This Week Only — 12% Discounts via Ebates

To celebrate Ebates’ 12th birthday this week, more than 100 stores are offering 12.0% Cash Back, or higher!  To remind you about how you can save with Ebates, see my previous post: https://thedealfinder.wordpress.com/2010/12/11/ebates/. Basically just go to http://www.ebates.com and then login or register for a free account. Once you’re on the site, look for the online store you’re interested in and click the link from Ebates to go to your store’s site. As long as you access the store via Ebates, your shopping rebate will automatically accumulate in your Ebates account.

Here are just some of the stores involved in the promotion:

• DSW
• Gap & Baby Gap
• Old Navy
• Banana Republic
• eBags
• drugstore.com
• JCPenney
• Petco
• Sephora
• Shoes.com
• and many more…

It’s hard to tell exactly, but it looks like the promotion expires around May 20, 2011.

Costco Special Offer – 50% Off Local Restaurant Gift Cards

Just received an email from Costco: they are offering 50% discounts off selected restaurant gift cards when you purchase them in their warehouse. That’s a great deal, because generally they offer 20-25% discounts. They mentioned a few of the offers in my closest location (Vallejo, CA) and they are worthwhile deals. Check it out! But be quick about it, the deal is only good TWO DAYS ONLY: May 6-7, 2011.

Starbuck’s Happy Hour – 1/2 Price Frappuccinos

From May 6 – May 15 between 3:00 – 5:00 p.m. every day, enjoy 1/2 price frappuccinos at participating Starbucks!

Click here for details.

OpenTable.com for Restaurant Reservations & Bonus Cash

OpenTable is a free restaurant reservation website. You can use OpenTable to book a restaurant reservation online for more than 20,000 restaurarnts throughout the United States, as well as in Canada, Germany, Japan, Mexico, and the United Kingdom.

So, where does the “deal” come in? Easy: Every time you honor a reservation that you book through OpenTable, you earn 100 “dining reward points.” Once you reach 2,000 points, OpenTable sends you a gift certificate for $20 that you can redeem at any of OpenTable’s participating restaurants. Another bonus to watch for is that many restaurants offer 1,000 for a single reservation. Book and honor two of those and you’ll already earn your $20 gift certificate!

OpenTable also offers an iPhone app that is very handy when you’re on the road or in an unfamiliar city.

Social Buying is All the Rage

You might see them referred to as “social buying,” “collective buying,” or “online daily deals” sites. Whatever the name, there are deals to be had through sites like Groupon or LivingSocial. There are other sites, but those two are currently the most popular.

You can often score 50 to 90% discounts off restaurants, hotels, spa treatments, retail shops, and recreation (just about anything, really). The social aspect: Each deal is good only if a presubscribed number of people join in on the offer before it expires.

I have purchased a few deals from each of the sites. I’ve had a great customer experience on both and have been thrilled with the deals I was able to get. It’s a great way to save money on something you would have purchased anyway; or better yet, it’s a great way to try something new with less risk because you’ll save so much money.

A bonus: LivingSocial gives you your deal FREE if you refer the deal to three friends who also purchase it.  Groupon will award you $10 when you refer a friend and they purchase their first deal.

Both sites have local deals available in tons of locations all over the world. There are iPhone applications available for both sites which come in handy. Another good tip is to sign up for email alerts for the locations you are interested in so you don’t risk your favorite deal expiring before you discover it.

So give it a shot, and let me know if you get a great deal!

Major Savings for Travel Fans: Travelzoo

I love to travel! Part of the draw for me is actually searching for travel bargains. I am always on the lookout for a great travel deal. I discovered Travelzoo a few years ago and so far I’ve been able to take advantage of a few awesome deals. (For example: Roundtrip, nonstop airfare on United from San Francisco to Sydney,  Australia for $600!) Travelzoo is the largest publisher of travel deals on the Internet.

Go to their site (www.travelzoo.com) and sign up for their “Top 20” travel deals. Every Wednesday morning, you’ll receive an email listing their Top 20 deals. You can also follow them on Facebook or Twitter to learn about deals. My coworkers and I look forward to our email every Wednesday a.m. so we can take a little virtual travel escape.

Let These Sites Find the Best Deal for You

If you’re shopping for a particular item, you might want to try a price comparison site prior to making your purchase. Although these sites are geared toward online purchases, you can also use the sites to help you understand what the going rate is prior to shopping at a brick-and-mortar store.

I recently used Shopzilla to find the best deal on an all-in-one printer. I found the best deal on the Amazon Marketplace (an individual seller listing products on Amazon). The price (including tax and shipping fees) was the lowest compared to many other online retailers. I was especially pleased with the shipping time — I received the printer at my door within 2 days of my order!

Smart Money has a good article (http://www.smartmoney.com/spending/deals/which-comparison-shopping-site-is-best/) comparing a number of price comparison sites. Shopzilla didn’t rate as well as I would have expected, but my experience with the site was positive.  I haven’t tried other price comparison sites, but I definitely will going forward. It beats searching through all the major shopping sites myself to find the best price!

If you have had good luck (or bad luck) with any of the pricing comparison sites, leave a comment below and let us know what your experience was.

Ebates – Online Rebates and Coupons

I love the Ebates online rebates and coupons website! This site is a must-have for your deal-finding toolbox.  You can receive up to 25% cashback on more than 1200 stores just by clicking the store’s link on Ebates.

Here’s how it works:

1. Register on the Ebates website (www.ebates.com). It’s free.
2. Before you make any online purchases, search for your online store on the Ebates site. All the top online stores are here (with the only major exception being Amazon.com).
3. If your online store is listed on Ebates, click the link on the Ebates site to enter the site and do your shopping (this step is crucial, if you don’t click the link on Ebates and make your purchase during that session, you won’t receive your rebate).
4. Once you make your purchase, Ebates records your rebate in your account. Every 3 months, Ebates sends you a rebate check (if it’s more than $5; if less than $5 it will be rolled into the next check).

You can’t go wrong, it’s free money! I have been a member since 2007 and my total rebates so far are $335.