Ebates - Get rebates for shopping online!

I have mentioned Ebates on here before (back last October I believe), but it had been awhile and I know there are some new readers here so I thought I'd make a quick post mentioning it again. 

If you're like me, you do a lot of shopping online...probably 90% of your purchases. Now, wouldn't it be nice if you got money back (usually a small percentage like 3% or so, sometimes more) for shopping you were doing anyways? I used the Ebates service for my Christmas shopping this past year and I just got my rebate check last week. I got almost $50 back on gift purchases I made online shopping through Ebates. They have tons of stores, everything from Target to Sephora, and West Elm to The Gap. I always check Ebates before I purchase anything online.

More information directly from the Ebates site:

Ebates is the pioneer and leader of online Cash Back Shopping. The company was founded in 1998 by two Deputy District Attorneys in Silicon Valley who used to prosecute online fraud & identity theft before starting Ebates (so you can be sure we are very into secure online transactions!). So go ahead, sign up and start shopping now. Joining Ebates is always free - you'll never pay us anything. And four times a year or more, we'll mail you a Big Fat Check, or transfer the money to your PayPal account if you'd prefer. We can even send the money to your favorite charity. All 100% free.

People often ask: "This sounds too good to be true, how are you able to do it?" It really is quite simple. Just like almost every other online shopping center, we get a commission from the stores when you make a purchase. Instead of keeping that money - like almost all other sites do - we share it with you!

So, as long as 900+ of the world's top online stores are happy to pay a bonus to attract the new, valuable customers we send their way, Ebates is going to continue to send Big Fat Checks to our satisfied customers across the globe.

Click here to see more FAQs.

If you are interested in signing up, please click HERE to do so. You'll get a $5 bonus for signing up after you make your first purchase through Ebates, and I will too! Please note: You will only receive your bonus if you actually use the service, see below for more information on how much cash back is required to get your check (they can also deposit it directly to your Paypal acct. if you prefer!)

A quick tip from the Ebates FAQ section:

We want to make sure there is enough "Fat" in your Big Fat Check. Bonus Rewards do not count toward the $5.01 minimum. The term “Bonus Rewards” includes monies earned as a Sign-up Reward or Tell-A-Friend Bonus.  

So if you already signed up awhile ago and you're wondering why you haven't received a check, it's either because you haven't used the service at all ...or you just haven't reached your $5.01 in rebates. If you do have the $5.01 in rebates and didn't get a check in Feb...double check, you may not have reached the qualifying amount by the cut off (Dec. 31st) for the Feb. checks. If that's the case, you should get a check the next time they issue them (I believe it's in May).

Another tip, sometimes when I'm shopping online I'll put stuff in my cart and then remember that I should check out through Ebates. (Maybe some of you click links through this site and don't want to click out of your window, go to Ebates, and then search through the site to find the item you're wanting..?) Most of the time if you put stuff in your cart on a site, you can close out of the window and your items will be saved in the cart. It makes it super easy for you to just go to Ebates.com, click on the store and when it opens in the new window - your items are usually still sitting in your cart ready for you to check out (and this time get the cash back!!).

Sorry for the lengthy post, but again, if you are interested - please sign up by clicking HERE. Your wallet will thank you!!