According to the USDA, the average family of four spends anywhere from $571 to $1,300 per month on food! That’s potentially almost $16,000 per year in food costs!
There’s no way around it: groceries are expensive. Plus, this percentage of household spending is unavoidable.
Sticking to a budget, tracking your spending, and looking for deals are some simple ways to cut down on expenses.
But, if you want to take things one step further, there’s a wide range of nifty cash back reward apps that you can use to recoup ever more of your hard-earned money.
And, out of all cash back apps, one of the very best is Fetch Rewards.
In this Fetch Rewards review, we’ll be discussing what makes Fetch Rewards one of the most popular shopping rewards apps in the U.S. and how you can use this app to earn free gift cards.
We’re also going to tackle the most important question of all: is Fetch Rewards legit and worth the download?
Let’s dive in!
Download Fetch Rewards for IOS or for Android. Use code “APREWARDS” to redeem 3K points!
Fetch Rewards Review
Name: Fetch Rewards
Description: Fetch Rewards lets you earn free gift cards for buying groceries and everyday essentials and uploading your receipts.
Operating System: Android, IOS
Application Category: Reward Apps
Author: Tom Blake
Overall
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Earning Potential
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Earning Options
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Reward Options
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Ease Of Use
What is Fetch Rewards?
Fetch Rewards is a free rewards app that allows you to earn points by scanning receipts after you shop at a popular grocery store.
Founded in 2012, Fetch Rewards has grown into a huge shopping rewards app with over 2 million monthly users!
Fetch Rewards is available for download on the App Store and Google Play Store and has dozens of partnered brands to help you save money.
The Fetch Rewards website even has an ongoing counter showing how many receipts have been scanned so far. The app has recently surpassed 250 million receipts scanned!
How Does Fetch Rewards Work?
The Fetch Rewards app works in 3 simple steps:
- Scan Receipts
- Earn Points
- Get Rewards
That’s it! Here’s a breakdown of how to implement these steps…
1. Shop for Partner Brands
The great thing about Fetch is that you don’t have to shop at a specific store to earn rewards unlike most of the offers on apps like Ibotta or Checkout 51. This is by far the best feature of using Fetch Rewards.
As long as you shop for partner brands and upload a receipt to Fetch Rewards, you earn points. Again, the specific retailer doesn’t matter, which is awesome.
Here are a few popular brands that work when shopping with Fetch Rewards:
- Godiva.
- Jello.
- Coors.
- Pepsi.
- Cheerios.
- Kraft.
- Kleenex.
- Lipton.
This is just a small fraction of the brands eligible for earning rewards. You can checkout the complete list to see if it lines up with your current shopping list.
And you may have noticed, not all of these brands are necessarily for food. There’s a huge array of options for personal care, magazines, baby products, and more!
This is another great advantage of using Fetch Rewards. You can earn cash back for a wide range of categories, so it’s easy to make the most of your spending when using this app.
Extra Reading – Checkout 51 Review – How It Works & Earning Potential (2021).
2. Scan and Upload Receipts to Earn
When you shop for the products that are eligible to earn rewards, you don’t have to carry any coupons, discount codes, or even scan individual items.
All you have to do is shop as you normally would, check out with the cashier, and get your receipt.
When you receive your receipt, open the Fetch Rewards app and take a photo of it through their scanning technology. That’s it!
Fetch Rewards does the rest by searching for you. If you have an eligible brand on your receipt, you earn points.
There’s no need to manually checkoff items from your shopping list or to even add items you plan on buying in the first place. Again, apps like Ibotta or Checkout 51 force you to do this, which takes up valuable time.
In contrast, you can use Fetch Rewards to save money without having to worry about this process. Just shop like you normally would, upload your receipt, and earn.
Eligible receipts guarantee 25 Fetch Rewards points, or $0.025.
This isn’t a lot, but you can easily earn more. The points you earn are based on the price of the products, so make sure you save your receipt and scan it every time you shop.
Plus, if you put a bit more effort into using Fetch Rewards, you can definitely earn additional cash back.
3. Shop for Sponsored Offers
Fetch Rewards also includes sponsored offers for certain brands and products when you shop.
Do you have to go out of your way to find them?
Not at all.
Fetch rewards understands that it would be a hassle to manually search for those products. Again, this is why Fetch Rewards is better than Ibotta!
As long as you have a sponsored offer on your receipt, you earn the bonus. It doesn’t even matter if you knew about the offer or not.
The offers are displayed in the app if you want to go after them yourself, but just know that you might earn more rewards than you thought just by regularly uploading your receipts.
The rewards you earn stack on top of the rewards you would naturally earn with that product anyways, which means more savings for you!
Extra Reading – Best Android Apps That Pay You Money.
Other Ways to Earn Points
Aside from the main 3 ways to go about earning Fetch Rewards points, there are a few more options to rack up extra savings:
1. Refer New Users
When you refer a friend to download and use Fetch Rewards, you both earn 2,000 points.
That’s a free $2 for helping your friend save money. And the best part is, you can refer as many friends as you want. That’s right. There’s no referral limit!
The Fetch Rewards referral code only gives you $2 to $3 normally, but if you refer enough friends, it can be a great way to earn rewards for minimal effort.
Keep in mind that you need $3 minimum to redeem free gift card rewards, so a single referral almost puts you at the cash out limit just like that.
2. Enter Sweepstakes & Contests
Fetch Rewards also runs monthly sweepstakes and contests which provide another way to earn even more points.
There are a few sweepstakes that you enter just by shopping between a certain date and time. That’s all it takes to be eligible to win.
Monthly sweepstakes also giveaway $1,000 prepaid Visa cards, which is absolutely awesome.
Just be sure to read the terms for each giveaway to see if you can be chosen for a $1,000 Visa Gift Card. The timeline to qualify really matters for your chance to enter, so read the terms for each contest carefully.
If you don’t get chosen for first place, that’s okay. Some of the giveaways divide up the $1,000 into $500 for first place and then $100 each for the next 5 runner ups.
Plus, Fetch Rewards also runs fun contests too, like their Brand Bracket challenge.
This contest has players guess which brands will have the mot redeemed receipts within a week in head-to-head matches.
Correct guesses pay bonus Fetch Rewards points, and this is just another fun way to mix things up with this cash back app.
3. Upload EReceipts
Fetch Rewards now lets users earn by connecting their email and Amazon account to Fetch Rewards to redeem electronic emails!
This is a massive plus for the app if you shop online frequently.
The app won’t scan your inbox automatically. However, you can press a eReceipts button and Fetch Rewards will scan your inbox to look for receipts.
Now, this feature doesn’t work with every partner brand.
However, some notable partners include Walmart, Walgreens, Target, Kohl’s, CVS, Food Lion, and Instacart.
Extra Reading – Fetch Rewards eReceipts – How It Works.
4. Shop With SingleCare
Another exciting update for Fetch Rewards is their partnership with SingleCare.
SingleCare helps you save on prescription costs by giving you coupons you can use at pharmacies.
Basically, you shop with SingleCare, get a prescription card, and use it to get a refill at a discount at participating pharmacies.
Fetch Rewards detects when you shop wtih SingleCare, so this is free money.
Plus, your first SingleCare purchase earn 5,000 points, which is a free $5. Future SingleCare purchases pay 1,000 points.
How Much Can You Earn With Fetch Rewards?
Fetch Rewards states that “points are awarded based on the final price paid: pre-tax and after all other coupons/discounts/savings are applied.”
As a rough rule of thumb, it seems like for every $0.10 you spend, you’ll earn 1 point.
However, buying sponsored offers can definitely help speed up the process as you can see from this Fetch Rewards review on Reddit:
So, the amount of points you earn is really based on how much you shop, if you shop for partnered brands, and if you take advantage of other ways to earn and sponsored offers.
Let’s assume for a second that you spend $500 on groceries every month. Let’s also assume that half of that cost ($250) is eligible for Fetch Rewards and you referred one friend.
With that scenario in mind, you would earn 2,500 points plus an additional 2,000 for referring your friend. That equates to 4,500 points (or $4.50) that you can use towards a free gift card of your choice.
If that happened every month, you’d earn $54 in gift cards after 1 year.
That’s not bad for just having to scan a receipt every time you shop!
Redeeming Points – Fetch Rewards Gift Card Options
You can only redeem rewards through gift cards. The minimum amount of points required to cash out is 3,000 ($3).
This is by far one of the lowest cashout thresholds in the world of shopping reward apps. Again, apps like Ibotta have a $20 threshold…
Here are a few of the gift cards you can redeem with Fetch Rewards:
- Starbucks.
- CVS.
- AMC.
- Target.
- Visa Gift Card.
- Amazon.
- Walmart.
- Whole Foods.
There are hundreds of gift cards available for redeeming your points. You can see the full list of gift cards here.
The best part about it – you can put those points right back into grocery shopping! And if you’d rather use it for something else, you can do that too. The choice is yours to make!
Keep in mind that most gift cards have a minimum balance of $5. Although the minimum for Fetch Rewards is $3, you’re more likely to wait and reach $5 to earn your preferred gift card.
Extra Reading – How To Actually Earn Free Starbucks.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you still have any questions or concerns about this Fetch Rewards review, here is a little more insight on what the shopping rewards app has to offer…
1. What Kind of Stores Work with Fetch Rewards?
Fetch Rewards states you can submit a receipt from almost any store. Here’s a list of eligible stores:
- Grocery stores.
- Wholesale clubs.
- Pet stores.
- Home improvement retailers.
- Convenience stores.
Gas station receipts also work with Fetch Rewards as long as the receipt is from the register and not from the pump.
Long story short, you won’t have a problem finding ways to earn money with your receipts.
2. How Many Receipts Can You Upload?
There is a limit of 20 receipts per 7 days. You can continue to upload receipts as long as you don’t scan up to the 20 receipt limit.
Example: if you’ve scanned 20 receipts, but 5 of them were on the first day of the week, you’ll be able to continue scanning once that day is no longer included in the last 7 days.
3. Do Fetch Rewards Points Expire?
Yes, points expire after 90 days of inactivity.
Being inactive means not uploading any receipts in the last 90 days. If you just use the app to redeem a gift card or look at offers, that will NOT count as being active.
Be sure to scan at least one receipt every 3 months to keep your points!
Receipts also must be uploaded within 14 days of shopping to be eligible for earning points.
4. Are There Fetch Reward Hacks?
If you search for Fetch Reward hacks, you’ll see websites and videos that promise you can earn unlimited points.
These are all a scam!
Fetch Reward hacks don’t exist. If you find a way to manipulate how many points you earn, you’re probably going to get your account banned as well so don’t waste your time here.
But, you can read our post on Fetch Rewards hacks to learn how to earn as many points as possible!
5. Why Was My Account Deactivated?
This ties into the Fetch Reward hacks I just mentioned.
According to Fetch Rewards, people trying to exploit the app is the main reason accounts are deactivated.
The app states “In order to provide the maximum amount of points and savings to our wonderful Fetch users, we put systems in place to detect fraudulent behavior.”
Here are reasons your Fetch Rewards account can get deactivated:
- You change non-partne items to partner items.
- You create multipl accounts on one phone.
- You create fake accounts to get extra referral points.
- You scan receipts for a business purchase (I didn’t know about this one!)
Bottom line: use the app properly and you won’t have issues.
Extra Reading – Does Fetch Rewards Steal Credit Card Info?
6. How Does Fetch Rewards Make Money?
This is always a good question to ask when using a free app since, like the saying goes, if it’s free, you’re the product!
Well, for starters, Fetch Rewards closes $80 million in fundraising in a recent Series C round in late 2020 according to PR Newswire.
This brings the total fundraising amount to $118 million.
So, venture capital funding is helping to fuel Fetch Rewards.
If I had to guess, another way Fetch Rewards makes money is probably by receiving small kickbacks from partner brands in exchange for promoting specific products on the app.
Fetch Rewards Pros & Cons
Let’s wrap up the debate of if Fetch Rewards is legit with a quick look at the pros and cons:
Pros:
- Mostly Passive. You just have to upload receipts; there’s no need to manually add offers to your shopping list.
- Low Cashout Threshold. $3.00 is by far one of the best thresholds of any rewards app.
- Earning Availability. It’s incredibly easy to buy products from partner brands.
- No Activation. Just install Fetch Rewards, shop, and earn. It’s that simple.
- User-Friendly App. This is a straightforward app and it’s easy to scan and upload receipts.
Cons:
- U.S. Only. Unfortunately, Fetch Rewards only works in the United States right now.
- Earning Potential. Unless you make an effort to buy sponsored offers, Fetch Rewards will be a humble earner.
- Average Welcome Bonus. $2.00 is awesome, but apps like Ibotta or Checkout 51 often have better referral bonuses for new members.
I’d say the main take away from this is that the shopping app is very low-effort, but can take time to earn points depending on what brands you shop for.
Extra Reading – Fetch Rewards vs Ibotta – Which Rewards App Is Best?
Is Fetch Rewards Legit?
General Fetch Rewards reviews seem to be positive, and a quick Reddit search shows that people definitely make money with this app:
The bottom line is that Fetch Rewards is legit.
This app has plenty of payment proof online, positive reviews, and is one of the leading grocery reward apps on the market.
Additionally, the platform keeps adding new features, like eReceipts and the SingleCare partnership.
Now, is Fetch Rewards worth it?
Here’s what you should ask yourself: Do you shop for groceries a lot? Do the brands you shop for have partnerships with the Fetch Rewards app?
If the answer is yes, Fetch Rewards is absolutely worth the download since this is easy, free money.
Now, this obviously wouldn’t be a great Fetch Rewards review if I didn’t share my opinion or give a verdict.
If you live with a partner or in a large family, shop for popular brands, and take advantage of scanning receipts every time, then I think you can definitely save some money throughout the year.
If you live by yourself, don’t shop for popular brands, and don’t care to save an extra $50 a year or so, then this app might not be for you and that’s just the truth.
There’s no doubt that you can save money easily. The only question is… are you willing to take the time to upload receipts to do so?
The choice is yours to make, but every penny counts!
Thanks so much for reading! Do you have a favorite way to cut down on grocery bills? Let us know in the comments!
Try out Fetch Rewards for IOS or for Android. Remeber to use the code “APREWARDS” to redeem 3K points!
Extra Reading:
- 12 Awesome Chrome Extension To Save Money Online.
- Drop App Review – Is This Cash Back App Worth It?
- Rakuten Extension Review – How I Saved More Than $400 With Rakuten.
Tom is a full-time blogger and freelance writer with a passion for side hustling, passive income, and the gig economy. His work has appeared on dozens of personal finance websites like Money Crashers, The College Investor, Investor Junkie, and more. This Online World is all about providing people with honest ways to make and save more money by using technology. To learn more about Tom, read his About Page!
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