Capital One Shopping: Manufactured Discounts

For reasons known only to a spotted dairy cow grazing in Lubbock, TX, the Capital One Shopping portal and mobile app:

• Are available to anyone, whether or not you’re a Capital One card holder
• Pay out in gift cards, not cash or miles like most portals
• Are easily scalable with new email addresses
• Offer different payouts on the mobile app than on the web portal
• Offer big promotional payouts on many merchants

Perhaps the most interesting item is the last one, and there’s a recipe to make it happen somewhat reliably, even on valuable merchants. The recipe:

• Browse for a retailer on the portal or in the app (don’t search for it)
• Click through the portal to visit the retailer
• Browse a few items at the retailer, interact with the site, don’t buy anything
• Wait a few days
• Check the app and portal a few days later, see big payout

What does a big payout look like? We’ve seen 24% for buying popular manufactured spend items and 30% for buying popular event tickets, for example. Just make sure that you move on to a new account as you approach $1,000 in cash back. (Thanks to ChurnChurnChurn)

Unfortunately the county judicial office doesn’t show up on Capital One Shopping.