How does Rakuten make money ?
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If Rakuten is free to sign up (no credit card, no nothing from me) what’s the catch?
There is no catch. It’s a completely free and safe membership with no credit card needed.
Here’s how Rakuten makes money
RAKUTEN has agreements with over 2500 major stores. When you shop online as you normally would, but you click that store’s link through Rakuten before you check out, you will receive up to 20% back on your purchase.
No strings. When you make money, Rakuten gets a fee from the store where you shopped – at no cost to you.
You shop like you normally do – nothing is compromised, not your coupons or promo codes or discounts. In fact, Rakuten lists each store’s current promos and coupons for your use as well. You don’t have to go nuts searching for codes on the internet.
Rakuten also even gives you a sign up bonus of $30 extra dollars. That’s how confident they are that you’ll love using their site. And will use it over and over again.
So, you get cash back on your purchase, a sign up bonus plus all the current promos and it costs absolutely nothing? It’s silly not to use.
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Is Rakuten Legit? YES, it’s totally LEGIT, free, safe and easy.
When I saw the commercial, I said to myself, “OK, that’s a scam…”.
But it really isn’t. I don’t recommend anything I don’t use myself. It’s so awesome, I have all of my family and friends using Rakuten too.
You should see cash back around the holidays. Woohoo!
Is it complicated to sign up?
Nope, it took me all of 5 seconds
You don’t enter any credit card or personal information.
Here’s how to sign up for Rakuten
- JOIN RAKUTEN for FREE Just enter your email and create a password. Done Now it’s cash back time…
- SHOP as you NORMALLY DO. BUT go through Rakuten. Click on one of 2500+ Major Participating Store links (Ebay, Target, Walmart, Macy’s, Kohls, Amazon…). You earn whatever that store offers for a Cash Back % of your purchase. That percentage can change daily. Sometimes stores offer additional bonus days as well.
- GET PAID via a Check or direct deposit to your Paypal.
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NEW RAKUTEN USER BONUS (Explained)
Do your normal shopping, when you spend $30+ on any of the 2500+ major online stores, new Rakuten users get an ADDITIONAL $30 Cash Back + regular cash back.
Here’s an Example
If I shopped online at Kohls and spent $79 (used my coupon codes and everything), and the Rakuten % cash back that day for Kohls was 10%, I get $79 x 10% = $7.90 cash back.
As a new user I get $30 too. So my total is $7.90 + $30 = $37.90. It’s that simple.
Recent Rakuten Recognition/Awards
Best Operator 5G Innovation
Ground-breaking Virtualization Initiative
Forbes Top 100 Digital Companies 2019
Forbes Top Regarded Companies 2019
Linkedin Best companies to work for in Japan 2019
Forbes World’s Most Innovative Companies 2017
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FAQ
Q. Can I still use my own COUPONS and PROMO CODES and get cash back too? Does Rakuten actually save you money?
A. YES! In fact, RAKUTEN is an Excellent Source for Coupons, Promo Codes and Hot Deals for your favorite online shopping stores. They have access to these deals before we do. They also offer Double Cash Back Bonuses and in-Store Cash Back Deals. So you make money and save money at Rakuten.
Q. Are there any rules for getting the $30 Bonus Cash Back from RAKUTEN?
A. Yes, you must be 18+ and be a New User. You must spend $30+ of qualifying purchases within a year of joining. I got mine in 5 minutes.
Q. What does Rakuten do with your data? Does Rakuten sell your information?
A. No, Rakuten doesn’t sell your information or do anything with your data. They don’t ask for a credit card either.
Q. How does Rakuten work?
A. RAKUTEN has agreements with over 2500 major stores. When you shop through their site (as you normally would shop) you get a % cash back from the stores. Rakuten gets a fee from the store. Everybody wins!
Q. What is the downside of Rakuten? There is none. It doesn’t take time and doesn’t cost money. It’s a free service that is silly not to use.
Q. What percentage does Rakuten pay? It’s actually the stores that pay Rakuten who pays you. That percentage can be different each day. And has gone as high as 25%.
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The History of Rakuten (from wiki-pedia)
A Harvard-educated banker Hiroshi MIkitani founded Rakuten in February 1997 and launched the website on May 1, 1997.
Rakuten went public through an IPO on the JASDAQ in 2000. The online hotel reservation service division launched in 2001. A year later, Rakuten introduced a new system combining fixed fees with commissions on sales for merchants. And in the later part of the year, a loyalty membership program was launched.
Rakuten acquired a finance company Aozora Card Co. Ltd. in 2004. The following year, Rakuten offered a credit card. That credit card was held by over 13 million people in 2016 – making up almost 40% of the company’s revenue. It was Japan’s largest internet bank and third largest credit company. What made it popular was the credit card was all about a point-based program. Members could use those points to make online purchases. During 2016, an app-based payment system was launched.
Other notable historical developments include:
October 2004: The baseball team Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles formed and joined Nippon Professional Baseball.
December 2005: The company began to expand outside of Japan this year. A department in charge of research and development was established – Rakuten Institute of Technology in Toyko.
February 2008: The first e-commerce site outside of Japan was established with Rakuten Ichiba Taiwan.
2011: Rakuten acquired stake in a Canadian e-book maker Kobo Inc and an investment in Pinterest. They also launched Belanja Online (Indonesia).
Late 2012: The company moved into online retail in Austria, Canada, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand and France (travel markes with Voyager Moins Cher.com). They also expanded its Tokyo international Travel platform in China, Hong Kong, Korea and Taiwan. Rakuten Gold stated making online tee times possible in North America. The company adapted English as its official language.
2014: Rakuten enters the online shopping membership rewards in Canada, China, Russia, South Korea and the United States with its purchase of Ebates for $1 billion.
January 2015: Rakuten acquired Vissel Kobe, a top J-League football team.
March 2015: Rakuten began accepting bitcoin in their global markets – one of the first major companies to accept payments in bitcoin.
November 2016: Rakuten made a four-year partnership with the La Liga football club FC Barcelona. This was one of Europe’s most successful football teams. The deal was worth over 200 million pounds, with Rakuten’s name appearing on the team’s match-day jerseys.
February 2017: Rakuten and Ebates pick up Shopstyle along with its influencer marketing group, Collective. This acquisition extended the conglomerate into fashion discovery and product search.
April 2017: Rakuten merges with Blackstorm Labs. This is a California-based online social gaming platform – R Games. After going live, offering 15 free games for smartphones. Popular old school games like Pac-Man and Space Invaders were included. The company had plans to merge R Games with the messaging app Viber. These games are HTML5 based and can be played on any device and platform. Rakuten now has an in to 114 million online shoppers in its worldwide database.
September 2017: Rakuten signed a deal with the NBA Golden State Warriors. This three-year, $60 million deal enables Rakuten to be the team’s official sponsor for the jersey patch on the front of the uniforms.
January 2018: Rakuten partners up with Walmart for e-books sales. They also turned out the fourth mobile wireless network, Rakuten Mobile in Japan.
June 2018: Rakuten and Ebates pick up Curbside. This merger speeds up its offline to online offering to its merchants and members.
2019: The Chinese baseball team, the Lamigo Monkeys are acquired. This acquisition makes Rakuten the first foreign company to own a Chinese Professional Baseball team. Later in the year, the baseball team’s name was changed to the Rakuten Monkeys. Also, new uniform designs were released for the Golden Eagles.
September 2020: Their own 5G network is launched by its wireless carrier. The name of the network was the Rakuten Communications Platform or RCP. This network makes use of the cloud to lower prices. This service resulted in a gain of at least fifteen international customers.
February 2022: The founder of Rakuten Hiroshi Mikitani donated $8.7 million to Ukraine for humanitarian actions.
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Rakuten Sponsorships
Vissel Kobe
Golden State Warriors
Davis Cup