Have you ever heard of Cash Back?

With Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales just ahead of us it’s a great time to start on Xmas shopping. I thought I’d make a quick post on a great way to save money when shopping on line.

Cash Back is a great way to make money while spending ! Say What ? No you didn’t get it wrong. There is actually a way for you to get a percentage of whatever you spend back! You’re actually spending less and it can be used alongside any current sales that might be going on.

It’s free and pretty easy. All you need to do is sign up on a cash back website. The two sites I’m recommending here are for my two countries : USA and France. Meaning they work for most websites from these two countries, you don’t actually have to live in the USA or France for it to work, you just need to shop on line there.

1. USA : eBates

eBates has been around for quite some time, and I’ve been using it happily since 2007. It works with most of the big name brands like Khols, Nordstrom, Sephora and Amazon ! You want to buy something on line more often than not, it’ll be among the eBates partners websites. It works for the USA and Canada (though Canada also has its own eBates.ca).

Signing up is easy, you just need an email, a login (you don’t have to use your real name if you don’t wish to) and a password.

My referral code : http://www.ebates.com/rf.do?referrerid=Z-9VrYtXt9sYk_C_4Xs0Ng&eeid=28187

You get a $5 signing up bonus. Then you get a percentage of what you spend back. Downloading the browser add on makes it a no brainer and you never miss out on any Cash Back deals.

Getting paid

You can set up payment by check or Paypal. I prefer using paypal, as I find it makes it easier. You need to get at least $5.01 in cash back money to be able to request the cash back : eBates calls it a Big Fat Payment.

This is a very low amount that you’ll reach quite quickly, especially if you use it during the Cyber Monday sales where cash back can be in the double digits percentages. However eBates only pays out every 3 months which some might consider a long time. I still find it great that you can get your money back when spending it !

2. France : iGraal

The concept

This one hasn’t been around as long, because cash back is relatively new in France. But I’ve been there for three years with no complaints.

All major French websites are partners with iGraal from Carrefour, to SNCF, Asos, Amazon, La Redoute you name it, it’s there! One great advantage is that iGraal also works for USA websites and Belgium websites. The list isn’t as extensive but it’s growing regularly, so this is great advantage.

The percentage of cash back you can get from any given website depends on the time of year, if the website is currently having a sale or not. So it can go anywhere between 0% to 40% although mostly I see it around 4%  to 10% most of the time.

How it works

Signing up is also very easy, you just need again an email, a login (you don’t have to use your real name if you don’t wish to) and a password. You can use my code : danetiger as the referral or “parrain” or click on this link : http://fr.igraal.com/#parrain=danetiger

and you’ll start off with a welcome gift of 3 € when you sign up.

Just like with eBates, you can download a browser add-on that enables you to get a pop up notification whenever you’re surfing the internet and hit a website that’s partner of iGraal and where you can therefore get cash back on any purchase. Download the add on is free and will even give you an extra 1 €. I really recommend this option, because if you don’t do it, it means you’ll have to manually go onto the iGraal web site prior to any on line shopping and check in the iGraal search bar whether or not the website you want to buy from is part of their partners. From experience a lot my friends tend to forget this step and then miss out on cash back deals. But of course this is totally up to you and your personal preference.

Getting paid

You need to get at least 20€ to request a payment so this is higher than for eBates. How ever this is no 3 months time limit. You can request payment as soon as you reach that amount and you will get paid between 15 to 30 days. You can set up a payment by bank transfer, Paypal or via Amazon gift cards. I’ve set it up with my Paypal account and it works wonderfully.

Quick tip :

If you don’t want to get too many emails from iGraal, just go into your account and click on the ‘abonnement’ or subscription tab in the side menu and choose the frequency and types of notifications you want.

 

* The links provided are referral links and if you use them I’ll get a small commission on your purchase. Both eBates and iGraal referral programs are open to any of their members and you can easily set up your own referral links and spread the word on cash back among your friends and family to earn commissions as well. It’s a win win situation !

Happy saving and shopping !