When people first hear about Rakuten.ca, they often think it must be too good to be true. How can you get paid to shop online? But it is true, and there’s no catch. Once you start shopping online and using Rakuten Canada regularly, you’ll see that Cash Back starts to add up quick in your account, especially during the holiday shopping season. And nothing is sweeter than pay day, the day your first Rakuten.ca Big Fat Cheque arrives in the mail with all the Cash Back you’ve earned over the last few months. Now you just need to decide whether you’ll save that money or treat yourself!
Below we’ve addressed some of your most common questions about Rakuten to help new members understand how our site, and Cash Back shopping in general works. We’re always here to help, so if you need additional assistance, please check out our Help Section for ways to reach us.
1) How does Rakuten.ca really work?
When you shop through our site you earn a percentage of Cash Back on your purchase, and we pay that rebate to you directly. How you ask? Well, top stores like Hudson’s Bay, Indigo and Nordstrom pay us a commission (just like any other online shopping or coupon site) when our members make a purchase. Instead of keeping the money for ourselves, we share that commission with members. So really, you earn the cash back based on your shopping habits and we say thanks for shopping with us, here’s something back.
2) How quickly is Cash Back credited to my account?
Most Cash Back rewards are credited within 48 hours. Some stores, however, cannot confirm your purchase until the return period has elapsed and may take up to thirty days to confirm your Cash Back. Travel and car rental sites do take longer to process Cash Back for Rakuten members than other sites. Most travel sites will not report Cash Back to our members’ accounts until the trip is complete. If Cash Back does not post correctly to your account, please let us know and contact Contact Member Services.
3) How long will the Cash Back be doubled at a particular store?
We like to keep things fresh for our members and change up our Double Cash Back events every week, which means, come Wednesday you’ll see a new promotion with a fresh crop of fantastic stores offering Double Cash Back. Each Double Cash Back promo lasts 7 days. Everyday we also double the Cash Back at one particular store for 24 hours for our “Daily Double”. You can find this Daily Double retailer displayed on our homepage and announced on Twitter each day.
3) When will I receive my Big Fat Cheque?
Every 3 months, we send you a Cash Back payment for your online purchases that posted to your account during the previous quarter, based on the schedule below. You can decide to receive this payment via a cheque in the mail or by PayPal. Visit ‘My Account‘ to view your Cash Back settings or go to ‘Cash Back Method’ to change your settings. In some cases, if a new member has a Cash Back balance on their account during our payment cycle, they will be issued what we call a “First Time Buyer’s Payment”. This is so that they can experience the entire Cash Back process without having to wait 3 months.
4) I haven’t received a Big Fat Cheque yet – what gives?
There could be several reasons why you didn’t receive your Big Fat Cheque yet. If your Cash Back balance is less than $5.00 we roll this amount over to the next payment date so you’ll receive a more substantial cheque. Also, make sure your address information is filled out and up to date in your account settings so we have the right information on file for you.
5) How long do shopping tracking tickets last for?
To earn Cash Back, you must complete your purchase during the same shopping session you start after clicking on the Rakuten Canada ‘Shop Now’ link. A tracking ticket is typically valid for up to 24 hours. If you visit other sites before completing your purchase or use coupons not provided by Rakuten Canada, your purchase might be associated with a service other than Rakuten Canada and you might not earn Cash Back on your purchase.