I love bargains, sales, coupons and cashbacks. Most often these aren't real, they are just illusions to get us to spend more but well, I’m still a sucker for the blue pill most times. :P (Also, I’ve seen a lot of friends using these in other countries and they seem to save a bit.)
Shopback.in is a new entrant into the Indian market and they offer cashbacks. So, I figured I’d go check them out, not that I’m going to spend extra money but if I could get money back on what I’m spending anyway. Why not?
First Impressions of Shopback.in
The premise of Shopback.in is clear right at the start, they offer coupons for a wide variety of stores, including popular ones such as Flipkart and SnapDeal. Some cashbacks are a percentage of your spend while others are straight forward amounts.
So how does Shopback.in work?
According to Shopback, merchants give them a commission for referring you to the store and they give that commission back to you. Simple. They even have a calculator for you to calculate how much you will get back in their How It Works section.
There is a catch though, actually a couple of them. One you have to be careful and go through their site to get your cashback. Then there’s the waiting period that can take up to 30 to 60 days for your transaction to be validated. Lastly amounts can be redeemed only after they exceed the amount of Rs.200.
There may be an additional cause which puts an expiry date on each set of points redeemed, that means there’s a time limit, and you have to reach the 200 points goal within that time frame, else you start losing points. Or you may have to wait for up to 5 months before the money can be cashed out.
Advantages of Shopback.in
One that stands out is that the money you get as cashback is not tied up as coupons or gift cards, etc. You can choose to get it back into your bank account straight and clear. This one’s a big plus in my book.
My Thoughts About ShopBack.in
It wouldn't be fair to rate a website or service without trying it. So I gave it a twirl. My mobile bill was due for payment and I figured I’d pay that through Shopback.in's Paytm coupon and see what happens. Here’s what I did.
I chose the Paytm coupon
Read the fine print
Hit the shop button
Got redirected to Paytm site
Entered my details
Made the Payment
After about 12 hours the Cashback showed up
Back to My Thoughts About ShopBack.in
The experience of signing up and using the site was good. The signup process is short and the site is easy to use. Since it was my first time I was extra careful about every click but I found that following instructions wasn’t too complicated.
I was also happy to see that the turnaround for my transaction cashback was just 12 hours.
My only complaint is that I have to wait 85 days before I can redeem my cash, that’s almost three months! That’s a long wait, plus add to that the requirement of 200 points before a release of funds. I’d also received a welcome email saying I’d get 100 bonus points on my first transaction. It’s been almost a week and no sign of the bonus showing up.
All that said, I still think Shopback.in has promise. If I am going to spend my money, why not spend it through the site and get some back. I intend to use the site to pay my bills, recharge my mobile, shop on Amazon and Flipkart, and do all the other online spending. Hopefully a substantial amount will come back over time.
Have you seen Shopback.in? What did you think of it? Do these cashback schemes work?
P.S. - If you plan to signup and use Shopback.in use my referral link. You'll get Rs.100 signup bonus and so will I (when you spend a minimum of Rs.500). You will also get an additional Rs.100 bonus on your first purchase I'm told.
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