Over the past few years, I’ve noticed that we’ve been inundated with ways to make money. Also, I’ve noticed that everyone says that these are easy ways to make money.
- Complete surveys while you are watching TV!
- Start a side business in your spare time!
- Sign up for this website and you can become rich!
Everyone seems to have something that they are trying to market! Of course, I am guilty of this too with some of my recommendations. I think that credit cards can be great for their travel hacking possibilities, that Capital One 360 is a good place to stash your emergency fund, and that Fidelity and Vanguard are good places to buy cheap index funds. Some of these recommendations give me a commission for referrals and help out this website financially, while others do not.
However, I was extremely skeptical when I started using Ebates. I honestly just thought that it was a scam, would take too much time, or wouldn’t be worth my effort. Even though a lot of people that I know and trust use the website, I kind of thought that it wouldn’t be for me.
Fortunately, I was completely wrong.
Ebates is actually a good and simple way to earn a little bit of money for shopping online.
Notice that I emphasized a “little” bit of money. I emphasize that word because Ebates, like anything else, is not a get rich quick scheme. It is a great way to get some money back when you shop online … but you definitely won’t become wealthy from using it.
The only way that you can get a lot of money back is by shopping a lot online. If you do that, then you will get a big check from Ebates, but this also won’t help you to become wealthy!
How it works
Ebates is basically a website that advertises for a variety of stores. Since the stores appreciate the advertising that Ebates provides, they offer discounts in the form of cash back to Ebates. Then Ebates passes part of the cash back to us.
The stores win because of the advertising. And we win along with Ebates because we receive cash back for stores that we would have shopped at anyways.
As you may guess, the cash back amounts aren’t outstanding, but they still can add up to a bit of money. For instance, as I look at the website now, here are some of the cash back amounts offered:
- Travelocity: 10% cash back
- Kohl’s: 3% cash back
- Walgreens: 3% cash back
- Amazon: Up to 5% cash back
- Overstock.com: 2% cash back
- Moosejaw: 9% cash back
Let me emphasize it again. We are not getting rich from Ebates!
Making some cash
Although we won’t get rich from Ebates, we can make a bit of cash when we shop online. For instance, let’s say that I spent $65 at Kohl’s, $125 at Amazon, and $50 at Moosejaw. Just for those three purchases, I would make $12.70 in cash back.
If I would have bought stuff from Kohl’s, Amazon, and Moosejaw anyways, then I easily saved myself $12.70. The cool thing is that I don’t have to do any extra work to save this money. There are just 3 simple steps:
- Login to Ebates
- Click on the store that I want to buy from
- Buy from the store
It’s really that simple! You may even save more money if this website helps you to do comparison shopping (although you probably already do that anyways).
A simple Ebates hack to make $45
In order to incentivize us to join Ebates, the company is giving away $10 when you join and buy at least $25 from the site within 90 days.
They also allow you to refer friends and family and make $25 from each referral.
So … here’s a simple Ebates hack for you and your significant other to instantly make at least $45 from Ebates.
Step 1: Wait until you have two purchases to make online that each total $25 or more.
Step 2: Sign up for Ebates. Preferably use my code by clicking through this link! I’ll make a commission and you will make a commission when you complete step 4.
Step 3: Spend at least $25 by clicking through to a retailer from Ebates. This allows you to make $10 plus a percentage of your purchase.
Step 4: This step is super important!!! Click on the Refer & Earn $25+ link at the top of the Ebates page. Scrolling down the page, you will see an option to Share Your Invite Link. Copy this link and have your significant other sign up with this link.
Step 5: Have your significant other spend at least $25 on Ebates. This allows you to make $25 for a referral fee and it also allows your significant other to make $10 plus a percentage of their purchase.
Boom! $45 made for shopping that you would have done anyways!!!
Including commissions for making our first purchase with Ebates, my wife and I saved $52.37 on our first two purchases from that website. And I suppose that I can count my Ebates check as the first bit of money that I made through this journey of blogging. Unfortunately, as you can see by the check, I can’t exactly send my kids to college on this money : )
The bottom line
As I said before, Ebates won’t make you wealthy. If you want to become wealthy, you should drive a used car instead of a new car, invest in index funds, or get rid of your debt. However, Ebates will save you a little bit of money when you do your shopping online.
So … sign up with my referral link and save a little bit of money! Keep in mind that I will get a referral fee when you sign up. And after you sign up, you can refer you significant other and make a referral fee too.
And thanks for reading!
~Nathan
Let’s keep living a great life … with the help of money. So what’s next?
- You can travel for free by using rewards credit cards.
- You can get motivated and get out of debt.
- You can check out the next post or the previous post and continue to learn.
But no matter what you decide to do, let’s leave the ordinary behind and take action today!
