Cashback providers in Germany at a glance

Cashback means you get money back after you buy something. In Germany the full purchase price is refunded mainly by manufacturers in try-for-free promotions. Germans call these Gratis testen or Geld-zurück-Aktion.

There are also apps, loyalty programmes and online portals. There you get a fixed amount, a percentage of your purchase or points back, depending on the provider. On top of that there are product tests and paid surveys. Let’s take a closer look at the providers.

If you live in Germany but do not read German, keep in mind that promotion pages and app forms are usually in German only. A browser translation gets you through the forms, but the German terms and conditions are the ones that count.

Where do you get 100% of the purchase price back?

Your best chance of getting the full purchase price back is with try-for-free promotions. Manufacturers use them to get you to try a product. You can usually recognise these promotions by their own promotion page and sometimes by a sticker on the pack.

Not every promotion refunds the complete price, though. With some, the refund stops at a maximum amount. If the product costs more in your shop, you pay the difference yourself.

Before you start, you need the till receipt, a smartphone for the photos and a bank account. With many of these promotions the process is then as follows.

1. You read the terms and conditions. They state the promotion period, the products and the participating retailers.
2. You check the counter on the promotion page. A promotion with a daily or weekly quota may be full at the moment.
3. You go to a shop and buy the item. Sometimes it has to be an item with a promotional sticker.
4. You photograph the item and upload your details, your bank details and the photos on the promotion page.
5. After about 4 to 12 weeks most providers pay your money back.

What are the catches with try-for-free promotions?

Try-for-free promotions have their catches too. You pay the purchase price up front and only get it back if you meet all the conditions. Four points matter most here.

• Quotas limit entries per day or per week in many promotions. If the quota is used up, you wait for the next release. If the promotion ends first, you pay for the product yourself.
• The till receipt usually has to show the retailer, price, date and time. If any of that is missing, the organiser can reject your entry.
• Your data is what you hand over in return. This usually means your name, email address and bank details. Some manufacturers also ask market research questions.
• The effort stays the same even for small amounts. For a €2 product you still fill in a form and wait several weeks for the transfer. Whether that is worth your time is up to you.

Which cashback apps exist for the supermarket?

With cashback apps you usually upload your till receipt and get credit after the check. The credit builds up in the app until you have it paid out. You get money into your account with scondoo, marktguru, reebate and PAYBACK, for example. REWE Bonus and the Rossmann app stay at the till, because there you redeem credit or coupons when you shop.

Provider	How you get your money	Payout	Expiry
scondoo	Upload the till receipt, credit after the check	Bank transfer, there is no minimum amount	Credit becomes time-barred after 24 months of non-use
marktguru	Upload a photo of the till receipt, plus 5 cents per submitted receipt	Bank transfer from €5, PayPal is not available	Credit expires three years after it was earned
reebate	Buy promotional items and upload the receipt	Bank transfer or PayPal	According to the terms, credit only expires when you cancel
PAYBACK	Collect points at partners, usually 1 point per €2 spent	1 point is worth 1 cent, bank transfer from 200 points	Points are valid for 36 months and then expire on 30 September
REWE Bonus	Euro credit from promotions and coupons in the REWE app	Redeem when you shop	After 36 months according to REWE
Rossmann app	10% coupons for your shopping, with registration four every two months according to Rossmann	Redeem at the till	No information found

PAYBACK is fairly easy to work out. You usually get one point for every €2 you spend, and one point is worth 1 cent. That is about 0.5%, so a €100 shop earns you 50 cents. Coupons that multiply your points can bring more. By the way, you have not been able to collect PAYBACK points at REWE since 29 December 2024. REWE now runs its own programme there, REWE Bonus. Older guides are out of date on this point.

With apps, however, you also pay with your data. Stiftung Warentest, the German consumer testing organisation, tested 13 discount programmes in May 2023. According to the test, the discount you can regularly reach was often only 0.5 to 1 per cent. The testers also described the apps as greedy for data. The Federation of German Consumer Organisations titled its report of January 2026 “Supermarket apps: discounts in exchange for data”.

What happens to your credit if an app goes bust?

You may then no longer get your money. The credit from a cashback app is not in your bank account. Your credit with the provider is only a claim against the operator.

How do cashback portals work for online shopping?

With a cashback portal you start your purchase through a link on the portal. The shop usually pays the portal a commission for this. Depending on the provider, the portal passes all or part of this commission on to you as cashback. TopCashback, for example, states on its site that it passes on 100% of the commission. How much you get therefore depends mainly on the shop.

Portal	Payout	What the terms say
Shoop*	Bank transfer or PayPal	You shop through Shoop’s link
TopCashback	SEPA transfer or PayPal	Depending on the retailer it takes 2 to 4 months for the cashback to reach the portal, up to 6 months for contracts
iGraal	First payout by SEPA, then SEPA or PayPal	Cashback stays valid for three years, counted from the end of the calendar year in which it was credited
PAYBACK Online	Points as in store	You open the shop through the PAYBACK site and order in the same session

The weak spot of portals is matching your purchase to your account. An ad blocker can mean the portal does not record your purchase. The same goes for a voucher code from another site or switching to the shop’s app. TopCashback and iGraal name ad blockers explicitly in their notes.

A high percentage does not say much on its own either. Suppose you get 5% cashback on a €100 jacket. If you would not otherwise have bought the jacket, €5 cashback stands against €95 of spending. Those €95 would not have been spent without the offer.

Where can you test products for free?

With product tests you apply for a product. If the provider picks you, you get the product or a voucher for it. In return, providers usually expect a review, a questionnaire or a report. You can never be sure of being accepted, and these programmes are run in German.

Programme	How the test works	Access
REWE Produkttests	If you are accepted, you get a personal free voucher by email and redeem it in store	18 or over with a REWE account
dm Produkttester	You apply during the test period and the parcel arrives by post. Then you fill in an online questionnaire	16 or over, sign-in with a Facebook profile
trnd	You apply for a project and report on your experience. There is no money for this, but you can sometimes keep the products	18 or over
Sampleo	You apply and receive the product at home free of charge. You may not sell it	One product per household
Goodbrands	After an acceptance by email you test and review the product. You may keep it	18 or over, your Instagram profile is linked to your review
The Insiders	You apply with a questionnaire and write reports afterwards. For expensive devices a deposit may apply. You then return the device or buy it at a reduced price	Free membership
Konsumgöttinnen	You apply for a campaign and receive a parcel. Then you write a test report	Women aged 18 or over only
ForMe by Procter & Gamble	You apply with a questionnaire and review the product after the test. There was no open test on 1 November 2026	18 or over

What do paid surveys bring in?

With surveys you do not buy anything. You get money or vouchers for your time and your opinion. Strictly speaking, surveys are not cashback. A normal survey usually pays cents to a few euros. Longer interviews and user tests sometimes pay more.

EntscheiderClub* and TrendsetterClub* both belong to Cint Deutschland GmbH in Berlin. Before the takeover by Cint they were run by GapFish GmbH. The name EntscheiderClub means decision makers’ club and is a little misleading, because the provider does not ask for a particular profession. Both panels are in German.

TrendsetterClub gives specific figures. 5,000 TrendPoints equal €10. A survey of 5 to 10 minutes pays about €0.50 to €1.50. For a survey of 15 to 20 minutes it is about €2 to €4.

I signed up to EntscheiderClub around 2012. By April 2020 my payouts there came to €264.80. In between there were also one or two years when I did not take part at all. A normal survey paid me €0.50 to €2.50 at the time, and the highest single payment was €65. These amounts are closer to pocket money than a side job.

Besides the two clubs there are other providers, some of which work differently.

Provider	What you do	Pay according to the provider	Payout
TestingTime	User tests and interviews	€35 to €55 for a 60-minute study	PayPal or bank account
Sago	Online surveys, phone interviews and test studios	1 bonus point is worth 1 cent	Gift card, bank transfer or PayPal
Testbirds	Test apps and websites, report bugs	Paid in euros depending on the test	Bank account or PayPal
YouGov Shopper	Scan your shopping with the app	Points for vouchers and rewards, there is no cash payment	Vouchers and rewards
Google Opinion Rewards	Short surveys in the app	Credit per survey	Android through Google Play, iPhone through PayPal

Can you combine cashback?

Sometimes combining works, and then on paper you get back even more than you paid. Suppose a product costs €4.00 at a PAYBACK partner. You have also activated a coupon for 10 times the points. You usually get one point per €2, so 2 points here. The coupon turns that into 20 points, which is 20 cents. If the manufacturer refunds the €4.00, you end up 20 cents ahead.

This only works if the conditions allow it. Points do not change the price on the till receipt, whereas a discount at the till does. Some manufacturers only refund the price actually paid. With scondoo, cashback, coupons and loyalty cards generally cannot be combined at all. So here too it helps to read the conditions.

Conclusion

You can usually expect the highest share with try-for-free promotions, up to 100% depending on the promotion. Normal PAYBACK collecting usually brings about 0.5%. In return you pay up front and wait several weeks for the transfer. This route suits you if you would try the product anyway and do not mind a form.

If you already order more expensive things online and can wait months for your money, a portal is more likely to fit. If you prefer not to pay anything up front, product tests remain. Acceptance is not certain there, though. With surveys such as EntscheiderClub* or TrendsetterClub* you pay with time instead of money.

I would start with the promotions whose products are on my shopping list anyway. Which mix suits you is your decision. You will find more ideas in the saving money section.

Frequently asked questions

What is cashback?

Cashback means you get part or all of the price back after you buy something. Depending on the model, the money comes from the manufacturer, a loyalty programme or a portal.

Am I certain to get my money back in a try-for-free promotion?

The refund is only certain once the money has arrived in your account. The organiser first checks your till receipt. Quotas can also run out. For that reason I would keep the till receipt until the payout.

How long does the payout take?

Most try-for-free promotions take about 4 to 12 weeks. Portals can take longer. TopCashback, for example, states 2 to 4 months until the cashback reaches the portal.

How often can I take part in a promotion?

In most cases once. Depending on the promotion, the limit applies per person or per household. Some promotions also allow two entries. The exact rule is in the terms and conditions.

Does cashback credit expire?

That depends on the provider. PAYBACK points are valid for 36 months and then expire on 30 September. marktguru credit expires three years after it was earned. scondoo credit becomes time-barred after 24 months of non-use.