With the Rakuten Refer a Friend program you can earn $30 by signing up through a friend’s (or this) referral link and spending $30, both the person who signs up for Rakuten and the person who recommended Rakuten earn $30.
If you just go to Rakuten.com and sign up without someone’s referral link you can earn a $10 welcome bonus after spending $25, so by using someone's referral link, you will earn an additional $20 bonus by spending $30 instead of $25. The referral offer is a way better deal.
Here's a video walking you through in detail how the Rakuten Refer a Friend program works:
What is Rakuten
Rakuten is an online shopping portal, formerly known as Ebates, that works with over 3,500 different stores to offer you cash back on your purchases.
Rakuten works with stores to help them generate sales, the stores pay a commission to Rakuten based on what you buy, Rakuten then shares part of that commission you in the form of cash back.
By initiating an online purchase from the Rakuten website, mobile app or Chrome extension, you can earn 1-+20% cash back on all purchases you make with Rakuten’s partners.
Rakuten partners with large retailers such as Walmart, Macy’s and Sephora as well as smaller brands such as Greats, bloomscape, and MeUndies.
How to Earn Your Rakuten Referral Bonus
- Click on my referral link (or anyone else’s referral link).
- Sign up for Rakuten.
- Find a store you want to make a purchase through the Rakuten website, mobile app or browser extension.
- Click through to the store’s website.
- Make a purchase like you normally would, don’t forget to use a credit card that will earn you additional cash back or points (more info below)
- Within 24 hours, your cash back will show up in your account and as long as you spend $30 within 90 days of signing up to Rakuten, you’ll receive your $30 bonus on top of the cash back from each purchase you make.
- Rakuten makes cash back payments once every 3 months. You can receive your cash back as a check, via PayPal or as American Express Membership rewards points (if you redeem for points, you could potentially get higher value for your cash back if you redeem your Amex points for travel)
How to Earn Additional Cash Back or Points from Your Online Purchases
Not only can you earn cash back and referral bonus from Rakuten for your purchase, you can also earn cash back or travel rewards points on your purchase.
Here are a few of my favorite credit cards to use to earn even more from your online shopping:
- US Bank Cash+: Earn 5% cash back on two categories of your choice, here are some good categories to pair with your Rakuten shopping: department stores, clothing stores, electronic stores, sporting goods stores or furniture stores.
- US Bank Shopper Cash Rewards: Earn 6% cash back at 2 retailers of your choice up to $1,500 per quarter. Retailers available for 6% cash back plus Rakuten cash back: Anthropologie, Best Buy, Chewy, Kohl’s, Lowe’s, Macy’s, Nordstrom, Target and Walmart.
- 2% cash back credit cards such as the SoFi Credit Card, Citi Double Cash or Wells Fargo Active Cash.
- Capital One Venture X or Venture card where you earn 2 points for every dollar spent on your card.
Sign up for Rakuten to earn $30 cash back after spending $30.
If you want to learn more, here are 2 recent YouTube videos that walk you through how I used Rakuten refer a friend to get purchases basically for free.
How I bought a Pair of nike Gym shorts that normally cost $37.10 for $2.16
How I got Godiva chocolate for free for Valentine’s Day
If you'd like to learn more about Rakuten, here's my full Rakuten review.
If you'd like to earn cash back on groceries and other purchases, learn more about Ibotta.