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Do you love freebies? If you do (and most people do) then the Shopkick app is right up your alley. With Shopkick now you can get rewarded for walking into stores, shopping for stuff, and scanning items. Sound too good to be true.
Well in this article I’m going to tell you how shopkick works and share some cheats to help you get more out of the app. So now you can have some fun with one of the coolest apps out there. While making money at the same time.
Table of Contents
What is Shopkick?
Shopkick is an American-based company that rewards users for walking into stores and scanning bar codes for items and more. The reward points (called kicks) can be redeemed for gift cards at popular stores such as:
- Target
- Walmart
- American Eagle
- Best Buy
- Yankee Candle
- Starbucks
How to Join Shopkick
It is free to join Shopkick. They also don’t request credit card information or anything for you to use the platform. The signup process is quick and simple. All that is needed is your basic personal information like name and email to get you set up.
Getting Started With Shopkick
It is very easy to get started with Shopkick. First, you need to download the app. Shopkick App can be downloaded from the Apple Store or Google Play Store.
The next step is to create an account. You can either use your Facebook account, email or Google. A verification link will be sent to your email. Upon verification, you will be ready to get started making money. For you to view available offers, just click on the store icons.
How Shopkick Works
Shopkick rewards you with points whenever you shop from any of the participating stores. You also earn the points after completing certain tasks. The kicks are deposited into your account. They also have a variety of gift card offers for you to browse.
Whenever you choose a gift card, the app will show you the number of points that you can redeem from the offer. You can select any offer based on your preference. But, the value of each card offer does vary.
How to Make Money With Shopkick
As mentioned earlier, there are multiple ways on how you can earn points on Shopkick. This includes scanning barcodes of items, walking into stores and linking a credit card and more.
The reason why companies pay you to do so is that they want to gain insights and motivate customers to buy from them. Shopkick has partnered with many companies that make the platform fun and interactive.
1) Walk-in Points
When you walk into a store like let’s say Walmart, you earn 25 points which are called walk-in points. Walk-ins is one of the easiest ways to make money on Shopkick. It doesn’t matter whether you’re going to shop or not.
Remember to turn on your location before walking into a store. This enables the app to recognize that you are actually in the store. Also, you can earn points by visiting stores online. You don’t even have to be at the store physically or buy items for you to earn points.
2) Scanning Items
To scan items, the app uses your phone camera to capture barcodes. The app then determines that you scanned the items and you’ll be rewarded with points. When you scan items, you earn up to 350 points. Each item you scan earns you points. You can scan any product depending on your preference.
If you don’t want to scan items, you can also view products online and get rewarded. It’s so simple, just tap the ‘View Online Products’ button on the Shopkick app.
3) Referrals
Referrals can earn you up to 250 points. This is when you refer a family member or friend who then signs up with Shopkick.
The other way to increase your points is by linking your credit or debit card with Shopkick. They will then track your purchases and reward you with points.
In case you’re skeptical about linking your card, then you can just upload a picture of it to Shopkick. Although it may take some time for the purchases to be verified, it is still an excellent way of increasing your points.
4) Watching Videos
Last but not least, Shopkick also rewards you for watching videos. These are in-app videos showing new products from partner stores. It is a great opportunity if you like exploring new stuff.
You don’t have to spend anything for you to earn points on Shopkick. Remember that you need to use the Shopkick app or official website to complete any of the above online activities for you to earn points. The rewards also change from time to time, so be sure to check back frequently for new offers.
5) Follow Shopkick
They tweet some pretty cool stuff on Twitter. It might be worth a follow if you are interested in Shopkick. Here’s an example of a promo that they were running.
Shopkickers, get ready for a KICK me up! What makes binge watching better? Knowing you can earn 4,000 kicks tomorrow when you sign up for a new membership with this partner! Guess the store in the comments below, and one lucky winner will score 100 kicks! 🎉 pic.twitter.com/8uojKKYfko
— Shopkick (@Shopkick) June 4, 2019
How Much Can You Make With Shopkick?
The amount you can earn on Shopkick varies based on how much effort you put in and the type of activity you do. As a guide, it is good to know how much each kick is worth.
- 250 kicks are equivalent to $1 and the minimum amount of kicks needed for you to redeem into a gift card is 500.
- When you scan items, you can earn 10-50 points though it varies from one store to the other.
- Scanning receipts can earn you as much as 500 kicks while walk-ins can earn you 25 kicks and more.
- Linking your credit card can earn you 200 kicks and referrals earn you about 250 kicks.
Is Shopkick Legit?
Shopkick was founded in 2009, so it has been around for a decade. It has expanded to be one of the top cash-back sites in the rewards industry.
It is a BBB accredited company and from the time it was established, the total amount that the company has paid out in gift cards to shopkick users is over $85 million. The company offers multiple ways that you can use to make money. And verification of purchases is pretty simple. Being able to earn points without making a purchase makes it a pretty safe program to take part in.
Shopkick Cheats
If you feel like you’re not earning points as quickly as you want with Shopkick, then here are some simple hacks to help you increase your points fast.
1) Open your Shopkick app before you enter your favorite store
Shopkick rewards you when you walk through the door of the partner stores. To ensure that you don’t miss the points, remember to open your app before you enter any of the partner stores. Just tap to view any nearby store and the app will direct you.
2) Scan as many items as you can
The ability to earn kicks by scanning products is one of the cool features offered by Shopkick app. To increase your points, get as many items as possible from the featured stores and scan them. Similar items might be featured in different stores like Walmart and Target.
3) Check your Shopkick App regularly
Keep checking your app regularly to avoid missing periodic offers. Some of the offers come with bonuses and are only available for short periods.
4) Make purchases from both your phone and computer
You don’t have to buy products for you to earn points. While it may be convenient to use your phone to explore products on Shopkick, certain stores like JC Penney and Macy’s are more fun to buy from a computer.
5) Link your card
Shopkick rewards you with points for shopping from any of the participating stores. Every dollar you spend earns you a reward. To ensure that you don’t miss points when shopping, consider linking your credit card to your account.
This is ideal if you shop regularly from any of the featured stores, you can increase your points. The points will be deposited to your account once you make a purchase.
6) Invite as many friends as possible
You earn points by inviting friends to join Shopkick. Invite both friends, relatives and family members to join the app and earn more points.
7) Track your account regularly
The Shopkick app doesn’t deny you any kicks that you earn. It rewards you the points you earn from scanning items, shopping, watching videos and exploring new products and walk-ins and more. However, that doesn’t mean you should not track your account.
Keep an eye out to ensure that you get rewarded for any of your activities. Tracking helps you make sure that all crediting is done accurately. The points that are usually delayed are the ones you earn from making purchases.
Shopkick Pros and Cons
Pros
- It is absolutely free to sign up, join and use. You don’t have to pay any membership or registration fee.
- They give you a chance to earn points and gift cards that you can use to shop at partner stores
- They offer many ways to earn points and get rewarded.
- The app is very responsive and easy to use.
- By using the app, you get updated on many things such as new products, prices and offers at your favorite stores.
- You can make money from the platform without necessarily disclosing any of your personal information.
Cons
Despite the many attractive money making opportunities, Shopkick has its downsides. For example:
- You need to accumulate as many kicks as possible to earn something substantial.
- The app has no third party payment method like PayPal. Which means that even after making money and completing the tasks, you’re still pushed into gift cards.
- Not all the featured stores offer walk-in kicks and some of them may just be hard to visit.
Conclusion
All-in-all, if you like incentives and love shopping, then Shopkick can be a cool app for you. You can cash out the rewards they offer for gift cards and then use them when shopping. It is a great way of earning extra money by spending your time doing simple stuff.
The only challenge is that the amount you can make might not earn you a full-time income. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t use it to make a little extra money in your spare time.
I’ll leave you with this video below on how to make money with Shopkick. It’s a pretty good review. Check it out if you have a couple of minutes.

This needs to be updated.
For example, you list having to redeem pts for giftcards as a “Con” or downside to using Shopkicks because it doesn’t allow a cash-out option like Paypal. Since Paypal IS currently one of the giftcard options, that statement is a bit misleading