The promotion runs through Father's Day. Join QR here (aff) and see the details on the promotion here.
You can choose to cash out your SwagBucks for PayPal at a rate of 80 SB for $5 PP.
This is obviously not as good a value as 45 SB for $5 Amazon, but for those of you who would rather the cash, it's still a great redemption (especially compared to 125 SB for a $5 Barnes and Noble GC or 130 for a $5 Starbucks GC -- request PayPal and buy your own Barnes and Noble or Starbucks GC for cheaper).
To entice anyone who hasn't yet joined SwagBucks to give 'em a try, they've issued a new SwagBucks code: enter CASHISKING when you register for a new account (aff) and they'll start you out with 5 SwagBucks!
Does SwagBucks pay? They've paid me...again and again! See Swagbucks payment proof from my account!
]]>If you need another couple of dollars to get you over the $5 minimum, here are a few ideas:
These are just a few of my suggestions -- there are a lot of great deals to be had on Ebates, but if you want that Big Fat Check in a couple of weeks, you need to shop TODAY to get your balance over $5 before the quarter ends!
Not a member of Ebates? Get a $5 bonus when you join with my link -- thanks!
I reviewed Alice.com on the day of its launch, and I did a follow-up Alice.com review after a day of using the site. I placed an order on Tuesday morning, got shipping confirmation just after noon, and according to UPS tracking, it's out for delivery today...pretty amazing for free shipping, especially combined with the deals I got using Alice's electronic coupons.
Alice.com is the brainchild of the guys behind Jellyfish.com, which was bought by Microsoft and is now known as Bing Cashback. They know a little about shopping sites. ;) You'll definitely want to join Alice.com (my referral link will give you that extra $10 off) and give it a try! Be sure you check out "Other Ways to Shop" on the top right, then "Shop the Best Deals." This is the best way to find the deeply discounted products! Enjoy!
]]>During the first week of March, YouData introduced a referral program, which no doubt helped contribute to the "recent explosive growth" the site has experienced.
The membership growth is a good thing, says Nickelson, as having a larger membership base will make YouData a more attractive advertising option to big companies (as opposed to some of the very nice but somewhat obscure advertisers I've seen on the site so far).
YouData has plans to attract more advertisers, mostly revolving around hiring more salespeople and undertaking marketing efforts to let potential advertisers know what YouData is and how it works.
But in the meantime...I may have had one ad available to me in the last three weeks. That's one heckuva lull in business. I hope they can get the attention of some advertisers and FAST, because all excuses and pretty charts aside, my interest in YouData is rapidly waning.
]]>Also, if you're not already following @Swagbucks, the official SwagBucks twitter account, be sure to follow them, too, because they give out occasional bonus SwagBucks code hints AND they've just started posting a daily bonus SwagBucks code that's only good for 5 minutes, so you have to be on top of it!
To participate, go to http://bzzagent.gather.com/ and look for the post titled, "Live Chat with BzzAgent Jono, Wednesday 6/24 @ 8PM ET." The chat will take place within that post.
Not a member of Gather yet? You'll need to create an account here first (my referral link; thanks).
First of all, you want to join Alice with the referral link of an existing member (that's mine, obviously!) because when you do, they'll give you $10 in account credit once you spend $50 on the site. Plus, they'll kick back to the referrer 3% of what you spend for the first year.
Alice is totally free to join, by the way -- no membership fee required.
So, you sign up for a free account on Alice.com and then you can shop for just about any household goods you want. There are a couple of things that come together to make for some outstanding prices on Alice.com:
1. Free shipping. They ask that you order at least 6 items, but your first order, they'll let you slide on this one.
2. Sales tax. They do charge it, but there appears to be a good bit of savings here compared to what I normally pay in-store (maybe they charge state tax but not local? Not sure).
3. Coupons are available and can be applied electronically. No coupon clipping is required! There are some limits, obviously (I found a limit of one on several items, but was able to get two with the coupon-reduced price on some other items).
If, like me, you are VERY conscious of what items cost in-store, you'll see that some prices on Alice are just "okay." You may do better in-store buying store-brand items or loss leaders (you know, those ridiculously low-priced weekly specials they have sometimes to get ya in the door and entice you to buy other items that aren't marked way down). But if you cherry-pick, there are some totally amazing prices at Alice.com!
Let me give you some examples:
Crest Whitening Baking Soda, Fresh Mint, 3.8 oz: $1.11 minus $.50 coupon = $0.61
Ritz Crackers Reduced Fat 14.5 oz: $3.99 minus $2.80 coupon = $1.19
Slim-Fast Optima Muffin Bars, Apple Cinnamon (6 ct.): $4.36 minus $3.05 coupon = $1.31
Dry Idea, 2.5 oz (assorted scents): $3.69 minus $2.00 coupon = $1.69
If you click Other Ways to Shop on the top blue menu bar, you can click Shop the Best Deals and it'll display the top 50 most popular items, and the top 50 highest percentage off items.
You can set up reminders at Alice at specific intervals to remind you to reorder past purchases.
There are a TON of other options on the site including the Neighborhood where you can chat with other shoppers (a LOT of familiar Jellyfish nicknames online this morning).
You'll definitely want to get in on the deals at Alice.com. Go now! Sign up with my link -- you won't regret it!
Update, 6/24: You may also want to read my review of Alice.com on Gather.
The promotion runs through Father's Day. Join QR here (aff) and see the details on the promotion here.
Ebates.com's CEO Kevin Johnson was interviewed for a June 4 article on RetailTouchpoints.com. In "Ebates Cash-Back Shopping Site Scores Double-Digit Sales Growth for Retailers," Johnson says that the average quarterly rebate for Ebates (aff) members is $30, though some members' checks are in the thousands of dollars. Membership is at 8 million, up 2 million since last year.
Overall, Ebates' merchants are doing very well, according to the article. Even though the last quarter of '08 was disasterous to some merchants, Ebates merchants saw a 60% improvement over the prior year's performance (and those who participated in the holiday shopping promo were up 90%). Appliances and department store purchases saw the biggest growth.
He attributed Ebates success in part to the close relationship Ebates has with its merchants, who often provide exclusive promotions to Ebates members.
Today, in a press release entitled, "Recent Ebates.com Survey Reveals 2009 Father's Day Shopping Trends," Ebates says that 25% of their members surveyed plan to spend over $100 on Father's Day gifts despite the recession. Dads want a special dinner and tech gadgets. Clothing's also listed as a popular gift (though it's not clear if that's what dads want or what shoppers are intending to buy).
If you haven't checked out the bonus cashback offers at Ebates for Father's Day, you should check 'em out while you can -- they've upped their cashback rates for Cabela's, Dell, Home Depot, HP, HSN, Omaha Steaks, Radio Shack, Sears, Snapfish, and Sony Style.
Not a member of Ebates and want to check 'em out? Get a $5 bonus when you sign up here (aff) and make your first purchase!
The way SwagBucks works is, you use their search engine when you need to find something on the web (I set SwagBucks.com as my home page so I never forget to use it), and randomly after your searches you'll be awarded "SwagBucks," redeemable for gift cards and prizes. You can also get free limited time SwagBucks codes on their blog, Facebook, or Twitter accounts, and you can win them in various contests like the Tuesday Phrase that Pays. You can earn SwagBucks when you trade in old cell phones or when you submit a picture of yourself with some swag you received from the site. I've earned (and received) over $1,000 in gift cards with this program since I joined last year (thanks in large part to my many friends searching with me -- when your friends win SwagBucks, you win, too)!
If you haven't signed up yet for SwagBucks, I have a special SwagCode for new members joining today with my link: enter COMPAREREWARDS1 when you join and they'll start you off with SIX SwagBucks!
I hear SwagBucks will be releasing even more new site features this week...stay tuned!
The complaint, filed in King County Superior Court, alleges that these currently unidentified parties (named as John Does 1-10 in the suit, pending their investigation and identification) "obtained and attempted to obtain Live Search cashback payments under false pretenses...by using automated processes to access Microsoft's services, and by maintaining more than one Live Cashback account" in violation of the program's terms of service. Microsoft claims it's out over $5,000 in expenses related to detecting and preventing these parties from unauthorized access to the service. They also say that the defendants "obtained moneys to which they were not entitled...the value of which exceeded $5,000 over a 1-year period." They're asking for damages to be specified at trial.
Microsoft spokesman David Bowermaster told the Seattle P-I that this case involved fraudulent credit card use for Live Cashback purchases and that this was a necessary step to further investigate who exactly was responsible for it.
I'm sure that all cashback programs have some issues with credit card fraud. Someone uses a stolen credit card to make a purchase, gets cash back to their account, cashes it out, and then after the fact the credit card owner realizes what's happened, disputes the charge, and the cashback site is left in the hole for what they paid the crooks.
Microsoft may be going after these guys more aggressively because, well a) they're MICROSOFT and they can afford to, but also b) because they direct-contract with merchants rather than using an intermediary affiliate network as the other cashback sites do. The transaction data's more available to them and the damage is more direct.
It's a shame that a few rotten apples can spoil the barrel. I hope that Microsoft finds these guys and makes them pay back what they stole. Theft is theft, even when perpetrated against a megacorporation that could probably afford to write it off without blinking.
MrRebates (aff) has increased their cashback rates at 100+ stores through June 21st in a Father's Day shopping promotion. Some of the bigger rate bumps include Cell Phone Shop at 15% (up from 10%), Current Catalog at 12% (up from 7%), Designer Linens Outlet at 10% (was 4%), Iolo System Mechanic at 20% (was 15%), Kodak Gallery at 14% (was 8%), Perfume Worldwide at 11% (was 5%), Sports Authority at 8% (was 3%), and Vitamin World at 11% (was 6%).
There are smaller rate boosts at other stores, too, and MrRebates' rates are very competitive to begin with. Definitely worth checking out as you get ready to shop for Father's Day!
Bing Cashback's regular cashback rate for popular electronics retailer TigerDirect.com, if you go through the main portal site, is 5%. However, using the Bing.com search engine to find the secret bonus rate (keyword : laptop) had been bringing it up to 8.2%. Now they've bumped up Tiger Direct's cashback rate to an amazing 15%! Go to Bing.com and search for laptop, look for the sponsored result (with a gold coin beside it) offering 15% at TigerDirect, and click through to activate cash back! (Don't see it immediately? Refresh the page a time or two!)
Electronics sites usually pay in the 2-3% cashback range, so this is a fantastic rate. Be sure you compare prices before you buy, though, because it's not a deal if it's over 15% cheaper elsewhere! And remember to factor in sales tax (Tiger Direct only charges it to residents of FL, IL, NC, and TX) and shipping, too.
He responded quickly and as courteously as always, and he provided me with the following causes for a member's account deletion:
"1. Opt-out. When a user follows the opt-out link on the bottom of any Email we send out, they are immediately removed. This process is automated since with our volume of users and other daily tasks, it would be impossible to add manual processing to this task. The link is on the very bottom in small font to prevent accidental clicking, but we do occasionally receive Emails from users several days after they had clicked to opt-out inquiring about their account.
2. Spam Complaints. Anytime a user clicks "This is Spam", "Junk", or any other spam button within their Email software, CR receives a notification of such action. To keep CR's E-Mail reputation high, we remove all complaining members from our database. This is not only to keep our complaints low, but to comply with the expectation of the ISP to treat complaints as those who don't want our Email. This is where most accounts which want to be reinstated fall into. Users typically select all their unwanted mail and click Spam/Junk versus deleting it. Marking CR mail as spam not only harms our reputation with ISPs, but also results in account cancelations for users who are incorrectly marking our mail as spam when they have double opt-in to our program.
3. Bouncing Email. Any hard bouncing Email address is immediately removed from our database. Hard bounces are defined as mailboxes which are over-quota or are invalid mailboxes. The exception is if CR's Email is blocked to an ISP, this will not result in removal."
These all seem like pretty valid reasons for account deletion to me. Chris went on to say that #2 seemed to be triggering the greatest number of complaints and that he's working on a plan to minimize the deletions due to false spam claims, but obviously he does still have to comply with ISP expectations. In other words, if you say it's spam, your internet provider will expect Creations to opt you out (delete your account).
If you find your account was deleted in error, the process is as follows:
1. Create a new account using the same login (email address).
2. Click the link in the confirmation email to confirm your account.
3. Contact support using the form here and forward them a copy of the most recent email you have from Creations (it will show your point balance).
You should find the points reinstated within a couple of days.
CreationsRewards is a good rewards program, imho, and not a scam at all. They've paid me many times and I recommend them highly. Earn for shopping, visiting websites, completing surveys, even playing trivia! If you're not a member yet and would like to check 'em out, click here to join with my link, please -- thanks!