At tonight’s Super-Couponing workshop in Darien, attendees were asking about Ebates. If you’ve never used Ebates, it’s easy – and indeed, it does pay you back for shopping! If you’re not familiar with how to use Ebates, here’s a quick overview.
First, if you don’t have an Ebates account, create one online. It’s free! This is a great time to sign up too, because you’ll also get a FREE $10 gift card to the store of your choice once you make your first purchase of $25 or more through Ebates.
Once you’re signed up, any normal shopping you do online, at any of Ebates’ 1500 participating online retailers, will earn you cash back! But here’s what you need to remember – you MUST log into Ebates FIRST, then select your online store. If you don’t do this, Ebates can’t track your purchase and award your cash-back bonus.
Pretty much every major department store online participates in Ebates – Kohls, JC Penney, Macy’s, Target and more – even shopping site you might not think of too, like Ebay! I’ve gotten into the habit of logging into Ebates before I look to buy anything online, because so many stores participate in Ebates.
So, come along with me and I’ll show you how it works! Recently I wanted to buy something from Radio Shack. First, I logged in to Ebates:
Then, I went to the “Shop All Stores” link at the top left side of the page. I clicked on “R” to bring up the stores that begin with R:
There’s Radio Shack – and today I’ll get 5% cash back for shopping there. When I click Radio Shack, Ebates pops up a message that it’s tracking the purchase I’ll make, and then it sends me to Radio Shack’s website.
From here, I can shop as I normally would. But any purchases I make will earn me 5%. And you know I’m going to want to get 5% cash-back bonus on this!
The cash-back bonus is usually posted to your Ebates account anywhere from 2 to 30 days after you shop. If you forget to shop through Ebates, you cannot get the cash-back bonus, so remember to log in first before you shop online. If you switch stores, you will also need to go back to Ebates, then search for the next site (if I decide to shop at Jelly Belly next, I’ll go back to Ebates, sort by the “J’s”, and choose that store) so it can credit my cash back bonus again.
That’s it! Ebates cash-back bonuses are issued quarterly via a check mailed to your home, or you can choose to receive the cash via Paypal. With all of the online shopping we’re likely to do this season, this is a great way to save yourself even more money. It’s fun when those bonus Ebates checks show up in the mail too! Happy Shopping!
TeeKay1972 says
I have been using ebates for about 18 months it is great… Stores like Kohls still let you use coupons and all their regular promo codes. Also many stores like Sears, Best Buy, Container Store, Office Depot offer shop online/pick up in store options – some even the same day. This eliminates shipping costs or if you need something spur of the moment you can still get the ebate. this was great when I had a BBQ planned and we needed to replace our grill at the last minute.
Some sites are only 1 or 2% back, others are really great 123INkjets which sells your printer ink cartridges much cheaper than the stores to begin with offers like 16% (and today they are the daily double so 32% back) Also I have found huge rebates on Entertainment Coupon Books and from Magazines.com.
It really is as simple as Jill said with no hidden gimmicks. The only thing that may be deceiving is if you have seen their TV commercials. People in them claim to have gotten two or three thousand dollars back in a year. I am not saying it is not possible but in my math you would have to spend around $40,000 a year to get that much back. I do a fair amount of shopping, last year I had foot surgery all our holiday purchases were online and pretty much any other gifts or household needs for the year. I always went to EBATES first. Last year besides regular gifts, clothes and household goods I bought a laptop, BBQ Grill, Vacuum and for the 18 months I have used ebates my total cash back as been around $650.