SITE DESCRIPTION

Ebates.com is an online rebate store that has partnerships with more than 800 popular websites. Not only do they offer rebates in the form of cash back, they also provide coupons, deals and discounts. Using the site is very easy. When you’re ready to shop online, simply stop at Ebates.com first, sign up or login, find the store you’d like to shop at, and shop away! Ebates takes care of the rest. The deals vary by store, but most offer cash back ranging from 1% to as high as 19%.

The site is extremely user-friendly and navigation is a breeze. If you know what store you’re looking for, there’s a dropdown menu in the upper right hand corner that will link you directly. Or, if you’re simply window shopping, you can browse the stores by category. Links to popular deals of the week, the top coupons and the top stores round out the homepage.

Ebates is able to afford to give shoppers refunds because the sites they’ve partnered with pay Ebates as an affiliate. Ebates then pays the shopper a rebate of less than what they’re getting from the store and everyone’s happy. For instance, let’s say you’re looking for a pair of jeans from Gap. Ebates pays you 3% cash back on purchases from Gap. Gap on the other hand is probably paying Ebates something like 6% for your business. (Gap offers a direct affiliate plan for 4%, but it’s presumable that Ebates has struck a better deal).

ABOUT EBATES.COM

The footer on the website says Ebates has been in business since 1998. You can find more information on how the site works on their about page. Since they don’t sell the products themselves, they can and do promise that there are no price markups. They also guarantee no sign-up fees and no forms to fill out (0nce you’ve registered, of course). Ever. What that means in a nutshell is there’s no catch, contracts or committments to using Ebates, yet you can still save a healthy chunk of cash through their site. Not a bad deal.

WHAT WE LIKED

The concept in general is terrific. Overall the site is so easy to use, and the benefits are pretty darn good. So altogether the site is a good one. There are a few individual features that the site offers that we found to be helpful as well.

The shopping guides page helps narrow down your search by giving ideas and suggestions based on what you’re shopping for. For example, if you’re looking for computers, but don’t know where to start, you can click on their computers and electronics shopping guide and see a list of all the relevant stores and their rebates. The same can be done for clearance items, jewelry, and other products.

The referal program is another bonus feature of Ebates. If you refer a friend to sign up, your account receives a $5 bonus and theirs does also. The bonus takes effect immediately after their first qualifying purchase through Ebates. Just another easy way to make a few bucks using their service.

There are many great things about this site, but one of the more overlooked but important parts is the ease of navigation and the cleanliness of the design. Links are placed logically, the graphics are sharp, the site is colorful, but not too flashy and each page is functional. It is a very well thought out website, and is extremely user-friendly.

WHAT WE DIDN’T LIKE

The only gripe we have with Ebates is the fact that anyone with a website of their own can sign up for affiliate memberships at most if not all of these sites and earn more cash back or a larger discount clicking through their site than what Ebates pays out. For most users this entails more work than desired or than they are capable of, but many web savvy users might find it more beneficial to open their own affiliate accounts at sites they are frequent shoppers of. The difference may only be a percentage point or two, but over time it can add up.

THE FINAL WORD

Abosolutely 100% worth checking out and signing up. It costs nothing, but may save thousands.

Ebates.com