AD: This is a paid partnership with cashback.co.uk – I approached them after trying the site (without their knowledge) and they accepted my proposal so they’re either very brave, or very confident? So this is an honest review of Cashback UK – Is it worth it? Well you’re about to find out. If you’re just looking for a boosted referral link, click here to get the £10 sign up bonus but if you have come to read the blog and decide whether to try Cashback UK as side hustle, let’s get into it…
WHY I WROTE THIS BLOG
If you’ve seen an ad or heard someone talking about making money from cashback.co.uk you MIGHT be feeling a little skeptical. I say this because I know I was and this is why I wanted to write my review of Cashback UK and share my experience.
In fact, when I first saw Cashback UK advertised I signed up, had a quick look at the site and quickly decided it wasn’t for me. HOWEVER I am happy to say that I eventually went back and decided to properly test the site secretly and I actually loved it so much that I’m now here working with them to write this blog post! So let’s talk about it…
HOW DOES CASHBACK UK WORK?
Firstly, you’ll want use my link to sign up because you are going to get a £10 sign up bonus to get you started (which is double the usual £5). I am kicking myself for not using someone’s referral link!
Once you’ve created your account you will see there are 15 levels. To make your money you will need to work through ALL 15 levels and complete at least 1 task per level. Each task has a different monetary reward and once you’ve completed all 15 levels you can request to your payment which can be paid either by BACS or PayPal. Details of how long you can expect to wait for your payment are listed in the FAQs.
The tasks work on a colour system:
GREY: Not completed – You still need to chose and complete a task.
YELLOW: Pending – A level will change to yellow once you’ve started the process of completing it. They take varying amounts of time to change to green but the expected timescales are clearly listed.
GREEN – Confirmed, you’ve successfully earned your reward for this level.
I think it’s always important to understand how a company makes money and Cashback UK works by affiliate marketing. This means the company gets a payment for securing new customers for the brands included in the tasks. They then share some of the reward with you! It’s the same general principle that applies to affiliate linking on social media or other cashback sites.
HOW MUCH MONEY CAN I MAKE WITH CASHBACK UK?
Well, the average payout is over £100 and I’ll share with you exactly how much money I’m on track to make a little later on but it is useful to know that the amount you will make depends on a few factors. Firstly, the task you choose makes a bit difference as some attract a higher reward than others. It will be clearly stated before you chose your take how much it is worth.
The second factor that can affect your earnings is how many tasks you complete per level – Yes, that’s right you can do more than one task per level to boost your earnings.
Lastly, as I’ll go on to explain, some of the tasks may require you to spend a small fee to gain a higher reward so take this into account. For example I completed an Itch pet flea treatment trial which cost £2.99 but paid out £3.50 meaning my overall profit for that particular task was 51p.
What’s more, this isn’t a one hit wonder because you can actually go around the levels again after cashing out!
WHAT KIND OF TASKS WILL I HAVE TO DO TO EARN MONEY?
There are quite a wide variety of tasks available on the site at present ranging from free trials of Amazon Prime channels, introductory subscriptions to some fantastic brands and online gaming offers such as free spins.
In addition, a couple of current tasks will even pay you to download some of my existing favourite money making and money saving apps including MSR and Shopmium providing you’re not already signed up which is an absolute no brainer! Find out more about Shopmium here.
DO I HAVE TO COMPLETE ONLINE GAMING OFFERS TO CASHOUT?
No. It’s really important at this point for me to highlight that although you do NOT need to complete any online gaming offers to complete your levels, some of the task options ARE online gaming related. So if this is an issue that you struggle with, this is not the side hustle for you because they will be presented to you as options.
If you would just prefer (like me) to give the online gaming tasks a miss, it’s absolutely possible to complete the levels without doing any of them as there are always multiple task options per level. I’ll talk about what to do if you get stuck on a level in when I cover my top tips!
MY HONEST EXPERIENCE
As I mentioned, when I initially heard about the site, I had a quick look and didn’t know think it was for me. One of my main concerns was that some of the tasks are subscriptions and I was worried it would be hard to cancel. However I kept seeing accounts I love and trust recommending it and so I eventually decided to give it a proper (secret) test and I’m glad to say that after all my initial concern, my experience so far has been great. At the time of writing I have completed 12 of the 15 levels.
Whilst the average payout is over £100, I haven’t earned that amount. I have spent £6 completing the offers and I currently have £37.50 in my cashpot meaning I’m £31.50 in profit so far. This means I will probably walk away with between £30 – £40 profit once I fully complete the levels.
On top of that I have had:
A completely free pair of boxer shorts for my husband.
A four recipe trial kit for Simply Cook (which I LOVE and I don’t know why I didn’t try it sooner)
9 eco friendly washing tablets
Flea treatment for my cat
A free 7 day trial of an Amazon channel
A free 30 day trial of an educational app for my daughter
So far I have paused or redated some of my trials really easily so my subscription won’t renew until I’m ready and I have cancelled two which were both incredibly easy. I didn’t have to ring anyone or spend hours having someone try to convince me to stay, there was just a button in the site to press to cancel and that was it!
MY TOP TIPS
If you are completing a task which is a subscription and you may not want to carry on the subscription after the free or discounted trial, set a calendar reminder so you don’t forget to cancel before the refresh date. It’s super important to be organised to avoid unexpected charges with these types of tasks.
New tasks are being added so if you get stuck on a level and you can’t see a task you like, you can skip forward by ‘starting’ a task and then exiting out (this is actually recommended in the FAQs). Just come back to the unfinished level when a new offer pops up!
Keep your welcome emails when signing up to services because you will need them to create a Helpdesk ticket if there is any issue with your task tracking.
Make sure you read the T&Cs which tell you EXACTLY what you need to do to qualify for an award before you complete a level.
Whilst there is no suggestion that Cashback UK is going anywhere, as with all apps such as this I always recommend cashing out as soon as possible to avoid disappointment in the unexpected event of the app closing down.
CONCLUSION
Cashback UK offers a chance for most people to make a little extra cash by completing some offers. You don’t need a lot of followers to make money from it and you might discover a new favourite app or brand in the process.
They were highly commended in the category ‘Cashback site of the year’ at the Moneyfacts Consumer Awards in 2023 and they currently hold a rating of 4.4 on Trustpilot.
If you do want to give this side hustle idea a try, click here to use my link and get a boosted £10 sign up bonus to start you on your way.
Happy Budgeting!
Leigh