Cashback sites on the rise in France

Shoppers who buy an item on a partner site receive a percentage of the money they spend back from the site.

Christian Goaziou, founder of the largest such site in France iGraal, said it works because it is based on a classic economic model: “All retail companies, large or small, are always on the lookout for two things: one, to increase their sales, and two, to attract more customers.

“For that they will spend a fortune on advertising.

“With us they get cheap publicity as people are encouraged to buy as they get money back.

“We negotiate a deal with the seller. They might give us 10% of the purchase price of any sale through our site and we will pass on a percentage of that to the customer.”

More than four million people are signed up to iGraal. When a customer wants to buy a lawn mower, for example, they go on the site, look up the partner sites selling them, and buy.

A percentage of what they pay then comes back to them via their iGraal account.

Customers can “earn” €100 to €150 a year.

There are more than 50 similar sites in France, including eBuyClub, with 2.5million members.

Cashback in France is not as developed as in the US or the UK, but a survey in 2016 showed a 20% increase every year since 2012.

As always, you must look at the small print to know what you are signing up for. There are often bigger cashbacks for a first purchase, for example.

Consumer websites give one warning; sign up with free cashback sites, as pay-to-join sites have attracted complaints and sites should make their money from retailers.