So a while back I wrote an Ibotta Review which was a smartphone app that paid you for grocery shopping. Judging by my referral stats, It's been a pretty big hit among many of you. Well if you liked that app, you're probably going to enjoy my ShopKick App Review today.
If you don't have a smartphone, you may want to sit this article out. It's nothing personal. Eddy with a y will try to find something for you next time. For the rest of you who don't have phones that are “mentally challenged”, please enjoy today's article.
How does the ShopKick App Work?
ShopKick is a basically a FREE smartphone app that pays you for visiting stores and scanning specific products using your smartphone camera. It's currently available on android and iphone devices. Did you know you can get paid for downloading apps like this with Fusion Cash & Swagbucks.com? Watch the following video to see how it works:
What about the ShopKick Rewards?
So like many of these extra money opportunities ShopKick has it's own rewards system.
When you enter a store or scan a product you are awarded some kicks. No we're not talking about some new clean Jordans. Kicks are like rewards points that can be redeemed for gift cards or physical gifts.
They have a pretty good selection of gift cards from retailers like Target, Foot Locker, ToysRUs, Lowes, Best Buy, Old Navy, TJ Maxx, Marshalls, Homegoods, Walmart, Starbucks and more. They also have physical items like electronics, perfume, bags, clothing, etc.
If you're redeeming a gift card you can usually get them instantly. With the other physical gifts the time will vary. Fusion Cash & Swagbucks.com work in a similar way but offer real checks and rewards.
ShopKick Cheats
Well look at you trying to find a way to cheat the system already. Tsk, tsk. Well here are some “cheats” that you can use that shouldn't get you in trouble.
- Refer family and friends by letting them access your contacts on your phone and then you can invite folks easily. Everyone shops and is a potential referral for you.
- Post your referral link on social media, your website, forums, blogs or any platform that allows for referral links.
- You can connect your credit card with the app and you'll get paid extra money for purchasing certain products at partner stores. They seem to have their stuff together judging by the fact they've been featured on Inc, Forbes, etc., here.
- Scroll through the app daily to find hidden kicks that pay you more.
ShopKick Complaints
Like all companies there are some areas of improvement. It doesn't mean a company is a scam because they have complaints or cons. It just means there are things that you should be aware of so that you're not hit with any surprises. So here are some that annoy me.[sociallocker]
Limited Referral Program:
Their referral program is a bit confusing and disappointing. Unlike Instagc you won't get a life time percentage of the people you refer which would be ideal. Instead they seem to have various promotions that are flat rates. At the time of this review you would receive 2000 kicks for referring 3 friends. And it seems like they limit these rewards to only the first 100 successful invites. After that you get nada which sucks.
Shady Exchange Rate:
Most ShopKick rewards are 250 kicks per dollar. The lowest reward at the time of this review was a $2 target gift card that was 500 kicks. To redeem a $10 gift card you needed 1250 kicks rather than the 1000 kicks you would expect. This sucks when you consider there are other sites like Instagc or SwagBucks that have damn near 1 to 1 exchange rates on their funny money. For instance 500 points at InstaGc gets me $5. 500 Swagbucks gets me $5 on Swagbucks. So I think it's a little shady of ShopKick to have such a crappy exchange rate even if it's easy money.
Show me the money!
Like most of you I like cold hard cash. So where are the money options like paypal, check or direct deposit? There aren't any! Gift cards and physical items are cool but suppose I want to use my rewards to pay a bill or shop outside of the companies they have? It's an annoying oversight. Sure I could probably sell the gift cards but it would be at a lost and I'm already losing from the funny money to real money ratio side of things. Give us the cash![/sociallocker]
So is ShopKick Legitimate?
Despite the minor short comings I've listed above. I still think ShopKick may be worth giving this a shot to make some extra money for visiting and shopping at stores you'll visit anyway. I can see myself using this app as a way to save up some rewards for holiday or birthday shopping like I do with some of the other little programs I've recommended in the past.
But I can't see myself using this as a way to make income that I can support my family with on a regular basis. It's not designed for that. So if that's what you're looking for then I would highly recommend you looking into my Top Free Work At Home Recommendation. It's basically taught me how to earn a full time living online without resorting to a work at home job where I have a boss dictating my hours and income. That's never been my cup of tea. So if you're not about that life either and prefer to be in a situation where you call to the shots then check out My #1 Work At Home Recommendation. You may also want to look into Fusion Cash & Swagbucks.com as well for additional easier ways to earn money from home.
I don't know if it will be right for you. But I do know you can determine that for yourself totally risk free. Well I've babbled enough for today. As always I love to hear your thoughts down below. So feel free to chime in as usual.
Until next time,
Eddy with a y
I am so disappointed to try another rewards app and it’s another waste of time, money and effort. Shopkick is the worst slap in the face of all of them. Shopkick is a scam.
Shopkick is a SCAM. I worked really hard to earn 7,008 in two weeks and when I attempted to redeem they banned me? SCAM!
The malfeasance of Shopkick continues. It’s a scam. I am writing letters to the vendors who participate in this online shopping scam. I’m glad I bought the products but I really hate the scam.
Worked on this app for like 6 months , scanning countless items , got up to $86 bucks , with the intent of buying a few Christmas presents. Well some not so cool person at shopkick decides I wasn’t scanning correctly.? After 6 months of scanning? Really? Whoever you are at shopkick? And they steal my earnings. Got nothing but a rude comment that said sorry to see you go. Worst app ever.
Damn that sucks. Thanks for sharing your experience. Hopefully that is not the norm. Fortunately there are other ways to earn.
This app is a joke you do all the work and then when getting ready to cash out they say you broke a rule which from what I can tell and I have screenshots of a lot of them they were too banned.
It really works click on this .. Starbucks tastes better when it’s free… I think you’ll like this app for free gift cards.
Thanks for sharing Star.
Hi, scanning out side from the store is illegal. What the penality if it is happen.
You might want to contact their customer service rep about this.
Beware of this app – I spent three years saving my points for a Tiffany’s card (75,000 points) and when I went to redeem my points I was told that I had broken their rules and was banned from using shopkicks.
What Jus (July 27, 2015) posted above and details in #4 is exactly what happened to me. It seems this is a common practice for them.
Thanks for sharing your experience Echo. Makes me want to cash out to see what happens on my end.
I was told the same thing then when I started going through their FB page I saw a bunch more this happened to, it was suggested to me that we should all get to get her and file a class action against them.
This app has a few kinks to it. I am able to walk in store and get points but lately I am not able to scan. It says can’t determine location. Customer service is of no help plus there is no phone number to contact them.
Hence I am leaving the app.
SHOPKICK IS A TOTAL SCAM TO GET YOU TO BUY PRODUCTS PROMISING POINT WILL BE REWARDED! AFTER YOU PURCHASE AND SCAN THE RECEIPT THERE IS A 50/50 CHANCE YPOU WILL GET THE POINTS! MORE LIKELY THAN NOT, YOU WILL GET A MESSAGE STATING THE RECEIPT IS INVALID BECAUSE THE REWARD IS EXPIRED EVEN THOUGH YOU JUST PURCHASED IT HOURS AGO AFTER SEEING IT LISTED IN THE SCANNED RECEIPT REWARDS! IN SHORT, SHOPKICK IS A WASTE OF TIME!!!
Eddie thanks for sharing your experience with it. I rarely hear these complaints about Ibotta so that may be a better route for you.
I made purchases, I bought online, and used the walk-in. I scanned and purchased the item I scanned. I can’t get them to pay me rewards. They completely ignore me. I called BBB San Francisco office and they did a complaint. I was told to try again. I got nothing now I get silence. I think it’s a scam.
Has anyone redeemed a walmart gift card? if so, do they send you a physical card or via email. Can you redeem the card for online purchases?
This app was awful. I had to repeatedly walk in to the same story on the off chance that I’d get the points. Such a waste of time! You never got responses if you hit the “report” buttons. If you sent a direct email to customer service, their replies were snotty in tone and they still didn’t award the promised points. I uninstalled.
Wow, thanks for sharing your experience Denise!
I got a 50 gift card from walmart and got all excited went very hard next time and I just can’t redeem my gift card.keep saying error occurred try again..what do that mean
I’m glad to hear you were able to redeem. You might want to contact them about that technical issue you’re having.
I’m not sure what the problem is but I’m not very happy. I have enough kicks for 2 gift cards from Walmart. It claims that a code was sent to my number by text, but ummmm no, didn’t get one.
Hey Jo Ann,
Did you try emailing them to see what’s going on?
Amazing idea: Companies pay an app techie to move customers (app users) in the door (rather than wasting it on advertising). App techie shares its profit with the app users, as the motive to move them in the door.
Problems:
1. The app often (read that as OFTEN) does not record points (thus money) earned by customer.
2. There is NO RECORD of history for customer to review, to see they have been deprived of money due to them. They only get a point total (Caveat Emptor – WATCH YOUR POINT TOTALS!)
3. Even when the app recognizes you entered a store (and will not let you enter again), it often takes those points away with a quick notification, saying: “Oops, this store is not awarding (points) today.” Why? Well, if you read their fine print (and you should), the stores only allocate so many reimbursements, and shop kick does not have to inform you when that limit is reached (and it doesn’t). So if the store only pays for the first 3 customers, and 2000 more come, shop kick only has to give kicks/points to the first 3 customers, and will continue to let the remaining 1,997 come in, justifying their fee and encouraging the store to retain them. I tried to use an offer they were boasting of in their OWN BANNER – but it was worthless; no points could be earned.
4. Many app users have reported being banned for “breaking a rule”, with the caveat:
a. they are not told which rule they broke,
b. all the money they previously EARNED in their account is forfeited back to shopkick. (Many users report losing significant amounts, and encourage cashing out earned funds frequently.)
c. all future correspondence with the app user is officially declared terminated; so the app user is never allowed to learn what rule they allegedly violated. (one user reported having over $200 in money due, which she planned to buy Christmas presents with; they banned her and took all of her money, again citing she had broken some unidentified rule.)
5. All of this is reviewed on the wikipedia entry about shopkick, and numerous complaints can be read on the Shopkick Facebook page. It has received a grade of “F” which can be reviewed in detail on the California location of the Better Business Bureau.
They purportedly took in 110 million dollars in profits in 2014.
Jus thanks for sharing this insight. Gives us all something to really think through about this company.
Unsure about. I wonder how much privacy that the app wants to collect. My friend loves this app but her husband is very nervous for identity theft which makes sense.
I just recently download the app for ShopKick and I love. You get kicks just for walking into a store and for opening the app on your smartphone. It’s a great way to get gift cards for the holiday.
Thanks for sharing your experience Jerald! It definitely seems like an easy way to rack up rewards for the holidays or other events. That’s pretty much how I’ll be using it.
I like Shopkick. Sure, it’s not an income-generating app, it’s more to earn a little free credit here and there. I mostly use it to gain points when I walk into Target and Walmart. Sometimes I will scan an item in store if the points are worth it. Then I cash in my points for a Target gift card. It’s a little free credit that adds up over time so I spend less out of pocket.
Hey Nicole,
I totally agree with you. I think it’s great in terms of racking up gift cards to be used for the holidays or other events. I just wish they would give a cash option like so many of the other similar opportunities like this. Having more options is always a good thing in my mind. But I still think it’s worth a shot given how easy it is to earn. Thanks for sharing your feedback. I appreciate it!