Cashback & voucher sites, explained

Cashback sites (like TopCashback or Quidco) and voucher-code sites pay you a slice of the commission they earn when you click through to a retailer and buy. It's real money, but it flows from the retailer's marketing budget, not from nowhere.

How they make money

When you shop via their link, the retailer pays them a commission for sending you. They keep some and pass some back to you as 'cashback'. Voucher sites work the same way around discount codes. That's why the site is free to use.

The one rule

Cashback is only a saving if you were going to buy the thing anyway. Spending £100 to get £5 back leaves you £95 down — it's a discount, not income. Used on planned purchases, it's a genuine bonus; used as a reason to buy, it costs you.

A couple of practical notes: cashback can take weeks or months to confirm and occasionally doesn't track, so don't count on it for essentials. Blooom is not a deals platform — this is just so you understand how these sites work.