Review: Ebates Still My Favorite Place to Christmas Shop

It's Black Friday and, like many people, I started late last night and early this morning to take advantage of the Christmas sales. However, unlike most people, I didn't even bother getting in my car, I did my shopping online from the comfort of my own home.

More importantly, in a few weeks, I'll be getting some of the money back in the form of a rebate because, before shopping, I first visited Ebates .

I discovered this web site a couple years ago, right about the same time I started doing most of my Christmas shopping online. And, so far, I have yet to find a reason not to love it.

Ebates is free to join (the big attraction for me) and, once you do, the only thing you have to do is visit the site first, click on the links to your favorite online stores and do your normal shopping. Just by doing that, when you make your purchases online, you'll receive a cash rebate back ranging from 1 percent to more than 20 percent depending on where you shop. Ebates pays out the money every three months (either by check or PayPal) once you have more than $5.

So far this year, I've bought presents for my wife and kids online at stores like Walmart, Kohls and Victoria's Secret and will be receiving a rebate of more than $20. It's a bit like getting one or two of their presents for free.

Another thing I found I like about this site is it has a whole bunch of stores I would have never even known about without it. These are lumped into various categories, including toys, clothes, jewelry and beauty. This comes in handy when trying to find something that is a bit more exotic or personal. The site also periodically has specials that include free shipping and, like today, double cash back.

If you plan on doing your shopping online this holiday season, I highly recommend joining this site first. In fact, there's really no good excuse not to join.