TopCashback Review: Is It Legit?
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TopCashback is a cash-back shopping site that helps you save money on everyday purchases.
However, TopCashback does things a bit differently than some of its competitors. In this review, we’ll share the program’s features so you can decide if you want to join this cash-back site.
Overall Rating
Summary
TopCashback is a cash back shopping portal that rewards you with cash bonuses when you shop via their online portal or app. It is easy to use and offers great cash back options.
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Ease of use
4.5
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Compensation
4
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Cash back options
4.5
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Customer service
3.5
Pros
- Easy to use
- Referral program
- Payout via cash or gift cards
- Partners with over 5,000 retailers
Cons
- Monthly payouts only
- Accrual of rewards can take awhile
- Not all purchases through TopCashBack qualify for cash back
What is TopCashback?
As mentioned earlier, TopCashback is a shopping portal that gives you cash back when you purchase items through the site.
They have been in the U.S. for over a decade, and TopCashback now has over 20 million members.
The site claims its members earn an average of $345 per year in cash-back rewards. There’s a good chance you could earn that much if you do a lot of online shopping.
You just have to make sure you access the site you’re purchasing from via the TopCashback website portal.
Bonus: Unlike other cash back shopping sites, TopCashback works differently.
Most cash-back shopping sites give rebates from the retailer when you shop. Then they split that rebate with you, keeping a portion and sharing a portion.
TopCashback gives you 100% of the money they get from retailers when you purchase through their portal.
That means you might be able to earn more with TopCashback than you would with other programs. This fact might leave you wondering how they earn money.
TopCashback earns money through advertisements and affiliate links placed throughout its site.
These ads and affiliate links are clearly labeled “zero cash back” on the site so that you know that you’ll be supporting TopCashBack when you use them.
Is TopCashback Legit?
Yes. It TopCashback is a legit company as they have been operating since 2005. However, it does have an F rating with the Better Business Bureau. See below for more reviews from actual customers for more details.
Who is TopCashback For?
TopCashback is for anyone who shops online and wants to save money.
The company partners with thousands of retailers, so you can earn cash back almost wherever you shop online.
Depending on your shopping habits, you could earn a few dollars a week or hundreds (or even thousands) of dollars a year.
How Does TopCashback Work?
It’s pretty easy to start earning cash back by shopping on the TopCashback website. Here’s a rundown of the process.
Sign Up
Signing up for TopCashback is easy; just follow the prompts on the homepage.
Once you sign up, you’ll get a verification email to your email inbox. Click on the email in order to fully activate your account.
After you verify your account you’ll be taken directly to your dashboard where you can see your account balance, search for deals, and more.
Search
Searching for stores to shop at on TopCashback couldn’t be easier. There’s a search bar at the top of your dashboard where you can type in specific store names.
Or you can use the menu located right under the search bar and search for the item(s) you’re looking to buy.
You can search for a variety of items such as:
- Health and beauty items
- Home goods and decor
- Travel deals
- Gift cards
- Fashion and clothing
You can even search for stores that offer curbside pickup.
Select
As you browse stores, you can see what the current cash back offering for that store is.
What’s really nice is that as you search stores, TopCashback will show you if there is a coupon available for that store as well.
In that way, TopCashback works much like the Honey app as it searches for the best coupons.
So, not only will you get your cash back percentage as specified, you’ll get the discount from the coupon as well.
Shop
Once you’ve selected the store you want to shop at, you can click on the store and TopCashback will take you right to the store website.
You’ll click on the Cash Back button and be taken to another page verifying the store you want to shop at.
Then you’ll click on the Get Cash Back button and be redirected to the store website. As you are redirected, you’ll see this message:
TopCashback will even verify you’re earning now, and share how long you can expect to wait for your cash back if you complete your purchase.
From there, you will simply see the store you’ve chosen as you would if you went directly to the site.
You’ll shop as normal, adding items to your cart as you see fit.
*It’s important to note that you shouldn’t close your browser window from the store you’re shopping at.
If you do, you could terminate the connection between TopCashback and the store, thereby nullifying your cash back bonus.
Once you’re finished shopping, just follow the website prompts to check out and pay as you normally would.
Get Cash Back
After your order is completed and paid for, you can close your browser window. Your earnings will usually show in your account within a day or two.
However, that doesn’t mean you’ll be able to get your cash back that quickly. You see, TopCashback doesn’t pay you until they get paid.
And that can take until the end of the month at times, as many retailers only pay TopCashback at the end of each month.
Once your accrued balance is marked as payable, you’ve got a few options for getting your money.
You can request cash via an ACH transfer or via PayPal. However, you can also choose to get your earned cash in the form of a gift card from a retailer of your choice.
Just be aware that you’ll probably have to wait at least 14 days before you can request your payout.
Next, let’s talk about some of TopCashback’s other features.
TopCashback Features
TopCashBack has a number of features that make shopping through its online portal even more beneficial. Here’s a rundown.
Coupons
As mentioned earlier, TopCashback has a search feature that will find any potentially applicable coupons for you to use at a retailer.
This is on top of the cash back amount you’ll receive from TopCashback. Just punch in the coupon code on the store’s page at TopCashback.
Note that all shared coupon codes may not be applicable to the items you buy at the store. But it’s worth a try!
Payout Bonus
Another fun feature of TopCashback is its payout bonus. As mentioned above, when you want to collect your payout you can choose a cash option or a store gift card.
If you choose a store gift card, you could be eligible for a payout bonus. The payout bonuses vary by retailer.
When choosing the gift card option you could earn an extra 2%, 3% or more in cash back, depending on the retailer.
See the TopCashback website for more details.
Referral Bonus
Another feature of TopCashback is its referral bonus program. After you open your own TopCashBack account, you’ll receive a personal referral code link.
As you share your referral link, TopCashback will pay you $20 for each qualified new member you refer.
Note that the person has to sign up using your referral link. Also, your referral bonus will not be credited until your referred person earns at least $10 in cash back via the site.
Also, if you have a friend that wants the cash back benefits of TopCashback but doesn’t want to open an account, you can send them a referral link to a specific store.
If they shop using that referral link they can earn cash back on your behalf.
Your earnings from their transactions will go right into your account if they use the retailer link you send them.
Cashback Alerts
The Cashback Alerts feature is another nice benefit TopCashback offers. It’s easy to forget to access stores through their portal when you’re shopping online.
The Cashback Alerts feature helps ensure you don’t miss out on any earnings.
Just download the TopCashback browser onto your PC or mobile device.
If you do that, you’ll get an alert anytime you purchase something without being logged in to TopCashBack.
You can click on the link within the alert and immediately get credit for the cash back you earned from your purchase. Nice!
Next, let’s cover some common frequently asked questions you may have about TopCashBack.
Frequently Asked Questions
No, it doesn’t cost anything to use the site; it’s free.
There’s no limit to the amount of money you can earn with TopCashBack.
The more you shop online at TopCashBack’s partner stores, the more money you can earn.
You can reach TopCashBack through its website contact form. They also have a Frequently Asked Questions section.
Yes! You can get the TopCashBack app for your Android, iPhone, iPad, and iPod devices.
TopCashback Reviews
TopCashBack has a 4.4 out of 5 rating on Trustpilot, which is considered “excellent.”
As with most companies, TopCashback gets positive reviews as well as negative ones.
Most of the negative reviews I saw did get answered by a TopCashback associate, and there was an effort to resolve any specified problems.
TopCashBack Alternatives
There are other cash back shopping sites you can try as an alternative to TopCashback. Here are some popular choices.
Rakuten
Rakuten is possibly the oldest cash back shopping site. It was founded in 1998 in California and pays between 1% and 40% cash back.
Like TopCashBack, Rakuten partners with thousands of retailers. Unlike TopCashBack, Rakuten splits the cash rebates it receives from retailers with you.
Conversely, TopCashback gives you all of the cash back it receives from retailers. But Rakuten still pays up to 40% cash back on purchase.
Rakuten has a $5 minimum you need to meet before you can cash out. And Rakuten pays out differently than TopCashback too: quarterly via a mailed check.
There are no other payout options such as retailer gift cards with Rakuten.
While three months might seem like a long wait to get your cash, TopCashBack takes several weeks to give you your earnings as well.
Rakuten does have a referral program too. They’ll pay you $5 for each person that signs up and uses Rakuten to earn cash back.
That’s a lot less than what TopCashBack will pay you for referrals, but it’s something.
Mr. Rebates
Mr. Rebates works much in the same way that Rakuten and TopCashBack do. You start by creating a free account.
Then, you access stores you want to shop at via the Mr. Rebates online portal. Depending on the retailer, you can receive up to 20% cash back or more on your purchase.
Mr. Rebates partners with thousands of popular online retailers. Like Rakuten, Mr. Rebates gets commissions from retailers they partner with and then splits those commissions with you.
They’ll pay out via PayPal or by mailing a check. Payment is usually issued in the month following the earnings month.
That’s your only payout option with this program; they don’t have the option to pay out via retailer gift cards. Mr. Rebates has a $10 minimum to meet before you can cash out.
Summary
TopCashback is one of many cash back shopping portals you can use when you shop online.
It has competitive payouts and partners with thousands of popular retailers.
If you shop online frequently, you may consider using TopCashBack to help you save money on your purchases and get paid for shopping.