Over the years, the Internet has become an exceptional place to save and earn money. You’ve probably already heard about cash back incentives being associated with credit cards. Currently, there is a whole new world of money-earning and money-saving opportunities to explore that follow in the same vein, and ShopatHome.com has been making strides for quite some time now. The website is a legitimate way to make a little extra money while saving on online purchases that include clothing, electronics, groceries, restaurants, beauty supplies, and many more items.
What is ShopatHome.com?
Providing consumers with access to some of the best coupons, deals, and cash back opportunities for more than 50,000 stores, restaurants, and businesses at any given time, ShopatHome.com is a free savings site that has been around since 1986. Helping members save and earn money for simply doing the things they’d normally do when shopping both online and offline, the site is also known for combining top coupons with cash back offers to maximize savings.
What started as a company offering a ‘Catalog of Catalogs,’ ShopatHome.com has blossomed into a one-stop shop for online coupons and impressive cash back deals found on the Internet for more than 3,000 merchants with the possibility of up to 70% cash back on some purchases.
You might be a little skeptical as to how a website like this can afford to pay you to shop and enjoy exclusive coupons and deals at the same time, but it’s a pretty simple concept to acknowledge – ShopatHome receives a commission from retailers when one of their members makes an online purchase using a link featured on their site.
In order to boost the number of commissions paid to ShopatHome.com, the site encourages consumers to shop at retailers’ sites by offering a piece of their pie in the form of a Cash Back percentage calculated from the total purchase price of a transaction made at qualifying stores, such as Walmart, Bath & Body Works, Sports Authority, Macy’s, and the Disney Store.
What ShopatHome.com is doing is completely legal, legitimate, and not a scam, and in the end, everyone has a chance of making out like a fat rat – the retail shops, ShopatHome.com, and of course, you the online shopper.
How Do I Use ShopatHome?
The homepage of the ShopatHome.com website offers an array of money-saving and cash back-earning categories to explore, which includes the following ways to save:
Online Coupons & Promo Codes
The savings found in the online coupons and promo code section includes a wide range of products, businesses, and services. Past deals and offers include saving 15% on hotel bookings through Orbitz.com; 15% off an entire online purchase at JCPenney + 8% cash back; and $10 off + free shipping on online purchases totaling $50 and over at Yves Rocher.
Coupon Codes + Cash Back Opportunities
ShopatHome offers exclusive online only couponsfor popular online stores, such as Walmart, Victoria’s Secret and Sears, which are paired with additional cash back opportunities. For example, a shopper can save $10 off for every $100+ online purchase made at Kmart, as well as enjoy an extra 3% cash back when purchasing the items through ShopatHome.com.
Free Shipping Coupons
When shopping online, the combination of cash back opportunities and free shipping coupons allows users to enjoy the most rewarding savings at their favorite stores.
Printable Coupons
When making purchases offline, ShopatHome.com offers savings on a variety of goods and services in the form of printable coupons, which include:
Local Coupons: ShopatHome places consumers in contact with instant printable savings for local eateries and attractions (such as 50% off coupons a round of miniature golf) from the likes of ValPak and Money Mailer.
Restaurant Coupons: The next slice of pizza, cup of coffee, or hamburger you eat could have a deep discount – thanks to printable coupons found on ShopatHome.com for dining options such as Applebee’s, Red Robin, IHOP, Olive Garden, and Starbucks.
Grocery Coupons: ShopatHome.com also makes it convenient for shoppers to find printable grocery store coupons in one centralized place from the following top resources: Coupons.com, SmartSource, and RedPlum. You may also search for specific kinds of product coupons by browsing Grocery Coupons by Aisle.
How Can I Start?
It is 100% free to become a member of ShopAtHome.com.
You have the option to join or log into ShopatHome.com by using your Facebook account, and will later have the ability to sign in using Twitter, Google+, or Yahoo. To create a ShopatHome account, you will need an email address, username and password for the site.
ShopatHome.com Cash Back Program
Boasting the payment of more than $50 million in Cash Back earnings to members over the years, ShopatHome.com credits accounts with a cash rebate once a transaction has been verified by a qualifying store. The company keeps track of pending rebates of a user’s member account whenever a shopper happens upon a store website using a link featured on the ShopatHome website, and makes a purchase.
In order to get credit for the purchase, a member must be logged into their ShopatHome account before clicking a link to a merchant site from ShopAtHome.com, or through the Browser App slider or alert. Items then added to a merchant’s shopping cart must be immediately purchased in order for the transaction to be recorded for Cash Back earnings.
Step-by-Step Instructions on How to Get Cash Back
1. Create or sign into a free ShopatHome.com account.
2. Find a store or coupon that you’d like to use.
3. Click on the link or button associated with the store to get redirected to their website.
4. Browse products and shop as you normally would; you can also enter additional promo codes and gift certificate information just like you would with any other transaction.
5. If the site is cash-back eligible, your activity is recorded and later verified by the participating merchant.
How Long Does It Take to Get Cash Back?
Cash back payments for ShopatHome.com activity are paid by check on a monthly basis (at the end of the month) within 60 days of a verified transaction. Therefore, if you’ve earned cash back by October 31, ShopatHome mails out a check by December 31.
In order to receive a check from ShopatHome, you must have accumulated a minimum cash back balance of $20. If you have not reached this figure by the end of the designated payment period, the amount of your balance rolls over into the next scheduled payment period.
Sometimes, it can take as many as 30 days for an online store to submit purchase information to ShopatHome.com, which results in seeing a delayed posting of verified purchases on a member account.
If a transaction has failed to post in more than 30 days since a purchase, submit a Cash Back Inquiry to their Customer Service department.
It is important to complete their inquiry form within 60 days of a purchase date (with the exception of travel-related cash back inquiries, where cash back is credited when travel is complete). Most stores keep purchase tracking records for up to 90 days from the date of purchase; and it’s important to leave ample enough time for ShopatHome representatives to research what happened to your expected earnings.
ShopatHome Referral Program
ShopatHome has a Tell-a-Friend referral program that translates into users earning extra money for every new person that joins ShopatHome.com…and makes a qualifying purchase within 30 days.
A qualifying purchase is any transaction made on the site of any one of the thousands of merchants that offer cash back opportunities through ShopatHome.com. Unlike other online referral programs, not only do members receive $5, but also their referred “friends” earn $5 as well.
Every member of ShopatHome can earn money through the referral program, and receive his or her own unique referral link to share with others.
The various ways to spread the word and increase your chances of gaining ShopatHome referrals includes sharing your unique Tell a Friend link on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, email, and by uploading one of the above ShopatHome banners to your personal blog or website.
Friend’s Email” box so that you can receive credit for encouraging another shopper to join.
What to Expect with ShopatHome.com
As a member of ShopatHome.com, you will expect to find a plethora of money-saving leads, especially in the coupon department – including online coupon codes, printable grocery coupons, and printable savings for local attractions and restaurants.
The Cash Back opportunities and the 110% Cash Back guarantee policy of ShopatHome make the site more appealing to those looking to find the best deals on the Internet. By actively using ShopatHome.com, you’ll have an opportunity to make or save money while purchasing items online as you normally would. The only exception is that you must click on specific links to complete your transactions and receive credit for your effort.
Consumer Review Video
To get an idea of a consumer’s experience using ShopatHome.com, the video review below touches upon how to use the website to get cash back deals and savings when shopping online:
Special Features of ShopatHome.com
According to ShopatHome.com, the business was ranked #1155 on Inc. Magazine’s list for the fastest-growing private companies for 2013. Perhaps some of the following special features of the site have contributed to receiving such recognition:
ShopatHome Toolbar App:
To get the most out of ShopatHome.com, users are encouraged to install the free browser toolbar app as a way to maximize online shopping and Cash Back rebates. The browser app serves as a friendly reminder for consumers to use the ShopatHome site when making purchases in order to receive cash back credits and extra discounts.
Upon downloading the app, the ShopatHome site recognizes when you visit a store that offers Cash Back Rebates and/or coupons, so you don’t have to worry about missing out on the savings.
When Cash Back Rebates and/or coupons are available, an alert will appear in the Browser App and/or the “slider” of an information bar which is situated between the Browser App and the webpage. Click on the alert or slider to get redirected to the ShopAtHome.com-affiliated store’s page to become eligible to save when browsing products.
ShopatHome.com Mobile App:
To take advantage of savings while on-the-go, ShopatHome has a free mobile app download for iPhone, iPad, Droid and Kindle.
110% Cash Back Price Match:
In an effort to guarantee the best Cash Back deals for their members, ShopatHome.com matches anything you find better on another site…110 percent guaranteed.
ShopatHome Community:
Those who participate in the ShopAtHome.com Community are eligible to earn points and win gift cards just by completing a few activities on the site, which includes reviewing a store; voting on a coupon; posting a deal or sale; adding a coupon code; and reviewing a product. Each week, the Top 25 participants of the ‘community’ earn gift cards.
Any Complaints Regarding ShopatHome.com? Is ShopAtHome.com a Scam?
In addition to providing access to a wealth of online coupons and other shopping benefits from ShopatHome, there are a few complaints that periodically surface amongst users:
Never Receiving Cash Back Earnings: Some members have complained about never receiving the cash back savings they’ve earned, especially when large purchases are involved. In some cases, a good handful of people may have unknowingly failed to fulfill the requirements and steps necessary for receiving cash back from ShopatHome.com.
For example, if you exit the tracking link associated with a ShopatHome-affiliated retail shop to explore another site (even if it’s to take a peek at someone else’s blog), your shopping activity and the cash back savings you expect to collect are no longer being tracked and recorded.
$20 Minimum for Cash Back Payouts: While other cash back-related websites require at least $5 in an account before sending members a check, a frequent gripe about ShopatHome is that you must accumulate a minimum of $20 before a payment is sent out, and some people find it takes a long time to reach this amount.
Unreliable Customer Service: While some praise the efficient response time of customer service regarding missing cash back transaction reports, others are quick to dismiss the company’s efforts with some people claiming to never even receiving a response for their cash back inquiries – once again most often involving the purchase of big ticket items.
Rebate Reversal: When an item is returned for an exchange, the purchase and rebate is reversed in a ShopatHome account. You will not receive a cash back reward unless you order the exchange by using a link provided by ShopatHome.com. If an original cash back or discount offer has expired since the original purchase, you will not receive these savings for the exchange order that follows.
In a Nutshell…
In addition to providing a variety of opportunities that could potentially save a user’s money, as well as allow them to earn a little bit of extra money on the side, ShopatHome.com is a seasoned resource that is quite accommodating for couponing enthusiasts.
ShopatHome’s Cash Back opportunities and tell-a-friend referral program are relatively easy to follow and implement, although the latter is considered a bit inferior to what the competition offers as far as the attractiveness of the overall referral incentives go. Other sites are known to pay much more for referral activity.
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