How Do You Shop Online?

By Sun on Oct 12, 2006 in Shopping
Post viewed 264 times, 1 so far today

Do you go straight to the site or through a middle man?

If the former is your choice, you probably missed some big cashbacks you could have earned on top of what your credit cards offer. There tons of sites offer cashback programs by shopping through them. You already spend the money, why not get some back?

I have joined both Upromise and BabyMint, two sites that aim at saving for college while shopping. Every time I shop online, I will go to these two sites and check their respective cashback offerings. All the major retailers are listed on both sites, but the cashback percentages are different. Of course, I always go with the higher one.

If I can’t find the merchant on either Upromise or BabyMint, I will then go to Ebates, which has a larger selection. For some sites, Ebates offers very attractive cashback, more than 10%. But those sites are not considered as big player, in my opinion.

It seems that small stores tend to offer big cashbacks. However, cashback offers shouldn’t be the only factor when you consider which store to go. If a big name offers a competitive price for the same item, I will go with the big name, even with a lower cashback rate. I need to feel comfortable with the site before placing any order.

If, on the other hand, you wants to donate the cashbacks that you could earn to charity instead of collecting them, iGive is a good place to start. When I first regirstered at iGive, I didn't find the organization, March of Dimes, I wan to donate, but the site let me add it to their list and make it the recipient of my donation.

One exception. Amazon is not affliated with any site I mentioned.

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3 Comment(s)

Chuck | Oct 12, 2006 | Reply

I usually use evreward.com which compares all the cashback programs for a particular merchant to see who gives the biggest discount. My “default” program though if everything is the same is FatCash.
The Sun | Oct 13, 2006 | Reply

Hi Chuck:

The website you mentioned is very interesting. Why I didn’t know it before? Anyway, my only concern is that I may have to register at every site that gives higher cashback to use them and I have no idea how good they are. If the difference is small like 1%, I may choose to go to the reliable ones.
Rebecca | Oct 24, 2006 | Reply

Hi there!

I’m Rebecca, the blogger at Ebates. I’m glad that you’ve had a good Ebates experience! I wonder if you’d like to add our blog to your blogroll. The URL is http://blog.ebates.com. Of course, I’ll do the same.

Thanks!