Reward Program Review #2: Ibotta
Brought to you by: Great Deals & Discounts, in association with Never Ending Jewelry Party
Today I'll be breaking down a reward program that I have used with a full review of its services. Is this the right reward program to help you save money?
Reward Program: Ibotta
Type: App, Grocery Receipt Rewards, Online Shipping Cashback Program
My Recommendation: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Reward Type: PayPal, Venmo, or various gift cards
Cash Out Threshold: $20
Sign Up Bonus: $10
Sign Up Link: Ibotta
Ibotta is a two-fold rewards program. First, it's a grocery receipt scanner, that gives you rewards based on the items that you purchased. Second, it's a cashback program for online shopping.
Grocery Receipt Scanner:
Let me start off by saying, if you are only going to use one receipt program (which I don't recommend - use them all!) - make it Ibotta!
Here's how it works. You pick the grocery store that you're shopping at; there are 286 to choose from {including our favorite place to coupon, the Dollar Tree}. You can then scroll through the app and pick the offers that you want to shop for. (I personally usually skip this step, as to not influence my shopping habits.) Then, after shopping, go back through the app and make sure you add the offers for any items that you ended up purchasing. Scan the receipt. It will then ask you to scan the barcode on the matching items that you purchased corresponding to the offers you've selected. They will review your receipt, and anywhere from a few minutes to the next day, your account will be credited for the offers that they verified from your receipt.
One great thing about Ibotta in comparison to other grocery receipt programs, is that they have a LOT of "any brand" offers. About once each week, you can earn 10-25 cents for an any brand/any item offer; meaning, you get a reward just for scanning a receipt, regardless of what you purchased. Then, there is each week a different selection of any brand offers, that also pay 10-25 cents. Some I've seen often include bananas, apples, other produce items, bread, bagels, milk, eggs, yogurt, baby food, ice cream, soda... basically stuff you are buying anyway. And since it's "any brand," these work with store brands and tons of different products.
In addition, if you purchase the correct name brand products, you can earn rewards in much higher amounts. As an example, right now at Walmart, you can earn $1 on Planters Peanuts, $.25 on any single ONE Protein Bar, $1 on Totino's Pizza Rolls, $1.50 on any Purex Liquid Laundry Detergent, $5 on any Wishbone Salad Dressing, $2 on any Centrum product, $.75 on any Aquafresh toothpaste, $7 on Nicorette gum, $6 on Flonase, $7 on Gerber Infant formula, $3 on SlimFast power, and TONS more! Even better, most of these offers can be redeemed multiple times, either on the same receipt or different. If you stack this with couponing, you can really come out on top!
Again, I rarely scan the offers prior to shopping, because I don't want it to influence me to purchase items that I didn't already plan on buying that week. However, if you are planning a trip, especially when couponing, it can't hurt to maximize your earnings by giving it a look ahead of time. Even so, I typically don't even have a receipt with no earnings. Even if I only purchased "any brand" items, I save about $1 on each trip. Other times, I end up getting several dollars back per receipt.
Online Shopping Cash Back:
This feature is pretty straightforward. Similar to the ads you see for Ebates, Ibotta will give a percentage back for using their link to shop at online retailers. They get a commission from the company for you using their links, and they pass on a portion of that to you.
Right now, you can get 1.5% back on eBay purchases, 3% back on select Amazon purchases, up to 4% back on Hotels.com, a whopping 15-20% back on Boxed, and tons more. There are also various cashback offers for Groupon purchases.
Teamwork:
Another great feature of Ibotta is that you can earn bonuses as your "Team" earns more rewards. Unlike you might expect, you DO NOT need to recruit members in order to build a team. All you have to do is link your account to Facebook, and all of your FB friends who are also linked and using Ibotta, are automatically on your team. The more offers you all redeem, the more bonuses you all earn.
Disclaimer: All articles are designed for entertainment purposes only. As these articles are not sourced, they are not intended for research purposes. It is entirely possible that I get something wrong. If you find that I have done so, please let me know so that I can correct it. All opinions in my articles are my own and are not backed by any other party, company, or organization. I am not paid to review or endorse any company or product. Some of the links found in my articles may contain affiliate links that will compensate me with commissions or referral rewards for sharing them with you. This is not the primary intention of any article, as my goal is to simply share and discuss these topics with you. Any proceeds do help pay for the entertainment sources necessary to continue watching, researching, and discussing new television shows with you. Any images and trailers presented in my articles belong to their individual copyright holders. I am sharing them under Fair Use to discuss and educate about the works they are associated with.
Reward Program: Ibotta
Type: App, Grocery Receipt Rewards, Online Shipping Cashback Program
My Recommendation: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Reward Type: PayPal, Venmo, or various gift cards
Cash Out Threshold: $20
Sign Up Bonus: $10
Sign Up Link: Ibotta
Ibotta is a two-fold rewards program. First, it's a grocery receipt scanner, that gives you rewards based on the items that you purchased. Second, it's a cashback program for online shopping.
Grocery Receipt Scanner:
Let me start off by saying, if you are only going to use one receipt program (which I don't recommend - use them all!) - make it Ibotta!
Here's how it works. You pick the grocery store that you're shopping at; there are 286 to choose from {including our favorite place to coupon, the Dollar Tree}. You can then scroll through the app and pick the offers that you want to shop for. (I personally usually skip this step, as to not influence my shopping habits.) Then, after shopping, go back through the app and make sure you add the offers for any items that you ended up purchasing. Scan the receipt. It will then ask you to scan the barcode on the matching items that you purchased corresponding to the offers you've selected. They will review your receipt, and anywhere from a few minutes to the next day, your account will be credited for the offers that they verified from your receipt.
One great thing about Ibotta in comparison to other grocery receipt programs, is that they have a LOT of "any brand" offers. About once each week, you can earn 10-25 cents for an any brand/any item offer; meaning, you get a reward just for scanning a receipt, regardless of what you purchased. Then, there is each week a different selection of any brand offers, that also pay 10-25 cents. Some I've seen often include bananas, apples, other produce items, bread, bagels, milk, eggs, yogurt, baby food, ice cream, soda... basically stuff you are buying anyway. And since it's "any brand," these work with store brands and tons of different products.
In addition, if you purchase the correct name brand products, you can earn rewards in much higher amounts. As an example, right now at Walmart, you can earn $1 on Planters Peanuts, $.25 on any single ONE Protein Bar, $1 on Totino's Pizza Rolls, $1.50 on any Purex Liquid Laundry Detergent, $5 on any Wishbone Salad Dressing, $2 on any Centrum product, $.75 on any Aquafresh toothpaste, $7 on Nicorette gum, $6 on Flonase, $7 on Gerber Infant formula, $3 on SlimFast power, and TONS more! Even better, most of these offers can be redeemed multiple times, either on the same receipt or different. If you stack this with couponing, you can really come out on top!
Again, I rarely scan the offers prior to shopping, because I don't want it to influence me to purchase items that I didn't already plan on buying that week. However, if you are planning a trip, especially when couponing, it can't hurt to maximize your earnings by giving it a look ahead of time. Even so, I typically don't even have a receipt with no earnings. Even if I only purchased "any brand" items, I save about $1 on each trip. Other times, I end up getting several dollars back per receipt.
Online Shopping Cash Back:
This feature is pretty straightforward. Similar to the ads you see for Ebates, Ibotta will give a percentage back for using their link to shop at online retailers. They get a commission from the company for you using their links, and they pass on a portion of that to you.
Right now, you can get 1.5% back on eBay purchases, 3% back on select Amazon purchases, up to 4% back on Hotels.com, a whopping 15-20% back on Boxed, and tons more. There are also various cashback offers for Groupon purchases.
Teamwork:
Another great feature of Ibotta is that you can earn bonuses as your "Team" earns more rewards. Unlike you might expect, you DO NOT need to recruit members in order to build a team. All you have to do is link your account to Facebook, and all of your FB friends who are also linked and using Ibotta, are automatically on your team. The more offers you all redeem, the more bonuses you all earn.
Summary:
Biggest Pros:
- A lot of "any brand" offers, which allows you to save even when you aren't buying the name brand products.
- A high sign on bonus and low cashout threshold allow you to get your first payment fast!
- The Teamwork function is unique and fun!
- The earning potential with this one pretty good. I have Team members who have lifetime earnings of more than $2,000 and $3,000!
Biggest Cons:
- You have to scan the barcodes on the items you purchased, in addition to scanning the receipt. This can sometimes be inconvenient.
- You have to select the specific store that you are shopping at, and add offers through that store. It adds an extra step if you have receipts from multiple stores that you are trying to scan at the same time.
My Frequency of Use: After every grocery store visit.
If you'd like to give Ibotta try, please use my referral link to sign up. I'd also be happy to answer questions that you may have about the program, to the best of my ability!
Contact Me:
- Twitter: @DiscountsGreat or @NEJewelryParty
- Facebook: Great Deals and Discounts or Never Ending Jewelry Party
- Email: NeverEndingJewelryParty@yahoo.com
- Web: Great Deals and Discounts or Never Ending Jewelry Party
Disclaimer: All articles are designed for entertainment purposes only. As these articles are not sourced, they are not intended for research purposes. It is entirely possible that I get something wrong. If you find that I have done so, please let me know so that I can correct it. All opinions in my articles are my own and are not backed by any other party, company, or organization. I am not paid to review or endorse any company or product. Some of the links found in my articles may contain affiliate links that will compensate me with commissions or referral rewards for sharing them with you. This is not the primary intention of any article, as my goal is to simply share and discuss these topics with you. Any proceeds do help pay for the entertainment sources necessary to continue watching, researching, and discussing new television shows with you. Any images and trailers presented in my articles belong to their individual copyright holders. I am sharing them under Fair Use to discuss and educate about the works they are associated with.
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