October 2006 Archives
Note, 10/07: This analysis was recently updated for 2007. Please click here to see the 2007 Shopping Rebates Comparison!
"What's the best rewards program?" This is a question I hear a lot, and of course, while there are many ways to define "the best," one would certainly put significant weight on a site's shopping rebate rates.
So, in an effort to help you decide which rewards programs to use for shopping online, I present to you my third annual Shopping Rebates Comparison Chart. This is the result of a week's time spent compiling and analyzing thousands of points of data, converting "points per dollar" to actual percentages, reviewing changes from last year, and analyzing trends.
All in all, I compared the data for 17 rewards programs, and what they pay for shopping at 155 merchants. It makes for a busy week of work, but I think the findings are interesting and may be useful to you as we approach the Christmas shopping season.
So, which programs pay the most for your favorite merchants? Which programs hide their pitiful rebate rates behind points? If you had to pick just one or two rewards programs to shop through, which should you choose?
Grab a bowl of popcorn, friends, and Continue Reading!
Freeride.com has to be the worst organized shopping site on the internet. Whoever is in charge of designing their shopping section SHOULD BE SUMMARILY DISMISSED. (You listening, Endai?)
How long have I been at this rewards program analysis stuff? I've been using rewards programs since '97 -- I think Freeride was probably the first site I joined -- and I've been analyzing them on this site alone for 5 years. I've seen MANY programs come and go, and I gotta tell you, I've seen some stinkers pass through on their way to obscurity. But I have never seen a shopping section as absolutely screwed up as the current incarnation of Freeride's.
Please allow me to expound on this.
The most basic requirement a proper rewards program should have, regarding its shopping area, is a master alphabetized list of merchants. A member should be able to see at a glance if his favorite merchant or merchants participate in the rewards program. Freeride doesn't have this.
Okay, if a program can't manage that, they should at least have an alphabetized list within each category of shopping. Freeride doesn't have this, either. Take a look at their Baby & Maternity category, just for one example. It starts off with Snapfish, goes on to BabyGap, is relatively alphabetized until it hits Waltraud Hanl Dolls, then it starts back over with Etoys. Then after Old Navy is Baby Universe. It is completely messed up.
So, barring either of those two REAL requirements for a shopping section, a rewards program at least needs to have a good search box, where you can find out if a merchant participates by typing in its name. Guess what? Freeride's search box doesn't always work, either. Type in "mothernature.com" and you'll get "We could not find a match for mothernature.com." But delve into the Health & Beauty category, and there it is! Same thing with TimeLife: it doesn't show up in a search for "time" or "timelife" or "timelife.com" -- but go to the DVD, Music, & Video category, and there it is! How about FTD? Same thing. You can only find it by going to the Flowers category. Oh, and when you do find it there, it says, "Now, thru May 14th ONLY, earn 7,500 Tokens with your order!" Um, May 14 of WHAT YEAR exactly?
But don't fall prey to the assumption that you can get a thorough (if not alphabetized) merchant list by going to each shopping category at Freeride... because for whatever reason, you won't find Petsmart in the Pet category, Sports Authority in the Sports category, or Office Depot in the Office category!
Lookit, Freeride: Invest some money in a REAL programming team. You can't run a rewards program like this. Absolute chaos in your shopping section, rewards delayed for MONTHS because of "technical glitches," poor to NO response to customer service inquiries... Do you even have a member service phone number? Hell, even Memolink has one of those!
Get it together, or ride on outta Cyberspace. There are too many other rewards programs to choose from for people to deal with this kind of aggravation.
Would you have a problem with receiving a card for in-store use that would allow you to earn points to your online rewards program accounts? I know I wouldn't.
But according to Scott Key, Gap's VP of relationship marketing, "People don't want to be barcoded." He thinks that we wouldn't be interested in it unless there was an ADDITIONAL benefit aside from the points. Not saying I would turn down any additional benefits, but just having the ability to earn points both online AND offline, like Best Buy does with its RewardZone program, would be more than sufficient to me. What do you think? Leave a comment!
Thanks to Clickz for the blurb, part of yesterday's write-up on the Shop.org 2006 annual summit.
Today marks the fifth anniversary of CompareRewards.com. While I had posted reviews and news about rewards programs prior to that time on a personal website, it was five years ago that I registered the URL to focus exclusively on the subject.
The site looks a lot different now than it did back then. The oldest archived backup of the site on WaybackMachine.org is here, and it's from May of 2002, when the site was 6 months old. As you can see, it's a very stripped-down version of the information available onsite now.
In addition, the whole rewards program landscape is very different now than it was 5 years ago. No longer with us are some of the then-popular programs I had reviews online for back then, including Fatshoe, Blink, Trocamania, and PrimaRewards. Others that came and went include Prizebuddies, Disneyawards, Treasuresurfing, AllThingsRewarded, ReadersWritersRewards, UrbanFreebies, MobiusMoney... oh, let me just stop. The list goes on and on.
The trend over time has been that free, non-spending points, have diminished greatly. Unless the click is sponsored in some way, sites can't afford to just give away money anymore. There's a much more competitive atmosphere about rebate rates -- consumers are more informed about their rewards program options, and they're aware of the tradeoffs (free points have to be paid for somehow, and that generally means lower rebate rates for shopping).
The industry has been fascinating to follow, and I appreciate your site visits, and your insightful and informative comments and emails.
Here's to five more years!
Just wanted to take a moment to acknowledge the passing of Bob Coffey, a daily contributor to my trivia newsletter and a good friend. We'll miss you, Bobster.
Your Moll
Do you still have some of those old S&H Green Stamps lying around the house? Don't throw them away! In checking for a friend to find out if they're still worth anything, I came across a section in the FAQs of Greenpoints.com, the online version of the old Green Stamps program. It says that if you mail your stamps in to them, they will convert them to points and you can either cash them in for a prize immediately, or put them in your Greenpoints account to save up for a bigger prize. (Stamps with a 1 on them will be worth 1 point, those with a 10 will be worth 10 points, etc.)
Here's how you do it. First, join Greenpoints here. When you enroll, you'll be given an S&H Member Number.
Then, send your stamps, along with your S&H Member Number, name, address, and daytime phone number, by INSURED mail, to:
S&H Customer Care Center
P.O. BOX 4000
Fenton, MO 63099-0001
PLUS -- if you know what you'd like to order from the catalog, tell them... or if you just want them to deposit the points into your Greenpoints account so you can save up for something bigger, tell them that, too.
Yes, it's long overdue, but I've finally put together my official review of the Upromise.com Rewards Program. Pull up a comfy chair and read on for the scoop!
And speaking of Upromise.com ... This morning, Mastercard announced the first four institutions that will be issuing Upromise debit cards: BancorpSouth, BankAtlantic, BECU (a Washington state credit union), and Provident Bank. When using one of these debit cards to purchase items from Upromise merchants, you'll earn an additional 1 to 3% deposited directly into your Upromise account.
The way I read it, and please see today's press release here, is that unlike the Visa Extras Rewards program for Visa debit cards, Upromise Debit Mastercard holders will not earn on EVERY purchase, just on purchases at Upromise-affiliated merchants. But to be fair, yes, Visa Extras debit card members receive points on every debit purchase that they sign for (not using their PIN number), but the one point per dollar they earn is only worth 0.25%.
Bottom line: every little bit helps, and 1 to 3% will add up over time, so if you are a diehard Upromise fan, the debit card will help you increase your earnings when you shop at their merchants online or off.
Best Buy RewardZone members can earn 500 points, worth $10, for making any purchase on BestBuy.com. You'll need to provide your 10-digit RZ program member ID during checkout, on the "Review and Submit Order" page. You can find your member ID on the back of your membership card, or if you log into their website using your email address, you'll also see your ID number displayed there.
This offer expires on 10/21/06.
There's a deal going on where you can pay by Mastercard and get one of select 90's CDs for $4.99 shipped (plus tax). That'd net you 5 bucks after the $10 RZ credit. The RZ points won't credit to your account for 30 days, by the way, and this is only good once per account.
Once again, ClubMom is offering its members 1,000 points (enough to cash out for a free $5 GC) for attending a Do-It-Herself Workshop at Home Depot. This one, on Monday, 10/23 from 7 to 8pm, is called, "Empower Yourself: Basic Home Repair and Home Safety." Attendees also receive a coupon good for 10% off a future purchase.
The last time ClubMom did this was in August. This is a very easy way to build up your point balance there, and totally free, too. Join ClubMom and then get more info on the workshop here.
I wandered over to Milesource.com today to see if the site has improved much under its new management and was pleasantly surprised. When I last checked their redemption section, in February, there wasn't much there at all -- NOTHING, in fact, for under 5000 points.
Today I found 47 redemptions under 5000 points, including a $5 Supercertificate from GiftCertificates.com for 2600 points. (I'd choose that over the samples offered at the same price ANY day.)
In looking at the numbers, it turns out that a $20 Supercertificate at Milesource is a better value than a $25 one. A $20 Supercert for 7000 points gives you a dollar value per point of $0.0029. A $25 Supercert, which costs 11,000 points, gives you a point value of $0.0023.
At around 30 free, non-spending points per day, it will take you a while to cash out for any prize. I'm working up my annual shopping comparison, converting points to percentages for popular merchants, and that'll tell us how Milesource stacks up to the competition on shopping offers. Stay tuned for that.
But in the meanwhile... I will say that I'm pleased that Milesource is offering many new redemptions and continues to offer a fair number of free daily points (around 8.5c worth). I just cashed out today and will let you know shortly if they have made improvements to their redemption waits.
If you'd like to give Milesource a try, please click here.
The Ebates blog has a contest going on through October 19th where one lucky winner will receive a $500 GC to Armani Exchange. Full contest details are here, but basically, post a comment to this post on the Ebates blog, saying (in under 200 words) who you think the best-dressed celebrity couple is and why. Limit one entry per person and you must be an Ebates member to participate (click here to join). As I type this, there are only 26 entries in the contest! Darned good odds, considering.
So, around October 20th four posters will be chosen as finalists, and for one week Ebates members can vote for their favorite (limit one vote per Ebates member). The winner gets the GC. Good luck, all!
MyPoints.com has a new promo going on this month -- they're offering double points on purchases made from select merchants. My question was, how good of a deal is this? So I set out to get the scoop.
Using the cheapest $25 redemption (as I do for consistency with all calculations I make on this site), I calculated the temporary, October percentage value for these double point merchants.
These merchants will be 4 points per dollar (worth 3.3%) in October:
Banana Republic (best elsewhere is 2%)
Best Buy (best elsewhere is 2%)
Buy.com (best elsewhere is 3%)
Circuit City (best elsewhere is 3%)
Disney Shopping (best elsewhere is 4%)
Gap (best elsewhere is 4%)
Home Depot (best elsewhere is 3%)
J&R (best elsewhere is 4.25%)
JCPenney (best elsewhere is 4%)
Linens 'n' Things (best elsewhere is 4.25%)
Nordstrom (best elsewhere is 4%)
Old Navy (best elsewhere is 4%)
These merchants will be 6 points per dollar (worth 5%) in October:
Avon (best elsewhere is 6.8%)
CostumeSuperCenter (not sure anyone else rewards for these guys)
Illuminations (best elsewhere is 10.2%)
Petco (best elsewhere is 9%)
ThePopcornFactory (best elsewhere is 10.2%)
And lastly, Shoebuy will be 8 points per dollar (6.7%) -- best elsewhere is 14.4%; and MyWinesDirect will be 10 (8.3%) -- best elsewhere is 18.7%.
So, all in all, unless it makes a huge difference to you that MyPoints will be paying 3.3% instead of the 3% you could get elsewhere for a couple of these guys, and aside from Banana Republic and BestBuy, where you'll earn 3.3% instead of 2% elsewhere... EVEN WITH DOUBLE POINTS, you could get a better rebate from a site other than MyPoints for the majority of these merchants.
In other words, ho-friggin'-hum.
Just wanted to say congrats to the guys over at QuickRewards -- according to this post, they are the first program in BeenPaid.com's history to reach 5,000 hits in their link directory of paying websites, thus earning them the status of "Popular." If you're just finding out about QR, you are LATE for the party! I've been singing their praises for three years now: earn for clicking emails, visiting websites, shopping, completing offers, answering trivia, and more... NO MINIMUM required to cash out for PayPal as often as you like...or save up for emailable or snail-mailable GCs. C'mon and join "The In-Crowd" at QuickRewards now! :)
I've mentioned BeenPaid.com here before -- they have a unique seal of approval that they award to websites that pay their members as promised. They just opened up a new directory of blogs related to the industry and their webmaster added CompareRewards as the first entry!
If you enjoy my site and feel it offers helpful information, please use the below form to rate it (a 10's the best, a 1 means you must be Memolink, hehehe). But seriously...if you have constructive criticism, please give me a chance to address it before you vote by giving me a shout out in email.
And thanks, as always, for your support!
According to this press release from HSBC Auto Finance, Greenpoints has entered into an agreement with HSBC to offer points to Greenpoints members for new and refinanced auto loans. Greenpoints' almost 8 million members will have the opportunity to earn 15,000 points through this offer. At the current rates of redemption, that would buy you three $5 GCs. Not very impressive...but then again, nothing about Greenpoints is.
Ron Pederson, Greenpoints' President and CEO, said: "This exciting new program with HSBC demonstrates S&H Solutions' desire to fulfill our commitment to build strategic coalition partnerships while expanding the range of financial service products through which S&H greenpoints members earn valuable rewards."
HSBC is one of the top 10 financial services organizations in the U.S., according to the press release, with assets totalling nearly $300 billion.
While the agreement may have been signed, the offer is not yet up on Greenpoints' site. So hold off on buying that new car -- you don't want to miss out on earning a whole $15 for going through Greenpoints!
You'll notice that I link to the site DealMine.com in my Consumer Resources links; their site combines a listing of rewards for each merchant (primarily airline and hotel rewards) with a comparison shopping engine. (A complete list of programs they monitor is here.)
I got a nice email the other day from their founder and CEO, Scott Cherkin, letting me know that they now also include rewards available from several programs we analyze here, including MyPoints, ClubMom, and uPromise. In addition, they've just launched a new wireless site that you can access by phone right when you're ready to check into a hotel or get a rental car, for example, and it's located here: http://m.dealmine.com
If you want to know who rewards for purchases at a particular merchant, or if you want the lowest price for a specific item with available rewards listed, DealMine is a great resource for you. Definitely worth a bookmark.
I'm a little late with this note, but on 9/28, Bonnie Corso, owner of the ClickToTheMagic.com website, posted a lengthy message on MyCoupons regarding the difficulties of running her website. In a nutshell (!), these included: automation problems, an overwhelming number of daily member emails (over 2000), working with over 975 merchants, cash flow problems, public criticism, family having a higher priority, lengthy site redesign, lack of staff, daily reports (90), cheating competitors, cheating members with duplicate accounts, members not reading updates on-site, members not updating their email addresses, ISPs not delivering CTTM emails, and the program's lack of profitability.
Whew.
Now let me first comment that I am sympathetic to her plight. A mom myself, my children will ALWAYS come first, particularly as my websites are perpetually unprofitable as well. Running a rewards program has to be a tremendous challenge -- balancing the demands of both your merchants and your members and hoping to eke out a reasonable profit while you're at it? Not for the faint of heart.
However.
CTTM, like any other rewards program, is a BUSINESS. It needs adequate staffing, professional customer service, and prompt payment of debts. Overhead expenses need to be taken into account when deciding what portion of your commissions can be paid back to members in the form of rebates or offers. There is NO REASON why a rewards program should be seriously delinquent with its payments if proper accounting procedures are in place. Using current earnings to pay long overdue past member redemptions is NOT keeping your head above water -- it's "robbing Peter to pay Paul." What happens when the next round of redemptions come through? What plan is in place to pay THEM?
According to Alexa.com, ClickToTheMagic.com has a reach (that's the percentage of all internet users who visit a particular site) of 0.15. In contrast, CompareRewards.com has a reach of 2.15. That seems to indicate that my website receives about 15 times as many site visitors. I get in the range of around 300 visitors a day. You do the math. Does it seem likely that CTTM has the kind of activity level that would generate "over 2000 emails a day for the site"?
If you're taking people's money, which you are when you earn commissions on their purchases, you are DEFINITELY running a business. How profitable it is on your end is inconsequential to the fact that it's a business. Business debts must be paid. A business that can't pay its debts is insolvent. You can't get away with saying things like, "There are so many things in life to be thankful for that if you are fixating on a $10 reward, please get over it, you will get it, then if you wish to quit, fine, no one will fault you for it." It would be great if everyone could tell their creditors, "I'll pay you whenever, just deal with it or go away." But that's not life...that's certainly not business...and to the person waiting on their $10 reward, the long litany of excuses is completely irrelevant.
What CTTM needs is a business approach. Right now it sounds like it's just something the owner does to meet people while honing her graphics design skills. When she gets serious about treating it as a business, with adequate staffing, profitable rebate rates, professional customer service, and a business plan to catch up past debts while paying current ones, I'd be happy to revisit this...but in the meantime, I HIGHLY recommend that you avoid this program.
In a very interesting turn of events, Freeride members on Thursday began receiving their promised Virtual Visa redemptions... by directly approaching Ecount.com, the provider of the redemptions. Freeride's customer support has not responded to member inquiries regarding these overdue payments, but someone found that they were paid directly by Ecount just hours after emailing them about the status of their Freeride award. Word of mouth spread to the forums, and the Virtual Visas are finally being dispersed.
If you are awaiting payment from Freeride, the recommended method is to visit http://www.ecount.com/contact.html and click on Customer Service, and make sure you put Freeride in the message subject. You will receive an email from helpdesk@ecount.com (you may want to add this to your address book to ensure delivery).
Congrats to those who are finally being paid, and shame-shame on Freeride and Endai Worldwide for their pitiful neglect of proper customer service. Rewards program members should not have to go to this much effort in order to receive what they've earned. While you did come through, EVENTUALLY, with YOUR choice of payment, you get a big, fat, red "F" for customer service.
I never reviewed Millers for this site because it seemed really unprofessional, and the site only put up redemptions on rare occasion. The owner had a sister site, RewardsCafe.net, which disappeared...and finally today, Millers also went buh-bye. The owner let the domain registration of both of her sites lapse, and today visitors to MRS were welcomed by the message, "Notice: This domain name expired on 09/27/06 and is pending renewal or deletion."
My sympathies to those who lost earnings on the site. Maybe you can chalk it up to a learning experience -- if you hear consistently bad buzz on a program, or NO buzz at all, and if the site looks and is run in an unprofessional manner, go with your gut and avoid it.
Or, "Freeride in a Free Fall."
When I received an email from Freeride.com today entitled, "Stay Ahead of Your Bills. Offer Inside," I had to laugh. You see, yesterday was the SECOND deadline by which time Freeride had promised long-overdue redemptions would be paid (now in THEIR choice of payment, a Virtual Visa)...and once again, they disappointed their members.
Freeride is owned by Endai Worldwide, headquartered in New York City. They've been in business since 1999. Endai bought Freeride in 2002, but the site was dormant until mid-2003. Their CEO is Michael F. "Mike" Ferranti. Their Chief Financial Officer is Thomas Rotolo, a CPA formerly with Ernst & Young. According to this job posting for an assistant for CEO Ferranti, Endai is a small company of "about 20-25 people." Endai Worldwide is located on Water St., and this is their toll-free number: 866-897-6584 (their regular number is 212-430-0808). Freeride's address is on Beekman Street. I don't know if there's a direct number to their location. Freeride's long-time director, Corey Newhouse, left the company sometime after June of last year; I can't find any info on who's in charge of Freeride now. I did see that they're trying to hire customer service people (a job listing posted on 9/20, "you will be the key person our users hear from: the 'voice' of FreeRide!). I guess whoever had that job before got tired of dealing with member complaints.
Despite its inability to pay members on time, Freeride continues to offer free, non-spending points on a daily basis. A site that offers points for free, without honoring redemptions, is one on its way out. I'm sorry, but I can't buy the excuse that a technical glitch delayed redemptions for months, then another technical glitch delayed redemptions promised within 7 business days...and now, what excuse will they give for redemptions not delivered by 9/30? My dog ate it?
Until Freeride gets its act straight, I would strongly suggest you find some other way to waste your time online.
