Feel free to add you own comments on Top Cash Back at the bottom of this review in the comments section and hopefully it will be similar to my opinions, including if you have experience of the US version of this site.
Top Cash Back is a cashback site many others, such as Mutual Points which I have reviewed previously. I will eventually compare the pros and cons of each, but before then I shall give an overview of what cashback sites are and how they work.
Cashback sites, as the name suggest, are websites which allow you to earn cashback on purchases made online. Imagine there are two online companies: Company A which sells shoes online and Company B which is a fashion trends website. Company B may choose to place links to the website of Company A and in return Company A will pay Company B a percentage of the income earned from selling shoes to customers who came from the fashion trends website. Cashback sites take advantage of the commission which is paid by many online retailers, such as Tesco, Play.com, Phones4U, eBay etc and hand on a portion of it to the customer. Cashback sites can come in many shapes and sizes, but at their most basic they are just a site full of links to retailers. Now a description of Top Cash Back has been provided, let's get on with the review along with pros and cons of Top Cash Back.
Top Cash Back is a very easy website to use. Make sure you complete the registration process for Top Cash Back when first starting out on Top Cash Back. Once registered, find the merchant which you want to purchase from either by browsing by category or by using the handy search box. On the page of the merchant there will be various information. One is the cash back amount. On Top Cash Back this can either be a fixed amount regardless of amount spent, or a percentage of the total cost of the product. Top Cash Back also add some information which explains how much certainty there is of getting the cash back and the time frame for this, along with reviews from others who have used this merchant through Top Cash Back. Many Cash Back offers require a purchase to be made, but some just require an action to be done for example visiting a certain website and signing up for a newsletter.
On Top Cash Back the payment is made by PayPal, cheque or BACS after a certain period of time has elapsed. This delay in payment is to ensure that you don't return the goods prior to payment etc which could potentially leave the retailer out of pocket.
Most of these actions mentioned above can be carried out on many cash back websites, so what sets Top Cash Back apart from the competition. Put simply, the rates on offer. Most cash back websites make their money by taking a fee out of the commission offered by the retailer - Top Cash Back does not. As a result the cash back is always at least 100%. I say at least because it is possible to get a multiplier effect on Top Cash Back, up to 110%, depending on the cash back received in the previous month. Top Cash Back makes money from advertisements, not cash back, and so this ensures that the company offers the best rates. What's more, if you do somehow manage to find better rates on another cash back website Top Cash Back promise to match these - which is more good news!
To make this review slightly easier to read here are some bullet points of the pros and cons.
Pros:
- Highest cash back available
- Range of options for being paid
- Top ups can increase cash back to 110%
- Easy to set up and manage
- Over 2000 retailers and counting
- Can take a while to get paid
- Some companies do not take part in such schemes eg at the time of writing Amazon
- Can be confusing to work out the best deal especially when there are different cashback amount across a range of merchants
Update: Since writing this review Top Cash Back has launched in the US using the address topcashback.com. Obviously, being in the UK I am unable to use this American version of the site. However, it looks identical to the UK site and so I should imagine it works in the same way. I would welcome feedback if you are in America and have used this USA version of the site (http://www.topcashback.com/ref/Bristolboy) or if you are going to join this site from in the US based on this review.
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I have a similar program on an old website but never get any sign-ups. I am curious how you use it on your sites?
ReplyDeleteHi Carrie. So far I haven't used Top Cash Back as a direct scheme to make money. Rather I am using it as an indirect way of making money by increasing traffic to my site etc as well as encouraging people to save money by using the site (this blog is called A Little Extra Money UK after all!). However, the links above are affiliated links so whilst those who sign up with them earn the same amount of money as they would anyway, Top Cash Back give me a referral payment :).
ReplyDeleteI had never heard of this -- didn't even know what cashback was. It sounds really interesting. Too bad I don't live in the UK.
ReplyDeleteSelena - I also believe that there is cashback in other countries so maybe you could find a site for your country!
ReplyDeleteTopcashback is definitely one of the best cashback sites on the market. Selena if your in the US then Topcashback operate there or your can try ebates. Lots of other sites around the world, just Google for cashback.
ReplyDeleteI've used Topcashback for a few years now. It is much better than using Quidco. It's a great way to earn extra money when purchasing products online. As already mentioned it does take a while for the payments to come through, but it's worth the wait!
ReplyDeleteI have found Topcashback to be better than Quidco, they appear to track more these days and quicker to pay out. Also not having to pay the annual £5 fee to quidco helps.
ReplyDeleteGreat description of topcashback site.
ReplyDeleteSuch programs are very lucrative and i think one should avail them.
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