Grocery shopping is a weekly must for most of us. This post covers Checkout 51, an app that pays cash back on supermarket trips.
Unlike typical shopping portals that rebate online purchases at specific stores, this app pays you for buying certain brands and products, then uploading the receipt. Offers cover groceries, household staples, pharmacy items, drinks and ice cream, baby products, and other everyday essentials.
How It Works
The app is straightforward. Download it, register, and you land on a screen of current offers.
They are everyday items, grouped into these categories:
- Dairy & eggs
- Snacks or desserts
- Pantry
- Bakery
- Meat & seafood
- Household
- Personal care
- Health & pharmacy
- Beverages & chilled
- Alcohol
- Baby
- Automotive
Browse the products you actually need. Some offers work at every store; others say they are limited to certain retailers or exclude specific ones. Each offer also has a redemption cap, usually two to five times.
All offers refresh on Wednesday nights. A few popular products have sold out — the app will show that the offer has been fully redeemed. Check again before you shop to make sure the offer is still there.
Keep the receipt after you pay. Open the app, tap Redeem at the bottom, photograph the receipt, and upload it. You will usually get the confirmation email in the third screenshot fairly quickly. Multiple qualifying items on the same receipt can earn cash back together.
There are also extra bonuses when you buy several products together. If you already shop for a household, those small rebates add up.
Cashing Out
Once you have built a balance, the next step is getting paid. Checkout 51’s payout method is simple: they mail you a cheque. At the time of this review, that was the only option.
- Tap your account in the top-right corner of the home screen.
- You can request a cheque once you have reached $20.
- Tap Cash Out.
- Enter your name and address on the cheque request screen and submit.
You will then get an email like the one below. The cheque typically arrives in 15 to 30 business days.
This test happened to land during the Canada Post strike. After excluding the November 15–December 17 strike window, the timeline still matched the 15-to-30-business-day window in the email.
- Requested the cheque on October 26
- Received the “cheque mailed” email on November 4
- The cheque finally arrived on Christmas Eve, December 24
Deposit it into your bank account. The cheque is marked as valid for six months.
Other Ways to Earn
The app also pays cash back for completing surveys.
- In the app menu, tap Extras
- You will see surveys of different lengths and payouts
- Start one, finish it, and the app credits you based on how completely you finished
Bottom Line
In my own use, Checkout 51 is easy, and each upload-and-rebate cycle feels smooth. The cash back is real. Worth a look if you want a small, everyday perk on grocery runs.
Further Reading
Other everyday Canadian cash-back apps:
🇨🇦 Snaplii – Discount Gift Cards and Bill Payments
Drop – A Spending Cash-Back App
Shopping cash-back websites:
