I was working on another post and looked at the current rates for shopping portals on eBay and noticed a new site with a massive cash back option: iConsumer is currently offering 8% cash back on eBay. Update: You’re limited to $20 per month in cashback for eBay ($250) in purchases.
They are also offering higher rates on a lot of other sites as well (e.g Giftcards.com is 1.6% back).
iConsumer Review
iConsumer is a relatively new cash back portal, they launched in September of 2015. They are somewhat different to other cash back portals, because as well as offering cash back they also give you shares in the company. You’ll get 100 shares when you join, and 100 shares for each person that signs up, uses your link and makes a purchase
- You need at least $25 to cash out
- Transactions should appear in your account within 30 days and be payable within 90 days
- You can only be paid via check at the moment, they plan to introduce ACH & Paypal at some stage in the future
- There is an inactivity fee of $2 per month if your account is inactive for two or more years (balance can never fall below zero)
Currently they are worth $0, because the SEC hasn’t qualified their stock yet. If the SEC does qualify their stock, iConsumer plans to sell their stock for $0.09, but if nobody is buying at that price then obviously the stock will fall (and I fully expect that to be the case with other owners wanting to exit the market).
Personally I think your best bet is just to assume that the shares are completely worthless and if they end up being worth something at some stage, fantastic. You can find more about the share process in their F.A.Q’s.
Our Verdict
I tried to do some more googling about iConsumer to see if anybody had positive or negative experiences with the company but I wasn’t able to find anything apart from a few paid posts. This seems too good to be true, 8% is massive compared to the next top rate of 1.25% and don’t see how it’s possible to offer such a high rate. That said, I’m still going to put a through test transactions through to see how it goes as it seems they are offering some good rates on other retailers as well.
If you have any experience with iConsumer then please share them in the comments below.
I started using them a few months ago. I received my first check a few months ago. Once you reach the qualifying amount, you get a check after the end of the quarter. I use them when they have higher rates than other places like ebates. I had no problem and received a check for over $85. I did buy something when they had a special rate of 40% back….crazy right? But, it was in the beginning when they had some really high intro rates.
Sorry, first check a few WEEKS ago.
Will,
I just signed up through your referral link. I WAS NOT asked for my SSN. Not that I’m complaining but at what point do they normally ask me for it? Can I start making purchases right away without filling out my info?
Has anyone used iConsumer since they started last September? Would love to hear how long it actually takes to receive the cashback check from the time you reach the $25 minimum for payout.
This disclaimer?
“THE COMPANY IS “TESTING THE WATERS” UNDER REGULATION A UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933. THIS PROCESS ALLOWS COMPANIES TO DETERMINE WHETHER THERE MAY BE INTEREST IN AN EVENTUAL OFFERING OF ITS SECURITIES. THE COMPANY IS NOT UNDER ANY OBLIGATION TO MAKE AN OFFERING UNDER REGULATION A. IT MAY CHOOSE TO MAKE AN OFFERING TO SOME, BUT NOT ALL, OF THE PEOPLE WHO INDICATE AN INTEREST IN INVESTING, AND THAT OFFERING MIGHT NOT BE MADE UNDER REGULATION A. IF THE COMPANY DOES GO AHEAD WITH AN OFFERING, IT WILL ONLY BE ABLE TO MAKE SALES AFTER IT HAS FILED AN OFFERING STATEMENT WITH THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION (SEC) AND THE SEC HAS “QUALIFIED” THE OFFERING STATEMENT. THE INFORMATION IN THAT OFFERING STATEMENT WILL BE MORE COMPLETE THAN THE INFORMATION THE COMPANY IS PROVIDING NOW, AND COULD DIFFER IN IMPORTANT WAYS. YOU MUST READ THE DOCUMENTS FILED WITH THE SEC BEFORE INVESTING.”
Seem to relate only to the shares (and it underlines their speculative value). The cash back is the cash back. I just wonder how they are sustaining those rates.
If that’s the case, then it’s my mistake.
I posted that it was 16% earlier and my post was removed for some reason without explanation. I was just trying to help add to the conversation. If you want to be freakin douches, I just won’t post here anymore.
Matt, we don’t remove comments. They go into moderation before approval, maybe it went into the spam filter? No need to be so aggressive, either.
By they way, they are offering double cashback until 1/30/16 – so eBay is 16% now! Of course, with the $20 limit, it just means we’ll just reach it faster! Here’s to hoping a good deal pops up in the next week or so!
The cashback is now 16%.
So obviously limit changes everything… But probably a good sign they’ll pay out and not try to back out. Let’s face it, huge bait payouts are not sustainable and these new companies offer them at their peril that MS/Resellers will hammer them.
They also have a higher rate for giftcardscom. The other websites that I’ve used that excludes eBay branded gift cards in their terms have all paid for purchases of eBay egiftcards
Added this.