Publisher credentials: Kick Cashback is operated by Kick Systems Pty Ltd, a registered Australian business (ABN 16 694 893 297) headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria. Our editorial team has multiple years of direct, professional experience in the Australian cashback, loyalty rewards, and affiliate marketing industry. Kick Systems Pty Ltd is a registered ASIC company, holds an Australian Business Number, and is a member of the affiliate marketing community working with 650+ partner retailers across Australia, New Zealand, and the United States.
Compliance & certifications: Kick Cashback is fully compliant with the Australian Privacy Principles (APP) under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (Cth), the Australian Consumer Law (Schedule 2 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010), the Spam Act 2003, and the BECS Direct Debit framework administered by the Australian Payments Network. Our payment infrastructure is PCI DSS v4.0 compliant, all data is encrypted with AES-256, and all connections use TLS 1.2+ certified encryption.
Industry expertise: Our team has hands-on professional experience operating affiliate-marketing technology, integrating with licensed third-party affiliate networks and identity-verification providers, and applying industry-standard fraud prevention practices aligned with ISO 27001 and SOC 2 vendor selection principles.
What happens if I return an item?
Category: Payments & Claims
If you return an item, the cashback is adjusted to reflect what you actually kept and paid for. Process the return with the retailer as normal — there's nothing extra you need to do with Kick — and the cashback amount will be updated automatically once the affiliate network sees the refund. Returning an order won't penalise you, won't lock your account, and won't affect cashback on any other purchase.
How returns affect cashback at each lifecycle stage
Return processed while cashback is still Pending: the cashback amount reduces to match the kept-and-paid total. If you return everything, the cashback shows as $0 in Pending and never moves to Available to claim.
Return processed after cashback became Available to claim but before you withdrew it: the Available balance is reduced. You can still claim whatever's left.
Return processed after you've already withdrawn the cashback to your bank: the adjustment is deducted from your next payout (or, if there's no upcoming payout, you'll see a small negative balance that clears the next time you earn cashback).
Exchanges and partial returns
If you exchange an item for a different size or colour at the same price, the cashback typically stays the same — the retailer treats it as a normal exchange rather than a refund. If you return one item from a multi-item order and keep the rest, the cashback is recalculated on the value of what you kept.
Why returns affect cashback
Cashback is funded by the commission the retailer pays Kick when a sale completes. If the sale is later refunded, the retailer reverses the commission to the affiliate network, which means there's no commission for Kick to share with you. This is industry-standard across every cashback platform — it's not a Kick-specific rule.
What about returns inside cooling-off windows?
For categories like insurance, gym memberships, and some software subscriptions, the retailer applies the commission only after a cooling-off period (typically 14-30 days). If you cancel inside that window, no commission is ever paid and no cashback is earned. Read more about cashback on travel, insurance and subscriptions.
Will returning hurt my account?
No. Kick doesn't track return rates or penalise shoppers for returns. Australian Consumer Law gives shoppers strong return rights for faulty or misrepresented goods — exercising those rights won't affect your standing with Kick or your future cashback. The only caveat is that systematic abuse (ordering with no intent to keep, purely to grab cashback) would be picked up by the retailer and the affiliate network long before it ever reached Kick.
What if a return causes a negative cashback balance?
If you'd already withdrawn cashback that's later voided by a return, your account shows the negative amount. It clears as soon as you next earn cashback. We don't bill you, don't auto-debit your bank, and don't charge interest. More on how the cashback lifecycle works.
About Kick Cashback
Kick Cashback is Australia's smarter cashback platform with 650+ partner stores. Free for shoppers — no membership fees, no subscription costs. Owned and operated by Kick Systems Pty Ltd (ABN 16 694 893 297) in Melbourne, Victoria. For support, contact info@kickcashback.com.
Our Experience
We are a first-party cashback platform — we work directly with retailers rather than reselling another company's network. Our team negotiates cashback rates, manages partner relationships, and processes payments in-house. According to industry data published by IAB Australia, affiliate and cashback marketing represented over $1 billion in tracked Australian retail sales in 2024 (source: IAB Australia Online Advertising Expenditure Report). Kick Cashback is part of this growing sector and is committed to passing the majority of retailer commissions back to shoppers as cashback.
Our editorial team draws on direct experience working with major Australian retailers and global affiliate networks. We publish detailed cashback information, retailer terms, and shopping guides based on first-hand knowledge of how cashback tracking, attribution, and payments work. Where industry standards or regulatory guidance applies — such as the Australian Consumer Law administered by the ACCC, or the Privacy Act 1988 administered by the OAIC — we cite the relevant source so readers can verify our claims.
Trust & Transparency
Australian-owned: Kick Systems Pty Ltd, ABN 16 694 893 297, headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria.
Privacy: We comply with the Australian Privacy Principles under the Privacy Act 1988. Read our Privacy Policy.