Editors note: Ebates is now owned by Rakuten and has been rebranded.
There are some things in the world that if offered I will without hesitation turn down. Brussel sprouts I could do without. Chance to walk on hot coals? Thanks but I think I’ll pass. However, if someone offers me FREE money I’m all ears but of course more than a bit sceptical.
Rarely does an offer of ‘free money’ hold water in life as most of us know. Usually, there are 1000 strings attached or small print where you owe that person 500% interest. For FBAers that do a lot of Online Arbitrage looking for every edge in our margins and ultimately increased profits, you need to get on board with Ebates.com if you haven’t already and start earning free money while you source.
What is Ebates?
Ebates is a pretty simple setup concept. By using their ‘affiliate’ link to start your shopping spree, they are willing to offer you a % discount in return off your total for thousands of online stores including Kohls, JCPenney, Home Depot and really most of the major large box stores online. How can they do this? Let’s say Kohls is offering 3% off of your total. Well, Kohls affiliate program is giving Ebates 6% so they’re splitting the difference with you. A win-win scenario for both parties.
Special Offers
The best part of Ebates is when they offer special discounts beyond the normal amounts offered through their program. For example, Kohls normally offers 3% off of your total purchase, not great but hey its free money. This is 3% after you use all of your other coupon codes and discounts. Every so often, Kohls will offer a 6% cash back instead of 3. So, let’s say you already have a 30% off coupon code and then add this 6% on to that. If you’re a savvy Kohls shopper, you take advantage of their Kohl’s Cash offer where you get $10 for every $50 spent. If you found some nice Clearance items online at Kohls with a fair $5 margin BSR BEFORE those discounts were applied, you now have a virtual ATM at your fingertips after the extra 36% discount! This is where the real money is made in online arbitrage.
Personal Example
I’ve been using Kohls as an example because this is where we’ve been really been making some goldmine finds in prep for Q4. Everything from kids pyjamas to women’s shoes and accessories have been readily available at premium discounted prices the past few months. Stick with major brand names and you’ll have the best luck finding matching Amazon listings. JCPenney is another great source for Ebates + Online Coupon Code savings. Both stores put a ton of items, especially clothing that may be out of season, online in their clearance sections for us to profit from. Be careful and not go too overboard as both stores have been known to flag extremely large purchases as potential resale buys (which they do not support).
Our Ebates checks have been in the many hundreds of dollars and it truly is seen as free money from our end. We would have made these purchases even if Ebates didn’t exist so the fact that we can take advantage of this is just gravy when all is said and done. My guess would be you will see the growth of other sites similar to Ebates with better % offers to buyers like us. Yes, there are other similar sites out there currently but none with the wide range of sites offering discounts like Ebates.
Like what you hear? Best thing: It’s Free to join.
Even if you’re not a big online buyer and you just want to purchase things for your own good, it pays to sign up and get started. Buying things out of season? Use your favourite repricer (ours being RepricerExpress) and set your pricing strategy up with no worries.
