My Ebates Review…. Should You Use it?

If you have been on the internet for any length of time, I am sure you have seen or read somewhere about Ebates. This time of year they are also really beginning to make sure everyone knows about it because the holiday shopping period is coming up fast! I find myself listening to the commercials and thinking….”really?” When I see the women coming across the screen and saying things like “I just received my check from Ebates for $900.00!” And I am thinking holy cow you shop a lot!!!!!

But even if you only occasionally shop online, there is a really good chance that where you are shopping is an affiliate of Ebates, and you might be able to get a little bit of your money back later on. If you have never heard of Ebates, or wondered what all of the hype is, let me explain to you what Ebates is all about.

 

What Is Ebates?

Ebates is a company that has outdone itself in the area of affiliate marketing. Ebates is an affiliate of over 1700 different companies, and once you sign up for their program, you will get money back on purchases you make by going through their portal to your favorite online marketplace. It does not cost you anything to sign up, and after you make your first purchase, you also get a gift card to a store that you get to choose! At the time of writing this, the choices for your $10 gift card are to places like Walmart, Target, Home Depot, Macy’s, Amazon, and many other stores. You get the gift card in the mail after you make your first purchase over $25.00. Yes, you will have to spend money to get the gift card, but if you are shopping online anyways, why not? Not only will you get a gift card, but you can also earn money back on the items you buy online.

So I decided to sign up, and give it a try. I did this last year at Christmas shopping time, and I am glad I did it, because I got a nice surprise a few months later when the Christmas shopping season was long over. It wasn’t a huge amount of money, but it was nice to get a little something back after the holidays.

There aren’t many tack shops, but I can usually find every day items especially at places like Walmart, Amazon and Home Depot (especially when I am buying wood to build jumps and stuff!)

The most challenging part of this is remembering to go to Ebates, or install the plug in they have. You can get a button installed on your browser bar, it is pretty small, and you simply click the “E” and start your shopping trip through their portal.

Once you have done it  a few times and actually see you have earned some cash back on your purchase, it gets a lot easier to remember! And once you have accumulated earnings, they will send you a check, or you can get it sent to a PayPal account if you have one, but I like getting a check, it’s like extra money! They will send out a check, or credit your PayPal account 4 times a year, so depending on how creative you get, and diligent you are, you could get a nice little bonus 4 times a year. I try really hard to remember to sign in, but I find that I am most likely to remember to sign in when I start doing my holiday shopping for my family. But I am really trying to remember every time I shop, so I can get a little extra money back later on!

Another added bonus of Ebates is they will send you email’s to alert you to deals, and potential savings you could get by shopping through their portal. Yes, you will get e-mails in your inbox, but if you can save money, isn’t that worth it? I think so! The emails they send are not enough to overload you inbox, and you could have opportunities to save even more money on something you were already planning on purchasing, so why not give it a try? And if you don’t like getting the emails, you can have it sent to your promotions tab, so you don’t have to look at it, unless you want to.

If you are anything like me, saving money when shopping causes a moment of euphoria, and a feeling of triumph. Not only did I find a great deal on something that I needed, but I am also getting cash back on my purchase.  For example, we needed to replace a window, and were planning on doing it ourselves. So I went to Ebates, and in the search bar typed in Home Depot. It then will bring up a list showing you the percentage back you can get from Home Depot. And then below that will show any coupons that are available as well. Unfortunately there were not any coupons for the window I wanted to purchase, but I did get 1% cash back (or will, when the next check comes along.) on my total purchase. And after I placed my order, I was able to pick it up at my local store. So I will get back $1.81 from a purchase that I was going to make anyways, regardless of Ebates or not, so why not use their portal, and get a little bit of your money back?

The Good and Not so Good

Sometimes you have to weigh the pros and cons. If you were planning on purchasing something, and you can get 2,3 or even 4% back it kind of sweetens the deal.  I shop on Amazon a lot and I can usually only get 1% back, but hey, 1% is 1%, so why not?

Over time, the purchases you make do add up. This is regardless if you use Ebates or not, so why not use their portal to do your shopping, and get a little bit of that money back? You can also use this as a tool to help you keep track of your spending. Because not only will you see how much money you are getting back, but you can also keep track of what you have purchased. You can use this information to help you in your own goals to watch what you are spending, and if you are making good decisions with your purchases.

Ebates… Should You Use It?

If you haven’t been able to tell, I am a fan of Ebates.  If I can get a little bit of my money back, instead of paying out more, I am all for it. Ebates is 100% free, there is no membership, no cost involved in any way. And if you do sign up through the link I have provided below, I do get a little bit of something  from Ebates, as an affiliate. It may not save you thousands of dollars, unless you really like to shop, but it will save you a couple of dollars. And my husband is always telling me “If you watch your pennies, the dollars take care of themselves.”

If you haven’t signed up yet, click here to get signed up today!

Have you tried Ebates? What did you think?