Online Shopping with the Holidays in Full Swing

Every day thousands of Canadians order their products and services all from the convince of their own keyboard. It may be on a lap top, a tablet or even a phone;whichever method it has becoming “the” way to shop. Here is an older article I wrote in 2014 about online shopping

Every day thousands of Canadians order their products and services all from the convince of their own keyboard. It may be on a laptop, a tablet or even a phone; whichever method it has become “the” way to shop. Here is an older article I wrote in 2014 about online shopping.

The most amazing thing about online shopping is there is probably a way to earn cash back on your purchase. This amount is always in addition to any discount or coupon; in many cases, you can use all three. I have often been able to purchase items for 60% off, with a coupon code for an additional 20% off that price with 5 % cash back. It only takes a few clicks to check and see which option is the best for you and where you get get the greatest cashback amount. On the rare occasion if you cannot find a cash back option you can find options for bonus Air Miles or other rewards.

I have personally saved thousands of dollars and received thousands of dollars in cash back, gift certificates, Air Miles and other loyalty rewards.

Rakuten (formerly Ebates)is a popular Cash Back program that pays out quarterly (four times a year). I have personally received $973.04 Cash Back on top of any coupons, discounts or sales. Old Navy, Joe Fresh, Well.ca & Indigo are some of my favourites.

The new  Shoppers Army gives you cash-back options at all your favourite stores too now! They have some of the highest cash-back online rates I have seen. I have seen Amazon has high as 10% cash back!! They have some other great benefits such as giving you options to buy specific products with additional cash back! Often making the items free!

Swagbucks is another popular one where you earn Swagbucks; they can easily be turned into Paypal or Gift Card. I check between this and eBates frequently to see who has the highest %. Swagbucks I love because I can also do things like complete surveys to earn Swagbucks and cash out as low as 300 Swagbucks or $3.00. I have earned 84 778 Swagbucks which is = $847.78 I have also figured out that when you redeem your points at Swagbucks and hit specials in the redeem section you can save 5-20 % on redeeming. I often only use $20 in Swagbucks to get a $25 Gift Card!

Air Miles Shops is a great way to build up Air Miles with many of your favourite Merchants. Amazon, eBay, Sephora & Roots are popular places to score bonus Air Miles when shopping online.

Always check these 4 places before you shop online! It only takes a few minutes and the savings could be incredible. Guaranteed to earn cash back, Air miles or other rewards. Plus extra coupons, discounts and free shipping.

Amazon is one of those stores that is listed on all 4 places, Rakuten (formerly Ebates), Swagbucks, Shoppers Army and Air Miles shops and I always take a moment to check each to see the different amount of cashback so that I am getting the MOST back.  I normally use Paypal linked to a reward credit card or if I pay in credit card, I also use a rewards card. I immediately log into my bank account and pay the amount to the credit card, but damn I want my rewards!! If I can get $50 in items and earn 4% cash back at Rakuten and then earn Cash Back of 3% on my credit card, I’m liking that.

These are all different terms online retailers use and quite often they are stackable! (Which means you can use more than one at once)
Promotional Code
Discount Code
Coupon Code
Store Credit
Gift Certificate

The other amazing thing about online shopping as various stores give loyalty cash back credit for their store. For example, you may purchase $100 worth of items from a store (After promotions, coupons etc you may actually pay nothing out of pocket, and still qualify for Free Shipping.)and the store may reward you with a 10% credit for your next purchase.

Just the other day I placed an order for Old Navy, I ordered from the clearance section which was 50% off. I applied a coupon code that was shown at the bottom of the screen which gave me an additional 30% off. I received 3% Cash Back via Swagbucks. I paid with my Canadian Tire Triangle Rewards Credit Card and earned 3% Triangle Rewards. Oh and I earned Super Cash which I can use on my purchase in September which is $10 on every $25.

$100 worth of items X 50% off = $50 X 30% off = $35 out of pocket. But used Swagubcks so 3% cash back = $33.95 X 3% of paying the $35 with card = $32.90 & will have the 2 coupons that can be stacked with other discounts. Not too shabby I didn’t think.

Are you a good online shopper? What tricks are we missing? Comment below and let us know. Let’s all help each other save the most.