Rakuten Rebates Referral: 600 Points and the Ichiba Trap

What Rakuten Rebates is — and how it differs from point sites

If point sites are new to you, start with the beginner’s guide to point sites and how to spot dangerous ones.

The 600 points via referral — the exact breakdown and conditions

It is usually written up as “600 points for a referral”, but the official campaign page splits it in two. Without that split, the conditions read wrongly.

From sign-up to collecting the bonus

1. Create the account from the referral linkUse the button below this article. Registering without going through a referral link forfeits the 100 points. Logging in with your Rakuten ID is itself what creates the Rebates account.
2. Check the store is bonus-eligible before you buyRakuten Ichiba and fixed-rate stores do not count. The next section covers this in detail.
3. Spend ¥3,000 or more (pre-tax) in one order within 30 daysThe clock starts at account creation. Shipping and tax generally do not count, so make sure the item price alone clears ¥3,000.
4. Once you click through, finish the purchase without opening other tabsPassing through another ad in between can overwrite the tracking. If you want a coupon, find it before you click through Rebates.
5. Wait until around the 15th of the second monthPayouts run monthly. Pending points are visible in My Account; if nothing appears after the stated guideline period, contact support.

📖 Read Guide

Rakuten Rebates Earn Rakuten points directly, no exchange, 900+ brand sites

🔴 Rakuten Ichiba is bonus-exempt — the biggest trap

The official help pages carry a list of “bonus-exempt stores”. Buying at any store on that list means the amount and the order do not count toward a bonus condition. And near the top of that list sits Rakuten Ichiba.

🔴 No SPU, no shop-hopping — where it sits in the Rakuten ecosystem

This is where Rakuten users most often go wrong. The campaign terms state it plainly.

In other words, Rebates cannot be used to build your SPU multiplier. Buying on Rakuten Ichiba to stack multipliers and clicking through Rebates to a brand website are alternatives, not a combination.

When the points arrive — once a month

Rebates pays out once a month, and the official schedule is the whole answer.

How the rate is calculated — shipping and tax are excluded

A stated rate of 10% does not mean 10% of what you pay. Rebates publishes two worked examples, so here they are as written.

Per-store exclusions — some stores are marked “cannot investigate”

The official “per-store exclusions” page lists every store on a single, very long page. Reading it shows how specific the constraints get.

Compared with the other seven sites

This blog covers Moppy, Hapitas, Powl, Chobirich, Point Income, Gendama and Point Town in the same depth. Side by side, only Rebates is built on a different premise.

Steps and tips for using it well

1. Check whether the store is listed before you buy

The value of Rebates is not leaving money on the table. The moment you decide to buy from a brand’s own site, check whether it is listed. That single step changes the whole cashback. Installing the app or the browser extension (Point Assist) makes the check almost free.

2. Meet the sign-up condition somewhere other than Rakuten Ichiba

To repeat: Rakuten Ichiba and fixed-rate stores do not count toward the bonus. Use an ordinary retailer such as Uniqlo or the Apple Store and clear ¥3,000 pre-tax in a single order.

3. Find coupons before you click through

Hunting for a coupon after clicking through can overwrite the tracking. Look up coupons first, then click through Rebates last and complete the purchase in one go.

4. During shop-hopping events, prefer Rakuten Ichiba

Rebates counts toward neither shop-hopping nor SPU. During a Super SALE or Okaimono Marathon, if the same item is on Rakuten Ichiba, that route usually takes more in total. Save Rebates for what Rakuten Ichiba does not carry.

5. Compare high-value offers against other point sites

Card issuance, brokerage accounts and mobile contracts tend to be fixed-rate here, and therefore bonus-exempt. Other sites handle them more directly.

• Rakuten Mobile employee referral (14,000pt for MNP, 11,000pt for a new line)
• Rakuten Card guide — 11,000pt via referral, or 31,000pt alongside Rakuten Mobile
• Marriott Bonvoy American Express Premium (111,000 points via referral)
• American Express Gold Preferred (referral sign-up bonus)

Things to watch out for

The same purchase pays differently on different sites

As the comparison section showed, Rebates and the point sites do different jobs. The same store does sometimes appear on both, though, and then the rates differ. One cross-check before buying is well worth it.

To make that easy, I run Pointnavi, a site that compares point-site rates side by side. Search a store or offer name and you can see several sites’ terms together.

Who it suits and who it doesn’t

Frequently asked questions

How much do I get from a Rakuten Rebates referral link?

Six hundred points in total, made up of a 100-point bonus for the person referred and a first-purchase bonus of up to 500 points. The condition is to place a single order of 3,000 yen or more through Rebates, measured on the pre-tax eligible amount, within 30 days of creating your account.

Does Rakuten Rebates have a referral code?

There is no code to type. You create the account through a referral link instead. Rebates states explicitly that registering without going through a referral link makes you ineligible for the 100 points, so use the link.

Can I meet the sign-up condition by shopping at Rakuten Ichiba?

No. Rakuten Ichiba appears on the official list of bonus-exempt stores, which means the amount and the order are not counted toward the condition. Use an ordinary retailer such as Uniqlo or the Apple Store, and avoid fixed-rate stores.

Does Rakuten Rebates count toward SPU?

No. The official terms state that purchases through Rebates are excluded from the SPU programme, the Rakuten Super SALE shop-hopping campaign and point multiplier campaigns. It is a separate route from stacking multipliers on Rakuten Ichiba, so treat the two as alternatives rather than a combination.

When do Rakuten Rebates points arrive?

Payouts happen once a month, broadly by the 15th of the second month after the purchase. January purchases are paid by 15 March and August purchases by 11 October, for example. Pending points appear much sooner, as soon as the store sends the order data. The referral bonus appears around the 13th of the second month and is awarded around the 15th.

Do Rakuten Rebates points expire?

It depends on the type. The referral bonus and the first-purchase bonus are limited-time points valid for 180 days from the award date, after which they expire automatically and are not reissued. Ordinary cashback arrives as regular points, valid for one year from the month of your last earning, and those also count toward your Rakuten membership rank.

What is the minimum cash-out at Rakuten Rebates?

There is no cash-out process at all. Because you earn Rakuten points rather than a proprietary currency, the idea of a minimum threshold does not exist. That is the single biggest difference from a conventional point site such as Moppy or Hapitas.

If a store says 10%, do I get 10% of what I paid?

No. Most stores exclude shipping and consumption tax, and coupon amounts are deducted as well. In the official example, a 5,500 yen purchase including tax at a 10 percent store with a 1,000 yen coupon leaves an eligible 4,000 yen and awards 400 points. The 3,000 yen sign-up condition is measured on that same eligible amount.

What should I do if my Rakuten Rebates points do not appear?

Each store page gives a guideline for how long tracking takes, so wait for that period to pass and then contact support. Note that some stores are marked as impossible to investigate, meaning enquiries about cashback cannot be accepted because of system constraints. There is no guarantee scheme of the kind Hapitas or Point Income offers, so bear that in mind on large purchases.

Can family members sign up through the same referral link?

No. Duplicate registrations from the same device or the same IP address are excluded even for family use, according to the official terms. Relatives living in the same household as the referrer are also excluded, as is re-registering with an email address previously used on Rebates.

Which stores are on Rakuten Rebates?

More than 900, including Uniqlo, GU, the Shiseido online store, the Apple Store, Akachan Honpo, Bellemaison, au PAY Market, the New Balance official store, JAL international tickets and DHC. The distinguishing feature is how many of them are brand sites that do not sell through Rakuten Ichiba.

Should I use Rakuten Rebates or another point site?

They do different jobs, so registering for both is the sensible move. Offers worth more than ten thousand yen each, such as card issuance or opening a brokerage account, are stronger on Moppy and Point Town, and most of them are fixed-rate and therefore bonus-exempt on Rebates. Conversely, for shopping on brand websites there is almost no other way to earn Rakuten points.

Sources

The figures in this article were checked on Rakuten Rebates’ official site on 12 August 2026.
・Rakuten Rebates friend referral programme (100pt referral bonus, up-to-500pt first-purchase bonus, the ¥3,000 / 30-day conditions, the 20% cap, timing of pending and awarded points, exclusions)
・Rakuten Rebates bonus-exempt stores (the regular-store list including Rakuten Ichiba, and the fixed-rate store list)
・Rakuten Rebates point eligibility (payout schedule, worked calculation examples, cap on points)
・Rakuten Rebates per-store exclusions (tax, shipping, coupons, app purchases, payment methods, “cannot investigate” notices)
・About Rebates (how the service positions itself, 900+ stores, up to 20% back)
・Figures for the other sites come from their own pages and from Pointnavi, which I operate.

Summary

Rakuten Rebates does not replace a point site. Card and brokerage offers tend to be fixed-rate and therefore bonus-exempt, and there is no guarantee scheme. It still earns its place for three reasons.

And the most important warning once more. Rakuten Ichiba is bonus-exempt. Meet the ¥3,000 condition somewhere else. And purchases through Rebates count toward neither SPU nor shop-hopping.

One last thing. Before you buy, check what the other point sites offer. The same store can appear on both at different rates. Use Pointnavi, which I run, or the articles on Moppy, Hapitas, Powl, Chobirich, Point Income, Gendama and Point Town. That single extra step is the most reliably useful habit in point earning.

You can register from the button below. Registering without the referral link forfeits the 100 points, so go straight through.