Cashback Review

UShopUCare

2009-01-14T22:34:00.019Z

Pros

£5 sign-up bonus
Earn £2.50 for each friend referred once they earn cashback
A percentage of your cashback is paid to charity, even if you decide to keep it all
Ability to save favourite stores
Fairly easy to use
Offers some retailers not available on other sites

Cons

Limited range of retailers, some major sites not present
Often uncompetitive cashback rates
No withdrawals allowed until you earn £20 (or £15 on top of the £5 sign-up bonus)
Payment only by cheque or PayPal
Payment must be requested
No statistics on retailer payout, tracking accuracy etc

They Say:

UShopUCare is an innovative new fundraising shopping portal, which enables you to earn cashback when you buy online.The site gives you access to 500+ online retailers, including many high street names.
Shoppers can earn up to 25% cashback when shopping at their favourite retailers as well as donating to charities and local good causes with every purchase they make at no additional cost to themselves.

Who Started It?

Mark Pearson and Nicola Cassidy decided to start UShopUCare as they are both firm believers in the fact that if everyone gives a little, the result would be huge. The goal of the UShopUCare team is to raise as much money as possible for UK based charities. As online shopping continues to grow rapidly, UShopUCare.co.uk could become a major new source of income for charities.

We Say:

UShopUCare is run by the same people behind the MyVoucherCodes portal, which probably explains the many links across the website encouraging you to visit MVC. This is a curious situation as if you're tempted to visit the retailer from MyVoucherCodes instead of UShopUCare, the theory goes your cashback won't be tracked. When using voucher sites, make sure you delete the cookies and restart your web browser for good measure before using a cashback shopping site.

Also when we checked the UShopUCare website, the online 'help' section designed to list answers to frequently-asked questions wasn't working. This might have been just a temporary blip, but...

Cashback rates were often suprisingly low in places - such as £3.50 to sign up at Lovefilm when Cashback Kings currently pays out £15.

In its favour, we found a number of retailers not available on other cashback sites which, combined with the fact it helps out charities, earns it 3 stars. But if you're already the giving kind, you'd probably do more by using a cashback site offering higher rates and donating the extra money earned to charity yourself. For those without the time or inclination to do this, UShopUCare is worth a look - and provides an easy way to help charities.

Website Link to UShopUCare

Quanti

2008-12-20T14:31:00.018Z

Website Link

Pros

Some good cashback rates - some market-leading
Site is simple and easy to use
Shows discount codes alongside each retailer
Free payout direct to bank account, PayPal, cheque or Amazon vouchers
£1 for referring a friend when they earn £2 in cashback

Cons

£3 annual fee deducted on earnings or on anniversary of registration
Cashback rates often lower than many other sites
Smaller range of retailers listed, some major sites not available
Only allows withdrawals after you earn £20 of cashback
Payment must be requested
No retailer payout statistics
No signup bonus

They Say:

Quanti is like a huge online shopping mall that gathers together over 500 stores and invites you to explore them from the comfort of your armchair... The idea behind Quanti is to pass 100% of that commission on to you – it’s your money in the end. There are lots of websites that keep a good chunk of this money to themselves, we don’t. It’s sweet and easy – you shop, you spend, you earn so that… you can shop and spend again. Don’t forget to tell your friends about it and help them save some money too.

We Say:

Quanti is a new website and so is quite limited in retailers available. Some major names are there, others (like eBay) are noticeably not, though new ones are being added daily. Cashback rates are also a very mixed bag, some excellent, some bordering on the miserly, so do your homework. We like how it lists discount codes alongside each retailer. It also offers quite a good referral incentive scheme. But its £20 minimum payout is not really good (though by no means the worst). Overall, despite its flaws, Quanti looks like a fairly promising site - and is possibly a must for voucher-addicts.

Website Link to Quanti

Internet Cashback

2008-12-19T11:17:00.005Z

Website Link

Pros

£10 signup bonus
Good range of retailers, including some not available on other sites
Refer a friend and earn 20% of their cashback (except joining bonus), bonus increases the more friends you refer
Simple and easy to use
Links to discount codes

Cons

Withdrawals not allowed until you earn £40 of cashback
Cashback rates are lower than other sites
Only pays out by cheque
No discussion forums or retailer payout statistics

They Say:

Internet Cashback was launched in 2006 and since then has grown rapidly to now have 1000s of happy cashback members. We are based in sunny Manchester and are here to look after all your cashback needs.

We Say:

On the plus side, Internet Cashback features retailers not usually available on other sites. The downside is despite a very generous sign-up bonus, Internet Cashback only pays out when you have £40 in your cashback account. This is the highest payment threshold we've seen so far and means you'll have to earn £30 before your first payment, and £40 for each time thereafter. The key is to look for 'big-ticket' cashback earners which will take you over the £30 limit, so you can pocket the extra £10 bonus. Even so, it's worth comparing other cashback sites to see if better deals are available.

Website Link to Internet Cashback

Mirror Cashback

2008-12-18T16:41:00.000Z

Website Link

Pros

£5 sign-up bonus
Automatic payout
Free payout to bank account
Huge range of retailers
Links to vouchers
£5 for each friend referred when they earn £5

Cons

Uncompetitive cashback rates
Does not pay out until you earn £25

They Say:

There is no catch, it's not too good to be true. Quite simply, we pay you the money the retailer has paid to advertise on a website. So get online today and start saving Cashback on your Christmas shopping at www.mirrorcashback.com.

We Say:

Sadly it is too good to be true. We compared Mirror Cashback's rates on a range of products to those on other cashback sites and it performed very badly. Despite the attractive sign-up bonus, Mirror Cashback will not pay out your earnings until you've stacked up £25, so is definitely not one for the casual cashback shopper. Better deals are available elsewhere.

Website Link to Mirror Cashback

Froggybank

2008-12-18T16:09:00.001Z

Website Link

Pros

Generally excellent cashback rates
Best cashback match promise
No minimum payout threshold
Automatic payment to bank account
Huge range of retailers
Promises fast customer service
Free payout direct to bank account
£2.50 for each friend referred when they earn £5
Subscribes to industry code of conduct
Simple and easy to use

Cons

First £5 of cashback deducted annually
No statistics on retailer's payout history
No sign-up bonus
No links to vouchers

They Say:

UK's only charity cashback site with a maximum cashback promise. froggybank.co.uk is a shoppers community. You can earn cashback when you shop from top retailers like Tesco, Currys, Comet, WHSmith, M&S, BT, Dell, Sky, HMV and 1500 more.

Earn for yourself, shop for charity or offset carbon with your earnings - without spending an extra penny.

We Say:

Froggybank is a new entrant into the cashback stakes with a pretty generous refer-a-friend scheme. Unfortunately, unlike many other sites, Froggybank keeps the first £5 of your cashback each year. But like QuidCo, it'll pay the rest out to you automatically - in our view a major plus.

Website Link to Froggybank

Cashback Kings

2008-12-18T10:14:00.000Z

Website Link

Pros

Excellent cashback rates
No annual fee
Huge range of retailers, some exclusive discounts
Low minimum payout threshold - £1
Free payout direct to bank account
Member discussion forum flagging up deals and offers
Links to voucher codes
£1 for each friend referred once they earn £5

Cons

Cashback must be redeemed manually
No statistics on retailer's payout history
No sign-up bonus

They Say:

Cashback Kings is the shopping portal that automatically pays you cash every time you shop online. It's the smartest and cheapest way to shop

We Say:

Virtually identical to Rpoints - it's run by the same people - but with distinctly better cashback rates. One of the best free cashback sites out there, the only niggle being it doesn't pay out automatically.

Website Link to Cashback Kings

Top Cashback

2008-11-28T21:03:00.001Z

Website Link

Pros

Excellent cashback rates
No annual fee
Huge range of retailers, some exclusive discounts
No annual fee
Retailer payout and reliability statistics
No minimum payout threshold
Free payout direct to bank account
Links to voucher codes
Extra cashback (up to 110%) if you earn over £10 per month
Site is simple to use
£2.50 for each friend referred once they earn £5

Cons

Cashback must be redeemed manually
No discussion forums

They Say:

At TopCashBack our strategy is plain and simple (perhaps a bit like us :-)) - to be the UK's Most Generous Cashback Website. Since our launch in the summer of 2005, WE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN the most generous cashback site, as we pass back all of the available commission and have NO ADMINISTRATION CHARGE. Furthermore, you can rest assured our aim will always be to be the most generous cashback website in the UK. Despite the fact that in the past we have often been overlooked by the press compared to some much larger (and less generous) rivals, we will continue to improve efficiency and offer the best value in the UK!

We Say:

Highly recommended. A simple and very generous 'no frills' site which combines virtually all of the best aspects of other cashback clubs. Likely to be the cashback site you will use the most.

Website Link to Top Cashback

Rpoints

2008-11-26T18:23:00.000Z

Website Link

Pros

£5 signup bonus - payable once £25 cashback earned
No annual fee
£1 minimum payout threshold
Money can be paid direct into bank account
Member forums flag up good deals
Links to shopping vouchers
Earn extra points by promoting offers
Good support
Easy to use
£5 for each friend referred

Cons

Not the best cashback rates
Cashback must be redeemed manually

They Say:

Today we have the largest online deal hunter community in the UK and we work with over 2000 retailers to give our customers the best deal guaranteed. Many of them earn 100s of pounds every month on everyday shopping.

We Say:

Other cashback sites usually offer much better deals than Rpoints. Cashback Kings - also run by the same people- has much better rates. If you only want to use Rpoints now and again, it could take some time before you can access your cashback. But it's reliable, free and worth signing up to, if only for the vouchers and forums.

Website Link to Rpoints

Quidco

2008-11-26T13:45:00.000Z

Website Link

Pros

Automatic monthly payment
Good cashback rates
No payout threshold
Large list of retailers
Good payment tracking system
Payment statistics for each retailer
Responds quickly to payment enquiries
Good community feel
Occasional competitions for members

Cons

£5 admin fee on first cashback each year
No voucher directory
No friend referrals

They Say:

"It may sound as saccharine as, well, sugar, but at Quidco we do our best to put members first. After all, we're members too. We will never trade, sell or otherwise "lose" your information to other parties; we will never email you "special offers". We're turning Internet shopping on its head here and that means no flashing banner ads, no abuse of member email and as much honesty and transparency as we can muster."

We Say:

One of the best, most reliable and friendliest cashback sites. Quidco's only major downside is the initial £5 fee, but its automatic monthly payout - regardless of the amount earned - is a huge plus in its favour.

Website Link to Quidco