Make money from your shopping receipts, I hear you ask? Is that even possible?
Yes it is! It is simply a matter of keeping and then scanning your receipts each time you shop. If you have a smart phone it takes just a minute to download each of these shopping apps. Then you can start to make money from your shopping receipts.
Although apps that scan your receipts won’t make you big money individually, if you use them as part of a general strategy to make extra cash wherever you can through a variety of means, the income can become significant.
This is great for stay at home mums and dads, retired people, students or those who would simply like a little more cash in the pot. Best of all, it costs you nothing except a little time.
How does it work?
What’s in it for the companies that run the apps? Basically, they are a market research tool. No more getting stopped in the street to do a questionnaire. This is the digital way for companies to access data on our shopping habits and they are willing to pay for the privilege.
As shoppers, we get some free cash and sometimes discounts off products.
Which are the best apps to make money from your shopping receipts?
I don’t really have a favourite. However, here are some of the apps I have used to help you make money from your shopping receipts. If you download several you can make the best use of your time and maximise your earnings.
Here are some of those I have looked at.
- GreenJinn
- Shoppix
- SnapMyEats
- ShopPrize UK
- Checkout Smart
How much money can you make?
I’m not going to lie, you can make money from your shopping receipts, but it’s not going to make you a millionaire. However, it is actually money for old rope. You are buying the goods anyway: you may as well earn some cash back.
Every little helps, as they say!
Another potential benefit is that keeping and scanning your receipts makes you super aware of what your spending habits are and possibly where you are frittering money.
Apps that help you make money from your shopping receipts
GreenJinn
With the GreenJinn app you can earn cash back on supermarket products you would buy anyway or want to try for free from Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrison’s, the Coop and Waitrose, as well as stores such as WH Smith and Holland & Barrett.
You browse through the coupons and offers and select the items you want to buy. Then you pay for them and upload your receipt to get your money back.
You can get your earnings send straight to your Paypal account once you have hit £1.50.
Although GreenJinn doesn’t have as many products on offer as some of the other apps, they do seem to focus more on healthier options.
You can find out how to download the GreenJinn app here.
Shoppix
Shoppix is another app that turns your receipts into rewards. You simply submit photos of your receipts to collect tokens. Then you can exchange your tokens for either PayPal cash of vouchers for a choice of retailers such as Amazon, Love2Shop and iTunes.
You can complete short surveys to earn more tokens and also receive electronic scratchboards for a chance to win prizes.
You receive 25 points for each receipt you submit, plus an extra five points if you submit it the same day of your purchase. You need to accumulate 3,200 tokens before you can collect your £5 reward.
Shoppix reminds me of Receipt Hog, which I used to enjoy using before it stopped operations in 2020. It’s a fun little app to use, even if it won’t make you a millionaire!
You can find out how to download the Shoppix app here.
SnapMyEats
For those of you who like to eat on the go, with SnapMyEats you can earn rewards for snapping photos of your receipts and answering a few survey questions when you buy take out coffee, fast food, restaurant meals and even snacks. They also allow certain e-receipts for companies like Domino’s.
Each five valid receipts will earn you £1, and you can earn up to £5 a month. If you submit more, you can go into a draw to win Amazon vouchers. Pay out comes in the form of gift vouchers for companies such as Amazon, Tesco, Virgin and Google Play.
The down side is that you can’t cash out until your account hits £10. You also need to submit your receipts within seven days of purchase and all of the information needs to be on one side of the receipt.
You can find out more about downloading SnapMyEats here.
Shopprize UK
With Shopprize UK, you can choose to either get money back or enter sweepstakes to win prizes. Shopprize UK accepts receipts from shops, cafes, petrol stations, vending machines, bars and restaurants.
Each receipt will earn you 100 points. If you choose to accumulate them for rewards, 7,500 coins will give you a £5 Amazon voucher or Google Play gift card.
You might choose to enter the sweepstakes for the opportunity to win prizes such as electrical goods for the home or Amazon vouchers. There are four sweepstakes each day and they cost 100-15o of your coins, so one to one and a half of your scanned receipts. If you don’t win, you can spin the wheel of fortune to get some of your coins back.
You can find out more about the Shopprize UK app on their Facebook page.
Checkout Smart
Again, Checkout Smart is a supermarket cashback app that lets you claim money back by scanning your receipts. It offers generous discounts on products, sometimes up to 100% cash back. Who doesn’t love a freebie?
They also have pop up cash giveaways from time to time, where you gain entries just by uploading receipts during a set period. Keep your eyes peeled for these!
Checkout Smart does seem to collaborate with the largest selection of retailers of the five apps included in this post, even my supermarkets of choice Lidl and Aldi. You can upload a maximum of three receipts each day.
You can cash out once you have £5, straight to your Paypal or bank account. One downside though is that if you cash out under £20 you have a 5% processing fee deducted. Boo, Checkout Smart!
Find out more and how to downloadCheckoutSmart here.
Wombling
Have you heard of wombling? Basically, you collect other people’s discarded receipts and take advantage of things like the unclaimed supermarket points on them.
You can do the same with these – collect up any discarded receipts you come across and upload them to your receipt scanning apps. Obviously, you might be reluctant to pick them up off the street as we are in a pandemic, but you can still womble them from friends and family members!
Conclusion
Once you get started with the apps I have mentioned, you can turn it into a hobby. One that costs you nothing and actually makes you money!
Just get into the habit of popping your receipts somewhere safe each time you make a purchase, then scan them into each of your chosen apps regularly. As I said before, it won’t make you a fortune, but it takes so little time that you may as well make money from your shopping receipts if you can.
Which one is your favourite? Do you have other similar apps that you recommend? Let us know in the comments.
For more ideas on making money, check out the posts below:
Easy ways to make money online & from home today
Alison Butler says
I have used Shoppix for a couple of years and managed to checkout £20 in less than a year. Obviously the time taken to checkout depends on how often you shop but I really don’t shop that often. You will also be awarded points for some online receipts too, and the surveys boost the points.