Rebate App Recap

After biting the bullet and getting a few of the rebate apps, I am ready to write them up, so here it goes.

I’ve been using the apps for 2 ish months and Hubby still gives me shit every time he sees me loading my receipts into them. Oh well, it always ends in a draw. Netting back money from the Rebate Apps takes work and commitment! I knew it would, but wasn’t sure how much I would have to be committed to looking at the Apps, marking what you want, and then remembering to submit the item, and sometimes buy the correct variety of said item. So yes, you can Net money back but you have to work at it. You don’t make money with these apps. You just SPEND LESS with the Apps after the fact. Let me explain as this is an irksome point that some blogs make.

You MUST spend money to MAKE money with the Rebate Apps. If you search money making apps more often then not ibotta shows up on the list. Here’s the catch with it, sure you MIGHT be able to make a few dollars with it if you have a TEAM of active users under you. If it is just YOU, you won’t MAKE money with it. Let’s refresh everyone on the Making Money equation, also know as profit. The equation is Profit= Revenue – Cost. In this case Revenue is the Rebates from the Apps, and Cost is the Cost of the product aka Receipt Price. The apps don’t give you back all you spend on your receipt. Yes, you can make pennies on some items if you stack everything right, but not the entire receipt; unless you only went out for that one item. Anyways, I’ll keep the few I have. I wrote up a rough review back when I first started looking at them, but here is a more.. informative.. review after actively using them each for a couple months.

Here are the apps that I use:
ibotta
bevRage
SavingStar
Checkout 51
MobiSave
Find&Save

Here are the apps review in depth:

 

ibotta-
I still am not sure when they update the rebate selection 😦 Each rebate has it’s own expiration date, which is kind of nice if you decide not to by it that week, you might be able to get it the next week. Either way, it’s the best one that I have. Not only do they have a large selection of almost everyday items but they also offer bounses for you just redeeming rebates but also if you buy certain rebate offers together on the same receipt. You can cash out to PayPal and e giftcards when your account hits $20. I’ve only ever done PayPal so I can’t talk to the giftcard options.

 

 

bevRage-
If I ranked them, this would be the least useful app of my collection for everyday use. it only focuses on some alcohol; ibotta and Checkout 51 have a larger selection usually. Yeah for saving money on the liquor store! Yeah for motivation to try new brands! Boo for my local favorites not being on there and having to make the choose of rebate and new brand vs tried and true brand 😦 They also payout to PayPal right away, no minimum. Which is nice since it would take me forever to make the $20 minimum that the other have. It does also include bars and restaurants, which is nice for trying that new beer or if your favorite drink includes one of the spirits in the rebate app. I keep it, but I only look at it when I am alcohol shopping.

 

Checkout 51-
It’s my second most actively used app. They offer some general rebates (berreis, bread, ect) but mostly specific items. They also have bounces like ibotta but they are far more specific about what it takes to qualify (shop at a specific place, purachse items together) for them and I’ve only ever qualified for 1 bounce. This one updated on Thursday’s and the variety changes some, but not a ton on Thursday’s. You do still have to go back and reselect any rebates not used the previous week, but still active for the next week. They also only mail checks when you hit $20 and cash out. There is no paypal option or giftcard option. So when you cash out it can take another week plus to get your rebate.

SavingStar-
The most frustrating app of them all! You cannot stack with this app. If you used a coupon in store, you can’t try and redeem that same item on the SavingStar app, and you have to have selected that item BEFORE you checked out at the grocery store. Really iratingat times, but they also offer rebates on other brands that I don’t see usuallly in the other apps, and if I am doing it right, I can select an item on this app vs remembing to print and use the coupon. Sometimes trying to ranggel the toddler, the cart, the groceries, the pleasant chat, and the coupons is just to mach and the coupons get forgotten at checkout.

 

Find&Save-
If I ranked them, this would be the second least useful rebate app for everyday purchases. With this app you get a 1% or 2% rebate, sometimes more, if your entire purchase is above a certain value for a few select retailers each week. Nice app if your shopping trips that week include one of those places and amounts, but not a great everyday app. Also, a lot of the rebates exclude online purchases. They also want you to have location services always on or you get the big red banner on the app when you open it. I refuse to drain my battery with location services always on, so I just check it every Wednesday to see which retailer has an offer that week.

 

mobiSave-
I kind of the like the whale and the symbolism of it.. lol.. this has a small selection of item ever week and i am not sure when they add to it as I see a lot of items stick around for weeks. The upside to this app though is that it pays out to paypal right away! I keep it around as it does have items that I buy and I don’t utterly dislike it’s selection of items.

A few dollars and penny’s back are great. Sure, it sucks to have to wait to hit a payout on some of these. But then again, I only buy items that I want anyways so it’s not a heartbreak to not get the money back.

Enjoy!