How does Rakuten make money?
Our business is based on a simple idea: When you follow our links to visit a merchant, that merchant pays us a commission on whatever you buy during your visit. We then share that commission with you, our members, as cash back.
In other words, merchants pay to partner with us because we send shoppers to their websites or brick-and-mortar stores. They may also pay us to help grow their brand or help them acquire new customers. That means we might feature them on our website, in emails, etc. Because of these partnerships, members like you benefit by earning cash back and getting great offers.
To sum it up, we help merchants succeed and, at the same time, help our members save money.
What does it mean when Rakuten states that a cash back percentage “was” a certain amount?
Merchants pay us a commission for sending our members to their websites, and we share it with you as cash back. When a merchant joins Rakuten, we set a cash back percentage for that merchant (a "base cash back percentage"). We work with our merchant partners to offer increased cash back from time to time to our members. An increased cash back percentage is often promoted alongside a "was %". The "was %" describes the "base cash back percentage," but does not necessarily or always reflect the most recent cash back percentage or the most common cash back percentage for a merchant. The cash back percentage for any merchant is not a fixed percentage and is subject to change.
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