Wikibuy from Capital One is a simple Google Chrome extension that finds you coupon codes, offers loyalty rewards as well as compare offers from other sites.  Picture it almost like an assistant that will make sure you’re getting a great deal whenever you’re shopping online.  You may never have to pay full price again.  And, best of all, it requires minimal effort on your part.

Now, you will need Google Chrome in order to maximize your savings, but you can also use the desktop version if you chose to do so.

Reviews of Wikibuy

If you find yourself shopping online a lot and don’t really make the effort to find coupons and/or even comparison shop, then this extension may be for you since it does all of the dirty work for you.  Just install it and forget about.

In this review, I will review the Wikibuy app as well as see if it’s worth the download.  As always, my reviews are always non-biased are never influenced by an outside party.

If you want to save money automatically, let’s take a gander and see if it’s worth your time.

What is Wikibuy?

As with all of my reviews, I always like to see who’s running the service.  In this case, I don’t think I have to say much as it’s operated by Capital One, a company I’m sure you have heard of.  Capital One specializes in banking, savings accounts, auto loans and credit cards, to name a few.  I’m pretty certain you have heard of them.   It’s a multi-billion dollar company that’s definitely legit, but it still doesn’t mean the product is great.  That’s why I write these reviews.  Capital One acquired the company in 2018 for an undisclosed amount.

Wikibuy was designed to help you find coupon codes as well as ensure that you’re getting the best price possible online, all automatically while you shop.  When you go to checkout, that code is applied instantly, saving you big cash.  Not only that but you can earn what’s known as “credits,” where you can earn points to later redeem gift cards just for shopping the stores you already buy from.

According to the official download page, it helps you find coupon codes, loyalty rewards and will even find better offers from other sellers whenever you land on a product page.  They want you to consider it almost like the “magic button for shopping.”

As I write this, they have more than three+ million users and a solid five out of five star rating on the Google Chrome Web Store.

How to Sign Up

There are two ways to use Wikibuy:  either as a Google Chrome extension or you can use it as a website, similar to that of the many coupon websites I have researched in the past.  If you use the website, there are no downloads required, but it won’t work as expected.  The website will work like any other coupon site.

To me, if you really want a hands-off approach, I would highly recommend you download the Google Chrome extension.  That way, it’s sort of like a “set it and forget it.”  Anytime you shop, the extension will automatically do the dirty work for you.

To start using the extension, it’s very easy.

You will first want to head to the official download link, found here.  Click on the “Add to Chrome” extension as seen below.

In doing so, it will ask you if you want to add the extension.  Click “add extension” and you will then see an icon in your upper-right hand corner.  It will look like this:

Right after you download, Capital One will also ask you to take a quick survey, but this is 100% optional and is not required in order to make it work.

Wikibuy is 100% free to use and you will never be charged a monthly fee.  The way it can stay free is that it will make commission off any purchases you make online through its extension.

NOTE:  If you do plan on using this extension, I highly recommend you create an account on Wikibuy.com so that you can redeem your Wikibuy credit as you shop.  This credit will come from some of your purchases in lieu of cashback and allows you to cash it in for a variety of gift cards.  I will talk about this later.

How Wikibuy Works

Once you download the extension, you can then shop as you wish online.  There’s nothing that you need to do as the extension will automatically activate as you shop certain retailers and add products to your cart.

For example, to test it at first, I went ahead and shopped at Nike and added an item to my cart.  In doing so, this is what I was presented with when I went to check out:

As you can see, Wikibuy offered 1.5% cash back in credits and found five coupon codes for me to use.  The cool thing about it, the extension tried a variety of coupon codes right away and checked to see if they could work.   This is what that process looked like:

Unfortunately, none of the five codes worked, but I did find it to be a cool feature as it applied it automatically for me.  I didn’t have to do anything but let it work its magic for a few seconds.  Granted, Capital One may not have all of the coupons found online, but it should have a fair share.  To me, there’s nothing more frustrating than going on random coupon websites and having to click to get the code that usually doesn’t work.

Your results will vary with coupon codes.  Sometimes, it will work, whereas other times, you will receive an error.

After it attempts to add the codes, you can then checkout as you would and Wikibuy will give you the cashback noted.  In the Nike example above, I would also get 1.5% back in Wikibuy Credit in the process.  Nothing else changes as you will pay the same price as if you weren’t using the extension.

NOTE:  If you don’t want the extension to pop up whenever you hit the checkout, you can always change your notification settings.  If you find it to be annoying, you can set it so that it will only work when you click on the button.  It’s up to you, though!

Earning Wikibuy Credits

I have talked about cashback websites a ton of times, such as in my free gift cards and how to get cash back on Amazon posts.

In short, these websites will give you X% amount back on your purchase as long as you click on the special shopping link through their portal.  It’s as easy as that.  If you spent $100 and they offered 6% cash back, for example, then they would cut you a $6 check after your purchase completes.  This can take up to 45 days, however, to prevent you from taking the cash back and returning the item.

But, the thing is that most of these cashback sites will vary with their cashback offering, so one website may offer more than another.  This is why it’s so important to compare these cashback sites if you choose to use one.  One of my favorite websites to do so is CashbackMonitor.com.  You just type in the retailer and it will tell you which website is offering the best cash back rates at the time.

The reason I’m mentioning this is that the Wikibuy Credit is just that — another cash back portal.

At the time of my review, they offered 1.5% in Wikibuy Credit on my Nike purchase, but this could vary depending on the retailer.  Macy’s, for instance, offered 6%.  Every retailer will be different as some are more generous than others.

In comparison to other cashback websites, the Nike offer was quite poor as most of your bigger named cashback portals offered more than 2%, with the best rate being 5.5% at the time of this review.  That’s quite the difference!  But, on the other hand, Macy’s was quite competitive as most competitors were offering up to 6%.  It seemed like a mixed bag.

The “Wikibuy Credit” can be a hit or miss, and I highly recommend you at least use CashbackMonitor.com to ensure that you’re getting the best rate.  If you do find a better rate, be sure to deactivate the extension for the time being so that it reads the new cashback site’s link, not Wikibuys.

Again, I can’t stress it enough to create an account so that it can track your purchases.  Once you earn enough “credits,” you can choose from a ton of gift cards, all of which can be done via the official Wikibuy.com website.

Connect Your Credit Card

Aside from getting cash back as well as potential coupon codes, Wikibuy allows you to save money in stores while using a linked credit card.

Like Dosh and a few others I mentioned before, all you need to do is connect a credit card and then shop in person as you would.   If you happen to shop at one of their participating retailers, then you can earn even more Wikibuy Credits.  This is another feature that is free to you.

To see which local offers are available to you, head to the official website and then scroll down until you see “Local Offers Near [your zip code].”

In browsing these offers, you can see who’s participating as well as what you can get back in credits.  As long as your card is linked and you use it at a participating merchant, then you will get the credits added to your account.

When I took a look, there were quite a few local options, many of which paid up to 5% back.  It doesn’t hurt to add your card as it’s really a set it and forget it option, giving you cash back anytime you swipe your card at a merchant.

How many offers that are available to you will depend on where you live as well as who participates.

Watchlist Feature

Another cool feature that Wikibuy offers is what’s known as a watchlist.  This feature allows you to add an item that you’re interested in and track the prices.  When the price drops, Wikibuy will alert you based on your settings.

To start tracking, you can do one of two things.  You can either use the Wikibuy website and search for the item you had in mind or you can add the item to your list directly from the item’s page.

For instance, I have been eyeing the new Kindle for some time, and when I landed on the official Amazon page, I would see something like this:

In clicking that “W.+” button, it would add it to my watchlist, where I could then track it.  During the tracking time, Wikibuy will let me know the latest price as well as the last seen price.  It will then notify me any time there’s a lower price.

This could make for a great option if you had an item in mind and wanted to wait for a cheaper price and don’t want to keep checking in on it.

Keep in mind that this feature doesn’t work on all retailers.  If you see that it doesn’t work on the retailer you’re shopping with, you can always use the Wikibuy search via the official website to see if the product you had in mind pops up in the search results.  If it does, then you can click on the “add to watchlist” button to add it to your list.

Product Search

Another cool feature that I like is the product search.  It’s not part of the extension; rather you will have to use the website to use it.

To use it, you will just need to search for something in particular.  Using my Kindle example above, I could search for Kindle to generate some results.

With these results, I can then either browse the stores that offer that product or I can click on the exact product for more information.

If I were to click on the Kindle listing, then I’m taken to another page, where I can see which retailers are selling it as well as which company is offering the best price.

This can be a very lucrative feature as not only can you see which retailer is offering the best deal but you can see how much Wikibuy will give you back in credits.  In that example, as you can see, Staples offered me the best deal at the time, not Staples.

Wikibuy doesn’t appear to compare all retailers online, but they have quite the list.  Aside from Wikibuy, be sure to use Google Shopping as well to see if you can find anyone cheaper.

NOTE:  Remember to compare the cash back portals as I mentioned above as Wikibuy doesn’t always offer the best cash back options.

What the Internet Is Saying

As with all of my reviews, I love to see what others are saying about this particular extension.  While Wikibuy seems to have close to a perfect five out of five-star rating, there will always be those negative naysayers.

In this section, I wanted to include both the pros and cons I found online.  It’s up to you to take it for what it’s worth.  As always, I will include both sides of the coin.

The Pros

Very easy to use.  It’s as easy as adding the Chrome extension and that’s it.

A great way to save money while not really having to think about it.

It saves you a lot of time in finding coupon codes online.

Simple interface and easy to understand.

They have a website option as well if you don’t want to download the extension.

The Cons

The “credits” aren’t always the best value, so be sure to shop around.

Coupon codes don’t work a lot of the time.

Capital One is able to track you while the extension is active unless you change the settings.

Privacy issues were a concern for many.  If you look closely at the privacy policy, you will find that they will store a lot of information about you, from your transaction history to shopping habits.

It’s only available as an extension on Google Chrome.

The mobile app isn’t as good as the desktop version.

It will glitch out at times, giving random errors.

Extensions are always known to slow down your browser.  Wikibuy is no exception.

Final Thoughts

If you love to shop online and love a deal, the extension could be worth it.  It’s free, it’s backed by a powerful organization and offers a variety of features.  What’s not to love?

I get that some people hate the idea of it tracking your online activity and the privacy issues involved, but you can always activate it whenever you plan on shopping online.  That way, it’s not active when you’re doing non-shopping related activities.

For now, give it a shot.  It’s one of the better shopping extensions out there and should at least give you cash back/a free gift card, even if you can’t find a coupon code.  Worst case, if it doesn’t work as planned, you can always uninstall it.

Now, it’s your turn.

Have you ever downloaded this extension?  Did you like it?  Hate it?

As always, feel free to sound off in the comments below.