My friend Nikki gave me the heads up on Mr. Rebates during Christmas dinner and after a few days of using it, I’ve found it to be a very useful tool to save more money on my online purchases. Mr. Rebates helps you save money on your online purchases by giving their users a cash back rebate and updating their users on current sales and coupons from the online retailer. Many of the popular retailers are on Mr. Rebates.
How it Works
Many retailers online have an affiliate program where their affiliates earn a commission for each purchase a person makes. Mr. Rebates gives you back a portion of the commission that they receive.
For example, Home Depot gives their affiliates a 5% commission for each purchase that is sent to them. Mr. Rebates gives you a 4% rebate on your purchase. They pocket the balance. Your rebate is an incentive for you to shop through them as most places chose to keep the entire commission to themselves.
The process to sign up and save is simple. The search engine to find the retailer you want to shop at is easy to use. What I love most of all is that the rebate is accounted for quickly. I bought a composter at Home Depot yesterday and the rebate appeared on my account summary page that night.
How You Can Save Money
Let’s say I buy something for $100.00. Mr. Rebates earns $5.00 in commission from a retailer. They give me the $4.00 as a rebate and they keep $1.00. I’ll be saving $2.00 in local taxes. (Yes, sales tax is a total of 10% in Cook County, IL). In addition, I earn 1% on the total amount of my purchase from my credit card. I save roughly $7.08 and it gives me an opportunity to boycott the insane sales tax in Cook County.
This scenario does not include coupons, clearance, or special deals the retailers are offering. Tacking on all these offers will lead to some serious savings. If you’re into outdoor gear or just a warm coat for the winter, REI is having their winter clearance sale. Moosejaw has free shipping on orders over $49.00 AND a Buy One, Get One half off coupon. Serious deals. Serious savings. Seriously.
Pros
- Easy and Simple to Use
- You’re saving a few more dollars.
- They tell you about special offers, sales, or coupon codes the retailer is offering.
Cons
- I’m afraid of spending for the sake of spending to earn those rebate checks.
Final Thoughts
I’m very impressed with how Mr. Rebates works. I am using their service as a way to defray the cost of shipping on items that I have trouble finding in the area. I plan use it to save extra money on great deals I find online. If I find a great deal on slickdeals.net, I head over to Mr. Rebates to get to the website to save even more money. I’m glad Nikki told me about this site. It’s a super useful website. If you’d like to join Mr. Rebates, click here or the banner below.
Once you’ve tried Mr. Rebates, tell me what you think by commenting below! Thanks!
