sometimes switch brands to get a deal. I usually buy Coffee-Mate creamer, but there was a $1 cashback offer on Dunkin’ Donuts creamer. The Dunkin’ creamer was a dollar more, but it was a larger quantity. Using the deal got me the larger bottle for what I’d typically pay for the smaller one.
I don’t mind switching brands on a few items to get a better deal, but paying attention to the total price is vital. Don’t use an offer if you’ll spend more in the long run.
How Does Ibotta Make Money?
To understand how Ibotta works, we must know how it makes money.
Although you don’t have to buy anything to use the app, Ibotta indirectly makes money from you. They make money by having users watch videos, complete surveys, or answer simple questions on some of their offers.
They also make money through affiliate sales. They might make a small commission on some of the offers you redeem. Finally, Ibotta may sell your data, especially to its partner brands. We don’t have enough information to confirm how they use the information in the app to be sure, but we know most companies make bank off user data, so we must assume Ibotta is the same.
Ready to Join?
Now that you understand how Ibotta works, it’s time to sign up and earn your sweet rewards!
Sounds interesting! I’m always looking for ways to help us save money so I’ll have to check it out!
I think we’ve cracked $1000 in Ibotta rebates now. I think it’s a great program!
In general, the biggest risk is just spending more than you would normally since after all they survive on advertising!