Ebates and MyPoints were two of the first money saving websites I used …
I've used the web for about half my life. The first time I sent an email was in 1994, after graduating from college. So, yeah, I've been around awhile.
As I was doing some poking around for another post I logged into some sites I check regularly: Ebates and MyPoints.
Both of these sites have kept track of how long I've been members. I joined Ebates in January of 2002, and MyPoints in August of 2003. That's a long time ago in web terms.
Ebates: First used to save money on my honeymoon
The first time I used Ebates was to save some money booking my flight for my honeymoon. (We visited Sonoma wine country in California for a few days.) This was my first foray into using money saving websites.
I was talking with a friend at work about how I hadn't booked my flight yet. He turned me on to Ebates, as well as some travel aggregators and consolidators like Priceline.com and Hotwire.com.
My first online rebate — ever — was a 1% rebate on my rental car purchase for that trip through Priceline.com.
That $1.61 applied to my first Big Fat Check kinds blew my mind at the time. Click through a link, get money. Was it really that easy? Yeah, it really was that easy.
(Side note: Because our connector flight out of Dallas-Fort Worth was cancelled due to a freak ice storm, we had an unplanned stay in Texas in route to California. When we went to pick up our rental, it was gone. The rental company made really good on our purchase and upgraded us to a blue-green convertible Camaro. 🙂 )
Over the years since then I've earned some $300 through Ebates, on transactions like this and by telling people about Ebates.
The company that owns the website, Ebates Inc., recently changed the focus on its properties. Fat Wallet, another of the company's properties, had a rebate component to it for years, but now its focus is coupons, deals and community. So moving forward they'll no longer have to split their attention between two cash-back sites, and Ebates should continue to get better.
MyPoints: Free gift cards for reading emails, and more
The same friend who told me about Ebates was also a member of MyPoints, and showed me how that worked.
MyPoints blew my mind in a different way. My friend was getting points from MyPoints without buying a single thing. All he was doing was clicking on a link in the email, and boom, 5 more points toward a gift card. Seriously?!
Even today, I still get points for reading the MyPoints BonusMails. Earning gift cards solely by reading emails isn't a speedy process; at 5 points per BonusMail it takes a while to get to 1600 points for a $10 gift card if that's all you're doing on the site.
But it is easy, and relatively unobtrusive if done correctly. (I just set up an email filter in Mozilla Thunderbird to tag all of the MyPoints BonusMails as they come in into a group.)
I've redeemed over $300 in gift cards (mostly Starbucks cards) since I joined in 2003. I've done more than just click on links in emails to earn them, though. I've searched the web, clicked through to retailers like on Ebates, and taken advantage of special point offers when buying in-store.
Recently (2016) Prodege Inc, the parent company of Swagbucks, bought MyPoints. Swagbucks is a fun, happy site that doesn't take itself too seriously, so I see this as doing good things for MyPoints and making it even better.
Two money saving websites that have lasted
Websites that have served customers for more than ten years have some staying power. Ebates and MyPoints are two of them, and they're both free to sign up and use. They're two money saving websites that have done right by me for quite a while!
Have you every tried Topcashback.com? I love this one because it’s really easy to get your money via Paypal or Amazon gift card as soon as the rebate clears and I have received under $2 through my paypal. If you haven’t tried it I would definitely suggest it!
Hi Kevin! Yes, I have! Their rebates are very, very competitive. I’m tempted to get my next rebate in Amazon gift codes because of the 3% bounty. We use Amazon enough that it’s as good as cash.
I have to say that my favorite site to save money is hotwire. I love picking the hotel by star rating and region rather than a named place. You always get 40% savings or more compared to buying hotels on another site
Oh, you reminded me of the trick I used! Man, it’s been a while.
I originally went to Hotwire. From there, I can get a good price (as you mentioned). Since this price had a time limit, I promptly went over to Priceline.com and used Name Your Own Price to see if I could do better. I won, and just let the Hotwire price go unused.
I’m always kind of “meh” about deal sites, but I do use MyPoints. Now that’s mostly because it’s tied to my BzzAgent account. I’ve been able to get a few free restaurant meals out of it, so it’s been pretty worth it. Usually I’m not a fan of deal sites/rewards because they’re so time consuming and spammy, but MyPoints is pretty good.
I admit that I’m not much of a deal-chaser because, as you said, it can be time-consuming. As far as the Hotwire / Priceline thing, at the time I remember being tickled getting the car for what seemed so little at the time.
Hi, It’s a good article, and I agree that discount and reward offers should continue so that more people can benefit. Many websites now provide cashback and discount offers, allowing individuals to shop online while still saving money.
Thanks, best!