Christmas season has come and gone, and now I’m just waiting for my $129 check to arrive from Ebates. Yes, you read that correctly. I am about to receive a $129 of cash back for online shopping I did during November, December, and January. To be fair, some of those dollars are bonuses for referring new customers, but most of them are simply from doing my Christmas shopping online (because who has time for malls during the holidays?).
I started using Ebates about three years ago and have since earned over $400 simply by clicking one little button before I make any purchases online. The holidays are the best season to shop, because many stores offer insane amounts of cash back (10-20%) to lure customers to their websites during gift-giving season. But even throughout the year, when I’m not shopping as much and the cash back amounts from retailers are lower (often 3%-6%), I still usually make $10-20 every quarter from my regular shopping habits. And when I say that I make this money, I mean that Ebates mails a check to my house four times a year. I deposit it via my phone and the money goes back into my bank account. Without ever leaving my home or doing more labor than tapping a few buttons on my computer or phone screen, I make a couple hundred dollars per year. I love it.
Although I wax poetic about the joys of Ebates every Christmas, I thought I would give more details here for those of you who are intrigued or confused.
1. If you sign up, USE the service. This might seem silly, but I can see the email addresses of those who have signed up under my referral code. And you know what? I see women who signed up over a year ago, but have never activated their account by making a purchase. What? Are you telling me you’ve bought NOTHING online in the past year? Unless you are currently time traveling back to 1990, I simply don’t believe you. You signed up for this awesome resource, but you haven’t been clicking one little button to take advantage of putting cash back into your wallet.
2. Use the Ebates cash back button. Ebates has made it SO easy for you to get cash back. They designed a button (kind of like your “Pin it” button for Pinterest) you can install into your browser (Chrome, Safari, Firebox, Internet Explorer, etc.). Once you install this little tool, a small box will pop up ANY time you are browsing a shop that offers cash back. All you have to do is click “activate” and anything you purchase will earn you cash back. So if you already have an Ebates account, but aren’t using this tool, stop what you are doing right now, install the button, and watch your cash accumulate much faster.
This is what the cash back button page looks like on Ebates. You can find it here. All you do is click the huge “Get the Button” icon. It already knows which browser you are using.
I went to Old Navy as an example for you, because it’s a store where a lot of people shop and they usually have decent cash back. For example, today (on a random Thursday in late January) Old Navy is offering 8% cash back (in addition to 25% off your total purchase, including clearance items!). You can see the button that pops up telling me to “Activate 8% cash back.” ALL YOU DO IS CLICK THAT BUTTON. If you make a purchase, 8% of the amount will be applied to your Ebates account.
Confession… I was actually sucked into Old Navy’s 8% cash back with 25% off any purchase deal in the midst of writing this post. I just bought a jacket for Talitha, a package of socks for Zianne, and a knit pencil skirt for myself for $16 total, so I will get precisely $1.28 added to my Ebates account (in addition to scoring three items of clothing for an insanely low cost). Before I made my purchase, you know I clicked that “activate 8% cash back” button up in that right hand corner of the screen.
3. ALWAYS use Ebates when booking your travel arrangements. Companies such as Expedia and Orbitz almost always offer 10% cash back. Since flights, rental cars, and hotel rooms are such big purchases, this cash back adds up fast. This past May, my cash back check was over $50 because I used Ebates when booking all our summer travel.
4. This is just my opinion, but some of the best stores that offer decent cash back are: Nordstrom, Macy’s, Kohl’s, Groupon, J.Crew, and Old Navy. But don’t neglect stores that offer tiny amounts of cash back either. In the past year, Etsy started offering cash back, but it’s usually just 1%. Who cares? If you are buying your child’s birthday invites on Etsy, click the button and add the cash back to your account. Even if it’s just a 50 cents, it all adds up.
And to show you how it all adds up, I am sharing with you my Ebates summary for the past three years. As you can see, my checks started out small, but now they have grown quite large. I usually make over $100 during the holidays, but it’s not uncommon to receive checks between $15-50 throughout the year either.
Two of my friends started using Ebates this Christmas season. One accumulated $30 or $40 in her first few weeks of using the service, and then linked her credit card to get cash back while shopping in stores too (Ebates is not just for online shopping anymore!). The other friend just shared a photo of her cash back amount with me. Her very first check will be $97.oo – and all that just for clicking an “activate” button and then simply purchasing her kids’ Christmas gifts online. And here is an email that I received from Ebates just last week…
Let me give you one more scenario to show how I use Ebates in my everyday (non-holiday shopping) life. I am currently mailing a bunch of letters for a personal project and therefore need a TON of postage. I read a tip online that said you can sometimes buy stamps on eBay at a discount. I scrolled eBay for a day or two and found a deal for 100 Forever stamps for $43.50 with free shipping. Since Forever stamps are currently 49 cents, a roll of 100 should cost $49.00. With my eBay discount, I am paying 43.5 cents per stamp (which was the cost of postage way back in 2009… inflation has nothing on me!). While I was on the eBay website, I noticed my little Ebates pop-up telling me I could also receive 5% cash back on my purchase. Yes, please. I clicked “activate” and will now see over $2.00 added to by Ebates account for my stamp purchase. Now I have the 100 stamps I need for mailing, I paid way below market value for them ($43 is even less than Costco’s discounted postage), and I put a little money in my Ebates account as well.
Ebates rocks during the holiday season, but it’s a pretty great tool to use year-round. Install the button and make sure you never miss out on cash back again. May your shopping be fun and your Ebates checks be fat!
*Let me know in the comments if you have any other questions. You can sign for Ebates here!
