How Does Ibotta Work? 10 Tips to Earn More Cash Back with Ibotta

How does Ibotta work? If you shop, you can earn cash back, it’s that easy. Apps like Ibotta pay you to buy groceries, household goods, clothing, eat at restaurants, and more. Anything you normally pay for, you may earn cashback on, making it a great way to earn a little extra money each month.

It sounds like a hassle or even like a scam, but Ibotta is a legit way to earn money just by shopping. If you have an Ibotta referral, here’s how to earn more cashback.

What is Ibotta?

Ibotta is a cashback app that pays you to shop. You can shop in-store or online and earn money back.

If you shop in-store, you must activate the offers before you shop. After you go to the store and make your purchases, you upload your receipt in the Ibotta app. Within 48 hours, you’ll see the credit for the offers you redeemed.

If you have a loyalty account at the stores you shop at, you can link it to your Ibotta account. When you shop, you’ll automatically earn the offers you activated without uploading your receipt.

How Much Can You Earn With Ibotta?

You won’t get rich using Ibotta, but you can make some money. The more actively you use it, the more money you’ll make.

How does Ibotta work in shopping? For example, if you only use it to shop in-store at grocery stores, you’ll make $20 – $30 a month if you buy the products Ibotta offers rebates on regularly. But, if you use it to shop online or in-store for your household goods, clothing, eat at restaurants or even go to the movies, you can earn between $100 – $200 a month just for shopping!

That’s not the only way to earn money, though. Ibotta offers many ways to boost your earnings so you earn even more. Whether you earn an Ibotta bonus, you share your Ibotta referral link, or you use one of the many other ways to boost your earnings, you can join the millions of others who together have earned $980 million on Ibotta.

10 Ways to Earn More Cash Back with Ibotta

If you’re looking for more ways to earn more cashback with Ibotta, here are some helpful tips.

1. Earn your Sign up Bonus

Anyone can earn a signup bonus just for joining Ibotta and following a few simple steps. Altogether, Ibotta promises a $30 Ibotta bonus which means you can cash out right away since the threshold is $30.

To earn the signup bonus, do the following:

Use this Ibotta referral link to sign-up and key in the Ibotta referral code: QRJIYI  to get your $30 welcome bonus.

Most users must redeem the offer within 30 days. Always read the fine print in your bonus section to be sure. How does Ibotta work when you sign-up with an Ibotta referral code? Read more information about the Ibotta $20 sign-up bonus to help you get started.

2. Link your Loyalty Cards

If you’re worried about forgetting to upload your receipts (we get it, life is busy), link your loyalty cards to your favorite stores. You still must activate any offers you want to redeem, but once you shop, you’re done. Ibotta automatically tracks the purchases made with your loyalty card and will credit your account within 48 hours with the cashback earned. How does Ibotta work for users with loyalty accounts?

3. Watch for bonuses

Ibotta typically offers bonuses. You have to make multiple purchases to achieve the bonus, but if it’s something you normally buy, it’s worth it. Keep track of your bonuses in your dashboard and watch the expiration dates. The bonuses are usually worth between $1 – $10. The higher the bonus the more you have to buy/do to earn it.

4. Stack offers

You can take advantage of multiple offers on one product. For example, Ibotta offers ‘any item’ or ‘any brand’ offers. Let’s say you’re buying butter. If there’s a rebate for ‘any brand butter’ and a rebate for ‘Land o Lakes’ butter, you can claim both rebates if you buy Land o Lakes butter.

You can also stack offers with coupons outside of Ibotta, including manufacturer and store coupons. Take advantage of the savings and get as much money as you can off your purchases.

5. Buy the smallest sized item

Read the fine print on the rebates. Most don’t require you to buy a certain size, which means you get the same rebate if you buy a small or large-sized item. You’ll make more money by buying the smallest bottle and getting the same rebate.

For example. Let’s say you have a rebate for $1 off salad dressing, any size. The 8-ounce bottle is $2 and the 16-ounce bottle is $4. If you buy two 8 ounce bottles, it costs $4, but you’ll get $2 off, for a total of $2. If you buy one 8 ounce bottle, you’ll pay $4 and get a $1 rebate, paying $3 total for the same amount.

6. Refer friends

How does Ibotta work when it comes to referrals? Using your Ibotta referral code, refer your friends and family. It’s easy to share, just send them a text or email with the link. You can even share it on your social media pages for anyone to click on and use.

For every friend you refer, you’ll earn $30 once they redeem their first offer. There isn’t a limit on how much you can earn, so refer as much as you want and stack up those savings!

Find out more details about how the Ibotta referral works to earn more bonuses.

7. Use the in-store scanner

If you forget to activate offers before you went to the store, or you’re buying items you didn’t have on your list originally, scan them with the Ibotta in-store scanner. If there’s an offer, you can claim it while you’re in the store. When you check out, either upload your receipt or if you have a loyalty card linked, just wait and you’ll get credit for all offers you activated including the offers in the store.

8. Use Ibotta when you dine out

If you eat out at restaurants, check your Ibotta app for rebates. Sometimes you have to eat at a specific restaurant to get the rebate, but they often list offers for ‘$2 back on a specific liquor product.’ This means you can eat out anywhere. If you buy the specific drink or food item, upload your receipt and you’ll earn cashback for your night out.

9. Check your bonus section

Check the bonus section on your Ibotta app often. The bonuses change often (they send you email reminders too). Bonuses are a great way to increase your earnings because they usually have a decent payout.

The Ibotta refer a friend bonus is a popular one – when they offer it, the more friends you refer, the higher the bonus you earn. This is in addition to the Ibotta referral bonus you already earn.

10. Create a team

Teams can earn bonuses faster.  How does Ibotta work when you create a team? When you refer friends, create a team and choose a team goal to achieve. If together, you achieve the goal, everyone on the team earns the bonus. They are usually bonuses that are much higher than you can earn on your own, so it’s well worth finding people to add to your team.

Bottom Line

It’s easy to earn extra money with Ibotta. If you use it at face value, you’ll still earn some decent extra money, but if you go the extra mile, there are many ways to boost your earnings. Once you start, it honestly gets to be fun because it’s almost like a game to see how much you can earn.

Join Ibotta, and get your Ibotta referral code out there to get more people to join your team. You’ll earn money as soon as they join and claim an offer, which isn’t hard to do. In the meantime, you can rack up some spare change by redeeming offers and always shopping through the Ibotta app to maximize your rebates. Want to know more about Ibotta? Check out our thoughts in this Ibotta Review to see if it’s worth it for you.

Ibotta has been really popular no wonder why competitors like Rakuten are also thriving in the market. If you’re interested in Rakuten, check out this Rakuten referral article and Rakuten review.