Or Rather, WHO is Earny?
Earny is definitely our favorite cash back mascot, and while he might be yellow, he’s about to save you lots of green.
Earny is pretty different from the other cash back sites that we have written about in the past. The premise behind Earny is to take advantage of the price protection guarantees that most major stores and credit cards offer their customers. Earny does all the legwork, searching for price drops and submitting claims, so that you can take advantage of those price protections without any of the hassle.
How Do I Get Started?
Signing up to use Earny is incredibly simple. When you first create an account, they will ask you to sync it with your email provider. This is the main way that Earny keeps track of your purchases, and knows what price drops to search for. Earny will comb through receipts that are emailed to you after you make online purchases.
One exception to this is Amazon purchases, which does not send itemized receipts that Earny can comb through. Because of that, the next step in creating your account is the option to link it with your personal Amazon account. You can skip this option, but this is a necessary step for anyone that wants to receive cash back on items purchased from Amazon. These items are also most likely to fluctuate in price changes, and everyone shops on Amazon!
After linking with Amazon, the next step is to sync up your credit cards. Different credit cards offer different price protection guarantees, but this step is also necessary if you wish to get the most out of Earny, since most credit cards offer guarantees for up to 60 or 90 days (this means that Earny has that long to search for better pricing on your purchases).
After you have gone through linking all of your accounts, the last step in the sign up process is to add the billing information for the credit card you wish to use to pay Earny. Earny makes money by taking a 25% cut of every refund they get you, but that is done in a separate transaction. When you receive a refund on a purchase, you will receive the full amount from the retailer. At the end of each month, Earny will charge the credit card you provide for 25% of the total amount refunded to you that month.
Now What?
Once you set everything up, you are basically done! We love hands-off cash back programs, and Earny definitely falls under that category. Whenever you make online purchases, Earny will automatically comb through your receipts, and get you cash back if pricing changes on the items that you bought. And if you link your Amazon account with Earny, you’ll see a clear grid view of your recent Amazon purchases as well.
When Earny finds a price drop, they will submit a claim on your behalf. This process may take up to a few weeks, but the good news is that you don’t have to do anything. Once the claim is approved, the company you purchased from will apply a refund to your original payment method, send you a check in the mail, or provide you with store credit (this refund method depends on the policy of each individual retailer). Unlike other cash back sites, you do not need to cash out to receive your refunds, and there is no minimum threshold you have to reach in order to cash out.
Who Does Earny Partner With?
Here is a list of the companies that Earny currently partners with: Amazon, Best Buy, Bloomingdale’s, Carter’s, Costco, the Gap Group including Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy, Athleta, and the factory stores. Also, JCrew, Jet, Kohl’s, Macy’s, Newegg, Nike, Nordstrom, Overstock, Sears, Staples, Target, Walmart, Zappos, and Home Depot.
Is Earny Legit?
Earny is a our new favorite pal, and is very legitimate. It’s different than other cash back shopping programs, using an under-represented way of getting money – price protection claims. It is incredibly simple to set up and once you create an account, there is literally no other work involved.
