How Does RetailMeNot Work, And Does It Actually Save You Money?

As more consumers turn to shopping online to purchase gifts, groceries, and everything in between, they're more serious than ever about finding ways to save money in the e-commerce arena. For many, that means paying regular visits to sites like RetailMeNot, which collects e-coupons and online promo codes in one convenient place for consumers hunting for a better deal. 

Apart from the coupons and promo codes available on RetailMeNot, there are other ways to save money on the site. They include the company's Cash Back program, which RetailMeNot bosses boast is so good they're essentially paying members to shop. To qualify for the site's cash-back program, you only need to sign up for a free RetailMeNot account and then purchase an item from one of the online retailers on RetailMeNot's cash-back rebate list, which includes the likes of Adidas, Sephora, and Ticketmaster.

After buying something from one of their cash-back partners, RetailMeNot rebates a percentage of the purchase back to you, depositing the money in your RetailMeNot wallet. From there, you can transfer the booty to the PayPal or Venmo account attached to your RetailMeNot subscription and use it just like cash to make purchases anywhere those online payment systems are accepted.   

On the surface, RetailMeNot's cash-back program seems too good to be true. While it is a great way to save a few bucks, it's worth noting that the savings earned from your cash-back purchases are not instantaneous. According to the program's info page, users may have to wait up to 45 days after the point of sale for the money to hit their RetailMeNot wallet.

Whether you're getting a good deal or not, that's a long time for users to wait to access their cash-back savings. As for those savings, users may also be underwhelmed by the amounts offered in RetailMeNot's cash-back offerings, as they vary dramatically from one outlet to the next and can be as low as 1%. For a point of reference, such a rebate would likely not even cover the shipping charges on most purchases.

Thankfully, RetailMeNot is a pretty user-friendly service, so you likely won't waste too much time trying to find the best coupons, promo codes, and cash-back deals. Likewise, some of the featured cash-back deals on the site could make signing up for the program worth your time and effort, with some of RetailMeNot's partners offering up to 20% in rebates on a single purchase. Of course, as with any e-coupon and promo code, percentages on those cash-back deals fluctuate frequently and are often available only for limited periods. So, if you sign up for RetailMeNot's cash-back program, it may be wise not to sleep on a good deal when it presents itself.