Quidco: Ultimate guide to using the cashback site

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Quidco is one of the UK’s most popular cashback websites and the main rival to TopCashback.

Like its competitor, it passes on a portion of the commission it earns from retailers as cashback to you, which in turn helps you to save money while you shop.

It partners with a surprising range of online and offline retailers so it’s worth checking the site every time you buy something online – especially if you want to maximise your cashback earnings.

Here’s everything you need to know about Quidco, including how to make the most of it and why your cashback doesn’t always track.

What is Quidco?

Quidco* launched back in 2005 as a service created by students for students but very quickly expanded to serve all consumers.

It’s now owned by MONY Group PLC (formerly Moneysupermarket Group).

At its core, Quidco is a cashback website.

This means when you click through to retailers from its website, it makes a commission off what you spend – a portion of this commission is then shared with you as the cashback.

You can shop through its website but like its competitor TopCashback, there are also cashback opportunities through its app and offline.

How does Quidco work?

Every link you click on Quidco is tracked using your unique code, which signals to retailers that you were referred to them by Quidco.

In order for this tracking to work properly, you need to allow cookies to be saved on your device.

Once you make your purchase, the retailer will tally up any eligible spending and send a portion of that money back to Quidco as the referral fee.

Quidco will share some of its commission with you as the cashback.

It’s a similar process if you shop through its cashback app.

Those cookies can be stored on your device for as long as 30 days so even if you made a purchase later on, Quidco might still earn the referral credit.

However, you may also have clicked through to the retailer from elsewhere, which confuses the tracking.

It’s why – if you want to maximise the chances of your purchase being tracked properly – you need to make Quidco the last place you click through to the retailer from.

For offline cashback, you’ll have to register your card with Quidco so that if you make a qualifying purchase with an offline partner, the cashback will automatically be linked to your Quidco account.

It can take several weeks for any cashback to clear but once it has, you can withdraw that money as cash deposited into your bank account or as vouchers to spend with a retailer.

Sometimes the spend just doesn’t track, and I’ll explain why that is further down.

How to join Quidco

Quidco is free to join, although there’s also a premium version you can upgrade to (more below).

To sign up, you just need to go to its website and enter your email and a password.

You then have to confirm your sign up via an email link and complete details like your date of birth.

You can sign up on your own, but being referred by an existing member means you’ll get a £10 bonus cashback.

Here’s my referral link* to join Quidco but of course feel free to ask for one from a friend.

Pros and cons of Quidco

As I mentioned, for cashback websites like Quidco to work, you need to allow your online activities to be tracked using cookies.

If you don’t want to do this for privacy or other reasons then obviously Quidco isn’t going to be for you. Otherwise it can be a great way to save on your shopping.

I usually use the cashback to buy a treat for myself.

There are some other things to bear in mind.

Pros of Quidco

I think Quidco makes a great supplementary cashback website and it’s only because in my experience, TopCashback* almost always offers a slightly higher cashback rate.

However, the two cashback websites run promotions all the time, so which site has the best cashback rate can depend on the retailer, when you shop and whether you’re an existing customer.

For payouts, you can choose between cash (via bank transfer or PayPal) or vouchers for various retailers.

I usually go for the voucher option as you get a bonus on the payout, which is essentially extra free cash.

Cons of Quidco

Regardless of the website or app you use, cashback is never guaranteed until it becomes payable – and this applies to both Quidco and TopCashback.

Your purchase might not have been tracked because you used an ad blocker on your browser, for example.

If you use a voucher code issued by a website other than Quidco, the referral might also not be tracked.

These factors can affect how much, if any, cashback you get.

You can make a claim for missing, declined or incorrect cashback but the result might still not be in your favour.

It can also take weeks or even months for the cashback to be credited to your account, and even longer for it to become payable, so it’s not one for a quick win.

And then of course you have to remember to go through Quidco every time you want to make a purchase.

Quidco free vs Quidco Premium: which is better?

As I said, Quidco is free to use but you can also upgrade to Quidco Premium.

Quidco Premium will let you earn up to 25% higher cashback, enjoy boosted payouts via vouchers and cash in on higher refer-a-friend rewards.

Unlike TopCashback, which charges a flat £5 annual fee for TopCashback Plus, Quidco Premium costs £1 every month you use the service.

If you don’t use the service in any given month then you don’t pay anything at all.

If you regularly shop online, upgrading to Quidco Premium can be worth it.

However, Quidco Premium comes to £12 a year if you use it every month, which is more than double what you pay for TopCashback Plus.

Because of the fee structure, I would only consider using Quidco Premium if I wanted to make a couple of big one-off purchases and Quidco had higher cashback rates than TopCashback Plus.

How to make the most of Quidco

Obviously using Quidco* every time you make an online purchase will help you rack up cashback faster than only using it occasionally.

I would also compare it with TopCashback* because sometimes the cashback rates fluctuate.

But there are other things you could do to maximise your earning potential on Quidco.

Look out for bonus cashback 

Quidco runs promotions throughout the year where you get a flat rate bonus on top of your normal cashback when you meet certain spending conditions with a specific retailer.

The exact amount you get will depend on the promotion but it can range from a couple of pounds to double figures.

However, you usually have to meet minimum spending requirements and make your purchase by a certain date to qualify.

Sometimes you also have to manually opt in to get the bonus.

Take part in promotions

Alongside bonus cashback promotions throughout the year, Quidco also runs regular events like prize draws when you make a minimum number of purchases or Christmas advent calendars.

It’s a good time of the year to look for special promotions, discount codes and boosted cashback rates.

Sometimes you don’t even need to spend any money to get a small cashback reward. 

Boost your payout 

Quidco lets you withdraw your cashback as cash or vouchers. The latter always comes with a payout bonus – a small boost to the amount of money you receive.

Depending on which voucher you choose, this bonus can be as much as 10% on the free account and up to 13% on Quidco Premium.

You should only cash out your cashback via vouchers if you plan to use them soon as they do expire.

Buy gift cards

You can buy gift cards from Quidco for retailers from ASOS to Zizzi and get up to 18% cashback in the process.

The cashback is tracked as soon as you buy the gift card, although it might not appear on your account for an hour – and you should be able to withdraw the cashback just seven days after the purchase.

The gift cards do expire and the expiry policy is set by the retailer rather than Quidco so you’ll need to check the fine print every time.

There might also be restrictions on where you can use the gift card and a minimum spend to use it.

Why your cashback hasn’t tracked

Purchases made through cashback sites like Quidco aren’t always tracked or tracked correctly.

That means you might get no cashback or receive the wrong amount.

So to maximise your chances of getting cashback, you’ll need to reduce tracking issues.

That means disabling ad blockers and privacy extensions, accepting all those tracking cookies and making sure that Quidco is the last website you use to click through to the retailer.

It also helps if you complete your transaction in one session and even in one tab.

Make sure you read the terms and conditions as well.

Sometimes cashback referrals only track correctly when you’re shopping via a browser rather than via an app – and Quidco will stipulate if this is the case.

And of course, you shouldn’t use a voucher or discount code that hasn’t been provided by Quidco.

How long does Quidco cashback take to become payable?

Generally a transaction that’s correctly tracked will appear in your account immediately or within a couple of hours of completion.

However, it will remain pending until the product has been shipped and sometimes for weeks and months afterwards.

It all depends on how quickly the retailer will credit Quidco.

It’s only when the status of that cashback turns from pending to confirmed that you can withdraw the money.

Is Quidco worth it?

As with any cashback website, if you don’t mind your shopping activity being tracked, and if you’re happy to go through Quidco every time you shop, then it’s definitely worth using it.

I’d also check TopCashback as often the rates there are slightly higher.

For anything that involves price comparison, like broadband/TV/mobile phone contracts or insurance products, you should take the extra time to do the comparison in incognito mode and go to the retailer directly to double check you’re getting the best deal.

For insurance especially, products and prices can be wildly different depending on whether you’re getting your policy through a comparison site or direct.

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