Happy Thursday! Today I will be talking about the website Ebates, and how to use it to earn cash back on your purchases. I’ve used Ebates for about two and a half years now, and I’ve had a great experience. I often recommend it to all of you in blog posts, but I recently had a request for an Ebates tutorial. Ebates is really easy to use, but I’ve put together a post that demonstrates signing up and using the website in three easy steps. I will begin by explaining a bit more about Ebates, and then jump right into the tutorial!
Let’s start out with a simple question – what is Ebates? Ebates is a website that allows you to earn cash back on many of your online and in-store purchases. I know Ebates sounds too good to be true. In fact, I did not sign up for years because I was scared it was a scam. Now that I’ve been a longtime user of the site, I’m happy to share this is the real deal! Essentially, Ebates uses affiliate marketing to earn a commission for every purchase made through its site, and then shares a percentage of that commission back with each user. Think of when you buy a diamond ring at the jewelry store. The jeweler makes a commission on your purchase, right? Now, imagine if that jeweler gave you a small percentage of his commission to thank you for shopping with him. That is the role Ebates plays in your shopping process. I know this may sound a bit confusing, but I have never had any issues with Ebates. I find it to be a secure website, and I absolutely love how I can save money online while using this service!
STEP 1 – SIGN UP FOR EBATES
Now it’s time for my easy tutorial on using Ebates! Step one is signing up for your free account on the website. When you sign up using my referral link HERE you will get a $10 bonus upon making your first qualifying purchase through the site. What I love about the Ebates sign-up process is that it is super simple. All you need to do is enter your email address and create a password. Later on you can input more information onto your account page so Ebates will know where to send your cash back, but signing up only takes a minute of your time!
STEP 2 – SEARCH THE STORE YOU WANT TO SHOP 
The only thing you need to remember when using Ebates is that you must always begin your shopping on the Ebates website. This definitely takes getting used to, but eventually you will get in the habit of always going to Ebates first. Let’s say I’m shopping at Sephora. The first thing I do is go to Ebates before I go to the Sephora website. In the image above you will see my Ebates home screen. All I need to do is type ‘Sephora’ into the search bar at the top and hit enter.
STEP 3 – CLICK ‘SHOP NOW’ AND START SHOPPING!
Once you type the store into the search bar, you will be redirected to the store landing page. Here is a picture of what the Sephora page looks like as an example. Each store page has two main sections. On the right you will see all of the current coupons and deals each store has to offer. I love that Ebates always lists out the available coupon codes for you so you don’t need to do an online search! On the left you will see the current cash back offer from the store and a button that says “Shop Now.” All you need to do is hit that “Shop Now” button, and Ebates will redirect you to the store from which you want to shop! You will know it is working when you get the ticket screen. An example of that screen is posted below for you to see.
When you see this screen, you are all set! Ebates is now tracking your purchases! I typically get a notification that the cash back has been deposited in my Ebates account once my order is complete, but it takes a bit longer for some stores. Nonetheless, you will get a payment every quarter. It’s always so much fun to get that bit of extra money!
BONUS TIP! DOUBLE CASH BACK OFFERS
I also wanted to share a bonus tip with you so you can learn how to earn even more cash back on your purchases. Every day Ebates will feature different stores that are double cash back, and sometimes even more! I always try to plan out my purchases to maximize the amount of cash back I receive. I recommend checking out the Double Cash Back tab every day to see which stores Ebates typically highlights. For example, Sephora is doubled to 8% cash back every once in a while. If I know I need something at Sephora, I’ll try to wait until it is double. There are even a few times a year, such as Black Friday, when a ton of stores are double cash back. That’s the perfect time to shop!
All in all, I hope this post helped you learn more about Ebates and the basic ways to use it. Ebates has expanded a lot in the years I’ve been using it, so there are many more features on the website that I didn’t touch on today. If you have any further questions, please leave them in a comment below and I will be happy to help you! With the holidays fast approaching, now is the perfect time to sign up to Ebates to start earning cash back. Please use my referral link HERE to sign up today!