Mark Your Calendars – Rakuten Big Give Week is Coming Back: 15% Cash Back at 500+ Stores May 4 – 11, 2026 (Plus an extra $50 for signing up!)

UPDATED Will Update

I am always advocating that you want to make your money work harder for you. What does that even mean? It is simply looking at ways to maximize your spending such as getting a LOT of points for putting everything on a credit card or what we’ll dig deeper into now: using Rakuten.

What is Rakuten

Rakuten is a shopping portal that pays you cashback when you shop starting on rakuten.com, their app or with their browser!

How does it work?

Beautiful Tip: Get in the habit of checking Rakuten before making a purchase (or having the extension installed) to ensure that no cash back opportunities are missed!

If you’ve never used a cash-back shopping site or are just curious in general, you may be asking yourself how this works so here you go:

1. If you are new to Rakuten, you can get $50 for signing up!
2. Start via Rakuten on Rakuten.com, through their app or using their browser extension and search for a Merchant (unfortunately not every merchant participates)
3. Either click on the Rakuten extension and activate the cash-back for the store OR Click on the store to activate cash back on the app*
4. Rakuten will add a ‘tracking cookie’ as you make your purchase on the merchant’s site
5. Once the purchase is processed and the order information is sent to Rakuten, you will be notified via email that cash back has been added to your account.
6. You get paid by Rakuten every three months for any cashback earned and confirmed

Beautiful Tip: I strongly suggest using the app for your purchases as the tracking is more seamless but if not, you should definitely add the Rakuten extension to Chrome.

Another question you may have what is the cost? There isn’t any as it is free to join and there are no fees to use!

TLDR version: You shop as normal with one small difference being that you do it through Rakuten making a big difference!

Start on Rakuten → Search for Merchant (click on merchant)→Shop via Merchant’s own website (ie Viator, Sephora so you still get reward directly with merchant)→Make purchase as you would have BUT now you earn cash back since you started on Rakuten!

Rakuten Big Give Week

This is when cashback goes big….how big? For eight days, you will have the opportunity to earn 15% cash back at over 500+ stores!

Note that the 15% cashback has typically been rolled out and you can earn the 15% at certain stores on certain days (you will not be able to earn 15% cashback at all of the stores for the entire 8 days sooo pay attention!)

Will Rakuten have another Monster Monday Start this year?

Haha that is my nickname for the start but it’s true as last year, Monday May 5 had 20% cash back of 20% at over 150 Stores!!

NOTE: This was what was offered last year but does not guarantee that it will be repeated! Keep an eye out on SoFi and Chime for those wanting to capitalize on bank bonuses.

Join and Earn an Extra $50!

And if you are new to Rakuten, here’s your chance to earn an extra $50 on top of the cashback you earned shopping with Rakuten!

Simply use my referral link, and place qualifying orders (that have been confirmed) totaling a minimum of $50 within 90 days of becoming a member. Note that you must be new to Rakuten and must be located in the 50 United States, D.C., or Canada to qualify. Rakuten will send a check or PayPal for the $50 in as soon as 15 days after your first purchase. Then get paid quarterly (you can have it sent as a check, deposit in your PayPal or converted to American Express points or Bilt points!) or get paid instantly if you redeem your cash back as a gift card.

Is this Legit? Seriously is it worth it?

I am sure that there are some of you are that are wondering: is this even legit? Maybe it seems a little too good to be true or maybe a little sketchy? Or is this even worth my time to do?

This is my account and yes I have really earned $2,418 since June 30, 2023 through February 2026 remember that I primarily use the American Airlines shopping portal! This is the amount that has been paid AKA how much I have received in cold hard cash (well technically I opt for AMEX Membership Rewards and BILT points) – showing that Rakuten really does work as I have received the cashback as promised and advertised!

Why You Should Do This?

The question is why wouldn’t you do this? It’s an easy way to earn cashback on the spending you were already going to do and a very easy way to do it! Why would you leave money on the table?

Still Want More on Rakuten?

Here’s my in-depth how to guide on Rakuten which includes my own shopping example with a big payoff, showcase of places and things you didn’t think you could earn cashback on (bank accounts, dining at participating restaurants!), payment info and so much more!

Here’s a look at how lucrative shopping portals have been for me (both Rakuten and American Airlines) not only with the cash back earned but also how I have been able to leverage points and miles ie how the cash back is worth EVEN MORE!

Beautiful Tip: Do not spend more - use this as a way to earn Cashback on what you were only going to spend money on!