The next time you leave Walmart DON’T toss your receipt in the nearest garbage bin. Instead whip out your smartphone and use these highly clever apps to earn some free cash from your receipt just for shopping at Walmart. Here’s everything you need to know to make it happen.

Scan Your Receipt With Fetch

Similar to Ibotta, the Fetch app only requires you to scan your Walmart receipt and they do the rest of the dirty work.

In a short few months I’ve already earned over $35 in free Amazon gift cards with Fetch.

From their website, “All you need to do is snap a picture of your receipt and points will be put into your account. It is that easy.”

Use those points for free gift cards to hundreds of places like Amazon, Target, Walmart, Best Buy, American Eagle, Bed Bath & Beyond, or even a Visa Cash Card.

Also keep in mind that Fetch works on all store receipts, not just Walmart.

FETCH SIGN-UP BONUS

Enter our exclusive referral code RATHER when you sign-up for Fetch and get 2,000 free points after you scan your first receipt.

See Also: Fetch Rewards Review: Here’s Exactly How it Works

Scan Your Receipt With ibotta

Once you have your Walmart receipt in-hand, be sure to download the Ibotta app and scan the barcode at the bottom.

The app will automatically examine your receipt, what you bought, and match any qualifying offers.

If it finds any offers it’ll pay you for them and add the money to your Ibotta account. You’ll be surprised how many offers Ibotta will find and your balance will start to build up.

You’ll get the cash added to your Ibotta account within 48 hours which you can redeem via PayPal as soon as your balance reaches $20.

I’ve been using Ibotta for a few years and have earned well over $350 just on my Walmart purchases.

It’s also worth noting that Ibotta is NOT exclusive to Walmart and you can use it at pretty much ALL the stores you shop at, even Costco and Sam’s Club.

Love myself some Ibotta. Go check it out for yourself.

See Also: Ibotta Review: Insider Tips on Using the App to Save on Groceries

Snap a Receipt Pic With Checkout 51

Just download the free Checkout51 app, pick the grocery rebates you like and save them to your list of rebates.

Then head out to do your grocery shopping just like you normally would at Walmart.

Once you buy the items on your rebate list you simply snap a pic of your Walmart receipt using the app.

Once verified, your account gets credited automatically.

As soon as your account reaches $20 you can cash out and they’ll mail you a check.

Ask the Reader: Besides using these free apps, how do you make money off your Walmart receipts?

By Kyle James

Who doesn’t love a good return policy? Not I said the fly. The return policy at Sephora is quite strict in some ways and pretty awesome in other ways. But like any store policy it comes with some fine print that needs further explanation. Here’s exactly how the policy at Sephora works so you can buy beauty products with piece-of-mind knowing what (and how) you can return.

How Many Return Days at Sephora?

30 days.

In recent years, Sephora has made their return policy more strict by going from a 60-day return window down to 30 days.

What Happens After 30 Days?

If you try to return something between 31-60 days after purchase, you’re NOT completely out of luck.

You’ll simply have to settle for a Sephora merchandise credit which can be used online and in-store.

Their merchandise credit does NOT expire which is cool, but be aware that it can’t be replaced if you lose it.

Okay, So What Happens After 60 Days?

After 60 days you CANNOT make the return which makes their policy a bit strict.

You’re only option is to try and make the return without your receipt and hope you get a lenient manager who might give you store credit.

For this “trick” to potentially work, the item needs to be unused, unopened, and be in the original packaging.

Can Items Be Opened or Used?

Yes.

But if items are opened they must be in “gently used” condition.

What they mean by “gently used” is hard to say.

Because of this I called and chatted with a Sephora rep and was told that you can take home beauty items and give them a gentle test drive.

If you don’t like the item for ANY reason you can return it for a full refund.

See Also: The 8 Best Return Policies in the Known Universe

Any Stuff That Can’t Be Returned?

Nope.

Everything is returnable as long as the item isn’t well used and abused.

Can I Return a Gift for Cash?

No, but they’ll give you store credit if you ask for it.

Otherwise they’ll put the money back on the credit card that was used to make the purchase.

Can I Return Stuff to Kohl’s?

Back in 2021, Sephora started opening mini-stores inside of many Kohl’s locations.

Unfortunately, only Sephora products purchased at Kohl’s can be returned to Kohl’s.

Stuff bought at a standalone Sephora store must be returned to a Sephora store.

Can Their Return Policy Be Abused?

Yes, you can definitely abuse the Sephora return policy and they’re not a big fan of it.

If you return too many used items in a certain amount of time you could be banned from further returns.

It’s not public knowledge how many returns raise a red flag.

Just be smart and don’t take advantage of their liberal policy.

See Also: Making an ULTA Return? Here’s Everything You NEED to Know

Do I Need My Receipt to Return Stuff?

No, not in every case.

For example, if you made your original purchase with a credit card or Beauty Insider account they can look up the purchase and process your return.

The only time that you can’t make a return without a receipt is when you pay with cash.

Have People Actually Been Banned?

Yes, Sephora has banned people (temporarily) from further returns.

They’re using a company called The Retail Equation to track all returns and take action if necessary.

This is why they ask for a photo ID when you make a return.

So if you regularly buy 5 lipsticks, take them home, try them, then return 4 of them you might get flagged.

In case you’re curious, here are the 6 most returned items to Sephora.

Makes sense as Sephora can’t resell those lipsticks.

They’ll typically email you a warning first and take action if you keep abusing their policy.

What About Returning Stuff from Sephora.com?

This is where the policy gets kinda awesome.

When returning something you bought from the Sephora website, they’ll pay the ENTIRE cost of return shipping.

No questions asked. Just use the prepaid FedEx return shipping label that comes with every order.

To speed up the return process you can also return items to any brick & mortar Sephora location.

Do I Get More Time to Return Stuff After Christmas?

Yes.

Sephora offers an extended holiday return policy for purchases made between October 27th – December 1st, 2023, you have until January 31st, 2024 to make your return.

Ask the Reader: What has been your experience with the return policy at Sephora? Good, bad, or indifferent?

By Kyle James

Photo credit to Mike Mozart.

There’s a new player in the grocery rebate app game and it goes simply by Fetch, known formerly as Fetch Rewards. While Ibotta is still my favorite go-to app when it comes to saving money on groceries, Fetch is a fantastic compliment. I actually find it easier to use and requires less legwork to earn reward points. So I figured it was time to write a full Fetch Rewards review so you can see exactly how it works and how it can earn you money.

How Do You Get Started with Fetch?

Fetch is available for free download on both iOS and Android.

Get 2,000 Free Bonus Points: When you first open the app and sign-up it’ll ask you for a referral code.

FREE 2,000 POINTS

Simply enter our exclusive referral code RATHER and get your free 2,000 points immediately after you scan your first receipt.

See Also: Ibotta Review: The App that Saves You Money on Groceries

Is Fetch Safe?

Yes.

Fetch is absolutely safe and a legit company based in Madison, Wisconsin.

When you sign-up, the only information they ask for is your name and email address.

If you redeem your points for actual stuff, you’ll also need to provide your physical address so they can mail items to you.

So…How Do You Earn Points?

Glad you asked.

There are 3 main ways to earn points with the Fetch app.

1. Special Grocery Offers

This is where the app is similar to Ibotta.

You basically get bonus points for buying specific products at the store.

For example, right now on the app they are offering 1,500 points when you buy Snyder’s Pretzel multi packs.

The cool thing here is that you don’t have to activate the offer before you make the purchase, and you don’t have to scan the barcode of the pretzel box after you buy it.

Unlike Ibotta, which makes you activate the offer first, you’ll get credit for it when you scan your store receipt.

This is great “app technology” because you’ll often get these special offers completely by accident and require nothing of you.

2. Buy Specific Brands

Fetch also offers specific brands that come with “Bonus” points when you buy them.

Again, it is no longer necessary to “activate” brands via the app before you shop.

After you scan your receipt, the app will do the work for you and look for any of these participating brands and credit your account if it finds any.

Some of the top brands include Kraft, Campbell’s, Coors, Heinz, Starbucks, Tropicana, Hershey’s, Pepsi, Knudsen, and Lipton to name a few.

3. Scan ANY Receipt

This is where the magic really happens with this app.

If you literally want to do nothing (like me) and still earn points, you CAN by just scanning ANY store receipt.

Simply open up the Fetch app, tap “Scan”, then take pic of your receipt and submit it.

Literally takes 15 seconds to scan while you’re unpacking your groceries.

Your points earned are based on the amount of stuff purchased.

But I can tell you that if you get in the habit of scanning your receipts regularly you’ll score free gift cards VERY quickly.

So…How Many Reward Points Are Needed to Redeem Gift Cards?

Basically 1,000 reward points equals $1.

So once you grab your free 2,000 bonus points (use referral code RATHER) and scan a receipt, you’ll have close to 3,000 points.

Scan a couple more receipts, maybe accidentally buy a special offer, and you’ll have enough points for a $5 Amazon gift card.

I’ve been using Fetch for a couple short weeks and have already redeemed three $5 Amazon gift cards.

While Amazon is the most popular option, they offer gift cards to dozens of stores and restaurants.

They include American Eagle, Best Buy, Target, Lowe’s, Walmart, Nordstrom, Applebee’s, and Kohl’s to name a few.

The Nitty Gritty Stuff….

Here is some stuff about the app that you’ll definitely want to know.

– You Can Only Submit 14 Receipts in a 7-Day Period: Unless you’re a shopping addict this shouldn’t be a problem for you.

– Scan Receipts from ANY Store: Well, to clarify, any grocery store, supermarket, wholesale club, or convenience store.

– Scan Within 14 Days of Purchase: Don’t let those receipt lay around in a drawer. Get them out and get them scanned via the app.

– Use Ibotta AND Fetch Rewards: Just because you use Ibotta doesn’t mean you can’t use Fetch Rewards too. Use them both and start doubling your grocery rebates and cashback.

– Points Expire if Account is Inactive for 90 days: So if you’ve accrued points be sure to use them before you lose ’em.

Ask the Reader: Have you tried a grocery rebate app like Fetch before? How much money did you make or was it not worth the time?

By Kyle James