Deals, coupons, promo codes, and cashback shopping sites have proliferated over the last several years. It’s now easier than ever to get cashback on virtually every online purchase you make. The problem is that we often forget to use the sites when shopping online. I learned this firsthand last week. Here’s what happened.
Last week I decided to purchase Dragon Dictate version 4 for the Mac. The retail cost of the program is $199. Before making the purchase online, however, I decided to see if there were any rebate offers. I first went to a site called EVreward.com. I had recently discovered this site and had mentioned it on the weekly dough roller podcast.
On EVreward.com I searched for Dragon Dictate. The results of the search showed several ways to save money on the software.
Of particular interest to me was a list of cash back reward sites that offer discounts on the software. The search results also showed points programs and even frequent-flier mile programs and how much I can earn if I made the purchase using an airline miles credit card.
Wanting the cash back, I selected one of the rewards websites listed. That quickly took me to a page where I could purchase Dragon Dictate at a 10% discount. So in exchange for about five minutes of my time, I saved $20 on the purchase. (Using my favorite cash back credit card, I saved an additional 2%.)
Current Deal: Get a $200 cash bonus after spending $500 in the first three months with the Chase Freedom Unlimited.
As a result, I thought I’d share with you some of the best cash back, rebate and promo code sites available today.
Best cash back, rebate and promo code sites
1. Capital One Shopping
Disclosure – Capital One Shopping compensates us when you get the Capital One Shopping extension using the links provided.
Capital One Shopping is a bit different from other online shopping sites, but in a good way. Beyond rewarding you for your online shopping, Capital One Shopping helps you find the best available price for the things that you’re buying. 
Once you add Capital One Shopping to your browser, it automatically directs you to the website with the cheapest price for the things you buy online. This helps you save. This is on top of the rewards points it offers for shopping with its partner websites. You can also earn rewards with local merchants when you link your credit card to your Capital One Shopping account.
You can redeem your points for gift cards to popular websites, but cannot redeem them for cash. If you do a lot of online shopping, this shouldn’t be an issue, but it’s worth considering given that some other sites pay out in cold, hard cash. Read our Full Capital One Shopping Review
2. Earny
Earny is a relative newcomer to the cashback space. With Earny, you connect your email address and the app reviews your email to look for purchases. With that information, Earny can monitor your purchases and then take advantage of price protection programs to file claims and get you cashback if the price drops.
On top of that, Earny offers you the opportunity to get cashback through a referral program, get cashback from Amazon late shipping and even allows you to add items to a watchlist to get the best price. With Earny, you can shop with confidence, knowing you’re getting the best price on everything — or you get cashback. Read the full Earny app review.
3. Swagbucks
Swagbucks takes a different approach to earning rewards online. Frankly, it’s not my favorite site, but I list it here because its approach appeals to many. Once registered, you earn Swagbucks a number of ways. Shopping online is just one way. You can also earn Swagbucks by using its search tool, watching advertiser videos, answering questions, to name a few. In this regard, Swagbucks is a combination between online shopping and taking surveys.
Once earned, you can redeem Swagbucks for branded gift cards from retailers. Generally, you earn a $5 gift card for every 500 Swagbucks. As I’ve mentioned, it’s not my favorite approach. I want cold hard cash, not Swagbucks. But it’s a popular alternative in part because you can earn rewards without spending money.
4. Ebates
Founded in 1998, Ebates was one of the original cash back sites. It offers deals on over 1,700 online retailers with cash back savings of up to 10% or more. It offers a daily double where the cash back rewards for a given retailer is doubled for that day. It also offers a browser tool that makes finding cash back deals very easy while you shop online. Ebates also owns the popular Fat Wallet deals site.
5. Drop
Drop is quickly becoming one of the top shopping apps for earning points while you spend. With Drop, you download the app and use it for purchases online and in-store. This allows you to earn points on some or all of your purchases, which you can then redeem for gift cards.
With more than 300 brand partners, it’s easy to find a retailer that sells what you’re looking for. Add this to a simple system for redeeming points, and there’s no wonder why Drop is picking up steam.
As an added incentive to download and use Drop, the company is currently offering rewards up to $50 for receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. Getting started is as simple as following the steps outlined on the “how it works” section of the Drop COVID website.
Read more: Drop App Review
6. Mr. Rebates
This site works muck like Big Crumbs and Ebates. The stores listed on the site pay Mr. Rebates a commission when you shop online from a link on the Mr. Rebates site. Mr. Rebates than shares that commission with you.
The key is to shop around. Mr. Rebates my offer stores that the other sites do not, or the cash back percentage could be different from one site to the next. There is a lot of overlap, but you’ll also find some better deals depending on the online retailer. The key is to check out each of these sites before making a buying decision.
7. Big crumbs
This site was started in 2005 and is based in Atlanta, Georgia. Through big crumbs you can currently shop at over 1,200 online retailers. Depending on the retailer, shoppers will earn a cash back reward in their big crumbs account. So how does it work?
Big crumbs is paid a commission each time a visitor clicks through one of its links to an online retailer. Big crumbs shares a portion of that commission with its users. Because the commissions vary from one retailer to another, the amount of the cash back reward also varies.
A quick review of the website shows cash back rewards ranging from about 1% to over 10%. For example, 1–800–flowers pays a 10.8% cash back reward. In contrast, Alamo car rental pays 1.8% in cash back.
To earn the rewards, users must visit big crumbs before shopping online. Once you find the online retailer on the big crumbs website, you need to click the available link on big crumbs to be taken to the online retailer of your choice. Only by going to big crumbs first does big crumbs earn a commission. That commission, in turn, is what results in the cash back rewards to the users.
Sign up for Big Crumbs here
8. ShopAtHome
One of the oldest sites on this list, ShopAtHome offers cash back from more than 3,000 merchants. The site also provides a host of coupons, including printable grocery coupons. It offers a free browser app that provides real-time alerts, and they publish a free weekly newsletter.
The company was founded in 1986, long before the internet as we know it. Today it has more than 100 employees scouring the net looking for deals.
