Did you know that there are a lot of sites out there that will give you cash back on your purchases at many online stores? Or that there are rewards programs that will credit you with points for shopping online? Yes friends, welcome to the online world of rebates and rewards!

I previously wrote a review that discusses how to start shopping online if you never have before (as part of an overall review on the security of credit cards on the Internet), and a second review that introduces readers to the online world of coupons and discounts. This review will take things yet another step further and show you how you can earn money and rewards when you shop online.

Rebates

Online stores have discovered that a good way to lure new customers to their site and keep them coming back is by offering a rebate on purchases made at the store. Rather than running the rebate program themselves, they contract with affiliated rebate sites to handle everything and pay those sites a commission.

Not all online stores participate in any of the rebate programs, and not all of the rebate sites offer the same online stores. The rebate percentages offered vary from store to store and sometimes from rebate site to rebate site, and can run anywhere from 1% to 50%!

The specifics of each rebate site are slightly different, but many of the basics are the same. You register with the rebate site and are given your own e-mail address with that site - generally in the form of your user-ID@RebateSiteName.com. This e-mail address is only used for purposes of placing orders with, and receiving confirmations and shipping notices from, the affiliated online stores and cannot be used as a general e-mail address. When you register, you will have to provide a regular e-mail address for confirmations and notices to be forwarded to by the rebate site.

When you’re ready to shop online, you sign in at the rebate site, choose the affiliated store you wish to shop from, and enter the store from the rebate site. With most of the rebate sites, you must enter the store through the rebate site in order to be properly credited with your rebate.

If you already have an account at the online store, you will usually need to change the e-mail address listed on the account to your user-ID@RebateSiteName.com e-mail address. If you’re making a new account, use the rebate site e-mail address.

Both of those two specific actions - entering the store through the rebate site and using the e-mail address from the rebate site - are usually required in order to be properly credited with your rebate, as this way they can verify that you are entitled to the rebate.

After you’ve placed your order, any order confirmations and shipping notifications sent by the online store will be forwarded through the rebate site to your regular e-mail address that you specified on registration, so you won’t lose any of that information that is normally sent. Some of the rebate sites will also send you a confirmation once they’ve verified your order and have credited your account with the rebate amount.

Most of the rebate sites pay on a quarterly basis, although some are less frequent and some are more frequent. Some of them also have a minimum payment requirement, which varies from site to site, and if you don’t have enough in your account to be paid at the end of a payment period, that amount will carry forward to the next payment period.

There are probably 10 or so fairly well-known rebate sites in business right now, and others pop up from time to time. I generally only use a couple of rebate sites regularly; they have most of the stores I shop at and it’s easier for me to keep track of what I’m due from a couple of rebate sites rather than 5 or 10. Some people use many or all of them on a regular basis.

Be sure to check each rebate site carefully for all the legal mumbo-jumbo before using them as things change all the time! Some of the available rebate sites include (in alphabetical order):


Bizrate - http://www.bizrate.com/reg/rebate_promo.xpml
Brands for Less - http://www.brandsforless.com/
Dash - http://www.dash.com/
DealJET - http://dealjet.com/
ebates - http://www.ebates.com/
eRebates - http://www.ecoupons.com/cgi/reb.reb_home
eSUMER - http://www.esumer.com/
Shop for Dollars - http://www.shopfordollars.com/
Start Start - http://www.startstart.com/


Many of the rebate sites will also give you a percentage of rebates earned by people you refer to the site, which is a good reason to encourage your friends to earn money online, too! (But no spamming of course! :-) )

Rewards

As with rebate sites, online stores have discovered that contracting with affiliated rewards programs is another good way to lure new customers to their site and keep them coming back. “Rewards programs” are those programs like Freeride, MyPoints, Memolink, etc. where you earn points by visiting web sites, taking surveys, shopping online, and doing other stuff, and then turn those points in for gift certificates and sometimes other merchandise.

Rather than receiving a cash rebate, however, if you shop online through a rewards program, your account is credited with points (might be a flat rate or might be “x points per dollar spent”).

Not all online stores participate in any of the rewards programs, and not all of the rewards program sites offer the same online stores. The value of the points offered vary from store to store and from rewards program to rewards program.

The specifics of each rewards program are slightly different, but many of the basics are the same. When you’re ready to shop online, you sign in at the rewards program, choose the affiliated store you wish to shop from, and enter the store from the rewards program site. As with the rebate sites, you usually must enter the store through the rewards program site in order to be properly credited with your points.

You will not receive a new e-mail address from the rewards program, but you generally must use the same e-mail address at the online store as you use with the specific rewards program you’re shopping through. Both of those two specific actions - entering the store through the rewards program site and using the same e-mail address - are usually required in order to be properly credited.

The rewards programs may take anywhere from 2 to 60 days or even longer to credit you with the points you earn by shopping through the program, and some of the programs are pretty bad about crediting you without a lot of hassle. I generally avoid the rewards programs for online shopping and stick with the rebate sites, but many people use both.

There are several well-known rewards programs in business right now that offer online shopping, and others pop up all the time. Following is a list of some of the more established rewards programs - be sure to check each site carefully for all the legal mumbo-jumbo before using them as things change all the time:

Freeride - http://www.freeride.com/
GoCollect - http://www.gocollect.com/
Greenpoints - http://www.greenpoints.com/
Memolink - http://www.memolink.com/
Minrak - http://www.minrak.com
MyPoints - http://www.mypoints.com/


Conclusion

The hardest part about having the rebates and rewards programs available is remembering to use them when you shop! There are so many to choose from that it can be hard to keep up with what’s available and what rebate or reward will give you the best value at any particular store. Believe me, I know - until earlier this month, I maintained a web site set up to keep track of all of this information, organized by store, and it just got to be too much work with all of the new programs popping up (and going away) every few weeks, and the changes in stores and rebate percentages or points offered, etc. etc. etc. It can be worth it though to at least check a few programs before buying anywhere online.

It can also sometimes be a hassle to collect the rebates or points that are due to you from shopping through a rebate site or a rewards program. Stores change affiliations all the time, and one day that rebate site that you always used to shop at YourFavoriteStore.com may no longer offer rebates there. But in the end, maybe you lose a little time in the hassle and if you don’t get the rebate or points, you’re not much worse off than if you never even tried. And if you do get the rebate or points, think of how much better off you’ll be!




Recommended: Yes