Earn Money From Shopping Online - Rakuten Rewards Ebates Review

Rakuten is a Japanese eCommerce and online retail company originated in Tokyo. Hiroshi Mitkitani, a Japanese man, created this company in 1997. According to Wikipedia.com, Rakuten expanded internationally in 2005 through acquisitions and joint ventures. Among the acquired companies were Buy.com and Ebates.com. Rakuten is one of the largest eCommerce companies in Japan. It is commonly known as the Amazon of Japan.

In the early years, Rakuten operated an internet mall differently than other businesses. They successfully offered merchants smaller fee than the larger internet malls and gave the merchants more control of their storefront. Over the years, they expanded their eCommerce to include financial technology, digital content, communication, credit cards, travels, affiliate marketing, and much more.

In this article, I will primarily focus on Rakuten Rewards formerly known as Ebates.com. Rakuten Rewards offer consumer ways to earn money from shopping online through cashback rewards.

Name: Rakuten Rewards (formerly known as Ebates.com)

Website: www.rakuten.com

Consumer Affairs Rating:

Trust Pilot Rating:

Category: eCommerce, Online retailing

Cost: Free

Founder: Hiroshi Mikitani for Rakuten and Alessandro Isolani and Paul Wasserman for Ebates

Rakuten Rewards Ebates Review

According to Wikipedia.com, Ebates.com was founded by Alessandro Isolani and Paul Wasserman, former deputy district attorneys of Menlo Park, CA in 1998. In September 2014, Rakuten acquired Ebates.com for $1 Billion. The name officially changed from Ebates to Rakuten Rewards in Early 2019.

I accidentally stumbled across Ebates in 2018 through registering surveys online to make additional income. There were so many emails that came from so many directions that I was overwhelmed. I didn’t pay much attention to it until one day I received an email stating that I am going to receive a check for $13.86 from Ebates as cashback rewards for when I signed up online and also purchase products through one of their online merchants. That was cool.

When I signed up for Ebates, an Ebate plugin was added to my browser. Whenever I purchase something online through one of the merchants promoted by Ebates, there would be a small pop up “Activate Up to 5% Cash Back” from that merchant. The percentage varies with different merchants. I clicked “the activate” button several times through hotel bookings, Travelocity, JcPenneys, and others.

I have no complaints so far. It has been effortless. I figure since I am shopping at these stores online anyway why not take advantage of the cashback offers by Ebates.

Until the end of July 2019, I received an email from Ebates stating that Ebates is transitioning to Rakuten. I was not sure what to think until recently when I was writing my review. I dug a little more to understand the difference between Ebates and Rakuten. It turns out Ebates and Rakuten were the same company since 2014. The only difference now is the name and logo from Ebates to Rakuten. Everything else stayed the same.

Here is a list of Rakuten double cash back feature stores:

The first procedure is to register with Rakuten using your email and create a password. You can also login using your Google or Facebook account. Once you are registered, an optional plugin can be added to your favorite browser. Whenever you buy online and if that shop works with Rakuten, a pop up will ask if you would like to activate % cashback when you purchase.

I would click activate and it would calculate the cashback percentage and credit my account for every purchase I make.

If you did not install the Rakuten plug-in for your browser, you can visit Rakuten.com and click on the stores that offer cashback. Once your purchase is completed and verified, Rakuten credit your account.

Another way of making money is by referring Rakuten to others to shop using Rakuten as an online shopping mall. Your friends receive $10 when they join and you get $25 when your friends join.

<<<< JOIN RAKUTEN NOW and receive $10 toward your account >>>>

Pro

Simple Process for Activating Cash Back and purchase online through your favorite stores
Get Cash Back paid through PayPal or by Check
It’s Free

Trust Pilot has many reviews. Here is a snip-it of their results as of 10/24/2019

Con

Customer Services – I found many complaints on Consumer Affairs regarding payouts, quality of service, and quality of purchases, especially after the transition from Ebate to Rakuten.
No live person to talk to for questions/concerns and contact only through email.
As of 10/14/2019, Consumer Affairs has reviews of 32 (1 stars) and 11 (5 stars). There were more reviews with 1 star vs reviews with 5 stars.

Overview

Overall is it worth it to spend more money to get a little money back? I guess it depends on whom do you talk to. Cashback rewards alone may not be enough to feed my family. I take my rewards with a grain of salt. Pick my battle to spend energy and time. I think it is fun when I do shop online, find a reasonably priced item, purchase it, and get percent cashback for that item. It is like getting a discount on my product.

If you want to make money, I would totally recommend spending your energy and time with Wealthy Affiliate. The rewards are far more beneficial. Yes, you can make enough money to feed your family if you are willing to work hard for it. Try WA out for free.

======> My Honest Wealthy Affiliate Review – Is It Too Good To Be True <=========

Rakuten does have a marketing division that focuses on Affiliate Marketing. This program is harder to get in and much more involved. We can discuss Rakuten affiliate marketing in another article.

Meanwhile, I want to hear from you. What has been your experience with Rakuten Rewards? Do you want to vent or have opinions about your experiences? I love to hear. Please leave your messages, questions, and concerns below.