Tagging Miles

Amazing! 10 Percent Cashback on Walmart.com!

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Its an idle Thursday night here on the East Coast, and so of course, no one expects something that may be borderline best ever, but Ebates and TopCashback came out with something to blow our socks off. 10 Percent Cashback on Walmart.com! You all know by now that I love shopping portals!

Update: Doctor of Credit reader Calvin reports BeFrugal is at 11%, though it doesn’t show on CashbackMonitor. 

10 Percent Cashback on Walmart.com

Usually a single portal will do something like this, and lets be honest, Ebates is a favorite for this sort of stunt. I’m not sure if they started it with this:

 10 Percent Cashback on Walmart.com

But, it certainly caught my attention! A quick look at Cashback Monitor shows that this is in fact close to the best ever cashback rate:

10 Percent Cashback on Walmart.com

And even that, 12% rate was Shop at Home, which right now is at 2%.

But Wait, 10 Percent Cashback at Walmart.com gets better!

If you thought Ebates was good, TopCashback jumps on the bandwagon too!

10 Percent Cashback on Walmart.com

Its pretty hard to beat when there are two cashback shopping portals offering a great 10 Percent cashback on walmart.com like this!

Wrapping Up

I realize this may not excite the miles and points folks here, but for resellers, this can be a big deal. I for one will definitely be taking a look for some of my favorite products, as normally the best I see is 5% cashback, which means this is 200% the norm!

What do you think? Will you be buying from Walmart.com now that you can get 10% cashback?

H/T: Sweet

 

Ebates Birthday Week – 15% cashback at tons of stores including Staples!

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Ebates Birthday Week is one of my favorite weeks of the year, and this year is almost as good as the first Ebates Birthday Week that I covered in 2015, 2016 was good, but Staples didn’t make an appearance. Already, Shopping Portals are gravy, Ebates just makes this a whole lot more gravy than usual!

What’s so awesome about Ebates Birthday Week?

For starters, how does 15% cashback at tons of stores sound? 

Ebates Birthday Week

And there are tons of stores, including some really great stores for resellers! Just take a look at a selection:

Ebates Birthday Week

You can see the full list here; if you don’t already have an Ebates account, I would greatly appreciate it, if you would consider using my Ebates referral link.

Its important to note that some stores are only a limited time, so if there’s something you’ve been thinking of getting from Staples, Ulta, Macy’s or others, act quickly!

Highlights for Resellers

With all of the different stores, its easy to get stuck in the weeds, so I thought I’d highlight some of the stores that have traditionally been very good, assuming you have permission to sell the products:

  • Staples – This is a no brainer. Lots of excellent things to buy at Staples, especially when you’re talking about an effective 20% discount, plus 5x Ultimate Rewards Points.
  • Macy’s – There are often good buys here, especially as we get into wedding season.
  • Kohl’s – Kohl’s is particularly nice, when the stars align (read: the math that makes Kohl’s work)
  • Dick’s Sporting Goods – We are getting into the outdoor season

Wrapping up

Overall, I would say this is the best time of the year to use the Ebates portal.

What store are you most happy to see as part of Ebates Birthday Week?

Increase your points balance with Shopping Portals!

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If there is one thing that I might consider yelling from the rooftops, it is that Shopping Portals are huge! For the casual mile and point collector, I would argue that shopping portals rank either second or third in the scale of miles generated. Obviously credit card sign-on bonuses are the top generator for miles and points. Those huge sign-on bonuses are so great, that credit card issuers have started making it tough for churners. The tie, I would say, is between flying, where you used to earn a mile for a mile flown, but predominantly, that earn rate is based on your fare now a days, and from shopping portals.

Why Shopping Portals?

First of all, shopping portals just don’t get nearly the kind’ve play that credit card sign-on bonuses get. Any mile and point collector can increase their balances through the use of shopping portals for things that they would buy anyway. Resellers can supercharge their mile and point balances. Many–though not every–airline and hotel chain has a shopping portal, as well as Chase Ultimate Rewards, though the other transferable points programs (SPG, American Express, Citi Thank You)  don’t seem to have portals anymore. Here’s a look at some of the common portals that you’ll see for a store; in this case, Macy’s:

Macy Shopping Portals

Its not a ton of miles, but, lets say you are buying a wedding gift for a friend, and they happen to have a registry on Macy’s, you could earn some miles for that purchase. 

Shopping Portals aren’t limited to Miles

While I tend to find shopping portals as very valuable for earning miles, the fact is, you can also get cashback. It can often be a tough decision as to whether you go for the cashback, the miles or points, or the bank points. Take a look here at Kohls:

Kohls Shopping Portals

So here you have to decide whether you’d want to earn 7% cashback, or 3x British Airways Avios points, or perhaps 2x of Alaska, American, Delta, or Southwest. There’s also some other less attractive options in there, like Spirit. 

Pay Close Attention to the Terms and Conditions!

While there aren’t many stores that have unique terms, some do in fact have unique terms. Perhaps the greatest–and most lucrative— example was Sears, which had for a time allowed double dips, in other words, you could buy or reload a gift card via a portal like Southwest, United, American, or others, then go back in via a portal and make your purchase via the same portal and get double the points! It was pretty huge. In fact, it was a large part of how I got my first Southwest Companion Pass.

Another example is a recent enhanced United Mileage Plus Shopping Portal bonus on Apple (it was 8x), which a reader was kind enough to warn me:

United Apple Shopping Portal

The key here is operating within the various terms and conditions. 

Wrapping Up

There are a lot of opportunities to generate miles and points; Credit Card sign-ups are perhaps those most popular, but that door seems to be closing ever so gently on many of us long time credit card churners. Logically, the next easiest way to generate points for spend that we’ll already be spending, just by adding a simple extra step. Speaking of that extra step – Don’t forget to go to the portal via an incognito tab; otherwise there might be other cookies that mitigate the portal you are going through.

Do you regularly generate miles and points from Shopping Portals? 

As you prepare for Cyber Monday

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Cyber Monday is almost upon us. No doubt that you have already done a bunch of shopping online. In fact, many people do the majority of their shopping online. But did you know, that by adding a few simple steps, you can get more bang for your buck, whether it is more points (my preference) or cashback?

My first stop on Cyber Monday is always to CashbackMonitor

There are essentially two primary portal aggregates. evRewards and Cashback Monitor. I’m a bigger fan of Cashback Monitor, and have found that it is almost always accurate. I say almost, so please be sure to confirm when you actually go in. 

On the landing page, they also have their most popular stores, so at a glance you can see the highest points or cashback.

Cyber Monday

You can then drill down. Here is Staples for example:

Cyber Monday - Staples

Next you’ll select which variety of miles or cashback you’d like to earn. As you can see, you’ve got straight cashback on the left, the next column is miles and points. Alaska Mileage Plan is looking mighty nice, at least as I write this post on Sunday. Hope 6x sticks around for Cyber Monday!

Then you just click on Alaska Mileage Plan, and Cashback Monitor will drop you at the Alaska Mileage Plan portal. 

Cyber Monday

Of course you do need to log in, then click Shop Now, and you are on your way to earning 6 Alaska Mileage Plan miles per dollar!

A word of caution: I always open up an Incognito window (I primarily use Chrome), and before I go through a portal, I always close any instance of the site (e.g. www.staples.com). Maybe I am overly cautious, but I really like my miles!

A Cyber Monday Plug

Lets say that instead of miles and points, you would rather have cashback. You can use the same approach for a cashback portal.

Now, and I know this is a stretch, but lets say you don’t already have an account with some of the cashback portals? Well, I have just the answer!

You could sign-up with my referral link (if you would be so kind) and get something too!

I sincerely appreciate your consideration.

Wrapping Up

It goes without saying that Cyber Monday is an excellent day for sales and deals. But even more so, it is an opportunity to maximize your spending by boosting your miles and points balances as well. Or just getting cashback. Cash is cool too, after all! 

 

 

Transfer FatWallet Cashback to Ebates – Get $10 more!

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I just got an e-mail from FatWallet informing me that my cashback was at risk! Given that I love Shopping Portals, and I like to maximize everything I can, I had to jump on opportunity to transfer FatWallet cashback to Ebates and get $10 more! Of course, I’m not sure that this is exactly the last chance, but its a good reminder that if you have any FatWallet cashback, now’s a good time to act.

Background

May 10th, FatWallet shut down their shopping portal, instead focusing on Ebates. In the process, they initially offered folks to transfer their cashback to Ebates and get an additional $10.

transfer fatwallet cashback to ebates

Here’s the verbiage I received in the e-mail today:

Please update your FatWallet account to keep your Cash Back. Transfer your balance to our sister company, Ebates, and receive a $10 bonus* or cash out your full balance from FatWallet.

How to Transfer FatWallet Cashback to Ebates

Its actually about as simple as clicking a button for me, because they associated both accounts with my e-mail.

Transfer fatwallet cashback to Ebates

Clicking that button will get you over to the FatWallet / Ebates site for a quick transfer:

transfer fatwallet cashback to ebates

And then you’re done! It ended up netting me $10 on $0.90 of cashback that I hadn’t previously cashed out. Not a bad return for a whole 30 seconds.

Have you transferred your FatWallet balance to Ebates yet?

Increased TopCashback Payout if taken as an AMEX Reward Card

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I often talk about how awesome shopping portals are, but I suppose I don’t talk as much about ways to maximize your return once your cashback is ready to be paid out.

TopCashback provides a perfect example of some ways you can get that much more out of your cashback. For the month of August, they are providing a 5% bonus when you request your cashback payout as an American Express Reward Card.

TopCashback - Increased 5% bonus when payout as an American Express Reward Card!

TopCashback – Increased 5% bonus when payout as an American Express Reward Card!

If you’re trying to think about what you can do with American Express Reward Card, the TopCashback Blog shares some ideas.

Other ways to get more for your TopCashback

The other big option at TopCashback is to get an Amazon.com gift card.

Get 3% more TopCashback with Amazon!

Get 3% more TopCashback with Amazon!

It may only be a 3% increase over just getting your cashback outright — which is in reality a 1% lower amount than you can get via other means which I’ll talk about more in the near future, but, it certainly doesn’t hurt to get more.

Conclusion

While American Express Reward Cards don’t have the flexibility of Visa Gift Cards, getting 5% more cashback, on money that you already received as a discount from an online purchase certainly doesn’t hurt. As they say, every little bit helps. For Resellers, this is even more true, as every percentage point of profit can make a difference, and 5% more cashback could make a difference coming into Q4, when you need every bit of liquidity that you can muster!

So will you have your TopCashback payout in the form of an American Express Reward Card?

Get Ebates Cashback In-Store

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I’m a huge fan of shopping portals, because they enhance profitability for resellers, and help save a bunch of money for consumers. Ebates continues to innovate by adding Ebates Cashback In-Store. This is of course on top of enhanced cashback via the mobile app.

Ebates cashback in-store

Ebates cashback in-store

Right now its only available at 20 stores, many of them not necessarily the ones you’d see at your local mall, but it is a step in the right direction! Of course Upromise has been doing this longer, but another cashback portal in the mix can only be a good thing.

Ebates Cashback In-Store Options (as of this posting)

  • Claim Jumper – 5%
  • Ann Taylor – 2%
  • Moosejaw – 5%
  • Tillys – 3%
  • New York & Company – 2.5%
  • J.Crew Factory – 2%
  • Dick’s Sporting Goods – 1.5%
  • Saks Fifth Avenue – 4%
  • Old Navy – 2%
  • Banana Republic – 2%
  • Eddie Bauer – 3%
  • Charming Charlie – 1%
  • Gap – 2%
  • Express – 2.5%
  • Kiehl’s – 4$
  • Footwear etc. – 5%
  • American Eagle Outfitters – 2%
  • Sephora – 5%
  • Rebecca Taylor – 3.5%
  • The Body Shop — expired as of 30 June, but was 4%

How to enroll

Ebates cashback in-store sign-up

Ebates cashback in-store sign-up

Much like Upromise you need to add your credit or debit cards to your account. Then you have to explicitly link to your desired offer. Its unfortunate that Ebates doesn’t make it easy, and just automatically enroll anyone who’s loaded a credit card or debit card to their account.

Ebates has also shared a nice little video highlighting the new feature:

Conclusion

Getting cashback from an online portal, in store is awesome. Its not amazing amounts of cashback, but every little bit helps. The fact is, the addition earning of Ebates Cashback in-store should be viewed as pure gravy. Take a moment to sign up, make sure you have your workhorse credit cards added to your account, and you’re done. Every little bit helps.

British Airways Gate 365 Shopping Portal

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There isn’t much chatter about the British Airways Gate 365 Shopping Portal, but there should be. Long time readers know that I’m a huge fan of shopping portals, because they allow you to get even more value from purchases you are already making. It should come as no surprise that British Airways Gate 365 portal has some nice finds.

About the British Airways Gate 365 Shopping Portal

British Airways officially renamed their eStore to Gate 365 in November of 2013, so it has been around for a while, but their US stores are somewhat limited. It does however have an excellent selection on the UK version of the site. Focusing on the US Gate 365 site, they highlight a few stores that are their “Most Popular” – and some are nice options to see:

Most Popular British Airways Gate 365 Stores

Most Popular British Airways Gate 365 Stores

I’m sure some don’t look terribly exciting, but on average Gate 365 is double or better most of the popular stores:

  • Best Buy, Ebay – 1x
  • Walmart, Target – 3x
  • Macy’s – 5x
  • L.L, Bean – 4x (quadruple other airline portals)

Wrapping Up

While none of the offers are the type that would spur me to start looking at a store for personal or reselling purposes, it is nice to see that Avios points an option to earn via British Airways Gate 365. Besides, it is always good to have alternative options when you’re shopping online. Even better, Gate 365 is showing up when you search for the best cashback at Cashback Monitor, one of my favorite reselling tools.

Have you made a purchase through Gate 365? Please share your experiences in the comments.

As the end of Ebates Birthday Week arrives – how did you do?

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I’ll be honest – I was very excited when I saw the e-mail about Ebates Birthday Week, so much so that I probably had a few more exclamation points than it truly deserved.

EbatesB-day2016

Of course, last year, I did the lionshare of Ebates cashback with Staples for the 1 day it was offered. This year, we had some winners, like Kohls, but they were one of the few stores that seemed to be of any value. I think FrequentMiler found more value, see these for example:

Interestingly enough my biggest order isn’t even tracking as of yet, with Kohls, which is concerning to me… But even so, I’m far below what I did last year. If I got $250 in cashback, I would be surprised. In retrospect, I should’ve tried harder, but alas, life got in the way, as can occasionally happen.

So I ask you the reader: Did you feel this year’s Ebates Birthday Week was worth going big? Did you? What was your favorite store?

 

Ebates birthday – 15% cashback coming soon!

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Ebates Birthday

Ebates sent out a teaser e-mail this evening about the Ebates Birthday celebration next week. I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty excited!

Before I go further: If you don’t already have an Ebates account, please consider signing up with my link – you’ll get $10.

Past Performance is not an indication of Future Success – But could be!

Last year, Ebates pretty much floored me, so much so that I went big. Last year, was Ebates 16th birthday, and they celebrated by geting 16% off various merchants, including, Staples! That’s right – for a day Staples was 16% cash back!

Preparing for Ebates Birthday Week

Ebates implies a few things — First of all, they recommend that you get their App. I’ve talked in the past, about enhanced cashback via the Ebates app, they also recommend the “cash back button” as a browser add-on. I don’t do that personally… But you never know.

Really this is a great opportunity for any purchases you may need to make.

It’s also a great opportunity if you happen to do reselling via Online Arbitrage (OA), in which case you could really clean up. Last year my Ebates rebate was north of $600 just from a single day of Ebates Birthday – the day they bumped Staples up to 16%. In hindsight, I don’t think I even went as big as I should have. So you can be sure I’ll be looking for going bigger this year! Besides, if Staples were to be 15% this year, that’s 15% + 5x (Ink) + 5% (Staples Rewards) – so 25%! Seems like it could have great potential!

Bottom Line

Be ready! May 9-16th, will be an excellent opportunity to leverage 15% cashback at some of yours (and my) favorite stores! I don’t know about you, but I’ve got my fingers crossed that Staples is on their list once again!

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