For those who use cashback sites

[LadyGagarin]

You may be interested to know* that GreasyPalm.co.uk (remember them?!) is closing down at the end of November. They will be paying out to anyone whose cleared balance is above £25 so if you still have a small balance, it might be worth checking if this applies to you.

*I hadn't been on there in months, maybe a year or more, so found out by chance this morning.

[neversay]

Personally I've never used them, but did manage £2,500 cashback via quidco over the years. Although due to Quidco's poor tracking performance over the last year, I have moved back to topcashback.

[midnightcatprowl]

I'm slightly intrigued by this thread as I've never quite 'got' cash back sites. I am, somehow or other, signed up with Quidco but the relationship mainly/totally seems to be them exhorting me to 'buy NOW' from certain sites when I don't actually need anything or equally valid can't actually afford stuff even if I do need or want it, or would actually find it more financially advantageous to buy elsewhere.

Does cash back really work for some people? Maybe there is something I'm not quite getting? N.B. I do sometimes get a small amount of cash back via my Halifax Bank Plus account because just occasionally you can opt in to cash back somewhere I really do shop and as the opting in costs nothing there is no loss if I don't happen to shop there within the given time frame.

Lynn

[neversay]

I'm slightly intrigued by this thread as I've never quite 'got' cash back sites. [...] Does cash back really work for some people? Maybe there is something I'm not quite getting? [...]
Lynn

It's a good point Lynn and one I had been meaning to raise on LBYM. I think the golden days are over, not just for cashback but also for 'deals' on the web. A few years back, it was possible to some genuine cashback bonuses, misprices, code-stacks and one-off deals, compared to the 'herd'.

Nowadays has all flipped and anyone is basically a fool (small F) for paying full price for anything. Everything is priced to discount, garments manufactured for the sales, loyalty sacrificed, and fake events like 'Black Friday' used to whip everyone into a buying frenzy (until the next shiny widget is released). Any apparent 'deal' gets jumped on by tens if not hundreds of thousands of people via hotukdeals, money saving expert, camelcamel etc. such that every supplier has to play the same fake game.

It's all become an annoying charade that relies on having the time, energy and inclination to avoid getting ripped-off. It breaks my heart that I have to spend time changing my elderly parent's utility suppliers every year to stop them paying hundreds of pounds extra to be vulnerable 'loyal customers'.

The one interesting development this year is buying more tat directly from China (via Gearbest, etc) hence disrupting and disintermediating even Amazon itself. What goes around...

N.

[Maroochydore]

I'm slightly intrigued by this thread as I've never quite 'got' cash back sites.... or would actually find it more financially advantageous to buy elsewhere.

I use Quidco and have an account with TopCashBack. My main usage is for insurances. I always get my car and house insurance quotes and then check on these sites to see whether there are any offers.

There are stories about purchases not tracking etc so I always work on the basis that what I'm buying is a good deal and the cashback is a bonus. I never factor in any cashback into the purchase price, just in case something goes wrong. (When it has gone wrong Quidco have always sorted it. Once they said the merchant was taking too long to pay so they gave me the cash rather than have me wait until they received it from the merchant).

Does cash back really work for some people?

Yes, for example my car insurance was quoted at £174 by Aviva, beating my Saga renewal quote by £45. Quidco were offering £60 cashback for new business with Aviva (which this was). So I saved £45 on the quote and £60 cashback meaning I was £105 better off and my insurance cost me £114.

I occasionally use it for other purchases where I can get a useful % rebated. I don't do it religiously, trying to make a £1 or £2 here and there, life's too short.

Maybe there is something I'm not quite getting?

Yes, possibly a significant amount of cash (back).

[Satsuma]

We're a quidco house. Nothing against Topcashback or others, just Quidco got there first and I CBA with multiple accounts.

Like previous posters, it only gets used when we are buying the thing from that site anyway, so it's always a bonus, never the point. (I also have a chrome plug-in that alerts me when any retail site I am using offers cashback, so I don't have to waste time checking separately.)

Looking at my most recent transactions, I've got:
£4.95 for my Autoaid policy
£3.59 for a birthday present
About a fiver for a couple bunches of flowers
£3 for some cat medicine
About a tenner for some orders of shoes
And £65 for my recent now tv signup (was only expecting £50, so even better)

(Overall I have received £305 cashback since signing up.)

Quidco are 50:50 on manual claims. I have had some where they have paid themselves and chased the retailer after; but several where they have declined it and even when I have supplied proof of the order, refused to do anything.

(I mentioned the latter response on a review site and they replied with some wishy washy "oh so sorry get in touch and we'll fix it straightaway", so I edited my review to point out I had done that and they had fobbed me off)

Sats

[melonfool]

Ah, I need that Quidco plug-in, I'll look that out.

I now use Swagbucks too. This does the same re the plug-in, but also rewards surveys and other things. I started in about Sept and already have £25 in my account - well, £25 worth of 'swagbucks' (yes, I know!), you get a choice how to spend them, various retailer vouchers (Amazon, M&S, Steam, some bookshops etc, at various 'discounts') plus you can transfer it to Paypal.

Mel