Make money while shopping for Black Friday deals

These sites, such as Ebates and Swagbucks, work on the simple principle that retailers will do just about anything, including shelling out cash, to gain paying customers. The rebate sites act as referrers—they refer you to retailer’s websites, and the retailer gives them a bonus if you make a purchase. 

Ebates

Ebates is a very straight-forward online rebate site—it focuses on cash, and only cash.
The company partners with more than 1,600 retailers, including luxury department stores Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, and Saks Fifth Avenue, as well as big-box stores Best Buy and Target. Ebates pays out its cash-back bonuses on a quarterly basis, and offers the option of a direct PayPal payment or a check. 

FatWallet

If you’re more interested in saving money—rather than just getting cash back—FatWallet is an online rebate site with a focus on frugality. While FatWallet (which was acquired by Ebates in 2011) does have a cashback component, it’s renowned for its robust member forums.
“FatWallet is for people who are more interested in saving money, and who are willing to do a little work,” says Brent Shelton, PR director at FatWallet. “We have a huge online community of people who share tips on sales, deals, and how to stack coupons.” Because FatWallet is a little more life-hack-y, Shelton explains, you’ll find more tech-oriented deals on the site. FatWallet’s partnered sites include Acer, Adorama, Apple, Best Buy, and Newegg.

Swagbucks

Swagbucks is a little different from Ebates and FatWallet. While those sites are focused on shopping—and subsequently earning cash back—Swagbucks offers multiple ways to earn “SwagBucks,” the website’s internal currency.
Don’t get me wrong—Swagbucks does have a robust online shop-and-earn section, which features stores such as Amazon, Bloomingdale’s Hotels.com, Kohl’s, and Target. But there are also tons of other ways to earn SwagBucks, which you can trade in for gift cards and cash (one SwagBuck is approximately one cent). Other ways to earn include searching through the Swagbucks search engine (perfect for looking for Black Friday deals), answering surveys and polls, playing games, watching videos, and signing up for sponsored offers. 

Plink

Want to earn even more cash back? Use Plink, a rewards program that links to your credit or debit card andgives you points for making purchases—online or offline.
Plink is simple to use. Just sign up for a free account and link your debit or credit card (you can only link one card, so choose the one you use most often). Once you’ve linked a card, all you have to do is…buy things using that card.

You’ll only earn Plink Points when you make qualifying purchases at partnered retailers, but you don’t really have to think about it—it’ll automatically be tallied up on your Plink account when you use your card to check out. Plink is partnered with more than 50,000 retailers, including American Airlines, Gap, Sears, and Staples.
What’s nice about Plink is that it stacks on top of other rewards programs—even your credit card rewards program. In other words, you can use it while you shop through Ebates, FatWallet, or Swagbucks, and still earn that cash back. Plink Points can be redeemed for gift cards from stores such as Amazon, Barnes and Noble, iTunes, and Walmart, and you can also use the points to get airline miles on select airlines.
 Source : TechHive
Image : TechHive