Freebies,  Household Bills,  Saving Money,  Services,  Shopping

How to save £100s shopping with Cashback sites!

How to save money shopping with Cashback sites such as TopCashback and Quidco - The Thrifty Island Girl

Cashback sites such as TopCashback and Quidco pay you to shop from your favourite retailers online, when going via their site. You can earn £100s every year at no extra cost to you, when shopping for food, home or car insurance, clothing, supplements, cosmetics, electronics, holidays and more!

I’ve been saving over £100 easily every year, by using these sites and apps whenever I shop. Here I will focus on UK’s 2 most popular sites TopCashback and Quidco. To find out more about the apps instead of sites, have a look at my article: Free groceries & save £100s when you shop online!

How do cashback sites work ?

Most sites work in the same way, but may differ in how much they reward you for a particular retailer, joining bonuses, referral rewards and how the money can be withdrawn. Here is a quick guide to get you set up and start saving.

1. Pick a cashback website to join

Choose a cashback site and register. If you wish you can sign up to multiple sites, however I recommend to register with the 2 popular ones. In the UK the most used and trusted sites are TopCashback and Quidco. They are both free to join and free to use. You’ll have the option to upgrade these accoutns to premium accounts, which will have a monthly fee. I personally recommend to stick to the free account. I’ve been using the free accounts too and am not planning to upgrade.

2. Search for a retailer or deal

Within the cashback website, search for the retailer or service provider you wish to purchase from. It’ll show you how much you could earn. For example JD Sports currently is offering 12.75% cashback on full price orders, as I’m writing.

Topcashback JD sports exclusive offers on full and sale price purchase
TopCashback cashback reward for JD Sports

3. Use the cashback link

To earn the cashback reward, visit the retailer by clicking the “Get Cashback” button on the site. This will then direct you to the retailers website where you can shop as you normally would. One thong to remember is that by going directly to the retailer without going through the cashback sites, will not earn you any money. Hence it’s important to remember to go via these sites first to ensure you’ll be rewarded.

4. Complete your purchase

Once you’ve completed your purchase, the retailer then sends a commission to your cashback site. The cashback site then gives some of the money to you. You’ll usually get an email notification to notify that a purchase has been tracked and that some cashback has been logged.

Can you use 2 cashback sites?

You can sign up to multiple accounts, but can only earn money from one site for each purchase. I recommend to check each site first, to see which one has higher payout. I then make my purchase using the site that offers the highest reward for the retailer I want to shop with. But if you’re using apps such as Shopmium to get freebies from shops, you can use multiple apps.

Are cashback sites safe?

There are many new sites out there and I have to say I’m not sure whether are all are safe . However TopCashback and Quidco are definitly safe and both have a 4.5 stars out of 5 Trustpilot rating.

Are cashabck sites worth it?

I would say totally! Since using TopCashback, I’ve earned £438.68 for free! Out of this amount I’ve already withdrawn £348.58 and can now withdraw another £90.10 as you can see. When I look back, I can see last year I’ve saved £294.54. So in a year I’ve made £144.14 just by using TopCashback. Since I’ve also got a Quidco account and various cashback apps on my phone, I know I’ve made more than £200 a year already. What are you waiting for ? Sign up and save £100s per year!