Welcome to Southern Savers, where finding deals and steals is simple and rewarding!

See I told you, this would help!

Coupon Abbreviations
  • SC = Store Coupon
  • MC = Manufacturer Coupon
  • SS = Smart Source
  • RMN = Retail Me Not
  • PG = Proctor and Gamble
Coupon Terms
  • WYB = When You Buy
  • B1G1 = Buy One Get One Free
  • .75/1 = 75 cents off one item
  • .75/3 = 75 cents off three items
  • EXP = Expiration Date

Going Nuts? I can help you understand coupon terms and abbreviations

Ebates? Big Crumbs?

on 9.28.2008 at 3:46pm
2 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. Read our disclosure here.

I have seen links for ebates and Big Crumbs for a long time but never really knew what they were.  If you are like me here is a breakdown for you.  There is free money here to be had so it’s definitely worth looking into!

Ebates has been around for a while, after figuring it out I don’t even want to think about how much we would have gotten back.  Here’s the gist:

1.  You sign up at their site (now through October 31st they pay you $10 to sign up)

2.  Whenever you shop online you go their site first and then click on the store you want to shop at.  You still end up at the store’s normal website but going through ebates first your order gets tracked.  You can still use coupon codes and other discounts too.

3.  After you make your purchases you get a percentage back into your “account” at ebates.  When your balance reaches $5.01 they send you a check.

Most stores give back between 3% and 5% some as high as 25%.  You might think that it wouldn’t be for stores that you shop at… just check out the list first.  We used it booking a hotel for a recent trip on Hotwire and got 3% back.  My husband recently booked travel for a business trip… figuring out how to get money back on a trip you aren’t even footing the bill for is great! They have over 800 stores that give you money back.

As I mentioned earlier right now they are giving you $10 when you sign up (after 10/31 it goes back to $5).  You get your money in your account after you use their site to make your first online purchase.

Big Crumbs is like ebates, they have some of the same online merchants listed, 338 total.  They have gotten big because one of their merchants is Ebay (not a merchant through ebates).  They also offer a second way of making money.  Here’s their breakdown:

Be a “crumb saver” – (like ebates) go through their site, select the merchant you want then shop and get money back in your Big Crumbs account.  If you directly refer anyone to Big Crumbs you will make a small amount on their purchases normally around .05%.

Be a “crumb earner” – you make a smaller percentage back on your own purchases, but you make a small percentage on any purchases made by people you refer out to five generations  i.e. I refer Jane, Jane refers Peter, Peter refers Jack… you make that .05% off everyone that shops.

It is free to join, but they do not offer any incentive to join like ebates.  They pay monthly for any purchases made the month prior, and there is no limit to reach.  All payments are done through Pay Pal so you must have a Pay Pal account to get your money.  If you can’t decide whether to be a saver or an earner, you can always be a saver and upgrade to be an earner, but you can’t change from being an earner to a saver.

Because they are both free I joined both.  I tend to go to Big Crumbs first to see if a store is listed (their percentages back are a little higher than ebates) and if a store is not listed check ebates before shopping.  Ebates list is so large that normallly a store is there.  So far we have made $20 off the two accounts but I have only used them for travel planning.

The hardest part about using these services it remembering to do it!!