Rakuten Review Scam or Legit Money Saver

What is Rakuten? Is Rakuten legit, or is Rakuten a scam? Can you really earn hundreds of dollars using Rakuten to shop online? How does Rakuten work? Ebates is now Rakuten. Rakuten bought out eBates and renamed it, just like it did with buy.com. Rakuten is legit and Rakuten is not a scam. I’m updating my Ebates review and turning it into one of the rakuten.com reviews.

Let’s check out my Rakuten review below for answers.

Holiday shopping bonuses make Rakuten a better deal than it usually is throughout the year. On Veteran’s Day, for example, there is 11% cash back at several retailers. Combine that with already available Black Friday sales or hit those bigger purchases you are waiting for.

Rakuten Review Scam or Legit Money Saver 1

Rakuten Reviews

The Ebates Rakuten commercials promise cashback for shopping. Does this online website deliver, or is this just a Rakuten scam? I took my own look after a cousin of mine (an extreme couponer) asked, “Is Rakuten safe?” So, without further ado, here is my review of Rakuten.

Update: This Rakuten review is still completely accurate, however, it turns out that Rakuten is an especially good deal around holiday time. The reason is that many retailers have a boosted earnings rate during sales periods like Black Friday, and Cyber Monday. For example, many retailers that usually have just a 2% or 3% cash back rate have rates as high as 11% cash back during Rakuten Black Friday sales. They have an 11% Cash Back for Singles’ Day right now (11/11/23). If you are pulling the trigger on Christmas gifts for yourself, or the family, target retailer’s sales and then stack that with 11% cash back. Unlike in-store offers or coupon codes, with Rakuten you can add up both deals.

This weekend, I earned 11% at Kohl’s, and 11% at Macy’s, as well as 6% on toys from Walmart. There is 15% cash back with Dell Small Business, which could add up very fast. If you bought a $1,000 computer, that’s $150 in cash back with just one purchase. With rates like these, the cash back really does add up quickly. It still won’t pay your monthly electric bill, but I racked up over $100 in cash back just by making the holiday purchases I was going to make anyway.

If you want to turn these 11% cash back deals into gifts but you need some Christmas present ideas, Kohl’s sells nice fuzzy/flannaly pajamas at good prices (especially with 11% cash back). Macy’s sells good, not crazy-priced bedding like sheets and blankets. And, then obviously, if you’re looking to buy a computer, there’s Lenovo and Dell and stuff — you might want to roll the dice on a Good Friday special stacked with a Rakuten special, but that’s a gamble you can decide on.

For me, ShopDisney never puts what I want on sale until all they have left is XS sizes. So, 11% cash back gives me a good deal from the Disney Store on things I want to buy now.

See maximizing Rakuten cash back below for more details.

Rakuten pro tip: If you are going to shop with your phone, the Rakuten app makes it much easier to make sure you are using the proper Rakuten links and getting credit for your cash back.

If you sign up using this link, we both get a bonus cash back payout of $40 that turns your first purchase, plus that 11% rate into a very nice start to earning cash with Rakuten. (Note: The next check comes out in May.)

Does Rakuten really pay cash back? The answer is yes, but it can take more time and isn’t as straightforward as it may seem. If you are thinking of hundreds of dollars in rebates, you are going to have to spend some serious money or catch some of the higher cash back bonus rates.

Can SoFi really save me money?

Rakuten Scam Detector

As always, our first order of business is to sniff around for a possible scam, especially when an offer sounds too good to be true. First up, we check to see if Rakuten is not free and is actually a trick to get you to sign up for something that costs money like those free credit score offers that turn into subscriptions for a monthly service with a hefty fee.

rakuten cash back ebates
The Ebates Rakuten website promises cash back

Fortunately, Rakuten gets a passing score here. In order to sign up, you only have to provide an email address. As always, I recommend using a secondary, or shopping-only email address. You will get “periodic shopping-related emails” from Rakuten and their partners when you sign up. That isn’t bad, but you need to know what you are doing.

During all my clicking around, I was never asked for a credit card number. This is another good sign. If they don’t have your bank information or a credit card number, then they don’t have a way to charge you money. Keep it that way. Don’t enter a credit card number while using the site.

Rakuten mails you a physical check, so they don’t need your checking account information either. If someone is asking for your checking info, then you are likely on a scam, lookalike site, or you clicked a scam link in an email. Use this link to be safe.

Having answered is Rakuten a safe website, we need to know how does Rakuten make money?

Is Rakuten Legit?

Unfortunately, many free things online come with terrible software or other clients that must be installed on your computer. The Ask Toolbar is one of the worst (if you have this installed, uninstall it right away). Fortunately, Rakuten doesn’t require you to install anything. The exception to this is if you want to use the company’s mobile app, or a browser extension.

Next up when deciding if something is legitimate, is seeing if you can figure out their angle, or how does Rakuten make money? While it is true that there are hundreds of venture capital backed websites and services banging around Silicon Valley without hope of ever earning a dime, giving away money is a tricky proposition if there is no revenue. As it turns out, Rakuten has a fairly straightforward business model.

Ever look into whether Credit Karma is legit?

What Is Rakuten?

Whether you know it or not, many online retailers offer a referral fee or commission to websites that send business their way. The user doesn’t have to do anything. Instead, the person that publishes the website includes a code in the links you click on. That code tells the retailer where you came from.

Amazon is famous for its Amazon Affiliates program which pays a percentage of purchases to website owners that send buyers to the company. Many of these retailers offer a higher payout for those who send higher volumes of customers. Rakuten uses this same model to send customers to dozens of retailers, and then offers part of that referral fee back to its users. They keep the rest of the commission and that is the profit.

Rakuten Catch

There are two tricks involved here that may make it look to some like Rakuten is a scam. There really isn’t a Rakuten catch, but it can seem that way. Hopefully, this Rakuten review can make it clear what is happening.

First, the online retailer only gives credit to one website for any sale. So, for example, if you visited my website and clicked this link to shop for finance books at Amazon, it puts a cookie on your computer marking you as “my shopper.” For the next 24 hours, if you buy anything from Amazon, I get credit for that and make some money. (Not a lot. Don’t worry this doesn’t make me rich 🙂

Here’s the catch. If you go to Rakuten after you already have been marked as my referral (or someone else’s) then Rakuten would not get credit for your shopping trip. If Rakuten does not get paid a commission, then they would obviously not give you any cash back. Even worse, if you have already been to the shopping site, they may also not count you as a referral.

For example, let’s say you go to Barnes and Noble website to look up some books. Then, you remember that you have Rakuten, so you go to the Rakuten website and click the Barnes and Noble cash back link. Depending upon the agreement between the two companies, that may or may not count as a cashback sale since you were already on bn.com and not actually referred over there.

You can make sure that you get full credit by emptying your shopping cart (if you are logged in), and then starting a Private Browsing or Incognito Browsing session, and then going to Rakuten first, and clicking through. (Private browsing prevents access to the cookies stored on your computer to track you.)

To avoid these problems, Rakuten has certain procedures set up with some of the retailers that avoid this issue. For example, if you manually enter a referral coupon code, then that trumps my earlier automatic cookie that was set on your computer, thus giving Rakuten the commission and your money back. However, if you did not use that coupon code, then no cash back. It’s not a Rakuten issue per se, but it isn’t as clean as you might imagine.

Check out my Acorns review.

One final detail about the fine print. Rakuten debits your account $2.00 if your account is inactive for 12 months. This helps with accounting because they don’t have to keep track of your $1.32 for years while you don’t use the service. But it also means that using Rakuten every few months is necessary to keep your account balance active.

Rakuten In-Store Cash Back

Another interesting feature to get cash back from Rakuten is the in-store cash back shopping option. To get in-store cash back from Rakuten, you go to the Rakuten website and click the in-store cash back link.

When you click that, the cash back offer is linked to your credit card. So, when you go into the store and make a purchase with that credit card, you get cash back from buying in the store with Rakuten once your purchase gets linked.

Unlike some other credit card linking offers, these are not permanent links. So, if you are headed into the Columbia Outlet store and you want in-store cash back, then you need to link your card shortly before that purchase. I like to use the Rakuten app, and link to instore cash back offers when I park in the parking lot. That way, I know the cash-back offer is linked to my card, right before I go in and make a purchase.

Rakuten Browser Extension

Using Rakuten manually requires you to go to Rakuten’s website FIRST, and then go to the merchant you want to shop at in order to ensure you get the cash back you earn. Not everyone has a good enough memory, or maybe some just don’t want to mess around with that extra step. For them, Rakuten has a browser extension.

Install the Rakuten browser extension on your Chrome browser, Apple browser (Safari browser), or Edge browser and it will sit there and automatically monitor your activity on shopping sites. When the extension detects a shopping site that it has a cash back offer for, it will automatically ensure the right code is activated to earn cash back and provide any savings that Rakuten is offering as well.

Rakuten Payout Timing

The other kind of tricky thing is that your cash back is dependent upon the retailer paying Rakuten first; it can take a very long time in some cases, but that isn’t always Rakuten’s fault. Still, most people want to know how long does it take to get my Rakuten check.

How long does it take Rakuten to pay cash back?

It appears that Rakuten has negotiated its own agreements with many large retailers, so they probably get paid a little faster than us regular website owner types. My affiliate payments usually are added up for a whole month. Then, another month goes by before that amount is actually paid, in part so the company can adjust for any returns or fraudulent sales. If the store doesn’t pay Rakuten, Rakuten won’t pay you.

How Long Does It Take for Rakuten Check to Arrive?

Are Rakuten checks real is the first question you are probably asking. Yes, Rakuten checks are real, and regular sized. Those giant cardboard checks are just for show. Rakuten pays out in a similar fashion. Every three months, your purchases are added up, then you get paid a month and a half later. For example, purchases from January 1st through March 31st are counted as one shopping period.

Any cash back you earn during this time is then paid out on May 15th. In other words, if you buy something in January, you won’t see a penny from Rakuten for that purchase until May 15th. There is also a minimum payout amount of $5.01, so you won’t get a check for $3.27.

As for how long does it take for Rakuten check to arrive after they send it, it usually takes me a week to get my Rakuten check after it gets mailed. I’m not sure why it ends up being so slow, but that is just my experience with real Rakuten check mailing times. The post office might determine how long do Rakuten checks take to arrive.

Is Rakuten Worth It Like Ebates Is Worth It?

Rakuten is not a scam. It’s been around for a long time, and it does pay out cash back. The catch is that those Rakuten TV commercials make it seem like that mom is collecting a sizable check on a regular basis for just routine online shopping. Remember that Rakuten only pays out four times per year, after a minimum 45-day delay.

Also, it’s easy to be seduced by seemingly large percentages. When you add it up, it takes some serious online shopping to earn much money, and you have to remember to always do it through Rakuten.com

How Does Rakuten Work?

For Amazon, Rakuten shows 4 percent cash back for most items, although certain specialty categories say, “up to 8 percent.” (Always beware of the “up to” part of any offer.) If you bought $200 worth of Christmas present for a freelance writer at Amazon, you would earn $8. If that’s all you end up doing, then those big fat checks from Rakuten are a myth. Even if you buy $200 per month worth of stuff, that’s still only $32 every three months. That’s not nothing, but it hardly, “helps make ends meet,” as the commercial says.

In other words, you’ll need to find either much higher paying offers (see that 12% from eBags?) or spend A LOT of money via Rakuten to ever earn hundreds of dollars. At 12% you have to spend $833.33 to get $100 from Rakuten. So, if you want to earn what those people in the commercials earn, think thousands of dollars in online shopping. At the standard 4% Rakuten rate from Amazon, you’ll have to spend $2,500 to get a $100 payout from Rakuten. “Hundreds of dollars,” would require $5,000 or $10,000 of spending.

In the end, if you buy a lot of things online, and you are consistent about shopping through Rakuten, then you can really earn some cash back and make it worth your while. Otherwise, there is certainly no harm in collecting a little bit of money a couple of times a year, just don’t let those visions of thousand-dollar payouts every month cloud your judgement.

If you want to sign up with Rakuten, use this link to sign up and we’ll both get a cash bonus.

Free Shipping with Rakuten

In addition to cash back, Rakuten often offers coupons to various websites. These coupons sometimes offer free shipping. For websites other than Amazon, free shipping codes can be a great way to save money, especially on low-price, or clearance items, where shipping ends up costing more than the order itself.

Even when Rakuten doesn’t get you free shipping, the cash back can compensate, or pay for the shipping. As a “Disney Adult,” I do this a lot with things I find on sale, or clearance at ShopDisney.com. The Shop Disney website seldom offers free shipping, so I could get stuck paying $10 or more on my orders from the online Disney store. However, on those days when Rakuten offers triple cash back, the amount of cash back I earn more than covers my shipping costs. Sure, I have to wait for my “Big Fat Check,” but in the end, the money balances out on the long-term budget working toward financial independence.

Use Your Cash Back to cover shipping costs at places that don’t offer free shipping.

— A little personal finance tip.

Rakuten Credit Card Cash Back Visa

As part of this Rakuten review, you should know that there is now a Rakuten credit card, officially called the Rakuten Cash Back Visa. With the Rakuten Visa you earn 1% cash back on every purchase. Then, you earn an extra 3% cash back on “qualifying Rakuten purchases.” So, if you earn 10% cash back at Nike, and you use your Rakuten Visa card, then you would earn a total of 13% cash back. It DOES include purchases made in the Rakuten Gift Card Shop as well. There is no annual fee. Right now, you get a $50 cash back bonus with your first purchase.

Unlike a lot of cash back credit cards that give you a statement credit, or a monthly check, or whatever, the Rakuten Visa combines with your normal Rakuten cash back, so you would get the cash back earned on your Rakuten Cash Back Visa card on the four days each year when Rakuten normally sends the “Big Fat Check” payment for typical Rakuten cash back. So, you would get your Visa cash back on May 15, August 15, November 15, and February 15 each year.

The 3% cash back is a good deal. The 1% cash back is not. There are plenty of cards that pay 2% cash back, and then even more cards that earn miles or points that can be redeemed as 2% cash back equivalent. So, the only real reason to get a Rakuten card would be if you do a lot of Rakuten-based shopping. Then, that 3% would really let you clean up. As a card with no annual fee, if it fits your current credit situation, there would be no harm in getting the Rakuten Cash Back Visa and then using your 2% cash back, or miles card for normal purchases, but then always using your Rakuten Visa for Rakuten rebate purchases.

How To Maximize Rakuten Cash Back

Like many cash back programs today, the key to big earnings on Rakuten is to maximize your earnings by taking advantage of promotions and specials.

For example, last month Rakuten offered a $10 cash bonus if you spent more than $10 at any store. Surely out of all the stores that Rakuten offers there is one where you would spend $10 during the month. All you had to do was pick one of your normal retailers and be sure to go through Rakuten to make your purchase, and BAM $10 free. That is on top of your regular cash back.

The other way to maximize your cash back from Rakuten is watching your favorite retailers and looking for special offers.

I buy stuff from time to time from the Disney store at shopDisney.com. The store offers various clearance and sales, and sometimes even free shipping, but good sales are tough to come by. As I type this today, there is a special of 5% cash back at Disney instead of the usual 1% cashback. However, I browse the Rakuten website enough to know that every so often, shop Disney offers 10% cash back, so I’ll wait. After all, I don’t need that floral Stormtrooper t-shirt today.

The best deals come when you can match your Rakuten cash back to a retailer’s existing sale. So, if Disney is offering a pajama sale, and free shipping, and I can also connect that to a 10% cash back from Rakuten, that can add up pretty quickly.

Again, as always with coupons, sales, or cash back, you should only use them to purchase things you were already going to buy. Buying additional stuff, or things you don’t need isn’t really a savings.

So, be smart, get your cash back, and enjoy your savings.

38 thoughts on “Rakuten Review Scam or Legit Money Saver”

  1. Ebates Rakuten is a SCAM. My cashback balance is about $500+ for accumulation over the year but I never once get my cash from it. they keep asking me to wait for the next quarter over an over. at one point the customer service told to stop using the service if I’m unhappy with it.

    Reply
  2. Rampant fraud with Rakuten/ebates. They obviously collect ur shopping and personal data in exchange for the “rebates”. However, I have run into issues with missing rebates as well as referral bonus. They have rejected referral bonus because, their words, “the account you referred are deemed ‘related’ to you”. That’s after literally using marketing language of ‘refer your friends and family”. (The person I referred were my siblings in different emails, households and addresses).

    Most shockingly, they unilaterally CLOSED my account without explanation a week before my rebate check was to be issued. So, the whole quarter of collecting my info, and then terminated account just before payout.

    Blatant Fraud

    Reply
    • Weird. I wonder what happened. I’ve never heard of anything like this. I referred family members and got paid. In fact, I first signed up to help out my sister who got $25 for referring me after I bought something.

      Reply
  3. Rakuten (ebates) does not pay the cash back as promised. This cash back program is the worst.I requested my Available Cash Back on July 2018. In spite of repeated requests they didn’t give money back.

    Also I have a pending Cash back on my account since May 2018 and every time request them, they copy and paste the same verbiage as reply, blaming the merchant.
    Also I requested that I will call them at their convenience to clarify. They rejected my request out right.Very bad service.
    I had over 800 dollars and then it went down to zero and informed site will not allow you to transfer your money. All they say, is sorry for the inconvenience and this will be corrected shortly. Well, I don’t know their definition of shortly, but its been 3 months now.
    My sincere request to one and all. Please do not use their service.

    Reply
  4. Rakuten-ebate.com is a total scam it a way of stealing people’s information. it happened to me this guy’s came up with a lot of promises just to make me register and bring your family and friends. i registered but i didn’t receive 10$ registration bonus first i thought it was a mistake.i have referred alot of people using my referre link they received 10$ registration bonus but i didn’t receive any commission. i complained by sending emails but the reply that i received from Rakuten-ebate.com was a terrible one they made it clear that they can’t pay me the worse is telling to quit if i wish .soon make the email i received from Rakuten-ebate.com public so that the world can read it

    Reply
  5. I decided to earn some cashback with Ebates (now called Rakuten)
    I registered on the site, did the first purchase (hotel on booking.com) and then started to participate in refer-a-friend program.
    First, in May 19, I even got $25 from them. I was glad and continued working with them. But when my cashback balance became $275, Rakuten suddenly deactivated my account and made my cashback balance: $0.
    I was writing them letters for several days. They said me about abusing of rules, but couldn’t tell, what exactly did I abuse.
    They say about “different accounts”, but can’t name me any other account besides the only account I have on their site.
    And now I am sure: they simply stealed my money, banned my acc just because don’t want to pay the money I really earned!
    Don’t believe to Rakuten! They can pay you only small money, but if you earn something more considerable – they will ban you by contrived reasons! Because they all are just swindlers and thieves!

    Reply
  6. ebates (rakuten) is scam friend do not use it when you earn some money you banea accuses you of fraudulent and does not say anything else or explanations and will not pay you the accumulated.

    Reply
  7. SCAM EBATES
    I’m drop shipping and make money by Ebates.
    Ebates make payment to me 1 times.
    when i working make money $300-$400 – my account are BLOCKED.
    I cant login it.
    I have read term ebates:
    “Termination

    We reserve the right, at any time, to modify or discontinue offering the Service in our sole discretion. If you are dissatisfied with any aspect of the Service at any time, your sole and exclusive remedy is to cease using the Service. You agree that we will not be liable to you or to any third party for any modification, suspension, or termination of the Service.”

    Sorry my bad english.

    Reply
  8. I started using Ebates last year right before Christmas. I have my big fat checks sent directly to my PayPal account and then transfer over to my bank. I’ve never had any problems.
    You just have to be a smart shopper. If I get Kohl’s cash and discounts, I shop online instead of in the store. I have the Ebates extension on my laptop and I also have their app. My lifetime cash back so far has been 112.27 (member since 12/8/17). So, no it’s not helping make ends meet, but if I just go to the store and shop, I don’t get any cash back. With Ebates I’m shopping, using discounts and no shipping and I get money back! Win, win in my book!

    Reply
    • Absolutely. I’d never turn down $100 either. That being said, the commercials tout much bigger amounts than $112 per year. So, yes. It works. Yes. You get money. No. It will not be steady checks that pay your bills.

      Reply
  9. It seems to me, they’re engaged in private data collection.

    Quoting Ebates:
    “Due to the new standards set forth by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which went into effect on May 25, 2018, we’re currently unable to offer our services to residents of the European Economic Area (EEA).”

    Reply
  10. It’s legit!
    My co-worker told me about it and she loves it.
    Just used it for online purchases i was going to make anyway.
    Was concerned maybe the prices will be more, they were the same prices!
    The $ you make covers the taxes you paid plus more!

    Reply
  11. Yes, it’s true. eBates is a great way to earn money back from shopping online. So far, I have used it for years and have saved over $400 but you MUST open the store’s website from the link they provide you from your eBates account for it to apply. If you do not see the cash back added to your account, make a point to contact them and their customer service will help.

    Happy shopping! 🙂

    Reply
  12. I just got my first deposit from ebates and it was just under $150. Most of it was from Christmas shopping that I did online during Black Friday. I didn’t do anything special or shop anywhere I wasn’t going to already. I just used the ebates chrome extension.

    Reply
  13. I was supposed to get cash back, but every time I log in to ebates another of my cash backs have disappeared. When asking ebates about this I never seem to have enough information for an answer (how convenient). Not worth the trouble.

    Reply
  14. I really appreciated your comprehensive review of Ebates
    You were totally fair and unbiased
    My motto is “If it can be delivered to my door….why go to the store”…so I do almost all of my shopping online.
    I have wondered about Ebates and for the most part, I consider these types of websites a scam.
    Now that I have read your review, I have revised y opinion of Ebates,
    So Thanks! and Happy New Year!

    Reply
  15. Thank you for an excellent and thorough review on ebates. You pointed out the critical stuff and the disconnect from their commercials, but you were totally fair.
    I appreciate sites such as yours amid all the dreck and fluff on the internet these days.

    Reply
  16. I discovered Ebates last year and I’ve been kicking myself for not knowing about it sooner. I got 4 fat checks so far and more are coming. Honestly I don’t see a good reason why people would not use it

    Reply
      • No reply over two years later. Probably someone who works for Ebates. I don’t see any company handing out “fat checks” to anyone. Obviously Ebates bottom line is still to make money themselves.

        Reply
        • Ebates actually refers to their payments as ‘big fat cheques.’ I believe that is why they used that term. My lifetime cash back (I joined late last year), is $195. I do not have an influx of email from them, and I typically forget to use ebates when I purchase. My bad though. 🙂

          Reply
        • My wife’s first check was $104.14 but I’m still suspicious of the check itself despite some apparent security features on the check document. ABA didn’t recognize the routing number….

          Reply
    • When my wife received her first “fat check” I was suspicious. I checked an online routing number search engine and the routing number on the check (21190092) was “NOT FOUND” which also still makes me suspicious of this particular check. I am encouraged by this blog suggesting E-Bates is legit but now I’m wondering why their bank routing number is unknown to the American Banking Association. Any ideas? is it possible E-Bates is legit but someone else is pretending to be them with this check? Interestingly, the check number and routing number were identical.

      Reply

Leave a Comment