These days, there are many different ways to earn a bit of extra cash on top of your regular income; nonetheless, not many people are aware of it. Moreover, when it comes to cashback from shopping websites, most people are of the opinion that these are a) too good to be true, or b) not worth the time and effort. However, we are here to tell you that you could be missing out on free money. In fact, RebatesMe, one of the premium cashback sites, explains that it is extremely easy to get Macy’s cashback or cashback from many other top retailers.

How Do Cashback Sites Work?

Free money does sound too good to be true, doesn’t it? Truth be told though, if you follow some commonsense rules, you could actually be getting money back every time you shop online.

For example, when you sign up with a cashback site, you should make sure that you visit your retailer of choice via that particular cashback site every time you want to buy a product. If you click through to the retailer or financial institution via the cashback site, you should soon start to see your balance build up. Do remember though that not all sites offer cashback.

How much you earn will depend on the product you are buying. You will usually get a percentage back of the amount that you have spent. For example, Macy’s cashback can be as much as 9% with sites such as RebatesMe, whereas some other retailers might offer a much lower incentive.

Insurance policies or vacations are considered high-reward items and as such the cashback tends to be higher. If you regularly shop online, you could end up earning hundreds of dollars in cashback over the course of the year. But is there a catch?

Shop Carefully and Follow Some Rules

Cashback sites really do work and you could earn a lot of money by doing things the right way. Nevertheless, there is no point in buying something through a cashback site if you could get the same product for a lower price elsewhere (even factoring in the cashback amount). Seems obvious right?

Well, surprisingly, some individuals will buy through the cashback site without even looking elsewhere for a better deal. Sometimes there are better deals out there and sometimes there are not, but without checking, you could be losing out in the long run.

Look for cashback sites that do not charge a fee for joining, there are plenty of them, including the aforementioned RebatesMe. You really should not have to pay to join a cashback site.

One thing you might not be aware of is the fact that you will need to be careful when it comes to your computer’s cookies. Cookies are pieces of code that is used to track visits to various sites. It is important to clear your cookies before buying through a cashback site, especially if you have regularly bought from this site in the past. The reason for this is that cashback sites expect to see a clear ‘cookie trail’ between your computer, their site, and the retailer. If you have been buying from the retailer online in the past, this could muddle the trail and could contribute to you not being paid.

Cashback sites are a fantastic way to earn some extra dollars, which can be used for anything from saving toward a vacation or for expensive times of the year such as Thanksgiving or Christmas. Provided you know how to use them to your advantage, you can earn every time you buy.

Tom Gardner