Ebates Archives - Philly on the Cheap

Earn Free Money Cash Back on Holiday Shopping

Posted by Leah Ingram Shopping Comments Off

Dec 182012

I prefer to do my holiday shopping locally, which is why you would have found me out buying gifts in Bucks County last Friday night. I purchased gift cards to local shops, bottles of locally made olive oil, and shopping bags full of toys from a year-old toy store with locations in New Hope and Frenchtown, New Jersey.

Sometimes, though, what you want to get you can’t get in the corner shop. For example, magazine subscriptions. You have no choice but to call a toll-free number or to order them online.

Which is why I recently had to go online and purchase a magazine subscription for one of the people on my gift list. But I didn’t go to the magazine’s website to make my order. I started my shopping at Ebates, the online portal where you’ll get cash back for a percentage of your purchase.

I ended up finding a great deal on subscriptions, via Ebates, on Magazines.com. And in that single Christmas present purchase, I earned $30 cash back.

Here is what I’ve written about Ebates in the past:

Most commonly I will shop through Ebates.com. In the past few months I have purchased skincare products, shoes, and big-and-tall shirts for my husband via links on Ebates.com. Thanks to those purchases I’ve had more than $50 deposited in my PayPal account as my cash back.

Actually, since writing that post in July, I’ve done more online shopping through Ebates. And as of today my total cash back in 2012 is $183.02–for purchases I was going to make anyway! And that doesn’t yet include the aforementioned $30 cash back, since Ebates deposits the cash back free money in your PayPal account quarterly and I received my last “payment” in November.

My only “complaint” about Ebates? Not every site where I like to shop online participates. For example, Zappos isn’t on there, and only certain categories of Amazon.com qualify for cash back. And clearly if you want to shop locally, you likely won’t find the little guys on Ebates.

However, if you like this idea of earning free cash back when shopping online, I have included an Ebates widget at the top of this post to help you see current cash back offers and to make it easier to shop on the site.

Full disclosure: Ebates does share a little bit of money with me if you click through to the site and shop.

Philly-Area Entertainment Books on Sale Today!

Posted by Leah Ingram Shopping Comments Off

Nov 262012

Shopping online today like the rest of the world on Cyber Monday? Well, if you’ve been thinking about picking up Entertainment Books for yourself or people on your gift list who live in the Philly area or elsewhere in North America, now is the time to do it–and do it through Ebates, the cash back site I’ve been telling you about.

For starters, from November 26-29, Entertainment Books are on sale for $25–they are normally $35–with free shipping.

Then, today, Cyber Monday, Ebates is giving you 50% Cash Back on your purchase to your Ebates account. (You may recall my writing about my success with Ebates in a recent “Deals of the Week” column for Next Avenue.) That means that if you get the $25 Entertainment Book deal, you’ll get $12.50 credited back to you.

You can find Entertainment Books for dozens of cities across the country and in Canada, too. As far as the Philly area, here are your options:

So let’s recap:

You can save $10 on each Entertainment Book purchase.
You can have those Entertainment Books shipped to you for free.
You can earn 50% cash back–or $12.50–by purchasing your Entertainment Books through my Ebates links here.

Sounds like a great deal to me!

Get 13% Cash Back at Ebates

Posted by Leah Ingram Deals, Discounts Comments Off

May 142012

When you shop online, do you shop through a portal that pays you to start your shopping there? If not, you should be. My favorite shopping portal right now is Ebates.

Since 2010, whenever I need to buy anything online, I’ve logged onto Ebates.com first, and then continue on to the site where I’m going to shop. Why? Because Ebates gives a percentage back to you when you make your purchase. Sometimes the percentage is measly–2% or 3%–but it can add up. In the past year Ebates has deposited close to $180 in my PayPal account, just from the shopping I was going to do anyway online. This shopping included buying holiday gifts for all of my business clients as well as a bridal shower gift for my engaged cousin.

Today happens to be Ebates 13th birthday, and for today only you can get 13% back when you shop online, through Ebates today only, at hundreds of different online retailers–ranging from Avon to Weight Watchers.

Ebates also rewards me for referring my readers to its site, with a small commission. Even so, I would share these cash back deals with you, because, first and foremost, I’m a happy and satisfied Ebates customer.

(Thanks Houston on the Cheap for the heads up on this Ebates deal.)

Hey, Philly: Free Shipping Day is Tomorrow

Posted by Leah Ingram Freebie Comments Off

Dec 152011

Free Shipping Day is tomorrow. Are you going to be taking advantage of it?

While I love the notion of supporting my local merchants when buying gifts–for example, I’m buying all my books that I’m giving for gifts at the local bookstore in my little town–sometimes I need to buy something online.

Thankfully, I’m all done with my online shopping, and I did all of it going through the Ebates shopping portal–except for Zappos.com, which does not participate in Ebates. Hello, Zappos? Could you change that please? (I have hard-to-fit feet, and Zappos and Nordstrom are the only retailers that stock the shoe brand that best fits my feet.)

Anyway, going through Ebates means that I earned cash back for all of the purchases I was going to make anyway. In fact, as of today, I’ve earned nearly $31 for doing my online holiday shopping through Ebates.

Now I realize that $31 isn’t get-rich money. But $31 will buy me almost 10 gallons of milk–or more than a month’s worth–or about 30 loaves of bread. That means that I can make lunches for free for the rest of the year.

Why aren’t you doing your online shopping through Ebates?

Note: These are affiliate links to Ebates that I’ve shared here.

Cyber Monday 2

Posted by Leah Ingram Discounts Comments Off

Dec 122011

A number of websites have declared today to be Cyber Monday 2. I guess they want to be able to cash in on the folks that still have holiday shopping to do and will be doing it online.

I know I just purchased a few of the gifts I still have on my list (I’d preshopped at the mall yesterday), and I did it by clicking through Ebates. It’s a shopping portal that offers you cash back on the online purchases you were going to make anyway.

I did my online shopping at Banana Republic and Old Navy, and will get 5% back on my purchase. (Normally, the stores offer 2% back.) Last year I bought all of my client gifts through Ebates and earned $100 back on my purchase. Yes, you read that correctly–$100 back. I was going to buy those gifts anyway so why not earn some extra cash doing so.

Speaking of cash unlike other “rebate” sites, Ebates deposits cash in your PayPal account, as opposed to simply giving you a store credit you can use, when you earn your rebate. When it comes to cash versus a credit, I’ll take the cash, please.

FYI, if you do head over to Ebates, please click through the links I’ve provided on this page as Ebates shares a little bit of that commission with me–if you’re a new Ebates customers, that is.

Get 35% Cash Back on Purchase of Entertainment Book

Posted by Leah Ingram Discounts Comments Off

Oct 112011

Right now Ebates is offering double cash back when you do your shopping online by starting at the Ebates portal. It’s where I start all of my online shopping for qualified retailers (wish Zappos was part of Ebates…), and how I’ve earned close to $100 in “cash back” just for the shopping I normally do online. Most recently I’ve purchased business cards from Vistaprint and a engagement gift from my cousin’s bridal registry at Bed, Bath, and Beyond–all through Ebates.

Currently, Ebates is offering 35% back on the purchase of Entertainment books. I’m a huge fan of Entertainment books, which include coupons to local and national retailers and restaurants that you can use for a whole year and save big. We usually buy two Entertainment books and keep one in each of our cars. That way when we go to the mall or out to eat, or even when we’re away on vacation, we can grab the Entertainment book, and see if there is a coupon we can use to save money on a purchase. It usually takes only one or two purchases to more than make back the initial cost of the Entertainment book.

In addition to the 35% cash back on the purchase of a 2012 Entertainment book via Ebates, you can also get free shipping and a free $25 restaurant gift certificate.

In the Philadelphia area, there are a number of “regional” Entertainment books to choose from. These include:

Lancaster/York
Lehigh Valley
Monmouth/Central Jersey
New Jersey South
Philadelphia North
Philadelphia West
Reading/Pottsville

It isn’t clear how long Ebates will be giving such a generous helping of cash back on the purchase of an Entertainment book so I would recommend that if you’re interested, you shop now.

(Note: By clicking through the links I’ve provided and making your purchase, Ebates pays me a small referral fee.)