How to Stack Cash Back This Black Friday (Rakuten and Great Canadian Rebates)

Black Friday lands on November 27 this year, with Cyber Monday right behind it on November 30. Most people go in thinking about the discount. That's fine, but the discount is only one layer. If you set things up a few weeks early, you can get paid on the same purchase two or three more times.

This guide covers the two cash back sites we review, Rakuten and Great Canadian Rebates, plus how to stack them with everything else.

Why sign up now instead of on Black Friday

You could join on the day. But there are a few good reasons not to wait:

• The Rakuten bonus needs a qualifying purchase. New members get $30 after spending $30 through Rakuten within 90 days of signing up. If you're already planning to buy something before the sales, that purchase can unlock the bonus, so it's sitting there before the big shopping weekend.
• You'll want the browser extension installed and tested. It's much easier to work out how click-through tracking works on a $35 order than on a $900 TV.
• Sale pages get busy. Nobody wants to be creating accounts and confirming emails while a deal is selling out.

The stack, layer by layer

Think of it as four separate places the savings come from. Each one is independent, so you can use all of them on a single order.

1. The sale price. The retailer's Black Friday discount. Nothing to set up here.
2. Cash back from a shopping portal. You start at Rakuten or Great Canadian Rebates, click through to the store, and get a percentage back. Rates often go up around Black Friday.
3. Your credit card rewards. You still earn your card's usual points or cash back, since you're paying the store the normal way.
4. Price protection after you buy. If the price drops again, some stores and some cards will refund the difference.

You can't use two cash back portals on the same order, though. Whichever one you clicked through last usually gets the credit. Pick one per purchase.

Rakuten vs Great Canadian Rebates

They do the same basic job, but the details are different enough that it's worth knowing both.

Rakuten

• Sign up bonus: $30 after $30 in qualifying purchases within 90 days
• Payouts: Every three months, by PayPal or cheque, once you're over $5
• Best for: Big-name retailers and the boosted "double cash back" promos it runs, which tend to pop up around big sale weekends

Great Canadian Rebates

• Sign up bonus: $3 for subscribing to the newsletter
• Payouts: Monthly by direct deposit, PayPal or e-gift card, once you've held $12 or more for about 58 days
• Best for: Checking a second rate before a big purchase, and earning 1% to 3% on gift cards

Honestly, the smart move is to join both. Signing up is free, and rates vary a lot from store to store. On a single big purchase, one site might be paying 2% and the other 6%. Takes about 30 seconds to check.

A quick example

Say there's a $200 winter jacket marked down 30% for Black Friday, and the store is paying 8% cash back that week.

• Sale price: $140 (you saved $60)
• Cash back at 8%: about $11.20
• Card rewards at 1%: about $1.60 on the after-tax total
• Rakuten welcome bonus: $30, if this is your first qualifying purchase

That's roughly $43 back on top of the sale, from a few extra clicks. The numbers on your own order will differ, but the idea holds. Cash back is usually calculated on the pre-tax amount after discounts, so don't expect it on shipping or tax.

Mistakes that cost people their cash back

Cash back tracking is a bit fragile. These are the most common reasons a purchase never shows up:

• Using a coupon code the portal didn't give you. Outside codes can override the tracking. If you find a better code elsewhere, check the store's terms on the portal before you use it.
• Leaving the store tab and coming back later. Start at the portal, click through, and finish the purchase in that same session. If you get distracted for a few hours, click through again.
• Ad blockers and privacy extensions. These can block the tracking cookie. Pause them for the store, or use a different browser for shopping.
• Clicking through, then hopping to a deal site. Clicking another affiliate link before checkout can hand the credit to someone else.
• Returning the item. Returns cancel the cash back, and a returned order won't count toward the Rakuten $30 bonus either.

If a purchase doesn't show up after a few days, both sites let you file a missing cash back claim. Screenshot your order confirmation, just in case.

A few extra layers worth knowing

• Gift cards for stores you already shop at. Great Canadian Rebates pays a small amount back on gift cards. Buy one for a store you'll be shopping at anyway, then use it for your Black Friday order.
• Price adjustments. Some Canadian retailers will refund the difference if an item drops in price within a set window. Keep your receipts until mid-December.
• Newsletter discounts. Lots of stores give 10% or 15% off your first order for signing up to their emails. Just check that it doesn't conflict with the portal's coupon rules.
• The right card. If you're looking for a no fee card to put this spending on, our Brim review is a good starting point.

The checklist

1. Sign up for Rakuten and Great Canadian Rebates this week.
2. Install the Rakuten browser extension.
3. Make a normal $30+ purchase through Rakuten before the sales to lock in the welcome bonus.
4. Write down what you actually want to buy. Sales are designed to make you spend more, and cash back on something you didn't need isn't savings.
5. On the day, compare rates on both portals for anything over $100.
6. Keep your receipts and watch for price drops into December.

One last thing. Cash back is a nice bonus on stuff you'd buy anyway. It's not a reason to buy something. Go in with a list, and the extra money back is just a reward for being organized.

You can see every shopping offer we track on our shopping bonuses page.

Bonus amounts and cash back rates change often, especially around Black Friday. Always confirm the current terms on each site before you sign up or buy.