Smart Ways to Use CashBack Websites

1
Smart Ways to Use
Cash-Back Websites
2
Cash-back websites have grown in popularity over
the last few years, even though they have been
around since the late 1990s. If you have yet to
take the cash-back shopping plunge, it may be
beneficial to know how cash-back websites work,
including the pros and cons of using them, and
how to avoid what shoppers find are some of the
most common problems.
3
What is a Cash-Back Website?

• Cash-back websites earn commissions when members
  navigate directly from cash-back site to specific
  online retail stores or services and make
  purchases.

• The cash-back website then rewards the members by
  giving them back a percentage of the commission
  that was made.

4
How Much of a Percentage of the Sale Will You
Earn?
Each cash-back website is set up with different
agreements with different online stores or
services. Generally 2 to 10 is rewarded for
retail purchases up to 20 for travel purchases
and 30-40 for magazines. Also, some of the more
established sites run special promotions or daily
promotions that up the percentage of various
online stores for a limited time.
5
How Long Does Will It Take to Get the Cash Back?
All cash-back sites have different policies for
determining when members actually get back the
cash, but generally it takes up to 90 days and
only after certain terms are met.
Most of the cash-back sites have a threshold that
members have to meet before they get the cash.
Usually the threshold amount is 5 to 20 in
earned cash rewards.
A few (but only a very few) cash-back sites give
the cash back regardless of how much the member
has accumulated in cash rewards.
The common 90-day waiting period is so that
tracking of the sale can be verified, the payment
can be confirmed and any returns made on the
purchase can be accounted for and deducted.
Once that is completed the cash becomes available
to the member.
6
"Tips on Using Cash-Back Websites"
Here are some of the ways you can decipher
between good cash-back sites and those to stay
away from.

• If a cash-back site charges a fee to join,
  consider this to be a big red "scam" flag and do
  not join it. There is no reason that you should
  have to pay to shop, nor is there any incentive
  to do it.

• Before signing up, do a search with the word
  "Reviews" or "Complaints" along with the name of
  the site. If the search results return pages of
  complaints this could be a good indicator that
  the cash-back site has failed in maintaining good
  standards.

• Even the most reputable cash-back sites will have
  complaints. By taking time to read the complaints
  it can help you decide to join or not.

• By being selective and joining just a handful (a
  good number is under five) of the cash-back
  websites, you will be able to keep your end more
  manageable, yet give you enough sites to compare
  store selection, cash-back percentages, other
  discounts, and sites' terms, to help you get the
  very best deal.

• There are monitoring websites that can help you
  compare the different percentage rates being
  offered at several cash-back sites at a glance.
  In fact, it would be very time consuming to do it
  without using the monitoring services.

7
Common Problems With Cash-Back Sites
Making certain that members' purchases are
properly accounted for involves tracking systems
that are not fool-proof and problems can arise,
even with highly reputable sites.
It can be caused by a number of factors including
8
Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware Programs
Anti-spyware, anti-virus or other protection on
the member's computer prevented proper tracking
of the purchase. Eventually this kind of problem
can be resolved, but it may delay the cash-back
payment to the member by three or four months.
When shopping through a cash-back website, it
might be helpful to temporarily turn off you
anti-virus/spyware programs.
9
Cookies
Another problem that can occur with proper
tracking is when the member goes from the
cash-back website to the online store, then
browses away from the store and visits other
sites, especially other affiliate type sites that
could set a "cookie" onto the member's computer.
When the member returns to the online store and
makes their purchase, the site that the member
browsed to could have received credit for the
sale.
To avoid this from happening, it is best to stay
on the store website until the purchase it made.
Even opening another window, and going to another
site could interrupt tracking.
10
Deductions Made From the Total Purchase Amount
Cash-back websites will show you how much in
cash-backs is pending in your account. New
purchases will show up in the pending account
usually within a few days after the purchase.
This does not mean that the actually money can be
deducted yet, but it does allow members to make
sure everything has been properly credited.
Unfortunately, there are times when the cash
rewards that are pending show deductions that do
not reconcile with what the member's record. This
can happen for various reasons and usually are
explained in the virtual "small print" areas of
the site.
11

• The most obvious reason and also the easiest for
  members to understand, is when they decided to
  return some or all of the purchase. The amount
  returned will be deducted from the original
  cash-back rewards that showed as pending. This is
  fair game.

• The member finalized the purchase over the phone
  or by using the online store's live chat feature.
  Since the person on the other end of the phone or
  chat line is also usually working on some kind of
  commission, they will likely claim credit for the
  sale. This bumps out any commission that would
  have been paid to the cash-back website, and the
  member.

• Changes to the purchase were made directly
  through the online store instead of the member
  going through the cash-back store to the online
  store. When this happens, the entire purchase is
  often treated as a return, even when an exchange
  takes place. That is why, before making any
  changes to a purchase, it is important to go use
  the link to the online store that is posted on
  the cash-back website so that the changes can be
  tracked and properly tallied.

• The member used an online coupon code that was
  not published on the cash-back website which
  resulted in disqualifying the purchase for
  cash-back rewards. Using coupon codes from any
  site other than those published on the cash-back
  site is almost always against the policy and will
  result in either partial or full deductions in
  cash-back rewards.

• During checkout the member applied a Groupon
  voucher or Google offer which was deducted from
  the purchase amount. Whatever site supplies the
  voucher earns the referral and voids out the
  commission that would have gone to the cash-back
  site and to the member. Like it or not, that is
  usually what will happen.

12
FOR MORE TIPS VISIT US
www.pandacashback.com