Get Money Back for Online Purchases

I have been getting my e-mail caught up the last few days and have seen a few that wanted to know how it works to get money back for your online purchases.  It really comes down to three programs:

Big Crumbs

Big Crumbs is my favorite online shopping portal.  The reason I call it a portal is that when you find a deal online, before you purchase the item go to BigCrumbs.com and search for the store you are interested in purchasing from.  When/If that store comes up you click on the link and it will take you back to the retailers site.  By clicking the link at BigCrumbs you are allowing the site to track your purchase (not your info although they already have that).  This tracking will allow you to get a percentage back from the purchase.  The percentage back depends on the merchant.  I have gotten 33% back for purchasing magazines, 6.3% back at Target.com, and a host of other percentages.

I like BigCrumbs the best for three reasons.  Their percentage back is the best I have seen, they pay out every month with no minimum through paypal, and they have the best referral program of any of the sites I have used.  With the referrals you have two options.  You can be a Crumb Saver and earn .05% of what people you have directly referred make or a Crumb Earner and earn .05% of what your referrals make out to five generations (I refer Joe; Joe refers Mark; Mark refers Jane; Jane refers Anna; I make .05% on all their purchases)

Sign up for BigCrumbs here

Ebates

Ebates works just like BigCrumbs but has a lower average payout for the stores on its site, has a minimum payout of $5.01 and a limited referral program.  The advantage to Ebates is that they are the oldest of these types of programs and have the largest number of participating stores.  So if there is a merchant that is not in the BigCrumbs system it is usually in the Ebates system.

Sign up for Ebates here

SwagBucks

I usually just use Swagbucks as a search engine but it is my last ditch effort to get some sort of cash back for my online purchases.  They will pay you two Swagbucks for every dollar you spend.  That is only 1.6% back so I try not to use them for this purpose but they are the most rewarding search engine on the web.

Sign up for SwagBucks here