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The intelligent will always find the best ways to save money. The very intelligent will occasionally take this a step further and figure out ways to actually MAKE money where others would simply spend it! Can you picture getting the equivalent of a coupon worth one hundred dollars on the books your need for school, a percentage less for health and beauty items, or getting a mind-blowing deal on something you would have already purchased online with your credit card? Sometimes in life, things sound too good to be true because they actually are and your “deal” is not so great. Other times, they are really just little pots of gold waiting for you to sweep them up! What I’m about to suggest to you is just one of those things.

In these days of internet rebates, the power is back in the hands of the shopper. Smart shoppers savvy to the ways of cruising the World Wide Web have unlocked some of the best deals out there by frequenting cash-back sites such as Microsoft’s Bing, FatWallet, Ebates, and Mr. Rebates, just to name a few. These companies, affiliate marketers all, make their money by sending their customers to online merchants with whom they have a business relationship. These sites share some of the largesse with the customers who make them successful. The great thing about these sites as far as customers are concerned is that customers aren’t really required to do anything that they wouldn’t do already – all that’s required is that they carry out their shopping as normal, except for clicking first through the cash-back site. But rebates aren’t the only thing that you can gain by frequenting these web hubs. You might also be on the receiving end of special members-only coupon codes for additional savings, free shipping promotions, and special rebates. This is why there are so many great deals to be had: once upon a time, merchants relied on having a captive audience to a certain extent due to geographical differences between stores. In these days of rapid checkout at online stores, this is no longer an issue! Therefore, these stores need new ways to foster competition.

You would probably be amazed how many merchants have a hand in these kinds of services. And the best part is this: participating merchants are those with whom you’d shop already, and not just for frivolous items like toys, luxury food stuffs and new clothes! In fact, the range of items on which you can access cash back rebates ranges from vacation travel packages to sending gifts by mail (like edible gifts, roses, or singing telegrams) to online tax filing, to buying tickets to your favorite musician’s show or sports team’s game, opening a bank account, or even buying something on reputable sites like eBay and QVC that you might already enjoy shopping with. The possibilities are all but limitless.

Here’s what to do if you are thinking about testing out the wide world of cash rebates for the first time. You will need to go through the sign-up process with at least one of the cash-back sites, or preferably several (if you think you can keep up with more than one!). If you are shopping or transacting business online with a participating merchant, you simply have to log in to the cash-back site offering the deal, and click through to the transaction. The check-out process will be specially tailored to you, as a cash-back shopper. The site will maintain your very own customer account, the cash-back rebates of which are automatically deposited after you qualify for them. There is some controversy over whether these sites are robbing states and local municipalities of much-needed sales tax, and retailers of foot traffic through their brick-and-mortar stores. As of right now, however, the sites remain fully legal.

Further more, you should also make sure that you are actually getting a good deal. Make sure that you are comparing prices on these sites before you whip out your credit card, too. If you save ten dollars as a rebate but spend an additional twenty on the item in question, you aren’t really benefitting in any way! Also make sure that you carefully compare rebates to get the best deal possible when you are about to buy something. It would be a real shame if you jumped on a three percent rebate, only to find one for seven percent back at the next site! You can always cancel one order and go through the process of creating another, but that’s a real pain and should probably be avoided. Like I said, you can use certain third-party sites to compare deals without doing the legwork yourself. Therefore, there is really no excuse for not getting the very best deal possible every single time you shop. No exceptions. No excuses allowed.

Make sure that you have your guard up for common pitfalls of the trade. There is also one very big novice mistake that new rebate shoppers tend to make… and that’s not logging in. If you don’t make the purchase through the rebate site, you simply will not get your money back. It’s in the terms of use for these sites that previous purchases do not count for credit, so don’t bother trying to argue your case. Just be careful, next time! You live and learn, as my aunt always said.

There’s no question that you won’t become rich shopping through these affiliate sites, but you could save a few hundred dollars a year. For most consumers, that’s more than just a drop in the bucket! Small businesses in particular can really benefit from this sort of thing, considering that retailers of office supplies, computers, parts, and furniture are prominent partners of the rebate sites. The story I read quoted a Mr. Rebates spokesperson as saying that small business owners used online rebates as a way of achieving warehouse store prices, without the membership fees! Talk about using your head!

Shopping with free online rebates really does seem like it’s too good to be true, but I promise that it’s not. The goods that you purchase online through affiliate sites are every bit as good as those you buy in the store, only cheaper when you factor in the rebate! Some sites even offer the opportunity for shoppers to pick items up at their local stores, saving them even the delivery costs! But with free (or at least reduced-cost) delivery deals abounding on these sites, there’s not even any reason to waste the gas in many cases. Order a patio set or new living room furniture? If you went to Home Depot or your local furniture store, you would have to pay a lot of money to get delivery on these oversized items, or else ask someone to borrow a truck and risk breaking your back to get them home yourself. Not anymore. With free shipping, you are actually making out better than you would without the deal on many different fronts! What exactly are you waiting for? Get shopping today!