Go for that DP - Shopping Portal Savings
The DP! Double points! You always want to take your money further. Like Scrooge McDuck said: "A penny saved is a penny earned". Shopping portals are one of the easiest way to stretch your dollars. It's like putting pennies aside for later. That you should always get you excited, so let's get to it!
Shopping portals and/or affiliate sites are companies that will pay you a percentage of your total purchase with certain sites with their own currency, simply for clicking a link to the shopping site, like Best Buy for example, from the shopping portal to get to the site before you buy. It's all a trickle down effect. The store will pay the shopping portal a percentage for driving traffic, i.e. you, to their site to shop. The shopping portal in turn will give a percentage of that payout to you, in whatever form they choose. Simple right? Here are the main benefits:
Easy extra money - you spend an extra minute to get a little more in savings
It stacks - they are independent from store loyalty programs, credit card points, etc. So DP. Even TP!
Tender doesn't matter - it doesn't matter to the portal how you pay. You can use gift cards!
Extra sales - sometimes shopping portals will advertise sales to stores you may not know about. More $$!
Extra promotions - these portals sometimes offer bonus points for spending a certain amount in a given period!
There are a lot of different shopping portals, way too many for me to list. I use Southwest Rapid Rewards mostly. They have a wide variety of shopping partners, including Best Buy, which I frequent. They also pay out on pre-orders! As I said in a previous post, I use this method to get at least Triple Points: points from the shopping portal, points from the store loyalty programs, and points from my credit card. It takes a while, but points earned through shopping portals usually don't expire. I am going to book a free flight to Las Vegas for October with the points I've earned over the last two years. I recommend you check prospective portals and find out if there is a large minimum cash out, and if they offer their own referral program for you to make more money. Always plan ahead to see which portal will benefit you the most at that point. Here are a few examples of where to look:
Airline shopping portals - Southwest, United, etc. have these portals. Most airlines have extra perks once you reach enough miles, so these portals are a great way to get there quicker. It's the same points they give you for flying with them. Stack em up!
Swagbucks - A program that offers money from shopping, as well as surveys and other things, like watching videos. The minimum cash outs are very low, so it is very quick gratification.
Credit cards - Yes, sometimes your credit cards will have a shopping portal. Barclay Card for instance, has a portal where you earn a percentage back. Payment type used doesn't matter, so extra points!
As I mentioned in this example here, this is one of the keys in making your shopping more rewarding. I know ebates is one of the most famous shopping portal, I will give them a shot soon. I tried a while back but never got anything from it, but second chances :) What programs do you know of and/or use? Email me and let me know. Get saving! Save them pennies, get some rock hard savings!
Get boning!
