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Discover the magic of Rakuten Canada: earn cash back while shopping online or in-store, all for free. Read our Rakuten Canada review and start saving today!
The Most Lucrative Cash Back Website is Rakuten
For most Canadians, shopping this year will look different, even for the Christmas and New Year’s celebrations.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, many Canadian shoppers have purchased online rather than in-store.
As well, this holiday season, 90 percent of Canadians, according to a recent survey from the Retail Council of Canada, consider shopping in Canada critical.
At Canadian Budget Binder, I pride myself on finding ways to earn money back for our family and passing it on to you, my readers.
Nothing makes someone smile they realizing they’ve got a cheque in the mail or money deposited into their bank account.
Rakuten IS Cash Back In Your Bank Account
Never leave money on the table, especially when you shop online or physically go into a store to make a purchase.
Below, I will detail how to use Rakuten on your laptop, desktop computer, or mobile phone and how to earn with in-store purchases.
One of the best apps, Rakuten, is a cash-back app worth signing up for.
Christmas Shopping Online With Rakuten Toolbar
If you plan to shop online for Christmas, don’t wait until the last minute, as courier services are gearing up for a busy two months.
FedEx urges Canadians to buy gifts to get them on time for the holidays.
“We asked 1,500 Canadians about what they plan to do when it comes to shopping online this holiday season,” said FedEx Express Canada Communications Advisor James Anderson.
“Of the 1,500, 90% of them have said they shopped online this past month, 80% of them still plan to do so in preparation for the holidays.”
– Source
A ship-a-thon, according to FedEx, is about to begin for the next two months, so if you can shop, do it now.
“This year, it’s a whole new phenomenon.
We have been at peak levels since the onset of the pandemic.
What we’re bracing up, for now, is what we call, tongue and cheek, the ship-a-thon,” said Anderson.
Budget And Get Cash Back
Budgeting is a big deal for many Canadian families, and sourcing the best deals, rewards programs, and cashback offers is necessary.
Anytime we buy products online, whether Christmas gifts, Birthday gifts, or everyday household items, we go through Rakuten.
With over 750 stores in Rakuten, Canada, you will almost always find a discount for something you are buying.
Rakuten Canada and Japan
Rakuten Canada is based in North York, Ontario, on Yonge Street, and we’ve been using it for years since it was called EBATES.
What I love about Rakuten is that their customer service is excellent, and they work with you promptly.
In Tokyo, Rakuten, formerly Ebates, was founded in 1997 by Japanese businessman Hiroshi Mikitani.
Its B2M E-Commerce platform, Rakuten Ichiba, is the largest e-commerce site in Japan and employs over 18,000 people.
How Rakuten Canada Works – Sign Up Free
- Download the app to your smartphone or use the extension button on your desktop or laptop using my referral link.
- You have 90 days to make your first purchase using Rakuten to get $30 Cash Back.
- Click on the store you purchase from to read the available offers.
- Rakuten brings you to that website and applies the cashback offer.
- Once you purchase, in about seven days, you will receive an email stating your cash back.
- You can also shop in-store to get cash back by adding your credit card to your Wallet. (see info below)
- There are also gift cards that you can purchase and earn cash back (see info below)
- Four times a year, the money you earn back will be presented to you in one of three ways. (see info below)
Easy Ways To Earn Cash Back With Rakuten
What we like about the Rakuten app is that there is more than one way to earn cash back on your purchases.
Let’s look at how you can earn cashback in your bank account without much effort.
Get the Rakuten Mobile App for iOS and Android
Since I own a mobile phone, I’ve added Rakuten for Android, as does Mrs. CBB, so we can easily shop with our phones.
Above, you will see a screenshot of my phone showing 8 different cash-back or savings apps I use frequently.
Go to the App Store, search for Rakuten, and download the App.
Rakuten Button Browser Extension
We have the browser extension on our laptops and my office computer in the basement.
You’ll see the letter ‘R’ in the upper corner of your device to get cashback for shopping.
What we love about the browser extension is that it will automatically pop up when you are a business with which Rakuten is affiliated.
That means you won’t miss any cashback deals because Rakuten alerts you that there is cashback to be earned from the website you’re on.
Refer and Earn $30 Cash Back.
You only have 90 days to make your first purchase using Rakuten to get your $30 Cash Back!!
Don’t let that expire, as it’s free money.
One of the coolest things about Rakuten is its refer and earn program.
What program are you participating in that will give you $30 just for having a friend, co-worker, or family member sign up?
That’s big bucks for many people, so once you sign up for Rakuten Canada, refer your friends and watch your cashback grow.
Your friend only has 90 days to make their first purchase before receiving $30 cash back.
That’s easy to do, especially with the hundreds of online stores that work with Rakuten.
You can refer friends on Facebook, X, Email, Text, or your unique referral link.
Here’s my referral link if you want to sign up under Canadian Budget Binder and get $30 cashback just for using it.
Earn Extra Cash when you shop online; it’s that easy, OR you can still earn if you want to see a product.
All you have to do is link your credit card to Rakuten, and when you shop in a store, you will be awarded cashback.
Sign up with Rakuten Canada and receive money back when you shop, and it’s all FREE.
Rakuten Referral Email
You can also email your friends and invite them to Rakuten.
This is what my Rakuten referral email says :
Mr. CBB thought you would be interested in getting Cash Back at Rakuten.ca!
It’s an awesome site that gives you Cash Back when you shop online.
With over 750 stores, including Sport Chek, Canadian Tire, Old Navy, and Sephora, you get paid to shop for things you’re already buying.
Plus, get a $30 Cash Bonus when you join today!
Happy shopping!
Rakuten Canada
How Does Rakuten Earn Money?
This is a simple process: the retailer pays Rakuten a certain percentage of each sale through their website.
Once Rakuten gets paid, they pass a percentage to you, the Rakuten customer, to thank you for using their website.
Everyone is a winner with Rakuten.
Rakuten Gift Card Shop
Can you earn cashback by buying gift cards on Rakuten?
Yes, you will earn Cash Back on the full value of the gift card purchased.
Cash Back rates will vary from gift card to gift card.
You can also purchase gift cards on Rakuten, delivered via a secure service right to your door.
Gift cards are always welcome for Christmas, birthdays, and other celebrations that you want to pass along some cheer.
If you have someone on your Christmas list and no idea what to buy them, gift cards are always a welcome surprise.
You can pick up physical or electronic gift cards from many Canadian businesses and score Cash Back via Rakuten.
At the Rakuten Gift Card Shop, we’ve curated over 70 retailers including Esso, Shoppers Drug Mart, Loblaw, Indigo, Canadian Tire and more to offer you the best selection of Gift Cards and Cash Back on every purchase.
Below are some of our favourite gift card offers from Rakuten that we’ve purchased in the past.
Also, you’ll find over 100 gift cards from restaurants, grocery stores, and clothing shops.
- Home Depot
- Sport Chek
- Zehrs
- Walmart
- Toys R Us
- Sobey’s
- Shoppers Drug Mart
- RCSS
- No Frills
- McDonald’s
- Marks Work Warehouse (that’s mine haha)
- Longo’s
- Joe Fresh
- Freshco
- Dominos
- Chapters
- Cineplex
- Air Canada
There are just so many to list. I’d be here forever, but once you sign up for Rakuten, you’ll be amazed at how many stores there are.
The only catch is that you must sign up for a Rakuten Gift Card Account, but it’s so easy.
Yes, in order to process your payments, manage shipping and orders, we do require our users to create a separate account for Rakuten’s Gift Card Shop.
New Rakuten In-Store Cash Back Offers
Rakuten In-Store Cash Back is a newer way to earn money back on the items you purchase in Canada only, and it costs you nothing.
Sometimes, you must go into a store to physically see a product to ensure it’s what you need.
That is no problem at all, as Rakuten has in-store cash back when you shop at participating retailers and add a credit card to your account.
Click on the ‘My Wallet’ tab under your Rakuten account, and this is where you will put your credit card info.
Before you go shopping, link available in-store cashback offers to your valid credit card.
Go to your profile and click on In-store cashback offers, find the offer you want, click the link offer, and add to the credit card.
You’ll see your in-store offers once you link them to your Rakuten account or App.
Link A Credit Card For Cash Back In-Store Shopping
Cash will automatically be added back to qualifying purchases once you pay for your order in-store with the credit card you linked.
There are no coupons or vouchers to print extra to present to the cashier apart from using the linked credit card.
You can also link the deal to as many credit cards you set up in your dashboard.
It will take up to seven days to see the cashback added to your account. Yay, free money.
Since the in-store program is new, they only accept Visa credit cards, which could change.
Your credit card information is stored in a secure, encrypted environment because Rakuten takes security seriously.
Unfortunately, debit cards and debit transactions are not eligible for the program now.
Redeeming Rakuten Offers
How do you know if your offer was redeemed?
Once you successfully redeem an offer, you will receive an email about the offer and how much cash back was earned.
You can view your cashback balance by clicking your account’s ‘Cash Back Balance‘ tab.
Don’t forget to add Rakuten Canada to your safe email list so you get the emails in your inbox.
If you don’t get an email within seven days about an offer you redeemed, contact Customer Care.
You’ll find that Rakuten has an email service for customer care and a live agent, both of which are excellent.
Featured Deals On Rakuten
Like Amazon Canada, using Rakuten online or on mobile offers the user featured deals of the day.
They also feature ‘Weekly Hot Deals”, Coupon Codes, Coupons, and Flash sales, all of which save the user money.
This is only a small screenshot of the deals listed today, but you can see they each have a coupon code, expiry date, and Cash Back offer.
Rakuten Shopping Guides
Forget the long line-ups in the cold waiting to get into the store for deals on Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Boxing Day.
Once signed up for Rakuten, you can shop at many stores and save without leaving the house. (I love this part)
- Black Friday
- Cyber Monday
- Boxing Day
Rakuten offers deals from featured stores for each shopping guide as the daily promotions commence.
Rakuten will show you what % back you typically would be offered and the extra-special % during shopping guide deals.
For example, if you wanted to buy a Dyson Vacuum, instead of getting 2.5% back, you’d get 5%, which is amazing.
Almost every popular store in Canada is on the list of Rakuten stores for cash back.
Our Favourite Online Stores
This is a feature that we use as it saves us time looking for the stores that we shop at online the most.
Add your favourites stores for easy shopping and personalized deals.
When you see a , click it and the store will be added to your favourites here.
Get started by searching above for the stores you already love.
Under the ‘Favourite Stores’ tab in your account dashboard, you can add your favourites to make online shopping much easier.
How To Get Your Money From Rakuten
We have received 7 cheques in the mail since signing up in 2018 and haven’t looked back.
You can get your cash back from Rakuten, which they send out four times a year in three ways.
- February
- May
- August
- November
There are three options for receiving your cashback from Rakuten.
- Paypal Canada direct deposit
- Amazon e-Gift Card *if you shop on Amazon, you can put the cash back towards your next purchase.
- Physical Cheque
Here’s a screenshot of the last cheque stub we received in the mail in 2020, which was awesome.
You can buy online using your credit card to get the rewards points and still get cash back through Rakuten.
I’m all for double-dipping when it comes to getting back money for products we purchase.
Once you have received a Big Fat Cheque, you can view all the details in your account under the Big Fat Cheque Tab.
Some of our favourite stores that we use Rakuten with when shopping online are brick-and-mortar stores.
- Home Depot
- Walmart
- Shoppers Drug Mart
- Amazon Canada
- Sportchek
Other Rakuten Services
There are other services offered by Rakuten, such as Rakuten Kobo for the readers out there and Rakuten Viber.
Chats are 100% synced between devices, including 1-tap transfer of calls
The Viber app allows you to make secure calls and send messages to anyone, anywhere, and it is worth checking out.
The Kobo is for those who enjoy e-books, audiobooks, and e-readers, along with a Super Points rewards program.
Kobo PLUS is $9.99 a month, and you can read as much as your heart desires—a pretty good deal.
Final Thoughts About The Rakuten App
My last tip for using Rakuten is always to read the offer so you know the expiration dates and specific offer details.
When an offer expires, Rakuten automatically unlinks it from your credit card.
Also, if you don’t link to your credit card before you shop, there is nothing Rakuten will do to fix it.
That’s your oops, not theirs.
Rakuten has been a nice source of cash back for products we will already purchase.
If you like free money (who doesn’t?), sign up for Rakuten today and start getting that cash back you deserve.
Sign up for Rakuten today and watch the cashback in your account grow as you shop.
P.S. Read my Ultimate Guide To Cash Back Apps and Rewards in Canada, as there are SO many you can use.
Bonus: Print my free Rewards and Membership Tracker to keep informed of your deals and rewards.
Don’t leave money on the table. I stand by this and always will. Your money is important to you.
Discussion: Have you used Rakuten before, and what were your experiences like?
Leave me your comments below.
Mr.CBB