Remember Ebates? Get Cash Back on Everyday Purchases!

What’s What?

Ebates, now Rakuten, is the cash back program that I have been a member of since 2016. They were bought out by Rakuten for a billy back in 2014 but I still call it Ebates because I think it’s a cool brand name. Anyway, Ebates has partnerships with huge retailers to offer cash back, or a rebate, to its customers for shopping. During peak times (regular U.S. holiday weekends, holiday season, seasonal sales), cash back offers range up to 40% at places like Nike, Finishline, Adidas, Samsung, LifeLock, Canva and NordVPN. Right now, there are a plethora of in-store and online cash back offers from stores like H&M, Shopbop, UGG, Walmart, Gap, Old Navy, Polo Ralph Factory Stores, and many, many more.

Benefits

Lots of Participating Retailers

There are a wide range of retailers; from Clinique to VRBO and from Hotels.com to Sephora, so it’s not just clothes and shoes that you can earn cash back on. Plus, many business and education retailers like Udemy, Canva, Coursera, and Blue Host. Other purchases you can get cash back from are for pets, travel, office supples, computers & books, health & beauty and much, much more.

Double Cash Back

If you use it (responsibly) with a rewards credit card then you will reap the benefits of “double cash back”.

Automatic Promo Code Finder

Once I downloaded the Ebates extension to my laptop’s browsers and downloading the app on my phone, it made getting my cash back for online and in-store shopping a lot easier. It also made it easier for Ebates to tell me if there are any promo codes and/or discounts available. Before that I would just Google for promo codes because the goal is to what, never pay for full price. I also use the Ebates app on my iPhone whenever I make purchases on my phone.

In-Store Cash Back

I mostly shop online but when I do shop in-store (I’m manifesting cash back at grocery stores sometime soon), I can still get cash back since the Ebates app makes it easy to do so. However, before heading to the store, don’t forget to set everything up: just select store(s), “link offer” when you are prompted and add your methods of payment.

Right now, Ebates is offering 5%-15% in-store cash back for a limited time. Retailers like Nordstrom, Best Buy, Walmart, Lowe’s, Petco, H&M, Adidas, UGG and more are participating. Bergdorf Goodman is offering 10% cash back + overnight delivery with code BGASAP.

Cash Back for Dining

I do not use this feature as much; it’s fairly new and so are the restaurants listed. I am also eating in and cooking again a lot more. If you end up taking advantage, please let me know how it goes!

Big Fat Check

Even though I’ve been a member since 2016, I’ve only used it consistently since about 2019 so naturally I lost out on earning a lot of cash back and rewards, especially on hotels and travel. My lifetime cash back amount is $1,096.26 and my next big fat check, which is what Ebates call its payment to you, is in February. There are 4 payouts a year, every few months (February, May, August, November) and is based on when purchases are made.

I like that Ebates lets you choose how to get paid. I usually get my big fat check sent to my Paypal account, but you can also choose to have a check mailed to you.

So, when I went to verify this information, I found out that they stopped letting you choose to redeem your big fat check as a gift card. I remember choosing to get a Nike gift for my payout back in 2018. Ebates, if you’re reading this, bring this feature back!

What’s Luxe

Even credit cards have cash back benefits now so Ebates have a lot of competition, but I’ve only signed up for and used Ebates. I think that they offer the best benefits, have the best participating retailers and you can even expect cash back in forms of both percentage (%) and dollar amount ($). They even have a partnership with Target (1% cash back)!

If you use Ebates, do you like it and because I’m nosey, what do your big fat checks be looking like? If you don’t use Ebates, are you signed up at one of their competitors? If so, which one? Let me know what you think in the comments below!

Do you want to now sign up for Ebates? If you do, you’ll get $30 (I’ll also get $30). All you gotta do is sign up using my referral link and make a purchase of at least $30 within 90 days. Sign up and read more information here.