TopCashback Review – Save Money on All Your Online Shopping

TopCashback started out in 2005 as a cash back rebate site that only serviced the U.K, but expanded to the United States in 2011.

While the American cash back rebate space was already crowded, TopCashback USA has taken on the more established websites and become a real competitor for helping people save money on their online shopping.

How Does TopCashback Work?

Like other Cashback rebate websites, TopCashback works by you signing up for an account, logging in, and using their website to click over to other merchant websites (Walmart, Amazon, Best Buy, etc.).

TopCashback has set up relationships where they get paid for sending traffic to these different online retailers.

Instead of keeping all the money for themselves, they send the percentage of sales back to you, the person who clicked on their link.

This presents all of us with options for getting a discount on almost any purchase we make online

Is TopCashback Legit?

Yes, TopCashback is a legitimate cashback rebate site. The site has paid out as promised for years.  With a 12 year history in the UK and six years in the USA, the site has proven to be a top flight Cashback rebate program.

Having personally used this particular cashback rebate site, I have had no problems with tracking of my purchases and have received payment in a very timely fashion.

Ways to Earn

There are three ways to earn money with TopCashback.com.

Click and Shop

The obvious way to earn money with a Cashback rebate site is to use the portal to click through to all your online shopping.  You get the affiliate revenue that TCB earns.

Bonus Offers

One of my favorite features of TCB is that they run bonus offers that allow you to get items even more cheaply.  When I first signed up for this service I was able to get a free copy of Big Hero 6 by signing up and clicking the Walmart link.

The bonus offers only come every so often, but they are really awesome when they do show up. You have to keep up with their e-mails where all these announcements come through.

Refer a Friend

When you refer other people to TopCashback.com you will get a $10 when they sign up with your link and then earn $10 in Cashback themselves.  If you have a bunch of friends on Facebook or Twitter this can add up very quickly.

Top Cashback vs Rakuten and other Top Sites

So what do we get when we compare TopCashback versus Rakuten or Mr Rebates?  You get a really great battle that’s what you get.  I compare these three services on four criteria: Cashback rebate, number of stores, referral program, and payout minimum.

Cashback Rebates

Now each of the cashback rebate sites has its strong point when it comes to being the best, but I look for three specific stores to do my evaluation.

1. Amazon.com – Amazon is the number on online retailer and where I buy a ton of stuff that is shipped for free to my house. TopCashback wins this one with 6% back, while MrRebates and Rakuten give you 5% and 3% respectively.
2. Walmart.com – Walmart is the number one retailer in the world and the second largest online retailer. TopCashback, once again, take top prize with 3% cash back while MrRebates gets 2% and Rakuten1%
3. 4inkjets.com – Printer ink is MUCH cheaper online. When you get Cashback on top of that you get amazingly low prices.  4inkjets.com is one of the top sites for low cost ink and TCB wins again with up to 20% Cashback, while Rakuten has 11% and MrRebates 8%.

When it comes to straight cashback offers TopCashback.com is the clear winner.  If you aren’t going refer people and they carry the store you need then this is the program for you.

Number of Stores

As of this writing, Rakuten has 2,140 online retailers that they have relationships with, MrRebates.com has 2,603, and TCB has 3,351. Rakuten seems to have been resting on their laurels and advertising while other services have passed them by on the number of stores metric.

TCB has already clinched themselves as the best of the three, but there is still one more and it is a game changer for some people.

Referral Program

Top Cashback and Rakuten have very similar programs.  TCB still beats Rakuten by giving you a $10 referral fee when your friend earns $10 in reward, while Rakuten gives you $5 when your friend earns $25. MrRebates program is where this gets interesting.

MrRebates does not give you a lump sum when you get a friend to sign up through your link.  Instead they give you 20% of whatever that friend earns forever. That’s right, you get 20% of everything your referral gets in cashback in perpetuity.

This make MrRebates the program to go to if you are able to refer people who will use the service. That 20% referral bonus can lead to tons of money over the life of that program.

Payout Minimum

This criteria isn’t as big a deal as the other three for me because when I receive the money isn’t as important as the fact that I get the most back eventually. 

That being said they all have a low payout threshold.  MrRebates and Ebates require that you cash out with at least $5 while TCB does not have a minimum.  So if you want access to the cash the fastest, TCB wins again.

For me personally, I recommend signing up for all three.  I am always looking to get the most cashback on every purchase and each program beats the others on specific retailers. 

If you do not want the hassle of multiple programs and want the best cashback bang for your buck, then Top Cashback is the clear winner.

TCB Complaints

With any company that has a reasonably long history there are going to be some complaints.  The only complaint that I have seen that happens with any sort of frequency is that every once in a while, a purchase does not register in their system.

This is pretty common in the cashback rebate site world.  When you click though to a site, there are a few things that can mess up the cookie that tracks your purchase.  This could be anything from using a coupon code that erases the affiliate or accidentally clicking on someone else’s tracking link after you have clicked on the link from the rebate site.

The complaints do not seem to be plentiful enough to make this a major concern.

Company History

Top Cashback was launched in the summer of 2005 and have been operating in both the UK and United States since 2011.

Since then they have developed a stellar reputation for not only paying out their users, but also offering some of the highest cashback rebate rates on most of the store you can find on the site.

TopCashback USA has its headquarters in Rochelle Park, NJ and the company is privately held so we are unable to look up much financial information.

TopCashBack.com Alternatives

TCB is definitely near the top of the list for cashback sites.  These are three of their top competitors.

• Extrabux – With both a signing bonus and percentage of your friends earnings, the Extrabux refer a friend program is one of the more rewarding of all the rebate sites.
• Fuel Rewards Network – Owned and operated by Shell, FRN rewards is a great way to save money on gas.
• Ebates – The oldest rebate site online, Ebates still has a good payback rate.

TopCashback Review Final Thoughts

TCB is worth it because it takes almost no time and makes a real difference in your total purchase price for online purchases.  With more bricks and mortar stores allowing you to buy online and pick up in store the savings are getting more and more substantial.

If you are looking for a single cashback rebate site that will get you the best rebates then TopCashback is currently making the strongest case for your business.