One of my favorite deal apps, Shopkick, suddenly went dark on March 26. This seems to have been a shock to employees who were laid off without warning.
For app users, it was more than a shock: It was a betrayal. All our points simply vanished. DF and I had about $72 worth of scrip between our two accounts; we’d planned to cash in this summer for garden supplies and other do-it-yourself items.
After the surprise wore off, I realized it wasn’t a betrayal at all. It was just business. According to a site called Coupons in the News, the Shopkick terms of service included this sentence: “By participating in the Shopkick app, you agree that Shopkick is under no obligation to notify you if kicks are no longer available.”
For the uninitiated, Shopkick awarded “kicks” (points) to users who visited certain stores, then scanned and/or bought specific items. The kicks could be redeemed for gift cards, PayPal, and a handful of pie-in-the-sky items like a Vespa motorcycle.
I used my kicks in several ways:
- To buy things we needed (groceries, toiletries, DIY supplies)
- To get birthday and holiday gifts
- To donate items to the food bank or the family shelter
It was terribly disappointing to lose that $72 worth of buying power. But it taught me an important lesson.
Lesson learned
None of these kicks/points/credits are ours until we’ve cashed them in. That’s why we shouldn’t let them build up.
This benefits the companies, because the more points you have, the bigger the potential cash-ins. Here’s an example, from the Receipt Hog app:
- For 1,000 points you get a $5 gift card
- For 6,500 points you get a $40 gift card
I’d been saving points for a $40 card, which would have become a Christmas gift. Now I’m considering cashing in at $5 increments. It will therefore cost me 8,000 points to get the same $40 worth of buying power.
Someone on a Reddit thread claimed to have had more than 838,000 kicks. My mourning $72 worth of buying power is small potatoes compared to the $1,552 worth of scrip that anonymous Redditor lost.
But the lesson is the same. We had “earned” those points with scans and/or purchases, but nothing is truly promised in this world. If the company doling out the points decides to close down, well, too bad for us.
These apps are fun, and the extra buying power is welcome in this economy (or any economy, really). But those using Ibotta, Fetch and others should think about the points/dollars they’ve accumulated, and whether they’re willing to risk losing them.
Okay, readers: Will the news of Shopkick’s demise change the way you use points from shopping apps? Why or why not?
Related reading:
Being somewhat technologically impaired, I have to say that I’ve never been interested in using any of these apps–and the Shopkick story is one more reason for my not using them. But, as always, YMMV.
Yes, it will!!! I was SO disappointed but thankfully I had just cashed in for $25 so I did not have many kicks to lose. I still open my phone going into stores forgetting for a moment Shopkicks is gone. But I am changing my behavior on my other apps as a result.
Ibotta, Receipt Pal, Receipt Hog, Coin Out and Fetch are others I use. I will be trading now in small increments. I used to love to save until before birthdays or Christmas but now I will trade more frequently and put cash in a savings account earmarked for certain things if I can trade to Pay Pal. Otherwise, I will trade for small amount gift cards and save or use them
It is what it is I guess.
So sorry about your Shopkick $$
Ann J