Frequently asked questions

Sift matches on the hostname only — for example, shop.example.com. The full URL path, query string, document.referrer, and any form values you type into the merchant checkout are never read, never stored, and never sent. Sift needs the domain to know which retailer's coupon list to test against, and nothing else. For the full data-collection breakdown, see our Privacy Policy.

Orders are posted to your dashboard immediately on checkout completion and appear in pending status. They move to validated once the merchant confirms the transaction — typically 1–7 days for most retailers, longer for travel, marketplaces, and subscription services. Cashback then credits to your balance after the merchant's payout window (see the next question).

File via the support page with the retailer name, the order ID or order number, the order date, and the email tied to the order. Include your Chrome version from chrome://version — it helps us reproduce the matching the extension did at checkout. Our team triages missing-claim reports within one business day and follows up if we need logs from your install.

Most retailers confirm and pay within 7–30 days. Some categories run longer: travel bookings, hotel reservations, and rental cars typically settle in 30–60 days, and large marketplaces can take 60–90 days because they wait for the underlying seller to ship and the buyer's return window to close. The exact window for any specific order is visible on your dashboard under that order's status row.

Once your validated balance passes the minimum payout threshold, you can request a withdrawal from the dashboard and the funds move to your linked PayPal. Requests are processed on the next scheduled payout cycle; balances below the threshold roll over and combine with future earnings. See step 7 of How it works for the full withdraw flow.

No. Leave Rakuten, TopCashback, your bank's shopping portal, or any other cashback link in place — Sift does not overwrite attribution set by another tool. If you arrived at the retailer through a portal, that portal keeps the commission; Sift only earns when our code is the last touch you actively chose. For the full non-hijacking commitment, see our Trust page.

The coupon-testing surface looks similar — detect at checkout, test codes, surface the best — but the attribution layer is built differently. Sift does not overwrite ?aff= parameters already in the URL, does not claim commissions earned by another affiliate, and does not inject into a page you have not opted into. Those four behaviors are exactly the ones at issue in the recent Honey / Capital One litigation, and Sift is built to avoid every one of them. Full details on the Trust page.