Get Paid to Shop Online?

30 Jul

Posted by Jay as Make Money Online

Rate this post: 1 Star

(1 votes, average: 5 out of 5)

Loading ...

Getting paid to shop online probably sounds like major scam bait. After all, how could someone afford to pay you to spend money?

This is actually pretty common. The basic setup is that someone creates a website where you can click on links to various online retailers. The owner of the website is signed up as an affiliate for all those online retailers, so when you click their link and buy something, they get a commission. They then give you a portion of the commission as a way of saying, “Thanks for buying through my link”.

Sites like Cash Crate and Inbox Dollars do this in pretty much the simplistic manner I described above.

Other sites get more sophisticated about it. The best of them is Big Crumbs.

The site provides multiple ways of finding what you want to buy, from selecting an online retailer by name to drilling down into product categories. You can clearly see the amount of money you’ll get from buying through a particular retailer’s link. You can even get money back from winning Ebay auctions, just by clicking through Big Crumbs to make your bids.

One of the nicest parts of Big Crumbs is that you can mark retailers as being a favorite, and they’ll show up in a special area. So you don’t have to search through the list again for stores you buy from often.

Another site that offers similar functionality, but without quite the same level of professionalism in the website, is My Power Mall. Click here to see an example of the retail side of My Power Mall.

Both Big Crumbs and My Power Mall provide you with two levels of membership.

Crumb Saver and a Personal Power Mall offer you the maximum money back on your own shopping. With Crumb Saver you also earn a referral commission on any purchases your direct referrals make, while the Personal Power Mall only pays you for your own purchases.

The other option is Crumb Earner and Business Power Mall. Both offer you multi-level commissions from your referrals. At Big Crumbs, you get paid down 5 levels, and at My Power Mall, you get paid down 9 levels. Referral commissions are typically small, but as the number of referrals increases those small amounts can add up.

Membership in all these sorts of sites is free.

If you spend much money online, and who doesn’t these days, a site like Big Crumbs or My Power Mall can end up paying you back a fair amount of money over the course of a year.

This blog is supported through sales, not ads. If you like a product I've reviewed, buying it through my link helps keep the site alive and more reviews coming. Also, if you found this post interesting or helpful, consider subscribing to my RSS feed. If you're already a subscriber, thank you!

Popularity: 4% [?]

8 Responses

manila freelancer

July 31st, 2007 at 1:04 am Quote
1

I havent tried this type of services…. Maybe because most of these services requires you to have a Paypal account for the payment processing (commission) which is not yet available here in the Philippines
Jay

July 31st, 2007 at 1:13 am Quote
2

My Power Mall is heading in the right direction to be more international. Right now they send checks to you, and they’re supposed to be adding an international payment processor soon. They seem far more committed to an international focus than any of the other programs I mentioned.
Gaje Master

July 31st, 2007 at 3:14 am Quote
3

I signed up for a service simular to these and bought a lot of my products from them. I saved a lot of money and I also built a downline with them. In the end, i was getting all of my stuff paid for. I enjoy shopping with them especially because I have a large family and things like toilet paper and hair gel, do not stay around for long.
Tina

February 16th, 2008 at 10:40 am Quote
4

My power mall is a scam! to learn what MPM is all about visit these sites.

http://www.ivetriedthat.com/2007/08/30/review-of-my-power-mall-wheres-the-power/
Jay

February 16th, 2008 at 11:52 am Quote
5

Hi Tina, I removed the one link from your comment that was basically to a bunch of people arguing about whether MPM is a scam.

The link I left in leads to a nice long post that’s worth reading. As I read it, the main point is that MPM is a scam because you buy stuff through someone else’s affiliate link, at artificially increased prices.

Buying through someone else’s affiliate link is the point, and is the same way that any other site like this works. As far as artificially increased prices, you do have to do your homework and only buy where the prices are reasonable.

I’ve personally found some good deals on MPM, but most of the time Amazon.com gives better prices.

So calling MPM a scam is a bit much. It might not live up to the hype (and what program online does?), but it’s a legitimate way to save a bit on online shopping, especially if you would have shopped at the same online store anyway.
RSquare

April 8th, 2008 at 5:33 pm Quote
6

With all the noise about how bigcrumbs and mpm is a scam and you have to download a bigcrumbs browser helper that some consider spyware I wonder if anyone has tried http://www.kulist.com . No downloads needed as it works with a bookmarklet and you can see what you will earn on a purchase. Pretty straight forward.
Jay

April 9th, 2008 at 11:31 am Quote
7

kulist is not fundamentally different from either Big Crumps or MPM. They all operate on the same basis…you buy from their affiliate link, and they give you back part of their commission.

I also find the front page of kulist.com extremely misleading. It says “Earn 50% Cash Back”, when what it really means is “Earn 50% of the commission we receive Back”. Two very different things.

Oh, and I’ve never had to install a browser add on for Big Crumbs, but kulist.com does require adding a bookmarklet.
Bcarter

May 18th, 2008 at 9:07 am Quote
8

Bcarter wrote:

With all the noise about how bigcrumbs and mpm is a scam and you have to download a bigcrumbs browser helper

As a member of Big Crumbs that has been paid every month for the last year and a half, I have NEVER had to down load anything for my browsers. I bookmark the shopping links to my favorite stores and that is the closest thing that I have for Big Crumbs stored on my computer.

Feel free to drop me an email you have any questions.