Ibotta is a simple way to save money every week on groceries compared to cut coupons.
This little app is very popular for moms and dads to make money on their grocery shopping every week.
Well, who doesn’t love those apps that can put a few extra dollars in our pockets each month?
They include Ebates, InboxDollars, and now Ibotta.
Once you use Ibotta, you will quit using coupons, said many moms and dads.
Ibotta is a wonderful app to save money on groceries.
However, Ibotta is not for everyone. I’ll explain in this Ibotta review later.
Lately, there are a few complaints related to account suspensions that raise red flags for me.
I understand nothing is perfect, but if there are patterns of bad customer services, then it is time to do a review on Ibotta to discover the true story.
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Ibotta Review
Ibotta is a free mobile app not just for saving money on groceries, but also includes pharmacies, clothing stores, restaurants, convenience stores, home improvement stores, and online shopping.
In a nutshell, this is an app that helps people save money, not making or earning money.
It is very troubling to read many Ibotta reviews claiming that people make $100, $200, or $1,000 using Ibotta. NO, people save money by receiving cashback on their purchases. They do not make or earn any money with Ibotta.
Note: If you want to make money online, you either build an online home-based business or find an online job to work from home. Ibotta is neither of these.
I will never recommend money-saving apps, like Ebates and Ibotta, as an online business opportunity.
If you are looking for ways to make serious money online, I recommend you read my article about affiliate marketing success. This is how I make a living online.
This review is about Ibotta as a money-saving app. If this is what you are looking for, then you will find many helpful saving tips in this Ibotta Review.
Ibotta Story
Ibotta was founded in 2011 by Bryan Leach with headquartered in Denver, Colorado. The company has received over $73 million in funding as of 2016.
This company allows people to use its smartphone app to earn cashback on in-store and online purchases with receipt verification.
Download this free app, shoppers can get cashback on both brand and generic brands.
Ibotta claims to work at over 500,000 retail locations within the United State. In 2016, the company announced it had paid members over $100 million through its rebate app.
Here’s How Ibotta Works.
Ibotta is a FREE mobile app that allows users to get between 2% to 5% cash back on grocery items like milk, eggs, bread, butter, cheese, razors, toothpaste, toilet paper, liquor, and even online purchases.
To take advantage of this cashback program, you have to sign up and do the followings:
- Download the Ibotta app to your smartphone.
- Launch the app and browse through rebate offers prior to your shopping trip.
- Tap to unlocking any rebates for items that you are going to buy.
- Go shopping at the store or online.
- After the shopping trip just scan and upload receipts to your Ibotta account.
- Get cash back.
That’s how Ibotta works! It is simple and easy to save. The entire process takes less than 15 minutes.
With over 500,000 retail partners nationwide, I bet there’s a rebate for something on everyone’s grocery list.
Next time when you go out for a weekly grocery shopping, I suggest you register with Ibotta and unlock those rebates to start saving.
Currently, Ibotta is offering a $10 sign-up bonus after your first use. Click here to claim your cash bonus today.
How to Earn Cash Back with Ibotta?
There are three simple ways to save with Ibotta:
- Rebate offers on everyday products purchased in store
- Linking a rewards card
- Online shopping cash back similar to Ebates.
Below is a more detailed discussion of each saving option listed above.
Ibotta in-store rebates
If you want to earn cash back with rebate offers on everyday products purchased in store, the steps to select this option are:
1. Plan a shopping list
Before heading out to shop, you need to write a list of all the products that you are planning to purchase in the stores.
2. Launch the Ibotta app to scan for rebates.
Scan for rebates by selecting all the major stores in your area, starting with the stores you are regularly shopped at first.
You need to check for rebates at multiple stores because sometimes a rebate is only offered at one store.
Once you selected the stores for the shopping trip, you can now scan for rebates. I suggest you start with specific categories before visiting “What’s Hot” or “What’s New” tabs at the top. It is quicker this way.
3. Add rebates to your account
You can click on the plus sign to add a rebate to your account.
However, some rebates require taking a short quiz or watch a 15-30 second video before you can to unlock the rebate.
4. Go shopping at your favorite stores
Just shop as you normally do with your shopping list.
5. Upload my receipts to confirm and get cash back.
You need to upload all receipts to get cashback.
If you want to verify the receipts, click on the “Verify” button at the bottom to start the process. You will need to take pictures of each item barcode together with a picture of the receipt for the verification process to work.
After submitting the receipts, Ibotta will credit the cashback into your account within 48 hours.
That is how you save with Ibotta in-store rebates.
Ibotta store rewards card cash back
The simplest and quickest option to receive cash back is to link every Ibotta preferred partner store loyalty card to your account.
Ibotta will track and automatically credit your account with cashback on all eligible purchases.
There’s no receipts verification or barcode scanning with this option.
Earn Cashback with online purchases
This option is similar to Ebates where you have to shop through the Ibotta app to earn cashback.
You start a shopping trip by clicking on the mobile shopping links via Ibotta,
The link will bring up the retailer’s current rebate offers, then automatically redirect you to the retailer’s website.
Once you have finished shopping and paid, Ibotta will credit cash back to your account.
Normally, Ibotta will notify you of the time frame in which your cashback will be deposited into your account.
Note: During the shopping trip, if you leave the supported Ibotta page, the discount will be lost.
Other Ibotta special cashback
You can check for bonus cashback by clicking on ‘Account’ then ‘Bonuses.’
On this page you can find special offers, like:
- Extra $10 cash back for every $250 spend
- $1 bonus when you purchase certain products
- 5% back on Groupon purchases
- 15% cash back on hotels
- $5 back on a case of Bud Light
- $2 back on a bottle of wine
- 15% cashback on Jo-Ann Fabrics in-store purchase
- $15 back for a basic Hulu
Team rebates
This is a special feature of Ibotta. Your teammates can help you earn additional rebates.
Team bonus rebates are available each month, but to get the bonus, your team has to earn rebates too.
The more rebates your team redeem each month, the bigger the bonus.
Therefore, you want to join a team that actively using Ibotta.
There are plenty of more discounts, rebates, and non-grocery deals available with Ibotta. You can register for a free account and explore them.
Ways to Request a Payment from Ibotta
You can request a payout if your account has a minimum of $20.
To withdraw your money, just expand the profile tab, then select “withdraw cash.”
You can cash out via PayPal, Venmo, or choose a gift card.
Ibotta makes it super simple for you to request a payout.
Is Ibotta a Scam?
Ibotta is not a scam. As stated above, this rebate app has paid over $100 million in cashback to its members.
Yes, Ibotta does deliver on its promise to pay you for qualifying purchases.
However, Ibotta is not an online business opportunity. You cannot get rich with cash back.
My Example:
I use Ibotta, Ebates, and InboxDollars to earn cashback every month on all purchases. On average, I make about $20 cash back each month. This is fun money.
I use affiliate marketing to make money online. I make over $6,000 per month with one website. This is my income. I have been working online for over 20 years. Click here to read my profile. If you want to know how I make my money online, then download a copy of my Guide To Make Money Online.
You can see, you do not make a lot of money with Ibotta. People telling you they make $200 or $300 is not from cashback. They are affiliate marketers. They make most of their money by referring people to Ibotta which I will discuss more below. Click here to visit that section.
Ibotta is a legit money-saving mobile app. However, latterly, there are certain complaints that raise a red flag for me which I like to address at this point.
Ibotta Customer Complaints
These recent complaints against Ibotta are of great concern to me. They are very similar to each other. Here they are for you to see.
All three user accounts are disabled or suspended because they have accumulated a large amount of cashback in their account.
From experienced: it is very unusual to earn a large amount of cash back in a short period. These people might have cheated Ibotta by purchasing products to earn cashback then return the products. This is a big violation.
In Reality: Some people do purchase a lot, or buying big-ticket items, then the large cash back is a possibility. If these customers are telling the truth that Ibotta suspended their accounts to avoid the big payout, then this is a big red flag to me. This is like a scam.
These complaints are a bit troublesome. If you are using Ibotta, then I recommend you withdraw money from your account as soon as you reach the $20 requirement to avoid losing your cash back.
I earn most of my cash back with Ebates. Ebates offers more rewards, and you earn a $10 sign-up bonus. Read this Ebates review to learn more.
Here a few more customer complaints for you to consider.
Require a smartphone to earn rebates.
Ibotta is a mobile app. If you don’t have a smartphone, you can join Ebates to earn cashback.
They only pay via PayPal.
This complaint is legit to me. Unlike Ebates, Ibotta doesn’t have the paper check payout option. This is a little inconvenient for people that want to avoid the PayPal transaction fee.
However, you can select a gift card option.
There is a $20 minimum payout requirement.
The $20 minimum payout balance is high for cash back. This may not be easy to meet the minimum requirement if you’re not the one buying groceries for the family.
This is why I prefer Ebates because the minimum payout is only $5.
Those are some major complaints against Ibotta.
As stated above, I prefer using Ebates over Ibotta because I don’t like Ibotta that much.
What do I like about Ibotta?
Free to join and use
Getting a free account is quick and painless. You can register online or download the app, either method is OK.
Convenient
Enjoy savings and rebates on all brands without the need to clip and carry coupons. It is much simpler and easier to get rebates for both generic and brand name products.
Trustworthy with a (B) Better Business Bureau (BBB)
I include this here because some people love the BBB rating, not me. I think this rating is not that impressive.
Easy to withdraw cashback
Ibotta offers three ways to withdraw cashback, direct deposit into PayPal or Venmo, and gift cards. However, withdrawing a small cashback amount is no problem, but withdraw a large cashback amount might be. See the complaint section above.
Earning money with referral
The referral program is very generous. You get paid $5 for each referral. It is not that hard to get people to sign up for rebates. You can make made hundreds of Ibotta referrals.
To learn how to can make money on referrals, read the section below on how to make money with Ibotta.
What I don’t like about Ibotta?
Receipts verification
I personally hate this. It takes a lot of time to scam in all receipts from every store to get the rebates. It is a very time-consuming task. I prefer using Ebates which you don’t have to do this.
Require answering questions or take surveys to unlock rebates
My guest this step brings more money to Ibotta, but more work for you. You don’t have to do this with Ebates.
I think that is enough for my own personal review of Ibotta. Let’s move on.
Is It Worth It to Join Ibotta?
Ibotta is a money-saving program, and it is free to join. If you want to get rebates on things that you are already doing, then Ibotta is worth it.
However, you will not get rich with Ibotta, if you are looking for a way to make a living online, then this program is not suitable for building a home-based business. You should check out affiliate marketing or blog as an alternative to Ibotta.
How to Make Money Online with Ibotta?
As I stated above, rebates are not a good way to make a lot of money with Ibotta.
Here is a way you can make hundreds with this reward program, through referral.
Review of Ibotta referral program
Ibotta offers you $5 for each referral, but you have to get your own Ibotta Referral Code. This code will track and credit your referrals.
You can get your own Ibotta referral code by:
Register for a free Ibotta account
Inside your account, click on ‘Account’ then ‘Invite Friends’ to get your referral code.
Ways to make money with Ibotta referral
Once you have your own Ibotta referral code, here are two methods that you can use to make money online.
Invite friends and family
You can pass the code through email, texting, and posting on your social media accounts to invite friends and families joining Ibotta. You earn $5 when they sign up and start using Ibotta.
This is your warm market. Eventually, you will run out of friends to invite. What’s next?
Use Affiliate Marketing to invite the world to join Ibotta
This is how you bring home the big paycheck.
Affiliate marketing is a form of content marketing in which you write articles to introduce a product or service to potential customers.
Ibotta Affiliate Marketing Earning Example:
You are reading a review article of Ibotta. I am writing this article to share with you the good, the bad, and the ugly of this rebate program to help you decide whether to join or not. Ibotta is not for everyone, but if you decide to click and join through this article, Ibotta gives me $5. It cost you nothing.
Now imagine this article reaches 1,000 people online and 100 persons sign up. I earn $500 referral rewards from Ibotta.
This is why affiliate marketing is the most lucrative online business for you to earn a living.
The example above is a short description of an affiliate marketing process.
I have written a tutorial, “The 4 Steps Affiliate Marketing for Beginners,” explaining the step-by-step of how I start a successful affiliate marketing business in which you can do the same.
I have been working online for more than 20 years. Here’s my profile. I always recommend beginners to launch their business with this #1 free affiliate marketing training program.
I build my affiliate marketing business with this same free training program. I went from $0 to $6K a month with one website. Here’s the breakdown of my monthly earnings.
I invite you to follow the link below and train with me. This way I can help you, and you have access to professional help as you are building your own online success story.
I hope this Ibotta Review provides the information that you need. If you have any more questions, either about Ibotta or affiliate marketing, feel free to leave me a message below.
