Is Rakuten Legit and Safe? (Best Rakuten Review 2022!)

Is Rakuten Legit and Safe? (Best Rakuten Review 2022!)


Is Rakuten Legit and Safe

Saving money in shopping by earning back a portion of the money you spend seems too good to be true. But when you shop with Rakuten, formally Ebates, that’s when you start to appreciate the significance of cashback offers. But is Rakuten legit and safe or is it just another illegitimate website to avoid?

Rakuten is a legit and safe cashback and shopping rewards company that helps you to save money on online shopping. With a direct link to more than 2,500 online stores worldwide, Rakuten gives you the opportunity to shop at you favorite brand while saving money at the same time.

A cashback offer is almost always free money that you get back to your account at checkout. And Rakuten is one of the few brands that make earning real cashback rewards possible.

In this guide, you’ll learn everything you need to know about Rakuten in 2022.

Whether you’ve never heard of Rakuten before or you’re wondering if it’s worth trying, we’ll give you the complete and honest review of the platform to help you make up your mind.

What’s Rakuten?

Formerly Ebates, Rakuten is an e-commerce business that has completely changed the way we do shopping online.

We know it mainly for its cashback offers, but the brand also offers hundreds of thousands of customers some deals and rewards across multiple categories of products and services.

As a brand that’s always developing and discovering new ways to improve your online shopping experience, Rakuten even has a robust browser extension and a well-built mobile app that make every shopping an easy moment.

Rakuten’s goal has always been simple from the very beginning:

They’re in business to help you save money on every product you wish to buy. So they let you benefit from their technology when shopping online as well as in-store.

How Does Rakuten Make Its Money?

Rakuten makes its money through affiliate marketing.

Simply put, the brand works with over 2,500 in-store and e-commerce companies form which they earn a commission for every purchase you make via the website or mobile app.

Instead of keeping all the profit, Rakuten takes some of that money and gives it back to you as cashback.

To be very clear, you only earn cashback if you shop through the Rakuten website or through their mobile app.

Compared to when it started in 1998, Rakuten is currently a wider program with more offers, which make it the best cashback platform on the web.

How to Use Rakuten to Save Money on Shopping

It’s quite easy to get started with Rakuten. All you have to do is to sign up, activate your account, and then start shopping at shops that partner with Rakuten to earn cashback and save more money.

You do get a $10 bonus deposited to your account.

When logged in, use the search function to look for whatever product you would like to buy. Your search will return some popular stores that you can shop at online and earn cash rewards.

  • Click to a store of your favorite depending on the product that you would like to buy.
  • Add the product to cart and
  • Earn some cashback once you checkout

Rakuten even has a browser extension, and it’s such a great technology that makes online shopping a breeze.

And the browser is incredibly easily to use.

All you have to do is add the extension to your Google Chrome browser. And you’ll get a notification whenever there’s a product or service that can earn you a cashback.

It doesn’t end there.

Rakuten even partners with hundreds of local stores and grocery shops, so you can earn cashback when you shop via their mobile app. You can download the mobile app from Google Play Store if you use Android phones or iOS App Store if you use iPhone or iPads.

You don’t have to link your credit card information or bank details to your Rakuten account, except only in the case where you wish to redeem cashback. You can also opt to have cashback rewards sent to your mailing address as Check or to your PayPal account.

Which Major Stores Partner With Rakuten?

At the time of this writing, Rakuten gives you access to over 2,500 online and local brands where you can buy products and services and earn cash back.

Some of the major brands include:

  • Ace Hardware
  • Macy’s
  • Justoice
  • Walmart
  • Aeropostale
  • Kohl
  • Cabela’s
  • Booking
  • Target
  • Bath and Body Works
  • Barney’s
  • Nordstrom
  • Turbotax
  • Ace Hardware

There are two things that clearly stand out here:

First, access to over 2,500 brands that deal in different types of products and services means there are no limits or restrictions on what or where you can buy.

And second, you can earn just as much cashback as possible every time you shop online or in-store, as long you do that through the Rakuten’s platform. 

If anything, Rakuten completely changes the way you do shopping online by giving you the opportunity to save money on every day purchases.  

What You’ll Love About Rakuten

There are a number of things that make Rakuten stand out from other cashback reward businesses on the web. And they’re as follows:

1. Rakuten is Easy to Use

Whether you access the platform via the browser extension, mobile application, or the web-based dashboard, you’ll find Rakuten quite easy to use.

For the years the solution has been in development, much of what’s new has to do with improved user experience and security.

For what it’s worth, the browser extension is truly a bomb of its kind, because it has made it possible for people to access great deals instantly.

2. Rakuten Offers Variety of Deals

Rakuten gives you access to over 2,500 stores, all of which provides cashback offers, so you can have a better experience shopping than you would somewhere else.

It’s always hot deals with Rakuten, and definitely an option you wouldn’t want to miss when it comes to shopping online and in-store while saving money at the same time.

3. The Platform is Free and Safe to Use

None of us wants to put their financial information at risk, and whatever tries to jeopardize that is something you often try to avoid at all cost. 

Thankfully, Rakuten is safe to use. First, you don’t have to pay to sign up for an account. And given that they secure your financial information, you never have to worry about security breaches.

4. Customer Support is Excellent

The company has an organized customer service team that’s always there to help.

We love how Rakuten has optimized the customer support service in the sense that you will get fast repose from the team.

While response to your service ticket won’t be immediate, at least you won’t have to wait for long for a representative to respond to you.

5. You Can Pay Less and Shop More With Rakuten

Rakuten allows consumers to save the stores they love shopping at, all of which offer you some amount of cashback when you shop online.

Generally, you can expect to get 1 to 40% of cashback rebates when you shop at your favorite stores via the Rakuten platform.

6. Rakuten Has a Lucrative Affiliate Program

Do you want to make additional money by referring people to Rakuten? No problem.

The brand gives you the opportunity to invite people and earn a $5 bonus when they register and purchase anything that’s worth $25 and above on Rakuten.

The problem with the referral program is that isn’t long lasting, as there’s a cap to the number of people that you can refer. Generally, you can only earn from three referrals.

What You Won’t Like About Rakuten

As good as Rakuten is, there are a few things that I strongly believe could be better about the platform.

1. Rakuten Only Pays Cashback Accruals Quarterly

Rakuten isn’t the best platform for shoppers who want to earn instant cashback because it pays quarterly.

You also need to have at least $5 in your account to request payment.

2. Rakuten Can Disable Your Account Without Warning

I’ll be honest with you:

I hate getting my online accounts banned for unclear reasons. But it’s one thing that happens quite often than I’m willing to admit.

And to be frank, that’s one thing that makes Rakuten completely duff sometimes. At least if they have to delete someone’s account, they should give clear explanation why they’ve made the decision to take such steps.

That isn’t even the worst part.

The last nail on the coffin is that you don’t get paid if they ban your account, and that’s spooky, to say the least.

Conclusion: Is Rakuten Legit?  

I can tell you without a shadow of doubt that Rakuten is as safe and legit website that can change your online and in-store shopping experience in a good way.

Just imagine the thought of earning 1 to 40% of the total amount of money you spend on shopping without working hard for it.

If anything, that’s a great way to save money while owning products that you wouldn’t have on the get go if you were to pay 100%.

Is Rakuten reliable for my finances?

Definitely a legitimate and safe money back and shopping rewards company that helps you save money on online shopping.

Is Rakuten trustworthy method for saving money?

Rakuten can be a trustworthy method for saving money as it offers cashback rewards and discounts on purchases made through its platform.

Michel

Michel is an experienced blogger, youtuber and content creator in general. He has generated plenty of passive income streams, ranging from cents to four figures monthly income. His passion is sharing solutions to problems he encountered, to spread knowledge and make the world a more educated place.

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