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Mr. Rebates- Basics: Mr. Rebates is an online cash-back portal that has provided millions of dollars to online shoppers since its founding in 2002.
- Pros: This service offers cash back at more than 3,000 websites. Users can request payments at any time.
- Cons: You can’t withdraw any money until your balance is above $10 and all rebates are “pending” for 90 days after purchase.
- Number of Stores
3,000+
- Minimum Payout
$10
- Payout Options
Venmo, Paypal, gift card, or check
- What's Unique
A unique and potentially lucrative referral program
We may receive a commission if you sign up or purchase through links on this page. Here's more information.
Table of Contents
What Is Mr. Rebates?
Mr. Rebates is an online portal that offers users cash-back if they shop on sites using the provided link.
It operates in nearly the same fashion as the much larger Rakuten (formerly Ebates).
Mr. Rebates partners with thousands of stores and sends anywhere from 1% to 25% of purchases at these stores back to the customer.
With store categories ranging from computers and electronics to food and wine, almost anything you want to shop for could be eligible for cash back.
In our Mr. Rebates review, we’ll cover everything you need to know to decide whether or not you should use this service!
Mr. Rebates At a Glance
| Number of Stores | Over 3,000 online stores |
| How to Earn Cash Back | Make purchases through the Mr. Rebates site or app |
| Fees | No |
| Minimum Payout | $10 |
| Payout Timing | 90 days after qualifying purchase |
| Payout Options | Venmo, Paypal, gift card, or check |
| Payout Bonuses | No |
| Mobile App | Yes |
| Desktop Version | Yes |
| Browser Extension | Yes |
| In-Store Cash Back | No |
| Coupons | Yes |
| Sign-up Bonus | $5 after your first purchase |
| Referral Bonus | 20% of all cash back earned by those you refer |
| Customer Service | Web forms only |
How Does Mr. Rebates Work?
Mr. Rebates offers a certain percentage of cash back for users who shop using the provided link. They also offer various coupons that can be used to save even more money!
The key to getting Mr. Rebates to work is to make sure you use the link directly from their website. If you shop at a store, but you were not using the link they provided, you won’t get any cash back for your purchase.
Mr. Rebates also offers a browser extension that will alert you of any potential cash back for any of the websites that you visit.
Once you make the purchase, your cash back will be sent to your account. After a 90-day waiting period, you’re free to cash out using any of four different methods.
Number of Stores
Mr. Rebates currently offers cash back from over 3,000 online retailers.
Most major retailers are available, though there are some notable exceptions.
There’s no cash back available from Target, and while Amazon is a partner, cash back is only available on Amazon devices like the Echo or their smart home devices.
Ways to Get Cash Back
From the Mr. Rebates website or app, click on whatever store you want to buy from, then click on the “Shop Now” link.
From here, shop as you normally would.
Once you make a purchase, the retailer will send your order information and associated cash back directly to Mr. Rebates usually within 1-3 business days.
From here, you wait.
Mr. Rebates has one of the longer “pending” periods among cash-back portals. You cannot actually receive a payout until 90 days after your purchase. This is to account for returns, exchanges, and more.
Once the money changes from “pending” to “available”, you’ll be able to cash out.
Fees
As the customer,
Mr. Rebates is totally free to use.
There are no fees for an account, for shopping, for the app, or for the browser extension.
There are also no fees for receiving your payouts.
Payouts (Minimums, Timing, Options, Bonuses)
You can request a payout from Mr. Rebates once you reach the $10 minimum payout amount.
Although easy to request, payouts from Mr. Rebates take quite a long time from the date of purchase.
You cannot receive any money you earned from shopping until 90 days have passed since your purchase. This is one of the longer time-frames among cash-back websites.
One point in favor of Mr. Rebates is that, unlike Rakuten, which pays out once per quarter, you can request a cash payout at any time on Mr. Rebates.
You can receive a check in the mail, redeem for gift cards, or get paid via Paypal or Venmo.
All payments are sent on the first of the month following the request. So, if you requested your payment on November 20th, it would be sent to you on December 1st.
There are no fees for receiving payouts, no matter which method you choose.
Related: Rakuten Review
Platforms (Mobile App, Desktop Version, Browser Extension)
Mr. Rebates offers a desktop website, mobile app, and browser extension.
After experimenting with all three, I feel that the desktop version is the most reliable and also the easiest to use.
Mobile shopping sites can sometimes be finicky, making the mobile app experience less than ideal.
The browser extension is definitely the simplest way to find out what cash back is available to you.
When you are browsing a website and cash back is available, you will see a popup prompting you to earn cash back.
While very useful, the large number of websites with cash back means you will constantly be getting popups, which I found a bit annoying.
In-Store Cash Back
Mr. Rebates does not currently offer cash back for in-store purchases. Online shopping is the only way to earn cash back.
Coupons
In addition to receiving cash back for a certain percentage of your purchase, Mr. Rebates provides coupons for some stores.
These coupons can include a percent off your order, free shipping, and more.
It’s important to note that Mr. Rebates says you can only use coupons that show up on their site.
If you use a coupon code you found elsewhere, it could invalidate your entire purchase and leave you with no cash back.
Sign-Up Bonus
At time of writing, Mr. Rebates will give you a $5 bonus after you make your first purchase.
This is in addition to your cash-back earnings and can quickly bring you closer to your $10 payout requirement.
Mr. Rebates is a legit cash-back program with competitive cash-back percentages and an outstanding referral program. They offer more flexibility with payout options than Rakuten, but without the advantages of in-store cash back.
We earn a commission on this offer.
Referral Bonus
The referral program is a good way to generate even more cash back from
Mr. Rebates.
Whereas most cash-back services offer you a finite dollar amount (Rakuten currently offers $40 per referral), Mr. Rebates will give you 20% of the cash back earned by every person you refer.
This 20% has no maximum limit and will work for the entire life of the referral’s account.
There is no limit to how many people you can refer, potentially giving you a steady stream of income for life.
You can refer friends via email, social media, and even links on your website.
Get More: Best Referral Programs to Earn $100+
Customer Support
Mr. Rebates lags behind competitors in customer support. They don’t even share an email address with members. The only way to contact them is through forms on their website. Mr. Rebates members have reported missing cash back and lack of response occasionally.
Store of The Week
Each week, Mr. Rebates features what they call the “Store Of The Week”.
This is a website that is providing a temporarily boosted rate of earnings for one particular week. These boosts can often be quite lucrative.
As of November 17, 2021, the Store Of The Week is Disney, and the cash back has been boosted from the typical 2% up to 8%.
How Much Money Can You Make With Mr. Rebates?
In theory, there is no limit to how much you can earn with
Mr. Rebates.
In reality, it is up to how much money you spend shopping online.
Check out some of the below stores to see how much you would earn by spending $100.
| Store | Cash-Back Percent | Exclusions? |
|---|---|---|
| Walmart | 2% | Yes, including groceries |
| Amazon | Up to 6% | Yes, cash back only on purchases of Amazon devices |
| Home Depot | 1% | Yes, installation services are excluded |
| Target | No cash back | |
| Apple | No cash back |
Is Mr. Rebates Legit?
Although it doesn’t have the name recognition of some of the larger cash-back sites, Mr. Rebates is as legit as they come.
They have been in business since 2002 and have doled out millions of dollars to consumers across America.
On Android, the Mr. Rebates app has over 50,000 installations and a 4.3 rating, which is not bad at all for a cash-back app.
The story gets even better for Apple. On iOS, the Mr. Rebates app is currently sitting pretty with a 4.8 rating after nearly 700 reviews.
Mr. Rebates is a legitimate way to earn cash back and is just as simple to use as any of its competitors.
Mr. Rebates Tips and Hacks
Here are some ideas to help you earn even more from Mr. Rebates.
1. Refer your friends.
Referring people allows you to receive 20% of whatever cash back they earn. Say in one year, one of your referrals earns $100 cash back. You will receive $20 for the hard work of sending them a referral link! Not too shabby.
2. Install the browser extension.
If you’re anything like me, it can get a bit tedious having to search for a website, follow a link, and then shop. And even more often, I just totally forget, missing out on potential earnings.
Installing the browser extension will remind you of any potential cash back, maximizing your earnings and preventing the need to manually search for websites.
3. Remember to cash out.
Unlike Rakuten, Mr. Rebates doesn’t automatically send you your payouts. This means you need to manually go in and request payment via whatever method you choose.
Mr. Rebates Pros & Cons
Mr. Rebates offers flexible payout options and a potentially lucrative referral program.
However, in-store purchases earn nothing, and customer service can be hard to get a hold of.
Pros
- Powerful Referral Program: Get 20% of all of your friends’ cash back. The more high-spenders you refer, the more you earn — with no limits.
- Ease of Use: The Mr. Rebates browser extension reminds you to activate cash back while you’re shopping.
- Great Selection of Payout Options: Mr. Rebates offers a very robust selection of payout options, including check, gift card, Paypal, and Venmo.
Cons
- No In-Person Cash Back: Unlike some other cash-back portals, you won’t get cash back for shopping in-person or eating in restaurants. With Mr. Rebates you’ll only get cash back from their selection of online stores.
- Long Waiting Period for Payouts: Although cash back will typically hit your account in 1-3 business days, you’ll have to wait another 90 days until you can actually access your cash.
- Hard to Reach Customer Service: No matter what you need to talk to customer service about, the only way to reach them is by filling out a form on their website. From there it’s a waiting game.
Alternatives to Mr. Rebates
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Is Mr. Rebates Worth It?
Using
Mr. Rebates is a simple way to get cash back for money that you are already spending.
While it may not have the name recognition of Rakuten, it is just as simple and reliable to use.
If you don’t mind a bit of extra effort, you will be able to get cash-back rebates on many of your purchases.
Who Mr. Rebates Is Best For
I think Mr. Rebates is great for the (somewhat) tech-savvy shopper.
You’ll need to remember to activate all of your cash back and it will involve a bit of follow-up, but the effort is minimal compared to what you could potentially earn.
Who Mr. Rebates Is Not For
If you like one-click online shopping with no added steps, Mr. Rebates is not for you.
To use it properly, you’ll have to shop through a designated link and request your payment 90 days later. That may not be worth the sometimes small percentage you may get back.
How to Use Mr. Rebates (Step-by-Step)
Signing up is easy.
Step 1: Click “Join” on the top right of the home page.
Step 2:Input your info, including your name and email address.
Step 3: Start shopping!
Your account is created immediately and all you need to do is start searching for stores.
If you are a mobile user, you can also create an account on the Mr. Rebates App.<
Final Thoughts on Mr. Rebates
Overall, I highly recommend Mr. Rebates. It offers a simple, quick way to make a few extra dollars here and there. And if you’re a big spender, those extra few dollars could end up being a lot!
While there are cons, such as the lack of in-person use, the tradeoffs are worth it in my opinion. Compared to Rakuten, Mr. Rebates is more flexible with their payouts, offering quicker timeframes and many more payout options.
We earn a commission on this offer.
Available Stores
3,000+Online-only, thoughMinimum Payout
$10Payouts are sometimes slowFees
NoneGift card payouts earn bonusesFrequently Asked Questions
Here are some short answers to basic questions people often have about Mr. Rebates.
- Is Mr. Rebates sketchy?
- Is Mr. Rebates better than Rakuten?
- Can I also have a Rakuten account?
- Is Mr. Rebates free?
- Can I use Mr. Rebates on Amazon?
Author:
Evan Diaz, MBA, covers personal finance topics for Money Done Right. After getting his MBA and working in investment banking, Evan began writing full-time. He's an avid investor and has a passion for helping people improve their finances.
Reviewer:
Logan is a practicing CPA and founder of Choice Tax Relief and Money Done Right. After spending nearly a decade in the corporate world helping big businesses save money, he launched his blog with the goal of helping everyday Americans earn, save, and invest more money. Learn more about Logan.
