I used to like shopping. Then I had children. Dragging two kids through the store is not my idea of fun and usually I leave wishing I’d never gotten out of bed, let alone left the house. For this reason, I shop online much more often than in stores. Since I’m only 5’2”, I typically try to shop for petite clothes, as they usually fit me better. But the selection in most stores is minimal; hence another reason to shop online. Then a friend introduced me to Ebates. This became reason #3 to shop online. I actually make money.
Ok, I don’t exactly get paid to shop, but Ebates offers rebates of various percentages when you shop your favorite retailers through their site. They usually have the latest deals and coupons listed as well.
It’s simple. Create an Ebates account. Or better yet, let a friend who already has an Ebates account refer you, and thus earn your friend money. (May I humbly draw your attention to my Ebates link which, if used will potentially earn me some referral credit as well). Then browse their list of over 1,600 stores! Shop to your heart’s content. My recommendation is not to open lots of new windows or tabs. This can sometimes confuse the system. (I tend to shop by creating new tabs for each item I want to look at. This creates a large number of tabs, slows down my computer and generally annoys my husband, the tech geek/snob).
Each purchase you make puts a small percentage of cash back into your Ebates account and four times a year, you get a check. Or you can opt to send the check to a friend or charity of your choice. The past few years I’ve gotten nice size checks after doing most if not all of my Christmas shopping online and whenever possible, through Ebates links.
Sometimes the cash doesn’t get credited to your account because of some kind of cookie error, in which case you fill out a form on Ebates customer service page and the issue is resolved. I had a lot of cash back missing from a particular retailer and it had been several months. So I contacted Ebates and within a couple days they had credited it all to my account.
While Ebates is a great little bonus for buying things you already need or want, it is certainly not an excuse to purchase things you don’t need or can’t afford. But if you can control yourself and aren’t tempted by every great deal out there, Ebates can be a great way to save money and time.
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