Cashback - thanks a lot!! (Quidco.co.uk)

Member Name: Pharmtastic

Product:	Quidco.co.uk
Date:	22/05/09 (99 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cashback from what you'd buy anyway

Disadvantages: Can be a bit slow

Quidco is a cashback site that passes on [most] of the cashback that's earned to the customer.

Shopping websites want you to buy from them so they make a profit. Before you can buy from them, you need to visit them. But how do you know what sites are out there? Many sites are now so famous that they will pop into many customers' thoughts without too much trouble, but even these would like more customers.

The internet has developed a system of paying websites for referrals to other sites. If you click to a new site from the one your on, the new site may well have an arrangement to pay the first site a fee. This may be a fixed amount, or a percentage of the price paid by the customer.

This system has led to the formation of cashback sites whose only purpose is to refer to third party sites. By doing this, the cashback sites then earn a commission. The sites can then pass on some of this to the customer as an incentive to use their site in particular.

Some sites take a cut of every transaction, so that the commission is shared between the site operators and the customer. The exact split will vary from site to site.

Quidco is slightly different. In any given year, quidco will want the first £5.00 you earn as their fee. Any commission over that is yours to keep. What I quite like is that you don't have to pay quidco the £5.00 at the start of the year: they wait for you to earn some cashback, and when it's time to pay out, they subtract the fiver then. This means that there is no cost to the punter. [if your commission is less than £5.00 in a year, quidco will keep it all and you earn nothing].

Having made a purchase via the site, your account page will show a record of your earnings which may be "tracked" or "pending", "received" [by quidco, not you] or "paid" [now it is yours]. This process is often not very fast; typically it can take three or fours months and can be even longer. However, if you use this regularly, the account will usually show some money in each of these stages. I usually end up get some payment each month now [though I did go for six months in 2008 when nothing was paid - it did all come through, and nothing was lost]. However, since it's free money, I don't see this as a big problem.

There are currently 1346 merchant listed on the site [May 09], though I admit I only use a few regular ones [HMV, Play, Next]. I did change broadband in Feb; this has earned me £47.50 in cashback. There are some big numbers for changing utility suppliers, mobile 'phones etc. It may not be the only reason for choosing a particular merchant, but all else being equal, you may as well get something back.

Some merchants will allow you to earn without actually buying anything e.g. you can get £2 for getting an insurance comparison [there is a limit to the no per year], but usually you do need to make a purchase.

You should remember that cashback is not guaranteed, and will occasionally fail. I would usually buy at £50 with no cashback rather than £55 with a possibility of £6 coming back.

Cash is usually paid once a month. You can be paid via PayPall, or as a direct credit to your account via BACS. The account will let you set a minimum payment if you want to [i.e. if you set it to £3.00 and you only got £2.50, you will wait until the next payment schedule should the threshold be reached].
I've been a member for two year. In that time [and I don't consider myself a huge internet shopper], I've earned £279.65 gross. From this, quidco have taken £10.00, there is £64.40 waiting to be processed, so I've actually been paid £205.05.

Also on ciao

Summary: Let the web work for you