I recently got my second rebate check of the year – this time, from online rebates that I did via Ebates. I’ve mentioned Ebates in the past – if you’re a long-time reader, you might remember the Victoria’s Secret deal, which is when I discovered it. Ebates offer rebates on purchases made at participating retailers – currently, they have 1,200 stores to choose from, each offering a specific cashback rate. You also earn a $5 bonus just for signing up; so in addition to getting rebates on online purchases that I would have made anyway, I also earned a $5 profit. Occasionally, you can also get deals with Ebates that you wouldn’t otherwise, like my $1.95 box of coffee from Gevalia. And finally, you can also earn $5 for anyone that you refer.
ShopAtHome is a newer (to me, anyway!) site that also offers rebates for online merchants. They operate in a similar manner to Ebates, and provide rebates for 3,000 merchants. Like Ebates, they also offer you $5 for signing up and $5 for referring friends.
When I’m about to make a purchase online, the first thing I do is check both Ebates and ShopAtHome to see if either of them offer cashback for the merchant I’m about to shop at. If they both do, I choose the one with the higher cashback rate. For example, I recently needed to purchase an SD cardreader from Newegg for my computer. I checked both sites and saw that ShopAtHome offered .05% back, while Ebates offered 1% back. Obviously, Ebates was the better deal in this instance. All I had to do was click through their rebate link and make my purchase as normal – it tracks everything automatically, so you don’t have to do anything other than click through their site to receive your rebate.
Bear in mind that both these sites require that you accumulate a certain amount before you receive your check. Ebates stipulates that you earn $5.01 or higher in rebates before they cut your check – this does not include your $5 sign-up bonus or referral bonuses. So once you register and receive your $5 sign-up bonus, you will need to earn $5.01 or more in rebates – for a total balance of $10.01 or higher – before your check is sent. ShopAtHome requires a $20 minimum, but as far as I’m aware, bonuses do count towards that total. I don’t mind waiting for my rebate checks, since I would have to make these purchases regardless, and I’ll come out with a profit thanks to the bonus each site gave me for signing up.
I know there are other rebate sites popping up, but these are the only two that I’ve had personal experience with so far. If you know of a good one that I missed, let me know!
Have you tried bing shopping? It's the same way – click through to get the cashback. There's a 60 day waiting period, and you have to have $5 in your account to request a payout. I just have them send it to my PayPal account. The first time we used it, my husband ordered a computer from Newegg, and we got $63 back.
Wow… thank you for that post! I just signed up 🙂
Thanks for your comments, Anna and Chiara! I will definitely check out Bing Shopping; we order through Newegg a lot, since my fiance runs a computer business, and that's a much higher Cashback rate than Ebates – unless your computer cost $6,000, lol.
I have enjoyed reading on your blog. Everyone I read I learn something new. I was unaware of online rebates. I will definetly check that out.
I have a coupon blog, but first and foremost I am an avid coupon useer.
Susan
http://amazingcouponanddiscountdeals.blogspot.com
Yes there are lots of Cashback websites. Like 6 of them. I have used e-bates, cashbaq (i think that is the spelling) , shop at home , mr. rebate.
I have never used bing shopping (I will have to try that one)
I am going to note them down on a sticky note and tape it to my computer so I don't forget them all. They all offer a $5 bonus so its a great idea to try each one and have your spouse/boy/girlfriend as well! Maybee you could refer each other??? Do you know supercoupon girl??
What I do is I check them all and use the one offering the highest cash back as they do vary a lot from each site, for example 2% on one and 3% on another so be sure to check them all. I bought a corner booth breakfast unit that was 299.99 everywhere including Wal-marts Site 2 Store (but they were on backorder) so I checked Shop at home and they were 299.99 at CSN as well with FREE SHIPPING and NO SALES TAX (since in was shipped from another state) They were also offering 3% cashback so I paid just 299.99 and got 9.00 back plus my bonus of 5.00 for a total of 14.00 CASH BACK!!! But wait, I also saved 6% tax which would have been 18.00 here in FL for a total of 22.00 in savings!!!
Also don't forget to jot down when you actually make a purchase. E-bates cheated me out on a magazine subscrition on discountmagazines.com that offered 10% cash back or like 3.00 in my case so you do have to police them but there is a form to fill out and you can actually track the pages you visited on their site, you just have to remember whether you purchased that day or not. They did credit me. SO I was happy about that.
Well sorry to babble so much but I have really liked these cash backk sites especially when the merchants off free shipping. I have been telling family but they never listen…you know those un-frugal family memebers.
If anyone would like to refer me to bing shopping please e-mail me at micedp@yahoo.com
Also IF I CAN REFER any of you to MR. REBATE or CASHBAQUE please e-mail me at micedp@yahoo.com
at put CASH BACK in the subject area.
I don't want to take away from Beeb so please use her links for shopathome and e-bates by clicking on her link in the post.
Thanks
Mike
Thanks for writing, Mike! I agree with all the points you brought up – I think that half the battle with rebates (online or mail-in) is being organized. That way, when something doesn't get credited, you can rectify it. I don't have a Mr. Rebates or Cashbaq account, so I am going to email you now!
Anna, (previous commenter), do you want to refer us to Bing cashback? My email is: supercoupongirl AT gmail.com
I've searched the bing cashback site and can't find any kind of referral program. Otherwise, I'd love to refer you.
It's definitely worth checking all these different sites each time you want to buy something, to see which one can give you the best deal.
Darn, I hoped you would get credit for us signing up – oh well, thanks for letting me know! I totally agree, it's great to have a roster of sites to check so that you can make sure you're getting the highest amount of cashback.
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