Shopkick App Review | Paid 20 Times

Shopkick Treat Yourself

Shopkick Welcome Screen

Get Paid To Do Check-ins And Bar Code Scanning

Shopkick is a fun app for Android and iPhone, which is very similar to Checkpoints, that pays you to check in and scan product bar codes at local stores. There are  many exclusive “Shopkick only” deals available from within the app.  The Shopkick App is a great compliment to both Checkpoints and Field Agent. I have been using Shopkick for about 1 year now and I have earned a $15  iTunes gift certificate from it so far. Most of my earnings were from the first 3 months which was before they had local walk-ins in my area. The earnings have been a little slow up until now but there has recently been some major changes in the App to allow much more significant earning opportunities.

Update November, 2012 – there are lots of big changes in Shopkick 3.0 including:

  • A much higher amount of bonus Kicks and a system of letting you know how many days until you can get walk in bonuses at a particular retailer.
  • A new system called look books that you must look through for each retailer ahead of time in order to get bonus Kicks. It takes only 1 complete look book to unlock your bonus if it is available. Make sure to leave one for next time.
  • Substantially increased referral bonuses which means up to 2,500 kicks per referral with matching kicks for the first month instead of the original 50 Kicks each.
  • There is no longer scans at non participating retailers which is good and bad.
  • The system is a little more complicated and it is harder to find the small 1-3 Kick bonuses but overall the earnings are significantly improved.

Shopkick Is Recommended

Update July 6th, 2014 –  I Have been paid 20 times by Shopkick for a lifetime total of $360 in iTunes gift cards.

How It Works

Rewards You Can Earn

Shopkick pays you in a virtual currency called Kicks. There are a large variety of gift cards and prizes available starting at 500 Kicks for a $2 Best Buy gift card. Other gift cards including Target and iTunes in addition to physical items like Sony Bravia TVs and Coach handbags which available for larger amounts. Facebook credits cost for 25 kicks per credit. You have the option to donate your kicks to many worthwhile causes like saving a dolphin or fighting cancer. Donations start at just 3 kicks.

Earning Kicks

When you open the app you are shown a list of local businesses, the amount you can earn per business is shown on the right in a bubble. There is also a list on the main page of how much a check-in is worth. When you select a business it will show you the value of check- ins, scans, and bonuses. You can tie your Visa card to your account to get significant amounts of kicks when making purchases at selected retailers with a Visa card.

 

The main companies that offer check-ins at this time are American Eagle outfitters, Best Buy, and Macy’s. The ability to get paid for check-ins in my area is very new so, as of this writing, I have not actually done it yet. Scans are available in many stores that don’t offer check-ins, the biggest drawback  to scans is that they limit the amount of times you can perform scans( I believe it is 5) for each product every month. If you are using an iPhone you will see a bonus game where you collect game pieces to win Kicks or donations. You need to collect 3 of a kind to win, I have won several from companies like Intel and HP.

 

What To Do If You Are Approached By Security

After about a year and a half of using Shopkick, I was approached and questioned by WalMart security about what I was doing. I explained to the guy all about Shopkick and he shook his head no the whole time, then he walked away without saying anything. I immediately contacted Shopkick support to tell them what happened. They said to always explain what you are doing and there should be no problem. In most chains, the employees seem to be familiar with apps like Shopkick, but that does not seem to be the case at WalMart.

 

Is There A Referral Program?

Update November, 2012 – With the new Shopkick 3.0 the referral bonus has increased to matching Kicks for the first month up to 2,500 for each referral you get up to the first 100.

There is currently a referral program that pays the referral 50 Kicks for signing up, and pays the referrer 50 kicks. In addition to the signup bonus, Shopkick has added the ability to find and give gifts to your referrals. All of the gifts I have seen so far have been 10 Kick sign in bonuses, I always give them to my referrals when I find them.

They do require you to give them the phone number of the device you will be using for verification purposes. In the years that I have used this app I have not received any calls or text messages from them.

 

Here is my Referral Link, thanks for using it. http://get.shopkick.com/neptune1499

Here is a Non-Referral Link if you prefer: http://shopkick.com

 

Here is a non referral link to download the App in the iTunes App Store after you sign up:

shopkick: Free Gift Cards For Shopping at Target, Macy’s, Old Navy, Best Buy, American Eagle, JCPenney, Sports Authority, and Crate&Barrel – shopkick
Here is the link to download Shopkick  for free on Android in the Google Play Store.

 

 

Cashing Out

Once you earn enough points for the item you choose you have the option of cashing out under the rewards tab. You do have to verify your phone number to cash out, I have never received any calls or texts from them. When I ordered the iTunes gift card I received it instantly.

Helpful tips

  • If it is more convenient to scan a product with the bar code upside down it will work the same as if the code is right side up. I find this saves me a great deal of time and effort.
  • Check the app often, the amount of kicks you get paid for check-ins can change from day to day.
  • Make sure there is no glare when you scan items.
  • If the app doesn’t recognize an item try another item in the line, usually Shopkick is very particular about a getting the exact item, the original flavor or main product usually works best.
  • There are exclusive discounts from Shopkick at retailers like Best Buy, Macy’s, Old Navy, and Target.
  • If you use all of the look books you can go through old ones in order to unlock a store.
  • I have found that unlocking stores even if you are not going there that day will help increase the amount of Kicks you get when you go to that store next as long as you claim them before they expire.

 

 

 

 

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Comments

  1. Have you found that shopkick does not seem to work at your local grocery store? It does not seem to work at tom thumb. I have not contacted shopkick about this yet because I do not know how to contact them. Is there a list of the stores supported because I have not found that either. If this is listed elsewhere I am sorry for asking obvious questions. Thank you for all the useful information on the site.

    • Hi Rachel,

      I’m not sure I fully understand your question. Since the release of the current version of Shopkick there has been a significant decrease in the number of local stores that you can do scans at. I used to be able to scan at my local Fred Meyer before but they no longer offer any scans there. The majority of the scans are at their major partners like Best Buy and Target. There also seems to be scans at WalMart and Kmart most of the time. I have also found that the walk ins at Macy’s don’t work in my area anymore as of about 3 months ago.

      I hope this answered your question but please let me know if it didn’t.

  2. This app works well in most stores. As for Macy’s… Good luck. Macy’s NEVER has worked. I’ve read many comments on sites, including the Shopkick Facebook page, and this is a common problem. The app NEVER detects a signal. I’ve contacted Shopkick many times concerning this, but never have received a reply.

    • I have experienced issues at some Macy’s stores. The sometimes move the detector so you don’t always know where to go.

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