What is Ibotta?
Ibotta is an app you can download on your phone to earn cash back on your purchases. This is mainly used for grocery purchases but has other categories as well including restaurants, travel, clothing and more. One of the things I love about rebate apps is that these are in addition to coupons and store discounts, so you can sometimes come out making a profit on certain items.
There are two main ways to use this app:
- By submitting a picture of the receipt after you purchase an item
- By using the app to shop online with their partnered retailers
When looking at a rebate make sure that you check before you purchase what type of offer it is. Most grocery offers will be the ones you need to take a picture of the receipt but the other offers are usually the ones you need to shop through the app to qualify for.
Using the App
One of the reasons that I love this app is that it is easy to navigate. You can find offers multiple ways. You can browse by store, browse by category, use the search function or even use the barcode scanner to see if a specific item has an offer available. I tend to combine by first choosing the store I am currently at and then using the barcode scanner to check all of the items in my cart to see if they have any current offers.
Any Item Offers
For certain stores there are additional offers that are not linked to a specific brand. For instance this may be “Any Loaf of Bread” or “Any Gallon of Milk.” Sometimes there are even rebates for “Any Receipt” where you just have to take a picture of any receipt from that store for any amount and you will earn cash back. The rebates offered will change from week to week but they are a nice bonus for getting items that are already on your shopping list.
Bonuses
On top of the regular offers there are also other bonuses that you can get. Bonuses are not required; they are extra money you can earn. Sometimes bonuses are based on the amount of rebates you redeem in a certain allotment of time. Sometimes they are a bonuses for buying two items that go together; such as Band-Aids and Neosporin. Some bonuses are for buying multiple products from the same brand. These constantly change and sometimes, depending on the item and the amount of the rebate, you can actually end up making a profit from buying certain items and completing bonuses.
Teamwork Bonus
There is always a monthly teamwork bonus. The requirements can change but there are usually two parts to it: You must redeem a certain amount of offers yourself and then your team must earn a certain dollar amount of offers. These are only valid on specific rebates, not any item rebates. They also have multiple tiers to them. So if you finish the first level bonus you can continue to earn the next level of the teamwork bonus. These are great bonuses because, while they are able to be accomplished on your own, they are made easier by having a team. You can join my team by signing up using referral code: EUBRQ
Alcohol
That’s right, you read that correctly. Ibotta even has rebates for alcohol. This is one of the only apps I have found that offers rebates for alcohol and mixers. They are normally some pretty decent brands too. The one thing that you need to watch out for with the alcohol rebates is that you MUST have an original, itemized receipt to get your rebate. What does this mean? An itemized receipt is just a receipt that says the item on it. For instance a receipt with just a total spent would not be a valid receipt. The receipt must be an original receipt as well; it cannot be a reprint. What this means is that before checking out at the liquor store register you must ALWAYS remind your cashier that you need an itemized receipt. For those of you in states where you can just run to your local target to buy a bottle of vodka, this may not be a big deal since the receipts are already itemized. However, if you live in a state that requires you to go to a locally owned liquor store this may be something you will have to get used to if you want those rebates.
Payout options
There are a couple different payout options with Ibotta. My favorite is PayPal since you can then transfer it directly to your bank without any extra fees or hassle. However, you can also get paid out through Venmo or a variety of gift card options. You do need a minimum of $20 to cash out but I usually make more than that each month just by recording my regular grocery orders so it shouldn’t take you that long to earn it.
What do you think? Have you used Ibotta before? What did you or did you not like about the app? Are there any other money-making or money-saving apps out there that you recommend? I would love to hear from you!