Ibotta now deducts $3.99 from your account balance each month from inactive accounts. An account is defined as inactive if it hasn’t redeemed an offer in 180 days.
Here’s the relevant section from the terms:
6.7. Account Maintenance Fees. There are costs associated with the creation and maintenance of your Ibotta account, and those costs are covered by the fees Ibotta earns when you redeem Offers. Therefore, if you have redeemed at least one Offer during the past 180 days, your account will not be assessed any account maintenance costs. If, however, you do not redeem at least one Offer during any 180 day period, Ibotta will deduct from your Ibotta account, on a monthly basis, the lesser of (i) $3.99 USD, or (ii) the amount then reflected in your Ibotta account (in either case, an “Account Maintenance Fee”). No Account Maintenance Fees will be charged or deducted during the first six months after you initially register for your Ibotta account. Ibotta will attempt to notify you before any Account Maintenance Fee is deducted from your account, or if the Account Maintenance Fee amount changes, by sending you an email to the address we have on file for you. Subject to Ibotta’s right to terminate your account under these Terms, Ibotta will stop charging your account for Account Maintenance Fees for six months if you redeem at least one Offer. Under no circumstances will you ever pay an Account Maintenance Fee with anything other than amounts in your Ibotta account – we will never ask you to make a payment for Account Maintenance Fees with credit or debit cards, checks or cash.
Not sure if an online portal purchase counts as ‘redeeming an offer’, but I assume it does. Getting a referral bonus does not count.
Ultimately, you either want to keep your account balance at $0 which will keep it fee-free, or you want to have some sort of activity every 6 months. They do have a $20 minimum to cash out so it’s not always an option to keep your account balance to $0.
Let us know in the comments of easy things to do to keep your account active, especially if you’re aware of any recurring ideas. Check out our review of Ibotta here.
Lol. They tried charging me too. I just disputed it with my credit card company and got a refund plus they got charged a chargeback fee from their bank. Serves them right. Sneaky
I have like 2.29 $ they said they where going to charge me but I don’t have enough ?
Any other services similar to ibotta/drop?
Few cashback portals consistently offer cashback for Amazon video purchases. Ibotta has had a longstanding 5% cashback on Amazon video purchases and rentals. You can also pay with an Amazon giftcard and still qualify for the offer. If you stream videos through Amazon video then use ibotta to complete the purchase and keep your ibotta account active.
A good, relatively inexpensive way to avoid ibotta’s inactivity fee is to check Wal Mart offers first. Almost everyone has one of these stores nearby. And besides having the most offers there is usually a 100% back item so your net cost for extending the account longevity is zero. This werk’s Item is a large Chobani yogurt, pay $2.78, get $2.78 back. Simple.
My account was charged inactivity fee for each of the last 5 months ($19.95 total) without me knowing until last week. I used it in 2017 and stopped bothering to use it until last week. I also forgot to link my paypal and didn’t realize I had out $30 in earnings I could have cashed out.
To check for inactivity fee, click on the bell icon on the right top of the app. It will display all your activity including inactivity fees that were deducted.
Nice. They also have the Forto coffee shots free after Ibotta, although I have yet to find them at either WM or Dollar General (both stores have Ibotta offers for them). Of course, if you aren’t going to get to $20 to cash out anytime soon, it’s not a good idea to spend money on stuff you don’t need.
Thanks for this, as I hadn’t noticed that before. I am a little annoyed the app doesn’t allow you to search for those items by classification. Usually I just search for specific things, “any” brand, vice rolling through 150 items plus repeats that I have no desire to buy. When I search for Free, or Free After Rebate nothing comes up, but it I search Chobani I see what you are talking about.
This isn’t a big deal. If a person isn’t using it twice a year, I doubt they even have 3.99 in their account for Ibotta to take.
I’m not making enough off Ibotta to make this worthwhile now. I’m just going to delete it.
On the bright side, IBOTTA did send me an email warning me to use my account or be charged an inactivity fee. I had long ago decided Ibotta wasn’t worthwhile for me, especially since they kept rejecting my upload receipts. The email got me to cash out.
I had completed the apron offer and they have failed to remit payment, to top it off they charged this inactivity fee
Is it ibotta taxable?
I doubt it. It is a rebate and requires a purchase. It would be like being taxed on using a coupon.
Rebates on purchases are not taxable.
No, I’ve been using Ibotta for years and have never received a 1099 from them.