‘Tis the season for online shopping!
With the holidays on our heels and malls getting busier by the day, shopping online can be a serious saving grace. Rather than braving the busy crowds, loud music, and pushy shoppers, you can shop cuddled up on the comfort of your couch. And did you know that with a few handy websites, you can actually get cash back when you shop online?
That’s right. Forget about about spending money with nothing in return. With these sites, you earn when you spend, making online shopping that much more enjoyable. Plus, they’re all free to sign up for or download. It may sound too good to be true, but there’s no hidden costs for these sites.
Take a look at how to get cash back online shopping!
Ebates
Instagram/@modmoney_
Ebates is a cash-back shopping site that’s partnered with 750+ stores on their Canadian site, ranging from ASOS to Lancôme to Amazon. They offer up to 40% cash back, so you can shop at your most-loved stores with the benefit of getting paid to shop.
All you have to do is follow the links on their site, and once you make a purchase, money is added to your account depending on the percent the store offers to Ebates customers. Every quarter, you get your earnings through cheque or Paypal payment. Easy as that!
Shop.com
Instagram/@shopcom
Shop.com is one of the best ways to get paid for shopping you’re already doing anyways. Similar to Ebates, they’re partnered with thousands of your favourite stores — like H&M, Indigo, Expedia and Groupon — to give you cash back (between 2% to 55%) when you shop online. You can redeem your rewards anytime it goes above $9.99 USD, and it’s deposited directly into your bank account.
Along with cash back, they also offer other cool features such as comparison shopping (search anything in their search tab and see what store sells it at the lowest price), gift registries, price alerts, and e-gifts (you can email a list of items to the giftee, they choose one, you get the bill, and the item is sent directly to them!).
Oh, and if you sign up for a Shop.com cash-back account, make sure you download Shop Buddy, a handy widget that “follows you” while you do all your online shopping. Since they’re partnered with so many stores, it’s pretty much impossible to remember them all.
Let’s say you go to aldoshoes.com, and you didn’t know it was a partner store. Shop Buddy will pop up and remind you to sign in to your account so you get your reward! It also shows you a list of all the deals around the web, so you never miss out on getting the best price for all your online shopping.
Honey Chrome Extension
Instagram/@honey
If you’re a die hard online shopper, you know how frustrating it can be to try to find coupon codes around the web. Not to mention, the ones you do find may be expired when you go to use them.
The Honey Chrome extension takes out all the guesswork, so you never have to search for a code again. Install it to your Chrome browser and shop like you normally would online, letting the extension do all the work.
With the Honey Chrome extension, the best, most relevant code is automatically applied to your shopping cart, ensuring you get the best deal out there! Save at thousands of stores, from clothes to pizza, and allow the Honey Chrome extension to do the coupon-hunting for you.
From free shipping to little-known family and friend discounts, Honey finds them all! So, while you’re not actually making money, you are saving money.
Featured Image: Instagram/@hellosylviaa
We’re constantly on the lookout for apps and websites that will allow us to save even money while living in this expensive city. We’ve come up with a list of our top apps/websites that are free, and give us rewards just for using them. We hope you benefit from the list below as much as we have. Save a lot of money with very little effort!
Paytm Canada
Paying bills is something that we all have to do. We know it sucks, but it’s part of being an adult and it’s just one of those things that if you don’t stay on top of, can cause you major issues down the road. This is where the Paytm Canada app comes into play. They are a Canadian based tech company that makes your life easier by consolidating all your bills into one easy to use app. For every transaction that you make using the App, you will collect Paytm points which you can redeem for an e-gift card from popular brands.
Biko
This is for all of you cyclers out there! The Biko app is available for Android or iPhone and rewards you for improving your health, the environment, and your city. Once you turned on the app and start your activity, the GPS will track every kilometre you ride, and you’ll receive one Biko per kilometre. Once you’ve hit 5 kilometres (or 5 Bikos), you can start to redeem! Rewards include free coffee, brewery tours, beer flights, food deliveries, and discounts at Toronto restaurants, workout classes, bike shops, online stores, and so much more.
Ebates.ca
Big into online shopping? This is the website for you. With over 750 stores to choose from, why wouldn’t you use this website to get some cash back on everything you buy? You were going to make those purchases anyways, right? Might as well save some money if you can. From stores such as Apple, Gap, Sephora, eBay, Amazon, along with so many others, you’ll see your cash back add up quickly. And if you sign up using this referral code, you get $5 cash back as a starter sign up bonus.
Minicard Toronto
This is my newest go-to site for finding information and discounts for fun things to do around the GTA. Minicards are small, credit-card sized informational guides that provide tourists and locals with discounts for museums, attractions, restaurants, retail stores, transportation (10% off of Via!), and so much more. Heading to Second City or the Ripley’s Aquarium? Hitting up Salad King for some yummy Thai food? Head over to Minicard Toronto to download your discount card and start saving. You can also find the physical Minicards in tons of downtown hotel lobbies, condos, apartments, tourism centers, universities, ESL centers, and airport terminals.
Checkout 51
Hello? Any coupon collectors out there? Since we’re already buying toiletries, household items, and groceries, we might as well start saving some money on it. Checkout 51 is a mobile couponing app that provides users with a new list of offers every week. When you buy a product on offer, take a picture of your receipt, tick off the coupon that you are claiming, and your account will be credited with the offer amount. It’s that easy. And you’ll see your savings add up fast. Once you’ve collected $20 worth of savings, you can request a cheque in the mail!
Drop
Launched in 2015, this new Toronto startup will supercharge your credit and debit cards just by linking them to the Drop app. You’ll collect drop points when you buy your morning coffee, head to your favourite restaurant, or hit up the coolest events in the city. And it does it for you automatically so you don’t have to do a thing besides register. You can build your own Drop program with personalized offers that will get you more points when you spend at those stores. And when you’ve collected enough Drop points, you can redeem them towards all rewards across the Drop program. High fives all around for Drop.
What are some other apps or websites to score free stuff? Share them in the comment section.
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At StyleDemocracy, we know shopping! We deliver the scoop on all things retail related including how to get the best value at your favourite stores. Hidden offerings, insider secrets, and the ultimate savings… we’ve rounded up the 10 things every Indigo shopper needs to know. Keep reading for the top tips for shopping at Indigo.
Stay and Play
Indigo is our happy place! We can spend what feels like hours inside this store, either sitting in a cozy corner flipping through a new book or testing out fitness accessories in the tech department. No two Indigo, Chapters or Coles locations are identical. We recommend checking out Indigo’s first cultural department store in CF Sherway Gardens to explore way more than just books.
Share Your Wish List
Speaking of gift giving, have you made yourself a wish list online at Indigo yet? Like a wedding registry, you can easily add items online to your Indigo Wish List in anticipation of a special occasion like a birthday, holiday, or housewarming. Share your wish list with friends and family so that they know exactly which items you’re lusting over.
More Than Just a Book Store
There’s no denying that a trip to Indigo offers something for everyone. We are constantly impressed by the widening variety of lifestyle products, from cosmetics to bath accessories to table linens, available at Indigo. Indigo is a one-stop shop for more than just books these days and makes gift giving a breeze when you’re in a time crunch!
Reap Those Rewards and Savings
We absolutely love the Indigo Plum Rewards loyalty program. While the Plum Rewards program doesn’t offer a merchandise discount, Indigo’s iRewards program does! For a $35 annual fee, iRewards members score savings on books, toys, magazines and home decor. Discounted ($30) iRewards memberships are available for teachers and seniors.
Earn Bonus Rewards
Want to rack up your Plum Rewards points? We learned that by downloading the Indigo App, you could easily earn 10 bonus points for writing a product review and earn 1 bonus point for rating a recommendation. Visit ‘My Offers’ to view the promotions curated just for you.
Free In-Store Events
Indigo offers a ton of perks for shopping in-store from exclusive author appearances and book signings to children’s activities. Subscribe to Indigo’s e-newsletter and keep tabs on their social media channels for event announcements.
Get Paid to Shop at Indigo
We love the perks of shopping online through affiliate sites like Ebates and AIR MILES Shops to save more. If you don’t need to make a trip to an Indigo store, why not make your purchase online from the comfort of your home and reap some additional perks like cash back or Air Miles points?
Compare Your Prices
We are very guilty of doing price comparisons while shopping in stores. The handy Amazon app (equipped with a barcode scanner,) makes it so easy to scan items using your smartphone to make sure that you’re getting the best possible price on books, stationery, and tech items.
Easy Returns at Indigo
Indigo makes returning an item in-store easy with a flexible 14-day return policy. Even without a receipt, we found store associates to be super helpful in processing an exchange or store credit for an items’ value, so long as it’s in resalable condition. Whenever possible, we recommend returning online orders in-store to avoid the cost of return shipping with Canada Post.
Do you agree with our list of the 10 things every Indigo shopper needs to know? What would you add?
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Featured Image: Instagram/@chaptersindigo
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The day has come. It’s officially the most romantic day of the year – can you feel the love in the air? How about the air that’s filled the space in your pockets from all that cash you’ve spent to spoil your sweetie?
Ebates, one of our favourite money-saving websites, recently conducted a gift giving poll that surveyed over 1000 Canadians, delivering some surprising results about Valentine’s Day.
For example, it turns out, 68% of Canadians are true romantics, agreeing that February 14th is more than just a “silly holiday”. So much so that they’re spending an average of $58 on a gift – keep in mind, this doesn’t include dinner out or new date night outfits. It’s certainly not the most expensive gift giving event, which, according to the survey, is weddings with an average gift giving price tag of $120 (surprising considering what some wedding experts say).
But back to Valentine’s Day.
If you’re still searching for the perfect gift that says, “I love you”, you’ll be pleased to know that 40% of Canadians said they would be happy receiving a gift card (whew, that’s easy) for holiday’s like Valentine’s Day and Mother’s/Father’s Day. Or if you want to take a different route, 33% of Canadians said they’d want to dine out, while surprisingly, only 15% said they wanted flowers.
Of course, there’s something to be said about an element of surprise when it comes to gift giving, so whatever you’re doing, keep it under wraps. 63% of Canadian women and 49% of Canadian men said they’d prefer their sweetheart to surprise them.
But what’s probably most surprising of all is that while 44% of Canadians said they still strive to find creative gifts no one would think of, 43% of men and 38% of women said that when it comes to gift giving, cash is king. Now that doesn’t seem very romantic, does it?
How much do you typically spend on Valentine’s Day?
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