Remember during the holiday season a few months back, when I blogged about how I’d discovered and fallen in love with Ebates, and the whole cash back/refer-a-friend dealio thing that they offer?

Well, I just wanted to give anyone who was interested an update.

Simply by using Ebates as my own start-shopping portal anytime I bought anything online during November and December, and by posting my suggestion that other folks sign up for Ebates, and asking that y’all consider using my referral code if you did decide to sign up,  I earned actual cash money from cashback and refer-a-friend bonuses  in the amount of - wait for it….wait for it…. FOUR HUNDRED AND ELEVEN DOLLARS. 

Yowza.

 

 

I’m telling y’all, I am not good with coupons or any sort of complicated system for saving money, but I can now reliably report from first hand experience that  Ebates is that rare consumer service that seems kind of too good to be true, but is actually the real deal.  Also, I have been very impressed with their prompt and friendly customer service when I have emailed them with any questions I’ve had about setting up my account or anything else.

Ebates is super easy to use – free sign up took me less then 60 seconds, max – and if you do sign up, you get your own refer-a-friend code that you can then email it to people, or post on your Facebook page or blog or wherever, and as I have now discovered, those referrals can really start to add up over time.

When you first sign up with Ebates, you let them know whether you would like to be paid any cash back bonuses or referral fees that you earn each quarter via a check mailed directly to you, a check mailed directly to your favorite charity, or via PayPal.  In my opinion and experience, every non-profit, school group and charity should consider using Ebates as part of their overall fundraising strategy. It’s incredibly easy, and it’s win-win for both shoppers and the organization.

Anyway, I just wanted to share this success story with a cool online service.

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Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post or paid advertising for Ebates. In fact, I have absolutely no relationship whatsoever with Ebates; I simply discovered the company on my own while researching better ways to shop online during the holidays for something I was writing for Babble. However, if you sign up for Ebates (totally free) through my blog post, I will (very gratefully) be credited with a refer-a-friend bonus at the end of next quarter, just as you will be once you are signed up and start evangelizing to people on Facebook or wherever

Thanks!