I have made over $500 in the past year by shopping online, buying items I needed anyway…and today, I want to share with you HOW I did it!
With 2 toddlers, life is crazy. Yes, I am home now, but trust me- it doesn’t make it less crazy! HA. I honestly rarely go into an actual storefront, unless I have to, because all of the things I need can be bought online {even groceries- which I haven’t started yet, but I think it would be awesome}. I have realized that by shopping online, you can find crazy good deals, and many places even allow you to stack coupons and offer free shipping codes, if you just take a little time to find them. I can’t even tell you how much money I have saved by doing a little research and buying things online {decor, clothes, etc…}.
With Christmas shopping in full swing for a lot of people, I felt it was a great time to share THE BIGGEST game changer for online shopping that I found about 1.5 years ago. I have told no telling how many people about it. {I can tell you one thing- if I love something, you will know it because I will tell everyone. Same goes with a good deal. When I came back from my trip to Maine a few years ago, all I could talk about was blueberry pie. I ate my weight in it while I was there, and the ladies I worked with said I made them think they truly needed some for themselves because of how much I went on about it!} But, back to the biggest game changer for my online shopping…. It is called EBATES. Have you heard of it? Actually, you probably have. I had heard about it for a long time, but I never paid any attention. I had seen commercials, and while it peaked my interest, I felt like there was some “catch” and I never looked into it. Boy was I wrong.
One day, my mom called me and said, “I found something that I know you will love. It is right up your alley” She went on to tell me about Ebates, and I signed up that day through her referral link. There is a sign on bonus, which may change periodically {I am truly not sure}. When I signed up, I was able to choose a $5 sign on bonus. It could be cash or a gift card to different places. I chose cash. It went towards my first check.
What is Ebates and How does it work??
In a nutshell, Ebates is a site that promotes deals for thousands of online stores and gives you cash back for going to those stores through their site. You can search for practically ANY store that you like to shop, and it will pull up all of the online deals/codes that it has for that store- PLUS it will tell you how much cash back you can get back by shopping at that store that day. When you click on the store from the Ebates site, it opens a “shopping trip” and keeps track of what you buy from that store during that visit and gives you that amount of cash back for your purchase. Example: If I knew I wanted to buy some Christmas gifts from Kohls {one of my FAVES}, I would go to Ebates and find Kohls, see what the cash back is {just out of curiosity- honestly, anything is better than nothing}, click on it, shop like normal, make my purchase and MAKE MONEY. Let’s say the cash back was 10%- which it sometimes is- and you made a $200 purchase of Christmas gifts for family. You will get $20 credited to your Ebates account. YES, seriously. It truly is that easy.
Here is a snapshot of just a few of the thousands of stores and their cashback today (they change daily). Do you notice that JCPenney is at 12% cashback?? Holy cow. That’s a good one, if you need anything from there.
You get paid every 3 months, and let me tell you- it adds up! Since I started on Ebates, I have made over $500- and it would have been much more, but I have to be honest, there have been some times that I have forgotten to go through Ebates for a purchase- and that makes me soooo mad. Some of that was through shopping, and some of that was through telling my friends about it and getting some referrals. Easiest money ever. Anytime I know that I have a big purchase to make, the first thing I do is look on Ebates to find the store and go that way. I have bought home decor, kid’s clothes, LOTS of Christmas gifts, and anything expensive that I possibly can. Sometimes I only make a few cents, but other times it has been as much as $40 for one purchase. WHY WOULD I NOT USE THIS? It is free money, friends!!! Who doesn’t like free money? I swear to you- whether I get your referral or not- you need to be doing this if you like shopping online. Yes, if you sign up through my link, I get your referral for telling you about it- but even if I didn’t get that, I would write this post 1000x again just so that you wouldn’t miss out. And if I forgot to mention it, It is FREE. Absolutely no fees whatsoever, upfront or monthly.
Why would Ebates pay me to shop through their site?
At first, I was a little apprehensive because I couldn ‘t understand why Ebates would be paying me to shop, but once I researched and started using it and understanding it, it made perfect sense. Ebates receives a kick back from the stores that it promotes each time that they refer a sale, and they give a percentage of that to YOU and ME! This is nothing “fishy”. It has been around for years, and people have made a ton of money by using it. Like I said, I have made over $500. Here is a screen shot of my account so that you can see for yourself. I chose a month that I had a lot of transactions {I had Christmas money to spend! haha} so that could see how it works better. In the top right, you can see my money I have made so far to date.
So, there you go- a look directly at my account. Totally legit and worth the extra 10 seconds it takes to log in on Ebates before going to your favorite store. The key is not forgetting to log in there before shopping! I have left so much money on the table because I have forgotten, and I am the biggest advocate ever…and I still forget sometimes. One time I forgot to log on, and I made a purchase that would have given me over $20 in cash back. I was kicking myself. I could have bought a cute shirt or piece of decor for my home with that 20 bucks, dang it! As you can see in my screenshot, you can add the Ebates cash back button on Chrome so that you never miss out- and I did that. Every little bit counts, and I certainly don’t want to miss out!
What are you waiting for? Sign up NOW and get started making money! You know you will be buying lots of Christmas gifts online. Get cash back and buy something for YOU! (Sign up below to get started!)
**Yes, I do receive a small compensation for your referral, but that does not play any role in my passion about this website. I just truly have made money by doing nothing but shopping at my favorite stores, and I wanted you to know. You can use my referral link or you can sign up on your own. It doesn’t matter to me, but just please don’t leave FREE money out there! It just doesn’t make sense :)**
**Adding this because I JUST found out from a reader that Ebates ALSO WORKS IN STORE! I did not know this! This sweetens the deal even more. I am so glad she shared this with me and I could pass it along to you!
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Last Updated on September 27, 2016
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