You'd think that as a Krazy couponer I'd have all the cash-back apps and rebate apps. But I hadn't quite taken the leap yet. Then I started thinking about all the holiday spending I'm about to start doing and figured I might as well earn a little something back.
The CoinOut app is designed to help you do exactly that: earn something back on your shopping. It rewards you when you do simple things, like sharing your receipts, linking accounts you already have with stores, playing games, taking surveys, and more. The redemption options are simple too: gift cards, Venmo, and PayPal.
While CoinOut has its quirks, I found it to be easy to rack up a bunch of points right out of the gate. And once you're set up and your accounts are linked, you can easily earn rewards going forward.
Submit receipts and earn free rewards with the CoinOut app.
When it comes to CoinOut, submitting receipts and earning Coins (CoinOut's rewards currency) is the name of the game. You can submit paper receipts by just snapping a picture of them via the app. You can submit receipts for any U.S. retailer (I sent in receipts for Walmart, Target, and my local grocery chain).
If it's a valid receipt, you'll get your rewards within 72 hours, but I've found I usually get a response within a day. Note that the date on the receipt must be within the last 14 days. Don't go digging through your purse or car glove box for anything older.
You can also link your retailer accounts at Amazon, Walmart, Target, and more. That lets the app give you Coins for your online purchases and e-receipts.
How much do you earn per receipt?
It depends. At Bronze level, which is where you start, you can earn 10 Coins per receipt. Once you hit the highest level (Diamond), you can earn 50 Coins per receipt. That said, those bonus Coins you get at the higher levels are good only for the first 25 receipts you send in per month. After the twenty-fifth receipt, you go back to earning 10 Coins per receipt.
You can rack up a few thousand points within 15 minutes of getting the CoinOut app — here's how I did it.
When I joined CoinOut, it's not like I had a bunch of recent receipts lying around, so I found other ways to rack up a points balance fast:
Bonus for Joining: CoinOut gives you a bonus for joining. Points vary depending on the promo. I got a total of 500 Coins for registration and a promo they were running at the time.
Connect Retail Accounts: The absolute fastest way to get Coins is to connect all your existing retail accounts. This is easy. Go to the "Digital Accounts" section of the app and select which accounts you have. You'll be prompted to log in to each of your accounts through the app. I linked my Target, Walmart, Amazon, and Starbucks accounts. Attempting to link my Kroger account didn't work, but I'll try again. I got 200 per account I linked, plus a few bonuses that doubled my earnings along the way (your mileage may vary).
Surveys: I took a survey. The survey took about five minutes and earned me 1,100 Coins.
Games: I played a few games. CoinFrenzy (the in-app game) didn't make me rich, but it was easy enough to hit a button and play a quick game of luck.
Link Your Email: I tried to link my email, but wasn't able to successfully complete the two-factor authentication setup process and adjust my email provider's privacy settings. The app also stalled out a few times, meaning I had to start the process over. You do get 500 Coins for connecting an email account, plus it allows CoinOut to collect your digital receipts, so this is a worthwhile step and one I plan to do.
Check out some of what I earned within 15 minutes of joining the app:
Redeem your Coins for retailer gift cards, Venmo, and PayPal.
Once you have Coins, you can cash them in. The value of your Coins varies depending on the redemption option you pick. You'll need at least 3,000 points to start redeeming, and that gets you a $3 Amazon gift card. Once you have 5,000 points, you get other options, like Venmo and other retailer gift cards.
In general, your Coins are each worth a tenth of a cent each. However, the value gets better the more Coins you have. For example, you can get a $10 reward for 9,500 Coins and a $25 reward for 24,000 Coins. So if you bank your rewards and wait to redeem, you're getting a better value.
Once you're set up, there are easy ways to earn more Coins, like games and missions.
In addition to sharing receipts, you can earn Coins in easy and low-effort ways:
Playing CoinFrenzy. This is a game within the app. It's essentially a slot machine, and if you hit the right combos, you get Coins. The app limits how many times you can play in row (and, honestly, I liked that it cut me off after a few minutes). The app will prompt you with ways to earn more plays, usually by sending in more receipts per day.
Completing missions. You won't always have missions available to you, but they'll pop up in the app if CoinOut assigns you any. Missions generally involve completing surveys and submitting specific receipts.
There are five levels, and you'll earn more with each level.
CoinOut has five different levels. You start at Bronze, but as you interact with the app, you can hit higher tiers. The higher the tier, the more you earn per receipt. For each tier you move up, you earn 10 Coins more per receipt you submit, all the way up to 50 Coins per receipt at Diamond level.
And that higher status can really help those Coins pile up. Say you submit 25 receipts per month. At Diamond level, you'll get 1,250 Coins vs. the 250 Coins you'd get at Bronze level. So it's really worth putting in the work to level up. CoinOut makes it really clear what you need to do to unlock levels, in a tidy to-do list.
In addition to earning more per receipt at higher levels, leveling up unlocks other benefits too. For example, you get more spins in the CoinFrenzy game which, in turn, gets you more Coins.
Overall, CoinOut is a low-effort way to earn a little cash back on purchases you're already making.
The nice thing about the CoinOut app is that you have options depending on your energy level. Just want to send in receipts as you shop and let the app monitor your e-receipts at retailers? You'll earn Coins. Want to boost your earnings? You can play games, run missions, and do surveys.
You won't get rich off this app, but that's the case with all rewards apps out there. But for relatively little effort, you can earn a little extra on stuff you're buying anyway for the holidays. Just remember to submit those receipts and earn rewards.
Disclaimer: Walmart, Target, Starbucks, and Kroger are not participants or sponsors of the CoinOut mobile app.
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