About Tracking & Transactions

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• Overview
• Best Practices
• Tracking Times for your Earnings
• Earnings: Transaction Status Definitions

An Overview

In order for you to get paid cashback, the merchant has to track your transaction as a referral that originated from the Quidco site. If anything causes the referral to come from any other source, the Quidco transaction won't track. This means the merchant won't pay Quidco, and Quidco can't pay you.

Most tracking is done by cookies, often in combination with a small image embedded into the checkout page (sometimes called a web beacon), although technology varies from affiliate network to affiliate network.

As a very generic example, let's say you want to buy a widget from Widgets-R-Us, so you log in to the Quidco site and click through to the Widgets-R-Us website. You find the widget of your dreams, put it into your shopping cart, enter your payment details, and click to confirm the purchase. You get a confirmation page showing the amount of your purchase and thanking you for shopping with Widgets-R-Us. Your dream widget ships and your transaction tracks through Quidco. A few weeks later your transaction validates, and a few weeks after that, you see the transaction listed as "Received" in your Quidco earnings. You are paid the cashback in Quidco's next monthly payment.

Here's a very simplified diagram of what goes on in the background to make all this happen:


There are several factors that can affect each of these steps, and we'll show you how to avoid the most common pitfalls and make sure your computer is set up in the most optimum configuration for tracking. As with any technology, there is always the chance that glitches beyond your control or ours may make a purchase fail to track, but if you follow the advice given in these sections, you can eliminate most tracking problems.

Please note that after you make a transaction it may take a few days, or longer, to track into your account. This depends on both the merchant and the affiliate network. Financial programs, gambling programs and contract mobile purchases are especially slow to track, as they must verify that you are a genuine user. They may take a month or two, depending on the merchant.

Here are some best practices for consistent tracking. (We'll go into more detail on the first two items in the next section.)

1. Make sure your computer & browser are configured properly.
2. Clear cookies & cache, disable pop-up, ad, & image-blockers.
3. Log into Quidco and click on the merchant link on the Quidco site.

Don't type anything in the address window of your browser after logging into Quidco.

Don't open any other tabs or windows in the same browser, or click on any links in tabs or windows that may already be open.

If you must visit another site before completing your purchase, please use a different browser to do so. Interrupting the browser session that started from Quidco can affect tracking.


4. Don't use voucher or other discount codes unless they came from the Quidco site.

Doing so may cause the referral to come from the code issuer rather than Quidco.


5. Don't use "refer a friend" programs or promotional links from other sites.

Remember, if the referral isn't seen as coming from Quidco, you won't receive cashback.


6. Complete your purchase online, all in one session.

If you decide after check out that you want to purchase something else, close the merchant site window and start the process over from the Quidco site.

Don't retrieve previously-saved items in your shopping cart; start completely from scratch.

If you're buying insurance, make sure you start from a completely new quote; don't retrieve a saved one or use a renewal offer if you're already a policy-holder.

If the merchant you are using allows "reserve & collect" for cashback, don't change the original order in any way when you collect your purchase. Adding items to the sale at the point of checkout, or using discount cards or vouchers can override the Quidco referral.

Telephoning the merchant to complete or modify your order will likely over-ride the Quidco referral (and therefore your cashback).

We cannot support enquiries in these cases, as the original tracking is irretrievably lost. If you need to change something minor, it may be best to completely cancel the first transaction and start a new one from scratch.

Next: Things you need to do to make sure your computer & browser are configured
properly.

Tracking Times for your Earnings

Transactions, on average, can take from a few hours to a few days to appear in your earnings area, as quidco has to wait for them to reported back from the affiliate network. For a more specific guide, log in to your account and visit the page for the merchant that you have earnings with. There, in the right column, you will find average statistics for tracking times with that merchant.

Earnings: Transaction Status Definitions

You will see different states for the earnings in your account as they follow through from Tracked to Paid, as follows:

Tracked
The merchant has tracked your transaction but not yet validated it.

Tracked*
Same as above except this merchant will not explicitly validate your transaction. Unless it is denied, this transaction will next change to received when payment is received from the merchant.

Pending
Cashback is pending as a result of an earnings enquiry.

Added
Cashback has been manually added to your account (usually after a successful enquiry).

Validated
The merchant has confirmed they will pay cashback on your transaction.

Declined
The merchant will not pay cashback on your transaction.

Received
We have received payment from the merchant for your transaction.

Paid
Your PayPal or BACS account has been credited.