Upside App Review: Is Upside App a Scam?

Maybe you’ve heard an ad on the radio or your favorite podcast about an app out there promising significant cash back every time you get gas. If you’re like me, you heard this and thought it must be a scam! “This sounds too good to be true.” Well, it’s definitely not a scam! It’s actually the best cash back app I’ve personally used so let’s get into it!

What is the Upside App?

Upside is a phone application available in both the Apple and Google Store which allows you to earn extra cash back at participating gas stations, restaurants, and grocery stores. Previously called GetUpside, this is a free app and has no membership fees or other costs to start redeeming rewards.

How does Upside work?

With Upside, you can start earning extra cash-back following these 6 steps:

1) Download the Upside App

Pretty straight forward, you can’t use the Upside app unless you download it on your phone and set up an account. You can click this link (→Upside←and use promo code MIKE558243) to get started now or wait until the end of the post where there will be another link.

2) Find an Applicable Cash Back Offer

Once you’ve downloaded the app and allowed location services in your settings, you can start looking for deals. Besides the featured apps already on the main page, there are two main ways to do this;

3) Claim the Offer

Now, all you have to do is claim your offer by clicking “Claim Offer”. Generally, you only want to claim the offer right before you purchase because you only have 4 hours from when you claim the offer to complete it.

4) Complete the Offer

You then complete the claimed offer by either the “Check-In” method or Receipt Upload method. These methods are dependent on the store and you don’t have control over which you get to use.

In the “Check-In” method, you simply add your payment method you used to pay for the offer (Upside will not charge you anything) and then you’re done.
In the Receipt Upload method, you take a picture of your receipt in the app making sure it includes all the information you need, such as card type and last 4 digits, address, date and time, total cost, etc. The App will let you know what needs to be displayed so you can verify it’s correct.

5) Wait for your Rewards

Now, just wait for that sweet cash back to show up in your balance! It usually takes 2 to 4 days to receive your rewards but can be as long as two weeks in some cases.

6) Claim your Rewards

Claim your rewards by clicking on the “Cash Out” tab. You can send your funds directly to your bank account or PayPal whenever you’re ready! You can also claim your rewards with one of many different possible gift cards which are emailed directly to your account, but you generally have to have at least $10 in rewards for that. Personally, I redeem my rewards as Amazon Gift Cards.

And that’s it! Extra cash back for your everyday purchases!

But How does Upside make money?

Whenever you start using an app on your phone, especially a free app, you want to know how that company makes money to be sure it’s not a scam or they aren’t selling your information. Well, Upside doesn’t sell your personal data. For them, they make their money by setting up a series of affiliate agreements with the participating stores providing offers. How does that work?

So, let’s say you buy gas from your participating neighborhood gas station called “Neighborhood Gas Station”. Upside cuts a deal with “Neighborhood Gas Station” to offer an 12¢/gallon discount for gas claimed through the app. Then, when you purchase gas from “Neighborhood Gas Station” and claim it with Upside, you get a 10¢/gallon discount and Upside keeps 2¢/gallon for themselves for setting up the deal. Everybody wins!

The Pros and Cons of Upside

There are plenty of good things about the Upside app, most of all being the app is FREE! Enough said, but there is a lot more to consider. For starters, you can stack cash back rewards. So for example, if you have a credit card already offering 3% to 5% back on gas, you can get even more back with Upside, sometimes an extra 15¢/gallon. We use the gas example because Upside offers great cash back rewards for gas. Some of the best I’ve personally seen. However, even though the gas offers are great, there are limited restaurant, grocery and convenience offers. At least where I live, the restaurants are limited and I haven’t seen any grocery or convenience offers. Now, this may be different depending on where you live which leads us to another possible flaw. Upside may not offer any substantial offers where you live. As stated previously, Upside makes deals with different companies for affiliate promotions. If they haven’t made any deals with the companies near where you live, Upside may not be an advantage for you. My parents, for example, live in a more rural part of Georgia and Upside hasn’t been as beneficial for them because of this.

Now, if there are offers near you, Upside has a great user interface that is simple to understand and use. The interface allows you to comparison shop offers nearby. Especially in the list view, Upside will show you all the offers nearby so you can compare which offer should give you the cheapest gas and how far out of the way it might be. Of course, gas prices change frequently, especially in 2022, so Upside doesn’t always provide accurate prices. The offer amount will be correct, but the price of gas before the offer may be wrong and you may realize gas is cheaper somewhere else, even after the cash back. However, you can always use other apps, like GasBuddy, to get more accurate gas prices in your area. Also, even though the offers are accurate, if there is an issue with an offer, for example the receipt photo is missing information, you can’t resubmit to correct the offer. You just wouldn’t receive the offer. I personally have not had this issue and it may be a problem that has been since fixed, but I have found others who have reported that as a past problem during my research. They do make up for these issues by offering great affiliate options for sharing. They offer a bonus that does change (currently $4.22 as of writing this) for you and your friend when they use the app and an additional 1¢/gallon for every gallon of gas your friends purchase in the future. That extra 1¢/gallon is for you! The one offering the referral. So, to break that down;

PROS

100% Free to Use
Great Cash Back Rewards for Gas
Stack cash back rewards
Great User Interface
Comparison Shop Offers
Great Affiliate Sharing Options

CONS

Only Tax Free for Qualifying Expenses
Penalty on Non-Qualifying Withdrawal
Plans are Managed by State

The Wrap-Up

I give the Upside App 4 out of 5 stars. For comparison, the Google Play store gives Upside 4.5 out 5 stars and Apple App Store gives 4.8 out of 5.

To list the reasons, they are:

Upside is a Completely Free way to earn Extra Cash Back
They don’t sell your data or take your information
100% Legitimate
Offer excellent gas cash back offers
A simple and helpful User Interface that is straightforward to use
Excellent Affiliate options for extra cash back
BUT they have limited offers by location and limited Non-Gas Offers. This may change with time, but not at this point.

So if you’re looking for some extra options to earn cash back on gas, Upside provides you with a great opportunity. I personally use it every time I’m at the pump and you can too with the link below. Remember, Financial Literacy is the number 1 key to Financial Success, so keep learning!

Links

If you liked what you read, you can download the Upside App using this link here (→Upside←) and use promo code MIKE558243! When you do, you’ll also get a $4.22 bonus the first time you use the app!

This bonus amount is correct as of the writing of this post, but is subject to change at Upside’s sole discretion.

*Disclosure* This is NOT financial advice and I am NOT a Certified Financial Planner. All information is provided for educational purposes only and is not to be construed as advice. Everyone’s financial situation is different and requires individualized planning. Seek out a Certified Financial Planner for assistance with your own financial situation.

*Affiliate Disclosure* This post contains an affiliate link. By clicking on the link and utilizing the service, LiveItAwesome LLC and/or the posts author may receive some form of compensation from the linked Affiliate.