Online Shopping: I Can Earn CashBack?!? Yep!!! (on top of your credit card cashback program)

Several deals I have posted recently have mentioned the websites "Shop At Home" and "Ebates". These are two online Cash Back sites that offer online shoppers coupons and cash-back if you shop at your favorite retailers through their site. You might be wondering, how in the world does that work? What does it cost me?


Create an Account with Ebates or Shop At Home. Both sites offer a $5 incentive* automatically offered to new customers. And membership is completely free (Shop At Home also has a huge online printable coupon database).


Shop at the online stores you already purchase from regularly. Both Ebates and Shop At Home have hundreds and hundreds of stores to choose from. They have everything from normal stores (like Sears, JCPenneys, Kohls, etc...) to stores I have never heard of. By the store's name, you will see the percentage (as well as any available online coupons that store is offering that you could use) that is available for cashback, usually between 3%-10%, but it changes regularly, so sometimes there is a "sale" for 10%-50% cashback for certain stores!


Earn Cash Back by signing in to your account, then clicking on the store you want to make a purchase from. It will redirect you from the Shop At Home or Ebates website, to that particular store's website. As it opens the new window, it will tell you it opened a "shopping ticket" or "tracking number". Make sure you stay in that window so you get credit if you make a purchase.


Make your purchase from the store. You still buy directly from that retailer, you don't pay Shop At Home or Ebates. Once the purchase has been confirmed by Shop At Home or Ebates, your account will be credited.


You will receive a check or PayPal credit (your choice). For Ebates, you have to have $5.01 in your account to receive a check. Ebates sends out their checks quarterly (every three months). Shop At Home sends out their checks monthly, but you have to have $20 accumulated. I recommend signing up for both, because each site varies in their offers (like last week my husband and I purchased a deep freezer from Sears and earned 10% cashback from Shop At Home! Ebates was only 4%)


While this isn't immediate cash in hand, you will start seeing checks coming in small amounts for purchases you already make on a regular basis, and as we all learn to live more frugally, every dollar really counts! The best part? All of this is free. We all do online shopping anyway, so why not find ways to save even a little more (on top of already earning cashback on our credit cards)?


A current great deal? 35% Cash Back on the 2011 Entertainment Book!


*Shop At Home and Ebates both have a "Tell-A-Friend" program that offers both $5 to the friend who signs up (you) and the friend who refers them (me). It's a great way to not only save money, save your friends money, but also earn a little back. Once you've signed up, refer your friends and family, too! I have posted my referral link in this blog, so if you feel uncomfortable with being a referral, you can go directly to the Shop At Home or Ebates website personally.