I've decided to start a Back-to-School series since we are rapidly approaching that dreaded time of year once again. So, to get things started here's a look at something I thought you've just gotta know about before diving into your back to school shopping routine. At the end there should be some really great links for coupons and other amazing things so keep a look out!
There I was just scrolling through Instagram one day a couple of months ago when I see this...
There I was just scrolling through Instagram one day a couple of months ago when I see this...
In case you can't see, boys and girls, that's a lovely little check for almost $600! Definitely worthy of "amazing" and "omg!" in my opinion.
After reading the description and finding out that she actually earned this check by shopping online through a website called Ebates I thought, "Oh well, I could never get as lucky to have something like that happen to me" and went on about my day.
It wasn't until a few weeks later when I was shopping around online that I thought about the site again and decided to check it out for myself.
I was shocked by how many stores (or sites really) participated in the partnership with Ebates.
See, Ebates pairs up with these sites to sort of advertise for them and even offer coupons directly from their site in and in exchange for moving costumer's toward the store's site the store actually gives Ebates a percentage of the money from your purchase. Ebates, being the kind folk that they are, then just returns that percentage to you!
How cool is that?
If you've been around here a bit longer than a minute than you might be able to guess that some of my favorite sites to shop on involve beauty products and clothing...shocking, right?
Well, that can be a bit of a drain on the bank account but getting a bit of that money back makes things far less painful.
So, you now know how Ebates gets the money now let's talk about how the money gets to you. Once you got to Ebates, pick the store you want to shop on, activate Cash Back (all that involves is clicking the pop up that comes at the to of the screen), and make your purchase you will see that your little (or big) shopping trip has been recorded in your Ebates account.
After a couple of days you'll see that that shopping trip has now turned into Cash Back!
My first experience with Ebates was great. After signing up I added the Ebates extension to Google Chrome so that I would be alerted every time I was on a site that worked with Ebates. So there I was renewing my subscription to Microsoft Office when the little pop up alerted me that I could activate Cash Back prior to checking out, so I did.
I only purchased a month's worth of Office access which came out to around $7, a few days later I noticed that my Ebates account said that my purchase had qualified me for $10 back. That's right. I made $3 just from shopping online.
Not bad.
Since I had made my first purchase through the site Ebates went on to inform me that I was eligible for a $10 gift card to a store of my choosing (they gave me like 3 options I think) so I picked a Walmart gift card because those suckers are always handy.
After making another purchase worthy of $10 back the quarter was up and I was sent my Big Fat Check AND my gift card.
All in all, I made $30 extra bucks from 2 online shopping ventures that cost me less than $10 each.
I'll say it again...not bad.
Ebates breaks the year into quarters meaning that if you're a frequent Ebates user you could see a Big Fat Check every 3 months. However, if you're like me and trying to save up your cash like crazy you might see that you're Cash Back rewards are pretty low. That's okay, if your rewards amount to less than $5.01 then Ebates will just roll that money over to your next check. No worries.
Another awesome thing about Ebates? You can choose 3 different forms of payment...the Big Fat Check through the mail, PayPal, or if you're an incredibly generous soul you can even have your check sent to a family member or a charity organization. Pretty sweet if you ask me.
If you're not convinced enough then let me show you just how much cash you can get back from stores you know you love
Apple Store - 3% Cash Back
Forever 21 - 4% Cash Back
Sephora & ULTA - 4% Cash Back
American Eagle - 5.3% back on jeans, 4% everything else
Gap - 8% Cash Back
TOMS - 10% Cash Back + a really great coupon code
Proactiv+ - 30% Cash Back
I was shocked by how many stores (or sites really) participated in the partnership with Ebates.
See, Ebates pairs up with these sites to sort of advertise for them and even offer coupons directly from their site in and in exchange for moving costumer's toward the store's site the store actually gives Ebates a percentage of the money from your purchase. Ebates, being the kind folk that they are, then just returns that percentage to you!
How cool is that?
If you've been around here a bit longer than a minute than you might be able to guess that some of my favorite sites to shop on involve beauty products and clothing...shocking, right?
Well, that can be a bit of a drain on the bank account but getting a bit of that money back makes things far less painful.
So, you now know how Ebates gets the money now let's talk about how the money gets to you. Once you got to Ebates, pick the store you want to shop on, activate Cash Back (all that involves is clicking the pop up that comes at the to of the screen), and make your purchase you will see that your little (or big) shopping trip has been recorded in your Ebates account.
After a couple of days you'll see that that shopping trip has now turned into Cash Back!
My first experience with Ebates was great. After signing up I added the Ebates extension to Google Chrome so that I would be alerted every time I was on a site that worked with Ebates. So there I was renewing my subscription to Microsoft Office when the little pop up alerted me that I could activate Cash Back prior to checking out, so I did. I only purchased a month's worth of Office access which came out to around $7, a few days later I noticed that my Ebates account said that my purchase had qualified me for $10 back. That's right. I made $3 just from shopping online.
Not bad.
Since I had made my first purchase through the site Ebates went on to inform me that I was eligible for a $10 gift card to a store of my choosing (they gave me like 3 options I think) so I picked a Walmart gift card because those suckers are always handy.
After making another purchase worthy of $10 back the quarter was up and I was sent my Big Fat Check AND my gift card.
All in all, I made $30 extra bucks from 2 online shopping ventures that cost me less than $10 each.
I'll say it again...not bad.
Ebates breaks the year into quarters meaning that if you're a frequent Ebates user you could see a Big Fat Check every 3 months. However, if you're like me and trying to save up your cash like crazy you might see that you're Cash Back rewards are pretty low. That's okay, if your rewards amount to less than $5.01 then Ebates will just roll that money over to your next check. No worries.
Another awesome thing about Ebates? You can choose 3 different forms of payment...the Big Fat Check through the mail, PayPal, or if you're an incredibly generous soul you can even have your check sent to a family member or a charity organization. Pretty sweet if you ask me.
If you're not convinced enough then let me show you just how much cash you can get back from stores you know you love
Apple Store - 3% Cash Back
Forever 21 - 4% Cash Back
Sephora & ULTA - 4% Cash Back
American Eagle - 5.3% back on jeans, 4% everything else
Gap - 8% Cash Back
TOMS - 10% Cash Back + a really great coupon code
Proactiv+ - 30% Cash Back
This is just a small portion of the sites available to shop from Ebates but when you think about it that's some serious Cash Back on all your Back-to-School needs.
If you're finally on board and you just can't wait to get your hands on one of those Big Fat Checks then I highly suggest you click the link below to sign up to Ebates immediately...it's definitely worth it.
I hope you've enjoyed this look at the awesomeness that is Ebates.
Leave me a comment below letting me know what you think of the site and if you signed up.
until next time,
xo
Merisa
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