13 Best Ways To Scan Barcodes For Money

Do you know that you can scan barcodes for money? Yes. If you are an avid shopper, you can scan receipts and barcodes whenever you shop to get cashback rewards!

The reason you are going to be paid to scan barcodes is that this data is collected as market research. Product manufacturers are always keen to know the products that sell the most, and the scanning of barcodes and receipts is one effective way to help them achieve their objectives.

In this article, I have highlighted some of the best apps that will pay you to scan barcodes. So, using just your phone’s camera, you can get some money filling your wallet.

While you can make a huge profit by flipping your $500, scanning barcodes can fetch you a few bucks to supplement your main income. This side hustle won’t make you rich, but getting some gift cards and PayPal cash is not a bad use of your time.

Without further ado, let’s get down to business!

Do you want other ways to make easy money? – Check these out:

Branded Surveys: Answer online surveys on your phone and earn $50+ per month.
Prime Opinion: Another survey site to make decent money using your phone.
FocusGroup: Make money by sharing your opinions on topics in tech, healthcare, etc.

Legit Apps To Scan Barcodes For Money

You will make the most money with these high-paying apps if you like shopping because you can get more barcodes and receipts to scan.

Cashback apps for grocery shopping and general shopping are available to let you make money. So, all you have to do is sign up for these apps and start cashing out.

Here are the apps that pay you to scan barcodes:

1. Fetch Rewards

Fetch Rewards is an app that allows you to scan receipts in exchange for rewards like money and gift cards. You are not scanning barcodes here, but it’s the same pathway.

Over 1,000 brands have partnered with Fetch Rewards, so as a shopper, you just have to shop at these brands and upload your receipts to the app to get rewarded.

With Fetch Rewards, you will get rewarded for shopping at brands like Food Lion, Starbucks, Colgate, Lay’s, Pepsi, Kleenex, Huggies, Lipton, Poise, and Tropicana.

If you enjoy shopping in physical stores, after shopping just take out your smartphone, scan your receipts, and upload them to the app.

However, if you’re more of an online shopper, you can link your Amazon or email account to Fetch Rewards, and it’ll take care of your receipts automatically. It’s all about keeping things simple for you.

So, download Fetch Rewards from Google Play or App Store, sign up with your Google, Facebook, or email account, and start shopping for rewards! If you have a referral code, include it when signing up to get extra points.

Once you have accumulated a minimum of 3,000 points, you can cash out in the form of a gift card to various brands.

2. Premise

Another way to scan barcodes for money is to join Premise to complete simple market research tasks.

If you don’t know much about Premise, it is a market research or data collection company based in California.

This platform pays people like you to move around taking pictures of events and also, sharing opinions through surveys. This data is given to global companies to enhance their marketing strategies, etc.

When you become a part of Premise, you’ll find yourself moving around your local area or city quite a bit.

The app might guide you to visit a grocery store, scan barcodes of particular products with their prices, or head to a gas station to capture photos of its facilities.

Sometimes, Premise might even send you to a location solely to take pictures of a building.

So, you are more like a mystery shopper on the Premise app. Plus, you answer questions in the form of surveys.

Expect to earn about $30-$120 per month on Premise and this can be cashed out through PayPal, Coinbase, or Payoneer.

Premise is available in more than 100 countries including France, the U.S., Taiwan, Spain, Brazil, Nigeria, Canada, Malaysia, Philippines, and Indonesia.

You must be 13 years or older to join Premise. The app is available for both Android and iOS devices.

3. NCP Mobile

You can use the NCPMobile app to scan the barcodes of products you buy when you go on your shopping adventure. NCPMobile or National Consumer Panel has an in-app scanner you can use for the scanning.

Even if the product you purchase has no barcode, such as fresh fruits and vegetables, you can still take photos of them and upload them to NCP for your rewards.

Furthermore, you can participate in surveys to amplify your earnings. If you are an active panel member, you will even get invited to take part in NCPMobile’s monthly and quarterly sweepstakes to win gift cards and cash prizes.

So, you can join NCPMobile today. The app works on both Android and iOS. However, you must live in the United States to sign up for the app.

After you have accumulated about 6,000 points, which is equivalent to $10, you can withdraw as a gift card.

4. Shopkick

Shopkick has several tasks available that you can complete for rewards, including scanning barcodes. Shopkick has been around since 2009, and it’s one of the biggest shopping rewards apps with more than 7 million users.

Also, just like how other apps work when you shop, you can take photos of receipts and upload them on Shopkick for points known as “kicks”.

Apart from scanning barcodes and uploading receipts, here are other tasks one can complete on Shopkick for money:

Shopping at partner stores with your linked card.
Walking into stores: Shopkick pays you to walk into one of its 200,000+ stores.
Watching video ads.
Shopping online at various brands through the app.

Expect about 1,250 to 2,500 kicks – which is $5 to $10 per month on Shopkick. And this can be withdrawn as a gift card to big retailers like Sephora, Target, Walmart, Amazon, Uber Eats, Starbucks, Best Buy, and TJ Maxx.

5. Target Circle

If you are a loyal Target customer, you can use the Target Circle app to scan barcodes whenever you shop at the store (Target). Target Circle will reward you for both in-person and online shopping.

By using Target Circle, you get a 1% cashback on your purchases. Plus, you get access to exclusive deals on a wide range of products. For instance, you can get a 5% off for your birthday purchases.

What’s great is that you can store these special offers for your upcoming shopping trips. When you’re ready to check out, simply input your phone number to save the deals, or use the Target Circle barcode located in the app.

Furthermore, when you’re all set to claim your 1% cashback, just scan the app’s barcode or input your phone number using the card reader at the checkout counter.

6. Ibotta

Ibotta allows its users to submit their receipts after shopping to get cash back rewards. If you want to cut down on your shopping expenses, this app is here to help. You can shop in-store, online, or through the Ibotta app.

If you shop in-store, just take photos of the receipt and send it to Ibotta. Each receipt you send will fetch you some points.

Online shopping also works when you shop at any of the partner stores like Costco, Kroger, Whole Foods, Aldi, Starbucks, Old Navy, and Target, using the Ibotta Chrome extension.

Another way to earn with Ibotta is by linking your store loyalty card to your Ibotta account. This will let you get credit automatically whenever you shop. You can link loyalty card of many stores, such as:

Albertsons
Boyer’s
Wegmans
Food Lion
Hannaford
PetSmart
Peterson’s Fresh Market, etc.

The minimum payout on Ibotta is $20. Once you have accumulated this amount, you can cash out through PayPal, bank transfer, or use it for a gift card to brands like Shein, Kohl’s, Petco, Macy’s, and Target.

7. NielsenIQ Homescan

You can also become a panelist for NielsenIQ to scan barcodes for money. Just like NCPMobile, NielsenIQ Homescan is a market research company that collects information or data for big organizations worldwide.

The company tracks the consumer behavior of more than 250,000 households in 25 countries.

If you want to start earning with NielsenIQ, sign up for the site. After that, the company will send you a handheld scanner to scan items you buy. There is also an app you can download on your phone to use for the scanning.

Besides the scanning of barcodes, you can also answer online surveys and participate in weekly diaries and sweepstakes to earn points – which can be withdrawn as hard cash.

You must live in the U.S., Canada, or Australia to be eligible to join NielsenIQ Homescan.

This app is a neat way to make money by scanning barcodes, but don’t set your hopes too high. I have a friend who scanned loads of barcodes on NielsenIQ, and she ended up with less than $15 for the whole month. So, it’s a bit of extra cash, but not a fortune.

8. Checkout51

Checkout51 is an app available in Canada and the United States for both Android and iOS, which you can use for gas and grocery shopping to get cash-back rewards.

For gas, you can shop at various gas stations including Shell, Exxon, Regular, Mobil, and Chevron. With Checkout51, you will be able to save $0.25 per gallon. Furthermore, there are 100+ stores you can visit for grocery and general shopping.

When shopping is complete, take photos of your receipts and send them to Checkout51 for points, which can be redeemed as cash later.

Like Upside, you can earn real money by shopping for gas and groceries. Your earnings can be cashed out through PayPal.

9. Receipt Hog

Over 100,000 people use Receipt Hog to scan receipts after shopping to earn gift cards and cash, and so can you.

The app functions much like Checkout51, with one key difference: it’s not geared toward grocery shopping but rather the broader market. You can shop at various brands such as Instacart, Purina, DoorDash, Hershey’s, and Albertsons.

After signing up for Receipt Hog with your Facebook or email account, you can shop in-store and online to get rewards.

For in-store, you just have to take photos of receipts and send them to the app. Alternatively, you can link your loyalty card to the app for automatic rewards whenever you shop at a partner store.

Other ways to earn with Receipt Hog include:

Answering online surveys
Joining monthly sweepstakes
Inviting friends.

Once you have earned enough points, you can withdraw as PayPal cash or gift cards to brands like Amazon and Costco.

10. Amazon Shopper Panel

The Amazon Shopper Panel is another app you can use to scan barcodes for money. You must sign up to join a waitlist, and once you are invited, you can start scanning barcodes for rewards.

This program is only available in the U.S. Also, unlike other apps, it works only by invitation. But if you are lucky enough to get invited, you can download the Amazon Shopper Panel app on Google Play or App Store.

The maximum amount of money you can make per month using this app is $10, and this is after you have uploaded 10 receipts to the app.

11. Swagbucks

Swagbucks is a get-paid-to site for completing tasks for money. And one of the tasks is scanning receipts.

Uploading receipts to the site will earn you points that can be cashed out through PayPal or gift cards to several brands.

Swagbucks works worldwide. Also, after signing up, you receive a $5 welcome bonus. If you want to earn money in your spare time, then you must try Swagbucks.

Besides scanning receipts, here are other tasks available on Swagbucks:

Completing surveys
Watching video ads.
Playing phone games
Completing offers
Reading emails.

Swagbucks is a site with low payout threshold, so if you want fast money, this is an app to give a try.

12. InboxDollars

You can make between 5 cents and 20 cents by scanning receipts on InboxDollars. The app is another get-paid-to platform just like Swagbucks.

When you join, you can take several tasks including answering surveys, completing offers, and shopping online. You can also scan receipts with InboxDollars’ in-app scan “ScanSense”.

While you won’t earn much for scanning receipts, you can take other tasks to amplify your earnings. If you are active on InboxDollars, you can make about $50 per month. Payout is through PayPal and gift cards to stores like Sephora, Xbox, Nintendo, and Amazon.

The exciting news is that if you join InboxDollars right now, you will receive a welcome bonus of $5.

13. Work For A Grocery Store

Working for a grocery store or supermarket is also an alternative if you want to scan barcodes for money.

One cool thing about a grocery store job is the flexible hours. For instance, you can work morning shifts from 5 a.m. to 1 p.m. This is because most supermarkets or grocery stores are open around the clock.

The main drawback of working at a grocery store is the minimum wage you’ll be making. On average, the annual salary for an employee in a supermarket or grocery store is $35,474, according to Indeed.

However, you can look smart; after your shift, you can work a side job like delivery for Instacart or DoorDash, which is also a way to get more products to scan for money.

Final Words

So yes, you can scan barcodes for money and this post has provided you with the best ways to do it. However, you must manage your expectations. You won’t earn fortunes by scanning barcodes, hence this should be just your income supplement.

If you want to increase your earnings, you can add other side hustles like completing simple tasks on Prime Opinion and KashKick or testing websites and apps.

13 Best Ways To Scan Barcodes For Money

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