Money for nothing (much) (Quidco.co.uk)

Member Name: zerub

Product:	Quidco.co.uk
Date:	07/04/09 (186 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: High cashback rates, no minimum payout

Disadvantages: Not 100% reliable

I've been using Quidco for quite a while now. I tend to make a lot of money at the beginning of the year when I renew my house and car insurance, and then some here and there for the rest of the year.

--- The basic idea ---
It is a cashback site - if you want to buy something from another internet site (such as M&S for example), you go to Quidco first. You login, search for M&S on Quidco, and click on Quidco's link to M&S. The M&S site opens up, and you shop as normal. Quidco pays 5% cashback at M&S, so if you spend £40 at M&S then you'll get £2 paid into your Quidco account.

--- Does it work? ---
Mostly, yes. It can take quite a while to get paid - two or three months from when you made the purchases. They do have a reasonably good system for showing what you are owed and what stage it is at though. A little confusing, but the information is all there.

You have to be careful about cookies on your machine if you've visted the website, remembered about Quidco, gone to Quidco, and then clicked through. The website that you're shopping on needs to know that Quidco referred you first.

Sometimes, a transaction won't track properly and you won't get paid. There is a system for getting Quidco to look into these, which works some of the time. It isn't wise to rely on a payment though - for example I had two insurance quotes. One was £30 cheaper than the other. But the more expensive one offered £50 Quidco cashback, which would make if £20 cheaper over all. I dithered about which one to go for - because if the Quidco payment didn't come through, I'd lose out. In the end I made the choice based on which company I thought would be more reliable if I had to make a claim!

The part that I find hard, is remembering to go through Quidco when I shop online. Many times I've ordered something, and then remembered Quidco afterwards.

--- What does it cost? ---
Quidco take the first £5 that you earn each year. If you don't earn that much you don't pay. You get paid whatever you have earnt, every month - you don't have to wait to earn a minimum amount, which is nice.

--- How does it compare? ---
I don't think it is any better or worse than other cashback site in terms of paying out.

In terms of the range of websites covered, and the amount of cashback, I think Quidco is one of the best.

Summary: One of the better cashback sites