Ebates. What you MUST know!

In my last blog entry about Domino Magazines, I promised that I was going to tell you how I saved BIG on my magazine subscriptions. Then it occurred to me that I would do you a big disservice by not telling you the full story.

I first read about Ebates in a magazine (I can’t remember now if it was FIRST for Women). The article gave several ideas about how the average consumer could maximize their purchasing power. One suggestion in particular, caught my attention - the idea of getting cash back on my online purchases through a website called Ebates. It sounded simple enough, and I figured that even if it didn’t work, I had nothing to lose. So I promptly signed up. Thankfully it is a decision I haven’t regretted!

Do you shop online? At Gap? Old Navy? eBay? Target? Anywhere else? If so, here is something you MUST know.

Ebates is partnered with over 1200 online retailers, each offering coupons and cash back for purchases made. Each time you buy something at any of these stores via the Ebates portal, you will receive a cash rebate, that is, a certain percentage (up to 26%) of the purchase amount. It’s that simple!

Ebates will either send you a check or deposit the amount in your paypal account. Or if you want to, you can donate the money to a charity of your choice.

I’m living proof that it works, and it’s not a scam. I haven’t found a downside to using Ebates yet. So far, I have received $122.97 back in cash, and I only have two regrets: 1 - I didn’t discover Ebates earlier in my life and 2 – I haven’t done much online shopping in the past couple of years, due to my crazy travel schedule.

Sign up today - it's FREE and you'll get a $5 bonus in your account. You're probably already shopping at many of these stores, so what have you got to lose?! Nothing! But why not put some of your hard earned money back in your pocket at the same time?!

Maybe you could also be kind enough to put my email address shopwithkacy@gmail.com as the person who referred you. I'll get $5 if you do! In addition to your $5 sign up bonus, You'll also get $5 for each person you refer thereafter (payments are applied after the first qualifying purchase). It's a nice concept. Spread the goodwill around, Ebates will bring it right back to you! Win Win WIN!

Oh, and how did I get from magazine subscriptions to here? Well, the last time I subscribed for a bunch of magazines through magazines.com, I got 50% back because I used Ebates! Can't beat that! I don't promise that you'll score the same deal today, but I guarantee, anyhow you look at it, a deal will always be waiting there on Ebates for you!

Here's a look at my Cash Back History as of today (too bad I'm not doing more shopping online!) Ebates provides you with a detailed breakdown, so you can see how those payouts figures are comprised.



You can search for your store, or select from the provided categories. Here is just a random view of some of the stores in the Health & Beauty category.



Start saving today! Ebates.com
Kacy

I miss Domino Magazine… But I might get the last laugh!

Domino Magazine lovers before you get mad, let me explain myself!

The demise of our beloved Domino Magazine last month (March 2009) was clearly no laughing matter. I started reading and loving and subscribing to them in 2007, and I will definitely miss them. But my biggest regret of all is that I never found the time to read all those issues that for nearly two years have taken up space on the bookshelf in my bedroom. Shameful. I know. But I can explain.

As a Stay At Home Mom (SAHM) with two young children 12 months apart, opportunities for leisure reading are now few and far between. So over the past two years, my reading has just fallen further and further behind.

"What about during the kids’ naptime?" I can almost hear you asking. The answer? "Already wholly and completely booked!" "After they’ve gone to bed at night"? "Ditto." And there’s no way that I can eke another minute out of the 4-5 hours sleep that I get each night for leisure reading! Sigh.

And then there’s my husband. Bless him. My rock, my pillar… My constant friend and CRITIC. “Why do you keep subscribing to all these magazines?” He asks each time another one is extricated from the mailbox. “You never have time to read any of them!” “You’re wasting money and cluttering up our house!”

Although he has some very valid points, I can’t ever bring myself to admit (to him) that he’s right. So each time the drill is the same and I rebut albeit somewhat sheepishly from my usual arsenal of “I know I’m a bit behind with the reading right now, but I’ll catch up eventually.” “It didn’t cost that much.” “This one was almost free!” “I got a HUGE rebate on this subscription” (watch for more about this good fortune later).

So when I stumbled upon the news that publication of Domino would cease, I felt very very sad. But then it dawned on me, that there could be an opportunity to redeem myself and maybe even have the last laugh if I could get my husband to apologize. Because SURELY someone out there would be looking for Domino back issues. And if I had so many of them new and unread, never even opened, some still sealed in their original plastic bag as received directly from the publishers, SURELY they must be worth something to someone who wants them. And maybe has time to read them. Or maybe it’s someone who understands that since Domino Magazine was only published for a few years (2005 to 2009), each issue can now be considered a collector’s item and it’s value will likely increase as time goes by.

So with a heavy but hopeful heart, I listed my February 2008 issue on ebay last week, just to see what would happen. Long story short, I got my $9.99 but I also got something far more valuable. The chance to 1-UP my husband. To be able to say “I sold ONE magazine and nearly covered the entire year’s subscription” cannot be taken lightly in my house folks! It’s such a simple thing, but my head was in the clouds for days. (Now were it not for those exorbitant ebay fees that sellers have to pay…)

So what other magazines DO I have on those shelves besides Domino? And more importantly, WHAT shall I do with them? Well there are oodles of First for Women (my all time FAVORITE magazine by the way). American Baby, Parenting, Parents, Real Simple and Lucky. Then there are fewer Scrapbooking ETC., Redbook, ShopSmart and Cookie.

Sigh. So what to do with all these (mostly unread) magazines, in lieu of reading them?!

I’m not really sure, but I figured that a good place to start is by selling my Dominos. So I have listed them in my online store. I really hate to part with them, but since I don’t see a “mommy vacation day” anywhere on the distant horizon, and they are much in demand these days, I figure that I might as well recover some of my subscription fees. At the same time, I will earn myself the buying rights to even MORE magazines! Yeah!!
Yes, this vicious cycle seems set to continue for a while. But emitting squeals of delight while delivering “take that!” to hubby can only be good for my marriage!

Writing this has made me curious? Am I shamefully alone? Or do YOU have tons of unread magazines too? Dominos maybe?

Check back soon, next I’m going to tell you how I save BIG on my magazine subscriptions!

Kacy

http://www.shopwithkacy.ecrater.com/