[Expired] Pepper: Save On Giftcards For Instacart, IKEA, Lowe’s, Chipotle, Nike, Airbnb & More

The Offer

Pepper app is offering the following deals:

  1. Get 20% back on Instacart gift card purchases, no limit
  2. Get 10% back on Lowe’s gift card purchases, no limit
  3. Get 10% back on IKEA gift card purchases, no limit
  4. Get 10% back on Airbnb gift card purchases, no limit
  5. Get 10% back on Nike gift card purchases, no limit
  6. Get 10% back on Chipotle gift card purchases, no limit
  7. Get 10% back on Kohl’s gift card purchases, limit $500
  8. Get 10% back on Wayfair gift card purchases, no limit
  9. Get 15% back on REI gift card purchases, no limit
  10. Get 14% back on Foot Locker gift card purchases, $500 limit
  11. Get 20% back on Finish Line gift card purchases, no limit
  12. Get 18% back on Champ’s gift card purchases, no limit
  13. Get 20% back on Petsmart gift card purchases, no limit

The standard Pepper points will be instantly available and the bonus Pepper points will be awarded on 9/9/24.

Most of these deals are showing as valid through August 21, 2024. There are a few that show August 20 expiration, but they are showing the bonus points at checkout – I believe it’s likely a typo on the expiration.

Our Verdict

Some good deals here. Just keep in mind that the bonus points won’t be available for a few weeks, and so I wouldn’t recommend buying unless you can manage the risk of something going wrong with the bonus points posting a few weeks down the line. I’d recommend screenshotting and copying the gift card info immediately, and I’d also recommend using up the Pepper points quickly, since people have had issues logging in, etc.

Reports are that Amex Business Gold  to earn 4x if it’s one of your top two categories. And reports are that it counts as Online Shopping for BofA cards and Blue Cash card and ShopYourWay card. And it counts as Computer Software category for BofA Customized Cash Rewards cards and for 1.5x on the Business Platinum card.

Note: While there is no limit to these deals, you might be limited in overall quantities that can be purchased from Pepper in a day. So you might only get $2,000 or some other number until the app stops you. It’s sometimes possible to increase limits by calling in and verifying.

My thanks if you enter my signup code 584255 during the initial signup process. Those who signup with a referral code get double Pepper points on all purchases for 15 days. (Not clear whether these bonus deals will be doubled.) No referral links or references in the comments below, please.

View Comments (28)

  • This stupid app goes me "payment declined" error every time.. I've tried at least 50x across 3 months.. contacted support and said it may be an IP issue. I've tried multiple IPs.. no issue on credit card side.. anyone else here experienced this problem with Pepper? I wanted to use it for SUB.. but it looks impossible

    • This seems to be a card-side issue, as they use Stripe. With BOA, I had to call a couple of times and they provided me with a Visa side CS number to contact, which I did.

  • Has anyone had any luck getting their account reinstated? I am unable to login and emailed and called and been unable to reach anyone. Any success stories?

    • For myself and others, we just waited a day or two and then were able to reset the password and get inside

        • Mark how long were you locked out? When I try to change password it says I can’t for security purposes lol

          • I was locked out for about 24 hours total. Yesterday no matter how many password resets I did, it wouldn't let me in, and then my account got locked for too many failed logins. But today I did one more password reset and it worked.

  • I feel semi crazy because I honestly don't get the hype around this app. 10x on a brand is just 5% when you actually redeem the points. you buy $100 at 10x, get 10,000 points which is only $5 when redeemed. but everyone is acting like it really is 10%, 20%, etc. cashback on everything. 5% on Amazon, etc. isn't anything amazing. I can get Ulta gift cards for 20% off pretty regularly at legitimate stores. Am I missing something? Is it not about the actual percentages and just about churning large amounts for points/SUBs?

    • Your slightly mistaken on the math.
      10x on a brand is 10% when you redeem the points. Their math is just convoluted because they've stuck to this bizarre 20 coins per dollar earned / 2000 coins is a dollar redeemed redemption math and it doesn't help that they've changed it a couple times in the past couple months.

      1x means you earn 20 coins per dollar you spend.
      10x means you earn 200 coins per dollar you spend.

      2000 coins = $1

      So at 1x you make 20 coins which equals $0.01 (20/2000) per dollar... Or 1%.

      At 10x you make 200 coins which equals $0.10 (200/2000) per dollar... Or 10%.

      That said: your point still stands about this not being particularly special but I find it pretty convenient. It's about as much effort as using a cash back portal but these also can STACK with cashback portals.

      For instance I bought a gc for petsmart at 20x today on pepper. I'll wait until it gets to 20% cashback on a cashback portal and then buy the dog food with the giftcard and.

      • Ah, I see, thank you for this! This is making me realize I just haven't gotten the bonus points from when I signed up in July. Hmm

  • This business model is totally unsustainable, and it is only a matter of time before this app shuts down or there is a massive rug pull.

    Pepper has never explained how they can do this without burning VC money indefinitely.

    • So this year's Bilt card? Just waiting for them to get bought up by Wells Fargo at this point

  • I thought people get screwed because they can't login to the pepper app and they are bankrupting. is that still true?

        • The gift card should be safe, as long as you copy down or screenshot the details immediately. But you should cash out any rewards points right away because they can lock you out of your account for no reason, and customer service doesn't answer phone or email.

  • The bonus points may be problematic. But at least the gift card should be legitimate, right? So the risk should be manageable. Worst case is to lose the cash back and it becomes a terrible deal but would not lose much money.

    • Just make sure to screenshot your gift card immediately. The app can boot you out and lock your account down at any time (happened to me while I was in the just about to buy an Airbnb GC). Customer support is non-existent, so if you get locked out, it seems like you will have no recourse except for a chargeback.