Ebates.com is a pretty good deal for the high-volume Internet shopper.  It’s also an ingenious idea.

Here’s how it works.  You sign up with Ebates.  When you want to shop online, you visit their site and choose the store of your choice.  When you make a purchase, you’ll get a cashback bonus from Ebates.  They send checks quarterly to those who’ve accumulated more than five bucks in credit.  The checks are real.  They don’t bounce.  It shaves your expenditures.  You live happily ever after.

Seriously, it really is that simple.  The sign up process is a breeze.  Membership is completely free.  There are no weird strings attached.  It’s just about the least objectionable thing you could imagine.  Michelle from In Our World, summed it up nicely by stating, “For those of you that don’t shop online very often, it may not benefit you as much.  But if you shop online regularly, there’s really no reason to to shop through Ebates.”

I think it’s worth clarifying a few things for those who may still be a little suspicious of these cashback discounts.  First, you don’t need to worry about navigating some crazy third-party site to find the things you want.  You shop through the merchants’ regular sites, you just access them by stopping at Ebates first.  Second, we’re not talking about a bunch of nasty second-tier retailers and/or sketchy online vendors.  Ebates provides you with access to over 900 different retailers (I’ve seen some reports that claim 1,100).  That list that includes Old Navy, Sephora and most of the other stores you’re likely to find in a mall.

You can search far and wide for people who have a bone to pick with Ebates, but the only negative things (which aren’t very negative) you’ll hear are the fact that you need to have $5.01 or more in earnings before they’ll pay you and that they mail out checks quarterly.  That’s it.  When you consider the fact that they’re currently offering new members a $5 sign-up bonus, getting to $5.01 isn’t that tough.  And if you can’t wait a little while to get that rebate check…  Well, that may be a sign that you shouldn’t be shopping.

So, how does Ebates manage to give people that kickback?  There’s no secret to their underlying business model.  In fact, they explain it right on their website:

Think of Ebates as your local mall with over 1,200 different stores but with one huge difference. Online stores pay Ebates a commission (think of it as a finders’ fee) on every sale and we split this amount with you. Each store pays us a different commission so you will save different amounts at different stores. Just look at the percentage next to the store name to see how much you will save.

In other words, they’re in the affiliate marketing business.  They drive traffic to the stores’ sites and those stores give them some dough for the effort.  That’s a common means of website monetization and  it’s a big moneymaker for all sorts of sites.  Ebates just decided that they’d start giving a chunk of their commissions back to the people who made the purchases.  That’s what separates them from everyone else.

It’s a pretty ingenious way to make some money, isn’t it?  It’s really a win-win-win arrangement.  Ebates makes money from your shopping.  The store is happy to have you as a customer.  You spend less than you would otherwise.

And some folks spend a lot less.  They combine Ebates with other deals to get items at a fraction of their regular retail price.  They discover how to combine the Ebates sign-up bonus with other offers to get items free.  Some of the creative thinking and use of the site could actually result in a situation where the consumer made money!

All in all, Ebates is a pretty good idea for those who shop online with enough regularity to ever receive their check in the mail.  If you regularly make web pages, you might as well get that Ebates account.