I was surprised to see that Wellness360.com appears to be back up, although it's not currently functional. None of the links on the home page are working, including the login. The site disappeared in January with no warning or explanation to members, many of whom were owed money for participating in various activities on the site.
In doing some digging, I found this press release from November stating that Aperture Health, the owners of Wellness360, had signed a contract with Neudesic Media Group to provide advertising for the site. Neudesic represents an impressive stable of tech websites, but Wellness360 would be their first foray into the "health and fitness vertical."
Maybe the site's been down for them to do some tweaking of the program as a result of this partnership with Neudesic Media. I haven't been able to find any new information since that announcement (which pre-dated the site closure by almost two months). The company is still a "pink" stock, traded OTC but without any requirements to disclose financials. They were losing money as of the last time they did file publicly, for the third quarter of 2008.
If you were owed money from Wellness360, I'm still very skeptical that you're going to get it. The homepage still promises the sharing of advertising revenues with members, but with a new company in charge of handling the advertising, who knows how that's going to play out.
I just hope, for poor John Schneider's sake, that they remove his pic/video from their homepage. I can't imagine that he'd want to shill for these guys.
It's been an interesting couple of weeks, as news of Bing Cashback's closing has made its way around the internet and to the masses of fans and naysayers alike, as well as to competitors of the program.
Some of the more vocal outbursts about the end of Bing Cashback can be found on this post on SlickDeals.net, this one on FatWallet, this one on TechCrunch, here on CNet News, and on the comments to the official announcement on Bing's blog here.
Commenters felt that the program suffered from poor marketing, bad PR for canceling cashback when members used a coupon code, confusion about cashback amounts being given in a range (e.g., 2-8% cashback), not enough merchants participating in the product price comparison feature, presumably high administrative costs (versus its pre-MS days as Jellyfish.com, with just 26 employees), the limiting of participation to US-only, etc. Many responders said that cashback was the only reason they used Bing at all, and that they would be changing their default search engine back to Google.
The BCB competitors I spoke with felt that Bing's foray into the cashback shopping biz didn't impact their business, but rather increased consumer awareness (for example by the Bing Cashback television ads) and made the pie a little bigger for everyone to take a slice, so to speak.
Jeff Nobbs of Extrabux (aff): "Microsoft has done a great job of using its resources to spread the word about cash back to millions of consumers. For that, I'm sure all cashback programs are very grateful. Whatever Microsoft was hoping to get from its cashback program, whether it was market share from Google or huge amounts of consumer purchase data, I hope they achieved their goals. Their departure will leave many consumers looking for another solution, and I hope Extrabux can fill that void as the only comparison shopping engine to integrate cash back."
Craig Cassata of MrRebates (aff): "Both Mr. Rebates and competitors that I've talked with have seen no decline in business since Bing has introduced cash-back. In fact, most have seen good growth so it's certainly possible that Bing actually did all loyalty sites a 'service' by really spreading the word about how cashback works and its benefits." Cassata went on to encourage Bing Cashback orphans to consider making the switch to MrRebates: "If someone is looking for competitive cash-back rates, Mr. Rebates certainly won't disappoint!"
Kevin Johnson of Ebates (aff): "Ebates.com is sorry to learn that Bing is planning to end its cash back shopping program. We believe Bing's program was actually good for Ebates' business in that it introduced consumers to the concept of cash back while creating the opportunity for more comprehensive and service oriented offerings like ours to address their broader shopping needs."
While I respect these guys' opinions, of course, my theory is that Bing Cashback was way too complicated for the average cashback shopping newcomer to grasp, and that the one rewards program hurt most by Bing was probably FatWallet Cashback. FatWallet allowed discussion of Bing Cashback deals on their own, very popular deal forums, frequented by some of the most deal-savvy shoppers on the 'net (which I thought was very progressive and open-minded of them). I think that many Bing Cashback members will simply revert back to the familiar, and FatWallet will see a return in droves of former members. I haven't received a response to my request for a comment from FatWallet as of this posting.
In an interesting twist, there is a rumor floating around that Amazon wants to take over Bing Shopping. Jay Yarow of BusinessInsider.com posted on Wednesday that an industry source with high-level contacts at both Amazon and Bing is saying that talks are ongoing for Bing to "outsource" the shopping search results to Amazon. Neither company would comment on record to BusinessInsider, and as of this writing, no further information is available.
It would make no sense for Bing to ONLY provide search results for items being sold through Amazon. Sure, Amazon would make it worth Bing's while financially, but with Bing's push to be THE decision engine, only providing shopping results from one vendor would be bizarre. My feeling is that Amazon has something much grander in mind:
- Bing already has the platform developed for providing product-level pricing...and so does Amazon.
- Amazon has a method in place for processing payments (Amazon Payments, which was a cashout option on Bing Cashback).
- Amazon has an affiliate program themselves (although it won't allow cashback sites to pass a share of it back to their members).
- Amazon has a rewards program themselves, mTurk. While it's not a cashback shopping program, at least they have some experience in managing a large membership base, fighting fraud, etc.
- Wouldn't it make more sense for Amazon to just take ownership of Bing Cashback's platform, incorporating Amazon's products in addition to those from the thousands of other merchants currently participating in BCB? They could offer cashback ONLY in the form of Amazon credit, which would increase business at Amazon.com... or they could continue to offer cashback in the form of direct deposits but make some sort of incentive (e.g., a 5% bonus) for requesting Amazon credit.
We'll have to wait and see what a Bing/Amazon shopping partnership might have in store for us. In the meantime, Bing Cashback users have until July 30th to earn cashback before the program officially ends.
See my Alternatives to Bing Cashback chart for a detailed comparison of some of the best alternatives to Bing Cashback.
Updated daily!:
Ebates.com has a feature called the Daily Double, where they double their usual cashback rate for one merchant.
Today, June 24th, you'll earn 5% cashback versus the usual 3% at Ann Taylor Loft! Plus, they provide a couple of coupon codes including 25% off $75+!
Not a member of Ebates yet? Get a $5 bonus when you sign up and make your first purchase! -- Join Ebates today! (aff)
Updated daily!:
MyPoints (aff) is doing a promotion called Double Days, where they double their shopping rate on one selected merchant every day.
Today, June 24th, you'll earn 4 points per dollar (worth around 3%) at Tiger Direct!
If you're not a member of MyPoints.com and you'd like to sign up, earning points redeemable for gift cards for doing things like reading emails, answering surveys, completing polls, and shopping, please click here (aff) -- thanks!
Upromise increases their shopping reward for one merchant every week.
Through June 25th, you'll earn 2% (vs. the usual 1%) at BJ's!
Upromise has great ways to earn for college or cashback for yourself both online and off. Be sure to check out their dining program and their eCoupons! Not a member yet? Join UPromise.com here! (aff)
Now that you've heard that Bing Cashback is ending, you may be looking for alternative cashback programs that are like Bing. Here is a rundown of cashback sites similar to Bing, with details of who can join and how the programs work, as well as a brief sampling of cashback rates for comparison.
Alternatives to Bing Cashback
All of these programs have been around for longer than Bing Cashback, and I've used them myself and can recommend them as being reliable and having good customer service. The links provided to each program are my refer-a-friend or affiliate links where available.
As I reported back in April, SuperPoints and its associated sub-websites, LuckySearch, RewardLadder, and RewardShopping, have been down for maintenance since sometime early in April. Management privately suggested to me a return by May 10th, but as that date approached, the site was updated with a revised return date of 5/31.
Yesterday, the site was again updated to provide a link to a blog entry by the owner...now promising a return sometime after July 4th. The new site will reward honest existing members with some sort of unspecified "advantage," while weeding out scammers and others who were less than honest in some way. It will also introduce some new features that would have been difficult to roll out while the site was live.
I was impressed with how forthright the owner was with information about the challenges the program's been facing. I think most people are willing to be patient and understanding if they are just kept in the loop. Nice move by SuperPoints, and I hope they're able to make the improvements necessary to sustain them, and keep their honest members happy, for the long-term.
Microsoft announced yesterday that it will shut down Bing Cashback.
In a blog post entitled, "A Farewell to Bing Cashback," Bing's Senior VP of its Online Audience Business Group, Yusuf Mehdi, explained the reasoning for the decision and the technicalities of how they're pulling the plug.
Mehdi said that the bottom line was that "after a couple of years of trying, we did not see the broad adoption that we had hoped for."
Bing remains "committed to delivering great shopping experiences for you that help you make better shopping decisions, get great deals, and save time and money along the way." How exactly they plan to do that is unclear, though Mehdi promised more details for merchants and advertisers "later this summer."
Bing Cashback users can continue to use the program as usual through July 30th at 9pm PST, and they'll have a year to redeem their cashback pursuant to the program's terms (which means, I'd assume, that if you don't get your balance over $5 by July 30th, you'll forfeit your earnings).
So, those are the facts as best as I can discern. Now, my opinion:
Can we have Jellyfish back?
We had a great thing going at Jellyfish.com, then Microsoft bought it, eliminated the Smack Shopping feature (where products were put up for sale at a declining price until they were sold out) and its associated chatroom, eliminated refer-a-friend rewards, integrated shopping into their Live search, RENAMED it all to "Bing," and then gave us a complicated system requiring a knowledge of how to use "hidden cashback" terms to get the best deal and requiring omniscience to know which merchants allowed the use of coupon codes.
And Bing tries to implement this complicated system WITHOUT offering its diehard fan/evangelists like me any kind of reward for referring friends...WHILE going head-to-head with traditional and easier-to-understand cashback programs firmly entrenched in the market for a decade or more: Ebates, MrRebates, Upromise, MyPoints, and Memolink.
Am I disappointed? Yes. Am I surprised? Not really. What they were doing made no business sense. Bing made NO profit on Bing Cashback, as I confirmed last July: "Microsoft currently shares back 100% of your commissions directly to the consumer..."
Last fall, Bing had some major struggles with their Back to School cashback promo, which promised some rates it didn't deliver, found merchants increasing their prices to account for the increased cashback they were paying, and the promotion was yanked early when Bing ran through its budget for the promotion too quickly.
Microsoft also filed a lawsuit last June because of the actions of some unidentified parties to "obtain... cashback payments under false pretenses" over a one year period when the program was still called Microsoft Live Cashback.
Despite the program's financial problems, Microsoft did make at least SOME effort to market the Bing Cashback program, including emailing millions of MyPoints members in an effort to bring in some of their shoppers and publicizing the program through a series of slick TV ads.
We knew some sort of changes were coming soon to Bing Cashback, when in March Microsoft's CEO Steve Ballmer admitted that the program "hasn't worked fantastically" and that they planned to "rethink it, morph it." Then in April, Bing Cashback held a webinar to get feedback from members on how to improve the program. (I wasn't able to attend, so I don't know what was said, but I can guarantee members didn't suggest, "Shut it down.")
So, here we are: another day, another defunct rewards program. I don't think we can extrapolate impending doom on the cashback industry as a whole from Bing Cashback's failure because what Microsoft was doing with Bing is so different than what the other cashback shopping programs are doing. Bing Cashback was eliminating the middleman (the affiliate networks) entirely and directly contracting with merchants, allowing for varying commissions on a product-by-product basis. They were also doing search marketing on their own search engine. The traditional cashback programs, with a shopping portal website you log into and then shop through to receive a cashback reward for shopping, remain unscathed and even stronger from the elimination of competition from bottomless-pocketed Microsoft.
While there are no cashback programs *that* much like Bing Cashback, I can recommend these (with my refer-a-friend links provided where available):
MrRebates: Outstanding cashback rates, monthly payment by PayPal or check once the $10 payment minimum is reached, and an exclusive $7.50 signup bonus courtesy of CompareRewards.com
Ebates: High cashback rates, quarterly payment by PayPal or check once the $5.01 payment minimum is reached, and a $5 signup bonus
Upromise: High cashback rates, request payment by check or transfer earnings into a 529 college savings plan
MyPoints: Low shopping rates but earn points without spending a dime in various ways, payment within several weeks of requesting it by your choice of gift card (starting at $10)
Memolink: Average shopping rates (in points per dollar), supplement shopping earnings in various non-spending ways, payment by cash or gift card (starting at $10)
And although it hasn't been around as long as the above, Extrabux still has several years of operation under their belt and they provide a similar comparison shopping search engine to Bing's, which provides prices ranked by final price after cashback and coupons from the different participating merchants.
Thoughts/feelings about the end of Bing Cashback? Please leave a comment! And, see my alternatives to Bing cashback here.
MrRebates (aff), one of my favorite cashback shopping sites, has increased their already-great cashback shopping rates for over 175 popular stores through June 20th in their Fantastic Father's Day Savings event.
Some highlights: Bass Pro (was 3%, now 6%), Cooking.com (was 4%, now 10%), Gamestop (was 3%, now 5%), Hickory Farms (was 4%, now 7%), Mozy (was $10, now $15), Omaha Steaks (was 4%, now 11%), Spencer Gifts (was 5%, now 7%), The Golf Warehouse (was 3%, now 5%), and Walmart (was 1%, now 4%).
You'll get a nice $7.50 MrRebates signup bonus from CompareRewards when you sign up with my link here (instead of the $5 you'll get 'most everywhere else)...my special thank-you to you for supporting CompareRewards.com! You will LOVE MrRebates...I do!
Borders Rewards members, be sure to check your email for a message titled, "FREE: $5 in Borders Bucks -- 4 DAYS ONLY!" Print it and bring it into the store for $5 of free merchandise! Or, your Borders Bucks will display during checkout online at Borders.com! The certificate is valid through close of business Monday in-store, or through 11:59pm CT Monday online.
Borders Rewards is a free program that offers members $5 in Borders Bucks for every $150 they spend per year.
Members of the ToysRUs RewardsRUs rewards program can take advantage of these 35+ members-only coupons that will be good in-store tomorrow only. The coupons include a free $10 GC with the purchase of $50 or more in diapers or wipes, another free $10 GC with a $50+ formula purchase, $10 off a $50+ clothing or shoe purchase, 2 for $20 12-packs of Gerber cloth diapers, and more.
You can read my review of RewardsRUs, or go straight to sign up for RewardsRUs here (it's free).
In honor of their 11th birthday Ebates.com (aff) is increasing their cashback rate for select merchants to 11%, many of which were in the 2 to 4% range before! And remember, the 11% cashback can be used in combination with the coupon codes Ebates provides for these stores!
Some of the bigger boosts to 11% are at Gap / Old Navy / Banana Republic / Athleta / Piperlime (which were all 2% before), White House / Black Market (was 2%), Macy's and ULTA Beauty (were 3%). Other great merchants in the list, too -- check 'em out!
I'd like to offer a warm welcome to my new readers visiting from Donna Freedman's great article on MSN Money, "How to play the cash-back game." If you're looking for more information on cashback sites (also called rewards programs), you've come to the right place!
I've used these programs since 1997 and have saved thousands of dollars on products I would've bought anyway. I've used my cashback rewards to help finance vacations (just got back from one, courtesy of MrRebates and Bing), to help buy Christmas gifts and birthday presents, and on more than one occasion to pay an unexpected car repair bill.
Is this some kind of scam? You have to do your homework, but most of them are not. Several of the big cashback programs are owned by companies you've probably heard of before: Sallie Mae (the student loan company) owns Upromise, Microsoft owns Bing Cashback, and MyPoints is owned by United Online (the same folks who own FTD, Classmates.com, and NetZero). There are other privately-held cashback sites that have been around for years and have very loyal followings -- some with over 5 million members!
So if you're just now finding out about cashback sites...you're a little late to the party! :)
But it's never too late to get started, and that's the purpose of this article today: to help you figure out which programs are best for you!
First of all, I'd recommend joining more than one cashback program. Cashback rates vary between these programs, and even within the same cashback program they change from time to time. Keep in mind, though, that most rewards programs have a minimum balance required to cash out, and using multiple rewards programs will require you to hit multiple cashout minimums.
Here are some of the details you need to know to compare the rewards programs mentioned on MSN Money -- the pros and cons, and a link to join (some are my referral links, which help to support CompareRewards.com; feel free to type the rewards program's name directly into your browser and bypass my link if you'd prefer):
Bing Cashback: Update, 6/4: Microsoft announced it will be closing Bing Cashback in July. Owned by Microsoft, $5 minimum to cash out (get paid by check, PayPal, or Amazon Payments within about 5 days of requesting a payment). Some high cashback rates (including 8% on Ebay BINs), some just average. A bit confusing because sometimes they give cashback rates in a range (like, 3-7% cashback) with the exact percentage depending on the product you buy. Also somewhat confusing because you may be offered a higher cashback rate if you know which "secret search terms" to use on their Bing.com search engine. Bing does NOT allow the use of ANY coupon codes and will NOT pay cashback on the purchase of gift cards. While their rate on a merchant may be highest, you may find that using a coupon code at a competitor with a lower cashback rate will give you a better deal. Another drawback: they're missing some big-name merchants like Disney Store.
Ebates: Privately held, $5.01 minimum to cash out (get paid by check or PayPal quarterly, about 6 weeks after the quarter ends, payments sent automatically when the minimum threshold is met). Rates are high average. Coupon codes that are combinable with their cashback rewards are provided for you. Site also has a helpful but not comprehensive product price comparison tool. Tell a friend who makes a purchase through Ebates and get $5 bonus to your account. Ebates is the oldest cashback shopping site on the internet (over 10 years in business).
FatWallet: Privately held, no minimum to cash out for PayPal, $10 for a check, payments sent upon request once the minimum has been met. Rates are high to high average. Coupons that are combinable with their cashback rewards are provided for you. Site also has a large and very active deal forum where shoppers share their finds and provide buying advice.
MrRebates: Privately held, $10 minimum to cash out for PayPal or check, payments sent monthly upon request once the minimum has been met (they email a cashout reminder at the end of the month, if you've met the minimum). Rates are high to high average. Coupons that are combinable with their cashback rewards are provided for you. Tell a friend who joins and shops, and you'll receive a 20% bonus to your account of whatever cashback your friend earns. (Your friend's cashback isn't impacted.)
Sunshine Rewards: Privately held, $20 minimum to cash out for PayPal or $25 minimum for gift cards, payments sent upon request on the last day of the month following the request. Rates are average to high average. Coupons that are combinable with their cashback rewards are provided for you. Member forum for sharing deals and asking for deal advice is provided. Supplement cashback earnings with earning for completing surveys and offers. Tell a friend who joins and get a $2 bonus to your account once your referral earns $5.
Because I've been at this for a long time, people often ask, "Which rewards programs do YOU personally use?" I'm most active in three of the above -- Bing, Ebates, and MrRebates -- and also the three below, not mentioned in the article:
Extrabux: Privately held, $10 minimum to cash out for PayPal or check, payments sent upon request once the minimum is reached, generally within a week of request. Rates are high to high average. Coupons are provided that are combineable with cashback. Site has a unique and very useful product price comparison tool that allows you to search for a specific product's price at their cashback merchants, factoring in available coupons, cashback, and shipping costs to calculate the lowest final price.
MyPoints: Owned by United Online (owner of FTD, Netzero, Classmates.com, et al), $10 minimum to cash out for gift cards, payments sent within two weeks of request. Shopping rates are very low but this is hidden by the fact that they offer points per dollar for shopping rather than a percentage of cashback. Given that shopping rates are low, why do I use this program? Because they offer points for reading emails, answering polls, and for surveys and signups. You can cash out a couple of times a year without spending a dime.
QuickRewards.net: Privately held, no minimum to cash out for PayPal, gift cards start at $1 (for Disney Dollars; most other gift cards are $5 and up), payments sent within 48 hours of request. Coupons are provided for some merchants, others available upon request. Shopping rates are average to high average. I recommend this program because they waive the 60 to 90 day "pending period" that other shopping sites have to account for the potential of shoppers to get paid cash back for shopping and then return the item to the store. At QuickRewards.net, you can shop and get your cashback in your PayPal account within the same week. You can also supplement your cashback by visiting websites, completing surveys and offers, and printing grocery coupons. Disclosure: I run QR's shopping blog so I'm not completely unbiased. :)
In closing: If you'll just make a few extra clicks to shop through your favorite rewards program's link to Walmart, Home Depot, Overstock, or Disney, you'll be charged the same prices while receiving a nice little treat -- or vacation-sized splurge -- for yourself! Give it a try...you have nothing to lose, and you'll see just how easy cashback shopping really is!
As a member of many points-based rewards programs, past and present, I've also been faced with this dilemma: should I cash out my points now for a more immediate reward, or should I save them up for a bigger reward which might yield a better point value?
My good friend Ginger over at AttentionTargetShoppers.com did a great post about this yesterday, advising her readers to ride the wave as long as you can, but when you see the shoreline approaching, get the heck off the board.
Signs that the ride may be ending?
- Fewer points are available each day
- Drastically MORE points are available each day
- Point values are changed
- Longer wait times for redemptions
- Fewer redemption options are available
- Slower, or no, customer service
- Management disappears...or reappears with a slew of excuses
- Member accounts closed for no/little reason
- The program's refer-a-friend or affiliate program closes
Sometimes, there are no signs. You just wake up one day and POOF! Your favorite rewards program is gone, and all of your points/cash with it.
If you're accumulating a large balance of cash or points, whether it's to get a better value for your points (generally, a $100 gift card costs fewer points than four $25 ones) or to get one big check or gift card in time for a vacation or holiday, let me tell you now: This is a very bad idea.
You are betting against a couple of major risks when you do this:
1. You're betting that the rewards program will stay in business and that it will honor its debt.
Rewards programs come and go -- this I know from watching the landscape for over a dozen years. Sometimes the warning signs I mentioned above will be there, but other times there's no warning whatsoever.
And while you may think, "Hey, this rewards program has been here a long time, it's not going anywhere!", "Everybody's talking about this program and how many times they've been paid by it!", or, "This rewards program has a big name behind it -- I'm sure it's stable!", you're making an assumption that's been proven wrong many times over the years.
ClubMom's rewards program? Dead. Parade Magazine's rewards program? Dead. Publishers Clearinghouse's PCH Points? Dead. BountyZoo, a US-based program founded by the owners of a popular UK-based program? Dead. Milesource, Blink, CyberGold, Beenz, Milespree... I could go on for days. Programs that had big backers, or a strong history, all gone.
You don't have to look far to see people still licking their wounds from the closures of Netwinner, Wellness360, and Boomertowne, programs that had great potential but were doomed to fail because of poor management, fraud, and the economic downturn.
Do you remember the old saying, "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush?" That saying was made for rewards programs. If your favorite program shuts its doors tomorrow, will it be keeping $100 of your money, or $10? Which would you prefer?
2. When you hold a large point balance, you're betting that the rewards program won't increase the price (in points) of the redemption you're trying to reach.
Once upon a time, 1,000 MyPoints = a $10 gift card. It was simple and straightforward and fairly easy for people to do the math to see what their points were worth. Problem was, it wasn't profitable enough for MyPoints. Their solution was to up the cost. They've done it several times over the years, to the point where now a $10 gift card costs between 1,500 and 1,650 points (depending on which GC you choose). That's 50% inflation over the length of time I've been using the program.
As I mentioned before, rewards programs are usually set up so that you have an incentive to hold out for a bigger reward: it costs fewer points to buy one $100 GC than four $25 ones. But what happens if the rewards program increases the cost of the $100 redemption while you're trying to attain it? You may have done better to cash out at the $25 level.
It's not an unusual occurrence, it DOES happen, and you DO need to keep this in mind if you're hoarding points. Even if the rewards program is still around when you finally hit your goal, there's no guarantee that they won't increase the number of points needed to hit that goal while you're waiting.
So, when you hoard points or cash in a rewards program, those are the two risks you're taking (that the program won't close down, and that the program won't increase the cost for your intended reward before you attain it).
What happens when a rewards program closes? If you're new to this and you haven't lived through it before, here's what to expect:
1. The rewards program may or may not honor outstanding redemptions.
2. The program may or may not give you a window of time to cash out your balance that you hadn't yet redeemed.
3. The program may disappear without any notice or explanation to members, leaving you wondering if they're down temporarily or permanently.
4. You will have NO RECOURSE WHATSOEVER to recover outstanding earnings that were unpaid.
You can complain to the BBB, to the Attorney General, Action News, Sixty Minutes, your Senator, your lawyer, your momma, and the deity of your choice, but that money is GONE. Rewards programs put wording in place within their terms of service that let them off the hook should they decide to close up shop, or should they decide to stay in business and just not pay people (ahem, NetWinner). You participate in a rewards program at your own risk. The question is, how much risk are you willing to assume?
A bird in the hand...
Cash out as often as you can, people. And don't invest more time in ANY rewards program than you're willing to lose without pay, because what seems like a sure thing right now can be gone tomorrow.
Do you ever get a gift card as a gift and you think, "Nice thought, but I never shop there -- wish I could trade this out for another store or just get cash instead"?
I know a lot of us cash out our rewards programs earnings into gift cards. Getting free GCs is nice but if you need one for a gift and you don't have the time to earn enough to reach cashout, you might just like to buy a discounted gift card outright.
Heck, if you knew you were going to buy something at Kohl's or Sears ANYWAY, and there was a way to buy a discounted gift card you could use to get your purchase for even cheaper, who wouldn't be interested in that?
For all these reasons, I signed up as an affiliate of Plastic Jungle. Let me tell you how it works.
Option one: buy gift cards at a discount. Some of the deals they're offering right now include $50 Aeropostale GCs for $44, $25 Fandango GCs for $22.75, and $25 Payless GCs for $21.
Option two: sell your gift card for cash, or trade it for Amazon credit. The amount you'll get for your card depends on demand, seasonality, etc. Most of the $25 gift cards I checked were selling for $18-$19 cash or $19-$20 in Amazon credit.
Please visit Plastic Jungle through the link above or the banner below to support CompareRewards -- thanks!
