Shopping online for Black Friday? Sign up for Rakuten and earn a $40 bonus

If you are shopping online over the next week — which I assume most of us are due to Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales — you’ll want to start at the online shopping portal Rakuten first to reap some great savings. This is because in addition to the cash back you’ll receive for your normal shopping, new members will receive a $40 bonus for signing up through Dec. 1, 2022. And all you have to do is use their site and spend at least $40 within the first 90 days of registering — pretty easy.

Sign up for Rakuten now and earn $40

What is an online shopping portal?

Now, for those of you who have no idea what an online shopping portal is, here is my quick explanation:

It is an online website that you go to first when you are looking to purchase an item online. From the shopping portal, you’ll search for the desired store you are looking to make the purchase at and you will then be taken directly to the merchants website.

You’ll then continue to shop at that merchant the same exact way as if you went to the site first. Your purchase is tracked in the background and you’ll then earn points, miles or cash back (depending on the site used) for your purchase. There is absolutely no reason not to earn these extra points/miles or free money! It literally takes an extra minute of your time.

Real use practice

Let’s say you are looking to make a purchase at Dick’s Sporting Good, as an example, instead of going straight to the store’s website first, you’ll want to first go to Rakuten. Search for the store and it’ll then take you directly to the merchants website. From there, you’ll purchase your item as you normally would. It will have the exact same look and feel as you are used to, but your purchase will be tracked in the background. And then, you’ll earn extra cash back — a win-win all around.

And best of all, you’ll currently earn an additional $40 bonus if you sign up now and make a purchase through one of their 1,000+ partners.

Or, if you prefer to earn points, instead of cash back, you can opt for American Express points. This will allow you to earn the same up to bonus, but instead of cash back, you’ll earn the equivalent Amex Membership Reward points. For most, this is a better deal since you can redeem your Amex points for more than 1 cent apiece.

So if you are new to Rakuten, make sure to sign up now to get the $40 bonus and continue to earn cash back on every purchase you make. If you shop online at all, this is a great way to truly earn free money.