You may be wondering, “Does Ibotta Work?”
Clipping coupons used to be a thing of the past when every neighborhood had a newspaper boy that tossed the Sunday telegram containing a huge coupon section.
Once technology changed the news platform to digital, there was a decline in couponing. Years later, popular reality shows, starting with Extreme Couponing in 2011, demonstrated how much it saved to use coupons and a rebirth happened.
People realized that they could access endless coupons online through coupon sites, such as P&G Saver and Coupons.com.
In addition to scouring the world wide web, consumers soon discovered coupon apps such as Ibotta.
Most of them, including Ibotta, are designed to be used with smart technology.
In many cases, the apps can save people just as much if not more than traditional paper coupons in half the time investment.
So does Ibotta work? Can it really save on your grocery bill every trip? Let’s take a look at how it works and how you can make it work for you.
What is Ibotta?
Ibotta is an app designed for smart-phone users. When used regularly, consumers can get cash back.
In addition to using the coupons that can be applied for grocery purchases, Ibotta features a variety of surveys as well as discount and promo offers at different clothing, electronic, and department stores.
It essentially consolidates all your rewards into one convenient app on your phone.
Another aspect of Ibotta that its competition doesn’t feature is the ability to use the app for savings outside of groceries.
You can link rewards accounts at places such as home improvement stores, pharmacies, and pet stores to name a few.
On their site, Ibotta has a long list of participating stores for consumers to look up. They have also released an extension to add to your browser for one click savings.
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How to Use Ibotta
The Ibotta app is designed to be very easy to use. There are step-by-step prompts in the app to get your Ibotta account established.
Once you have the setup complete, you can start earning cash back and rewards.
Getting Started
To get started saving through Ibotta, you’ll need to go into the Play Store on your phone for Android users and the App Store for iPhone users. You can also click here: IBOTTA
You can find these stores under your list of applications on your phone. Simply search for the Ibotta app in the store and install it on your phone.
Once installed, you’ll be prompted to open or run the application on your phone. You’ll be able to start saving once it is up and running.
Afterwards, you’ll just use your Ibotta log in credentials to access the app.
How to Find Savings
After getting the application going, you will follow a number of prompts. You’ll be given a list of grocery stores to choose your most-frequented stores.
After you’ve picked a few Ibotta retailers, you’ll see a list of offers from each store. You simply add the offers to your list by clicking the plus symbol on the individual offer.
In some situations, you’ll be asked to take a survey before the rebate is added to your list.
Time to go Shopping
With all the offers loaded to your app, it’s time to shop. It’s a good idea to have your Ibotta account open on your phone while shopping for a couple of reasons.
The first reason is because the offers usually specify a certain allowed amount or size (just like traditional coupons would specify $X off of 2 packages of the particular item).
The second reason is so you can do price comparisons. There are occasions when generic or another brand is still considerably less expensive even after the Ibotta offers.
Or in some cases, another grocery store offer will have a better price.
After you’ve gone through the check out and have finished up your shopping, you simply need your Ibotta receipts. It is always a good practice to get a paper receipt even though some grocery stores now offer e-receipts.
You’ll access your Ibotta app and find a ‘Redeem’ button at the very bottom. This will prompt you to upload a picture of your receipt.
It’ll ask for permissions for your camera which you’ll need to accept. Capture the entire receipt including date and store and you’ll soon see cash rewards added to your account.
Another way to earn cash back is to link your loyalty card in the app. The app will automatically apply any of your selected rewards without having to submit a receipt.
Cashing Out Rewards
Ibotta makes cashing out your rewards easy. Once you have hit the threshold amount of $20 in rewards. You are eligible to cash out the approved offers.
In the Ibotta app, you’ll see a section titled ‘Account’ under which you’ll find ‘Withdraw Cash’ option. There you’ll see PayPal and you’ll have to link your PayPal account.
Once it’s a confirmed link, you can withdraw every time your rewards reach $20 in rewards.
You can also use your rewards to purchase gift cards in the app.
In the same ‘Withdraw Cash’ section of the app, you’ll see a whole list of gift cards that are available for purchase. The gift card will be emailed to the account on file within a day.
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Does Ibotta Work?
Now that you’ve seen how Ibotta works, let’s see IF it works. There is an overwhelming amount of testimonies on the Ibotta website.
When relying on testimonies to check on the value of an app, it’s important to see what the users are saying and who they are.
Morgan B. writes:
“Ibotta has made all the difference in our struggle to adjust to a newlywed/graduate student budget. We’ve earned $181.77 cash back in just six months!!”
Meanwhile, J Dubb claims:
“I love cash back with online retailers, it saves time, energy and money for back to school shopping!”
These testimonies demonstrate earning potential, how easy it is to use, and in what situations the app has saved consumers money.
One testimony even claims to have received $400 back in cash!
On Ibotta’s About page, the company claims to have 35 million users in the ten years since its establishment.
In those ten years, the company has saved consumers roughly $1 billion in rewards. So to say Ibotta works is a gross understatement.
Ibotta FAQs
In case you run into trouble with the Ibotta app or browser extension, the website has an FAQ section to assist consumers.
Some of the most common questions are about phone verification and extension uses.
It will also save time on the phone when you use this page on their site that features a chat feature to ask a particular question and troubleshoot any issues with an agent.
You will find excellent Ibotta customer service through the chat but if you still want to talk to an agent on the phone for Ibotta help, here is the Ibotta customer service number: (303) 593-1633.
Don’t Wait! Join Ibotta today and start saving!
I had seen some publicity before on Ibotta and I wondered if it worked or if it was a scam, so I’m happy to have found your blog post. It is good to see that a lot of people get a lot of cash back for their shopping, so that’s nice! I had a little issue though and went to the link with the chat button to ask for help, but it is a chat bot. If I would submit a request instead, does this company give a fast answer? Because I would like to use it soon haha! thanks!
I haven’t had to use customer service before, but I just did a little research and found some users saying you get a response in as little as a day or as long as a week. The chat bot just tells you to check the community because they answer more quickly.
Luckily I own a smartphone to use the Ibotta app. I find the app beneficial as a regular consumer who can get cash back on their purchases and redeem those discounts. My favorite is a great way to make extra cash, Ibotta is a fun activity. Users can share their earnings with friends and family. In my opinion, I would use it going to Vons because they products that I personally use, rather than random products I will never use in order to rely on the app. Thank you this was so helpful to learn more about the app.
Hi John! Thanks for the comment and so glad you are getting great results from using Ibotta!