Make Sure You Receive Cashback For Shopping - Don't Make These Newbie Mistakes
Hopefully during the course of this chat you'll learn about how much you can benefit from shopping through cashback programs. Any time you go directly to your favorite retailer by typing their URL into your browser, you're THROWING AWAY up to 30% of your money, which you could have received in the form of cash back!
But when you do decide to start using cashback programs, there are some newbie mistakes that can interfere with your receiving cash back on your purchases. Here are some things to avoid:
1. DO NOT use a coupon code you obtained elsewhere, whether it came from a big coupon code site, a competing rewards program, a random Google search, a catalog, or an email directly from the merchant. Using an outside coupon code can send the commission for your sale to the originator of the code. If the cashback site doesn't get commission for your sale, they have nothing to pay your cashback out of.
Most rewards programs have pretty substantial databases of valid coupon codes that CAN be combined with cashback. If you find a code elsewhere that your favorite rewards program doesn't have, send them an email and ask if you can use it first...or ask if they have access to a similar code.
If you don't have time to wait on an email reply, compare the cashback rate and the coupon code's value. If cashback is higher than the coupon savings, don't try to use the coupon. If the coupon would give you a better savings, you CAN use it at the cashback site for the immediate coupon savings, but don't be surprised if the cashback doesn't show up.
2. DO NOT click through any link to the store other than the one at your favorite rewards program. Any time you click through a banner ad to a store, a link from an email that the store sends you as a frequent shopper, or a results link from a price comparison search (like through PriceGrabber or MySimon), it will fire off a cookie that resides on your computer to claim your sale as THEIR commission. Although credit for your purchase should go to the last link to the store that you clicked through (ideally the rewards program's), sometimes it doesn't work that way.
If you searched around for low prices, maybe clicked through a deal site's link to your desired store on accident, and now you're ready to buy and want to get cashback, the best thing to do is STOP WHERE YOU ARE, clear your cookies, then go to the cashback site and click through their link to the store. That makes them (in your computer's eyes) the ONLY one who can claim your commission.
Don't know how to clear your cookies? This video is on clearing your Firefox cookies, and this one is for clearing your Internet Explorer cookies.
3. DO NOT install a toolbar unless that rewards program is the only one you intend to use. I would ordinarily say, “do not install a toolbar at all,” because I have concerns about the data collected on your browsing and shopping habits...but there are people who will simply forget to shop through a cashback program without a toolbar reminder that will pop up and prompt you to shop through the rewards program's link.
If you don't mind having your every click reported back to the rewards program, and you feel that the cashback you might otherwise miss out on is worth giving up your privacy, by all means, install the toolbar offered by your favorite cashback program. However, you should know that there is a possibility that this will interfere with your ability to receive a higher cashback rate through a competing cashback site.
4. BE AWARE that the portion of an order paid for with a gift card is not usually eligible for cash back. For example, if your order is $60, and you pay for $50 of it with a gift card, only $10 of the order will be eligible for cashback.
The reason for this is that many retailers now offer cashback when you buy a gift card. To allow someone to earn cashback for buying a gift card, and then cashback when they use it to pay, would be double-dipping, and the merchant would be paying commission twice on one sale.
5. TURN OFF ad blockers and pop-up blockers before you visit the cashback site. If the rewards program can't mark you as their customer with a cookie, they won't get commission for sending you to the store to make a purchase. If they don't get the commission, they can't share it with you in the form of cash back.
6. DO NOT expect cashback on orders that are returned, canceled, or modified in some way after the purchase. Most rewards programs have a “pending period,” where your cashback will appear as being earned but won't be available to cash out. The purpose of this is to prohibit unscrupulous people from making a large purchase, being paid cash back for it, and then returning it to the store. If you return an item or cancel an order, the merchant reverses the commission. This cancels your cash back.
These are the major reasons why shoppers are surprised to find that they didn't receive cashback on their purchases. Most members who avoid these six pitfalls will find their cashback credits magically as promised every time!
But when you do decide to start using cashback programs, there are some newbie mistakes that can interfere with your receiving cash back on your purchases. Here are some things to avoid:
1. DO NOT use a coupon code you obtained elsewhere, whether it came from a big coupon code site, a competing rewards program, a random Google search, a catalog, or an email directly from the merchant. Using an outside coupon code can send the commission for your sale to the originator of the code. If the cashback site doesn't get commission for your sale, they have nothing to pay your cashback out of.
Most rewards programs have pretty substantial databases of valid coupon codes that CAN be combined with cashback. If you find a code elsewhere that your favorite rewards program doesn't have, send them an email and ask if you can use it first...or ask if they have access to a similar code.
If you don't have time to wait on an email reply, compare the cashback rate and the coupon code's value. If cashback is higher than the coupon savings, don't try to use the coupon. If the coupon would give you a better savings, you CAN use it at the cashback site for the immediate coupon savings, but don't be surprised if the cashback doesn't show up.
2. DO NOT click through any link to the store other than the one at your favorite rewards program. Any time you click through a banner ad to a store, a link from an email that the store sends you as a frequent shopper, or a results link from a price comparison search (like through PriceGrabber or MySimon), it will fire off a cookie that resides on your computer to claim your sale as THEIR commission. Although credit for your purchase should go to the last link to the store that you clicked through (ideally the rewards program's), sometimes it doesn't work that way.
If you searched around for low prices, maybe clicked through a deal site's link to your desired store on accident, and now you're ready to buy and want to get cashback, the best thing to do is STOP WHERE YOU ARE, clear your cookies, then go to the cashback site and click through their link to the store. That makes them (in your computer's eyes) the ONLY one who can claim your commission.
Don't know how to clear your cookies? This video is on clearing your Firefox cookies, and this one is for clearing your Internet Explorer cookies.
3. DO NOT install a toolbar unless that rewards program is the only one you intend to use. I would ordinarily say, “do not install a toolbar at all,” because I have concerns about the data collected on your browsing and shopping habits...but there are people who will simply forget to shop through a cashback program without a toolbar reminder that will pop up and prompt you to shop through the rewards program's link.
If you don't mind having your every click reported back to the rewards program, and you feel that the cashback you might otherwise miss out on is worth giving up your privacy, by all means, install the toolbar offered by your favorite cashback program. However, you should know that there is a possibility that this will interfere with your ability to receive a higher cashback rate through a competing cashback site.
4. BE AWARE that the portion of an order paid for with a gift card is not usually eligible for cash back. For example, if your order is $60, and you pay for $50 of it with a gift card, only $10 of the order will be eligible for cashback.
The reason for this is that many retailers now offer cashback when you buy a gift card. To allow someone to earn cashback for buying a gift card, and then cashback when they use it to pay, would be double-dipping, and the merchant would be paying commission twice on one sale.
5. TURN OFF ad blockers and pop-up blockers before you visit the cashback site. If the rewards program can't mark you as their customer with a cookie, they won't get commission for sending you to the store to make a purchase. If they don't get the commission, they can't share it with you in the form of cash back.
6. DO NOT expect cashback on orders that are returned, canceled, or modified in some way after the purchase. Most rewards programs have a “pending period,” where your cashback will appear as being earned but won't be available to cash out. The purpose of this is to prohibit unscrupulous people from making a large purchase, being paid cash back for it, and then returning it to the store. If you return an item or cancel an order, the merchant reverses the commission. This cancels your cash back.
These are the major reasons why shoppers are surprised to find that they didn't receive cashback on their purchases. Most members who avoid these six pitfalls will find their cashback credits magically as promised every time!
Thanks for joining the celebration!
1 comments:
The basic procedure is same for almost all cash back websites. They differ only in the percentage of cash back they offer for different online stores. Along with Shop At Home and Ebates, I also like to recommend FatWallet, AAfter Search and Bing,
However, thanks for this nice article.
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