If nothing bothers you more than paying full price on an item… if you find yourself constantly scouring for coupons… if you know you are the first in line at the rebate counter… if you like to save money when possible… if you find yourself doing a lot of shopping… then you definitely will want to hear this Ebates review!
* Affiliate links are included in this post. All this means, is that if you click on one of those links and purchase something, I may receive a small commission. However, you will not pay a penny more- promise!
Each year I find myself shopping online more and more. Perhaps it is having children and consequently finding very little time to head to the store. Perhaps it is because there always seems to a plethora of online sales from which to choose. Or perhaps more than anything, it is because of the incredible convenience—limited risk of the item being out of stock (online stores are able to keep a larger inventory), shipping directly to my front door (and often for FREE!), and because I can do the entire thing while sitting in my PJs and enjoying a glass of wine—score!
However, despite my love for online shopping growing each and every year, it didn’t fully beat out in-store shopping until I discovered this one little thing. Drumroll please…
… EBATES!
Here is my honest Ebates Review
If you have never heard of Ebates then I promise this is going to be a game changer for you! However, on the flip side, perhaps you are reading this and thinking “I’ve already heard of Ebates and I highly doubt it is worth spending my precious time on.” If you are best summed up by the latter, then please stick with me here because I am willing to bet your views may be a bit skewed and may change after this Ebates review. How do I know this? Because Ebates is 100% NOT something you have to “waste your precious time on”. On the contrary, after a few quick and painless steps in setting up an account, it is a set-it-and-forget-it (oh, and make money along the way!!) type of thing. Let me explain…
What is Ebates?
Ebates is a website that allows you to shop online; (as you would usually) however, this time you receive money back on your purchases. For example, say I want to do some holiday gift shopping from Old Navy. I simply click on the link via the Ebates page and do my shopping as usual (the only additional step is that I clicked on the Ebates link). Now this time, after I purchase I get a certain percentage of money put back into my account (a rebate of sorts but without having to fill out a form or mail in the paperwork)!
You may be thinking this is too good to be true. I get that, as I (at first) thought the same. However, I’m here to tell you in this Ebates Review that it is not. The way this works is that Ebates receives an affiliate fee (i.e. referrer fee) from each store that they are contracted through (stores that you would have been shopping at anyway). When you click on the store link via Ebates and make a purchase, it ends up triggering Ebates to get a “referrer/affiliate” commission. Ebates, in turn, then decides to split that commission with you in the form of cash back into your account. Brilliant, right?! (Why didn’t I think of that?!) An added bonus is that Ebates is currently offering a “$10 cashback welcome bonus” when you spend $25 (on shopping you would have done anyway) within a 3-month window.
Which online stores can I shop at?
While it is true that Ebates does not have a partnership with every store out there, I’m willing to bet that they are partnered with the majority of stores with which you already shop. In fact, the last I checked they were associated with over 2,000 stores! Major ones that I tend to use include: Wal-Mart, Old Navy, Amazon, Home Depot, Kohl’s, Barnes & Noble, Macy’s, Home Shopping Network, Toys R’ Us, Under Armour, Disney, Lego, Ugg, Shutterfly, etc.
Does Ebates work on flights, hotels, etc.?
It does! I was shocked to find during my Ebates review that Ebates has numerous connections with flights, cars, and hotels. How great would it be to get a certain percentage back on your larger purchases like booking flights and hotel rooms?!
What if I don’t do a lot of online shopping? Can Ebates work in an actual store?
This was another shocker for me. Ebates is clearly for online shopping only, right? Wrong! As it turns out, once you set up an Ebates account you can simply link your credit card or debit card to the account. From then on, whenever you go into an actual store that is associated with the “Ebates in-store program” and use that linked credit/debit card, then you start earning money back on those qualifying purchases. (Note: while not ALL stores that are linked to Ebates online have this in-store option, several do like: American Eagle, Macy’s, Petco, Bed, Bath & Beyond, etc. A quick Ebates review will find you MANY more!)
Okay, I’ll sign up (if it will be quick), but then how will it work?
I’ll walk you through sign-up below… it is super quick… promise! While you may not want to take my word for it, I can tell you that as a super busy mom you won’t find me wasting my time signing up or using a product that isn’t going to benefit me in one way or another. And THIS product (a.k.a Ebates!) is something that I use EVERY single time I shop!
Simply click here. Once you are taken to the page, click on the green button “JOIN HERE” in the upper right-hand corner. Now you can enter in your name and email address and BOOM you are signed up. Super quick, right?!
Now, every time you do any shopping online first go back to this link here/Ebates, find your store for shopping, and make your purchase. Congratulations, you just earned money back! Oh, and don’t forget!! You get a “$10 cashback welcome bonus” when you spend your first $25 in shopping.
Worried you may not remember to go to the Ebates page before every time you purchase? That was me too. While I loved the concept, I often found myself forgetting to make my purchase through the Ebates link and after entering payment I realized I just lost out on a ton of money. Or perhaps you know you won’t forget, but you just don’t want to take the time to go to Ebates and check if a store is associated before your purchase (I get it, time is valuable!). Well as it turns out, I found another game changer during my Ebates review!
I installed the “Ebates Cash Back Button” in my browser and now I NEVER forget AND I don’t have to go through the hassle of checking that a store is linked (although it really is no hassle ;)). This easy install is done with a click of a button. Now, every time that I visit a store that is associated with Ebates, a green bar pops up on my browser and shows me exactly how much money I’ll earn. Furthermore, when I make the purchase it automatically puts the earned money in my account. No logging into Ebates, no remembering to go the website, no extra hassle… I shop as usual and without doing anything extra the money is put into my account!
What percentage of each purchase will I earn back?
You will find that each store has a different percentage of cash back being offered. Furthermore, you will learn that these percentages will vary over time and with different sales. Ebates does a great job of keeping you informed about the shops you value most. For example, big Kohl’s fan here and just today I received an email from Ebates that when making an online purchase, not only will I receive the “Friends and Family 20% off” promotion that Kohl’s is offering, but I will also receive an additional 3% cash back for having an Ebates account.
Now that you are all signed up for Ebates… change into those PJs, poor yourself a glass of wine and get to online shopping! Have any questions about this Ebates review? Comment below and I will do my best to reply!
Happy shopping!!
