How To Make Money From Shopping?

Shopping is fun, but wouldn’t it be even more fun if someone would pay you to do so? Unless you have a job as a personal shopper, that might be a dream that seems to be entirely out of reach. That’s not entirely accurate, however. There are ways to get paid for shopping.

Granted, you’re not likely to earn a full-time income, but you can earn some nice discounts on your purchases. You can sign up for this website that allowed you to earn a percentage of your purchases back as long as you clicked through to the site of your choice through the site.

Cashback Sites

The type of site that we’re referring to is commonly known as a cashback site or coupon site. Very simply put, they’re affiliate sites that work slightly differently. They partner up as affiliates with several online vendors. You open an account with the cashback site, and when buying, click on their links to the vendors.

Any purchases you make while using that link are recorded, and the cashback site earns a percentage of the amount that you bought for as an affiliate income. They then split this income with you. You get cash into your account and will be able to withdraw it or use it at another store.

It’s a win-win — the company that you originally bought from gets more business, the cashback site gets affiliate income, and you are rewarded. It’s pretty close to earning money for shopping. Granted, it’s not going to be vast amounts of money – but every little bit counts.

Loyalty Cards

Most larger stores offer some form of loyalty benefits. These programs are usually free and are the company’s way to thank you for shopping with them. Whenever you are buying at a new store, it pays to find out whether or not they offer loyalty points, and how their program works.

Then remember to swipe your card whenever you buy items from them. Often loyalty club members will have access to exclusive deals and discounts that non-members don’t. Do keep an eye out for promotions that are just for loyalty club members.  You should also see if the company has arranged special deals with its partners, or if you can earn points at those partners as well.

Finally, find out what the points can be used for. In most cases, the points can be spent in the store that you earned them in. In some cases, you can use the points to “buy” discount offers or special items. In rare cases, the points can be exchanged for cash.

The point is that you need to find out exactly what the points you earn are and how to use them. Then it would be best if you did a comparison from one store to the next to see where you get the best point payout. From there, work on maximizing your points where possible by shopping where you get the best deal.

Adam Hansen
 

Adam is a part time journalist, entrepreneur, investor and father.