Her Money Moves’ Real Deal On: Ebates

Her Money Moves’ Real Deal On: Ebates

This post has affiliate links. Sales made through such links will result in a commission (at NO extra cost for you) but be assured I only mention products that I truly love, love, love.

Upfront: This is not an ad or a sponsored post. I’m not getting paid for this review of Ebates, I just love a good deal and wanted all my readers to know about Ebates too! I knew about Ebates for a few years before I signed up with them in 2015. Why did I wait so long to sign up? Not really sure, just never thought about it, and I actually didn’t realize how much cash-back I could really earn with Ebates.

I always imaged it would just be a few pennies with every transaction, I had no idea I could earn hundreds of dollars deposited quarterly into my PayPal account! My friend Laura is actually the person who unknowingly convinced me to sign-up for Ebates when she posted her annual Ebates earnings on Facebook once. She is the absolute Queen of Cash Back earning.

What is Ebates?

Ebates is a free website that you can think of as a portal or search engine for shopping. There are two major benefits of shopping through Ebates. The first is that they show you any current deals or coupon codes for retailers. You don’t even have to be an Ebates Member (but why wouldn’t you?) to see these deals. In the picture below, I’ve typed in “Old Navy” and Ebates lets me know that I can use a code at checkout “SWEET” to save 20% on my entire purchase. This discount isn’t exclusive to Ebates members. Ebates just rounds up any public deals that retailers are already publishing. Think of it as a Google of shopping deals.

Shows Ebates Cash-back

The second and main benefit of Ebates is their cash-back offers. This is where you can actually earn real cash-back. Not points, or e-gift cards, but real cash money. When you search for a store you’d like to shop, you can also view how much cash-back Ebates is offering per shopping trip. You can shop online or even in-person in a retail store. In the example below, when you shop Old Navy you’ll get 2% cash back. Ebates cash back deals are always changing. Normal cash back deals are usually between 1-5%, but I’ve definitely seen deals go as high as 10 -20% before.

Shows Ebates Cash-back

This Sounds Scammy, Are You Sure?

Stay with me, I’m totally sure on this. You might be thinking, how the heck does Ebates make money? Are you telling me they’re just giving away money to you for free? Sounds like a scam. No way. Actually yes, way.

Ebates is an affiliate company. What’s an affiliate mean exactly? This means that Ebates gets a commission for referring you to all the retailers that you can shop from their website or in-store. When you shop and make a purchase, Ebates earns a commission, and then they pay you a percentage of that commission. That’s how you receive your cash back.

There are tons of other cash-back or couponing sites out there, but I love Ebates because they’ve been around forever, are established, trustworthy, and they actually pay out! Ebates has actually been around since 1998 when some of you were still watching Sesame Street.

How Does it Work?

Signing up is easy and of course free. If you’re already ready to sign-up, use my referral link and you’ll get a $10 welcome bonus just for signing up when you make at least $25 in purchases within 90 days of becoming a member! 

Ebates Coupons and Cash Back

Sign up with your email and create a password and boom, you’ve got yourself an Ebates account. Now you’re ready to shop and search for the best coupons and cash back deals online and in stores.

Will I Actually Get Paid?

I’m glad you asked. Yes, you will definitely get paid! Ebate’s “Big Fat Checks” arrive in your PayPal account or in your physical mailbox every quarter (every 3 months). You need to earn at least $5.01 for a check to be cut to you. If you earn $5 or less, it will carry over to the next quarter. You won’t lose what you earned. Since I’m a military spouse and we are constantly moving, I have my Ebates check sent to my PayPal account. I don’t even have to think about if I received a check at the correct address or spend time trying to cash it. It just shows up in my account. Below is the schedule on when each earning period starts and ends and when you can expend your Big Fat Check to be sent.

Ebates cash-back Payment Schedule

How Can I Maximize my Ebates “Big Fat Check”?

You might be thinking, “cool” 2% on the Old Navy example above is not that great. If I spend $100, I’ll only earn two bucks. True, but it’s still two dollars. Sometimes that Old Navy example is going to go from 2% to maybe 4%, 8% or even 10%. Who knows. Some stores have bigger cash back percentages as well. I love to shop Sephora and they usually sit at 4%, although right now they’re at 8%!

You’re not going to quit your day job over the cash-back you earn from Ebates, but to me, its basically free money. If you were going to buy something anyway, why not earn a little bonus on it? Couple that with the fact that you can still earn whatever type of rewards, points, or cash-back from the credit card you are already using, you basically get to double-dip on rewards!

Below are some of my favorite ways to maximize my Ebates Big Fat Check:

#1: Have your spouse, Mama, and your BFF sign-up

Ebates has a great referral program. Once you’re a member, send your unique referral code to your friends and family who you know would love Ebates. I bugged my husband to sign up for a year, now he’s constantly checking Ebates for bonus offers. Ebates often has “refer a friend” bonuses that are usually between $10-$25 for every friend you sign-up!
Ebates Coupons and Cash Back

#2: Earn Cash-Back by Shopping In-Store Too

Did you know you can earn cash back through Ebates when you shop in-stores, and not just online? It’s pretty simple. Link your credit card, add in-store offers to your profile, and then shop. You can even use the Ebates app to add cash-back offers while you’re shopping in-store too.

#3: Add the Browser Toolbar Cash-Back Button

Download the FREE Ebates Cash-Back Button for your browser’s toolbar. You won’t even have to think about going to Ebates first before you start online shopping. If a retailer is offering a cash-back deal through Ebates, when you go to their site, you’ll automatically get a notification that a cash-back deal exists. This way, you’ll always be alerted of cash back opportunities you may have otherwise missed out on. Easy peasy.

4#Download the Ebates App

Shopping with the app is easy, but it also has the potential to earn you a larger cash-back bonus than if you were just shopping through a regular browser. Not always, but Ebates often bumps up their cash-back offers when you shop through the app as an added incentive.

#5: Take Advantage of Everyday Double Cash-Back Stores

Everyday Ebates offers a large selection of stores that are offering double their normal cash-back. Twice as nice!

#6: Mega Cash-Back Bonuses on Holidays

Ebates also celebrates all the typical big shopping days of the year too by offering you pumped up cash-back offers. Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Green Monday, etc…expect to see XL cash-rebates on all the big “shopping holidays”.

#7 Military Discounts

Ok, so this one won’t actually increase your Ebates Big Fat Check, but it will help you to save money, so I included it anyway. Ebates has an entire area dedicated to retailers that not only have a cash-back offer, they also offer some type of military discount or deal. Before you click “purchase” always check the Ebates Military Discounts first!

A Real Life Example of How I Used Ebates to Save

Last year I needed to buy a new laptop for Her Money Moves. After doing some research, I decided to go with Dell. I hopped over to Ebates, searched for Dell.com. Good News. Not only was the cash-back offer at 10%, Ebates also alerted me that there was a code for $50 off 500 and that they also offered a 10% military discount! The deal got even sweeter when I coupled it with my American Express Platinum card and was able to get a $50 AMEX statement credit. My point? Don’t forget that you can use Ebates in conjunction with the normal points or cash-back you already use with your credit card of choice!

Snip of Ebates Cash Back example

Deals, Deals, Deals when I bought a new laptop!

  • Saved $50 with a  coupon code
  • Save an additional 10% with military discount
  • Received 10% cash-back from Ebates
  • Used my American Express card and received a $50 statement credit through AMEX

How Not to Use Ebates

*Remember: a deal is not a deal if you don’t need it* Ooooh look, your favorite store is offering 10% cash-back? Cool, but you didn’t even need anything until you saw that cash-back bonus listed. Shop responsbily people!

Ebates Coupons and Cash Back



2 thoughts on “Her Money Moves’ Real Deal On: Ebates”

  • Thanks for sharing!! I have not tried them but think it might be an option. Living overseas right now, it might not be as good a deal, but stateside it sure looks like it!

    • I’m overseas and don’t use them as much anymore for obvious reasons…but just remember them if you’re sending gifts to anyone back stateside!

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