The Internet can be an all-too-easy means to spend your hard-earned money. You don’t need to go farther than your keyboard to browse, shop – and because of the convenience – spend more than you should. There are ways, however, to be on the receiving end of some cash and rewards to offset the costs of your online shopping. You just need to be willing to share your opinions and shopping habits with online marketers.
Marketers are getting mighty savvy when it comes to their advertising tactics. Technology allows them access to information from consumers (should we offer it) that can make their advertising efforts more effective. Ebates.com and MyPoints.com are two companies that will reward you in exchange for conducting your online shopping through their website. Shopping through them provides them access to your online shopping behavior, which, in turn, enables them to do a better job of marketing on behalf of their clients, who are the merchants who participate in their program.
2 Online Shopping Portals
Ebates
This is a portal that offers cash back to customers who access shopping sites via their website. Here’s how to get rebates on purchases using Ebates:
- Create a free Ebates account.
- Search for the company from which you want to make a purchase from the 1600 participating merchants listed on the site.
- If the company is one that offers a rebate, click to their site via Ebates to make your purchase. You can even get rebates when you purchase the already discounted deals offered by companies like Groupon or Living Social.
- Receive a percentage of the amount of your purchases from all shopping through Ebates in the form of a quarterly check, credit to your PayPal account or as a donation to a charity of your choice. The percentage back depends upon the merchant with which you shop and are clearly indicated on Ebates.
Occasionally your Ebates rewards can be higher when the percentage offered is temporarily increased. Be aware that some online stores offer cash back bonuses only on certain items.
MyPoints
Like Ebates, MyPoints is a shopping portal through which you visit shopping sites in order to receive credit for your purchases. The major difference is that there’s an extra step to receiving rewards; first you earn points which you can later redeem for bonuses. MyPoints offers a wider range of ways to earn rewards: You can earn additional points by filling out surveys, booking travel, playing games, printing and redeeming coupons and conducting Internet searches via MyPoints. Here’s the lowdown on receiving points through MyPoints:
- Create a free MyPoints account.
- Search for the company from which you want to make a purchase from the participating merchants listed on the MyPoints site.
- If the company is one that offers points for purchases, click to the site via MyPoints.com to make your purchase.
- Receive a pre-determined number of points per dollar spent or for each activity you complete.
- Redeem your points for gift cards, cash or donation or travel miles.
Both companies offer rewards for merchandise as well as services. Benefits also include coupons and special offers in addition to a referral component: Refer people who may be interested in shopping via the site and receive bonuses when they accept your invitation and make qualifying purchases.
These sites do track your online shopping behavior and habits as a means of gaining very detailed and targeted marketing intel. In exchange, they pay you for providing this information with the rewards they offer. It’s a pretty fair exchange and ultimately profitable for you as a consumer.
Do you receive rewards through online shopping portals?
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