Most of us have heard about Shopback (if you haven’t, this link is affiliated with RM10 gift for you). The idea is they pay you back what the vendors pay the advertisers to bring you in an online shopping platform. While that sounds pretty cool, the system has in the past screw me up and so here is the guide to avoid problems and keep this shopping fun.
Rules to play by when shopping thru Shopback:
1. Leave a time gap between purchases from the same vendor.
They say it didn’t matter, you can do multiple purchases as long as you open a new tab. That USED to be true. For the past two months, all my 2nd purchase including on sites like Godaddy.com and Zalora has not been tracked. So my suggestion is to leave a few hour time gap before you do a second transaction for the same vendor. Note: You can raise a query for lost tracked transaction but it’s another hassle.
2. Separate your purchase in case you need to return.
This applies if you are buying like 5 pieces of clothing from Zalora and might return a few. The moment you do return the transaction is considered void. Even if you are only returning an RM50 item on an RM500 bill. So be smart, separate the purchase to RM75 each for free delivery and reduces the amount void.
3. Maximize by making multiple purchases.
Most hotel booking website imposes a maximum rebate per transaction. If you can qualify to get the cash rebate of RM20 | RM30 for one night stay, why book 10 nights in a bill. Make the booking 10 times and get 10 times the rebate. Most hotels will pool your booking together and check you in one room. If not, you can always check-in-check-out, or do hotel hopping.
4. Wait for deals
Some things can wait, especially things that you want to buy online. So wait for double cash back, double bonus or anything else 2x the cashback before buying the item. The best part? They will inform you about the special.
5. Be a first-time buyer – most of the time
Disclaimer: I don’t do this because I shop too much. And if you are a frequent buyer you are abusing the system. But if you are a once in a lifetime kind of shopper, you may consider buying under your friends or family members account and get a first time buyer cash back instead when you make a big major purchase.