Ebates - Cash Back for Online Shopping

I [temporarily] live in an area with very limited retail selection and high prices - certainly not what I'm used to, having been raised in a "if you can dream it, you can find it" kind of area on the East Coast. So, more and more I've been forced to search the internet for clothes, shoes, beauty products, sewing supplies, etc.  The benefit to this (aside from being able to shop in your pajamas) is the ability to comparison shop and apply paperless coupons.

What if things could go one step further - what if you could actually get paid to shop online? Sounds ideal, doesn't it? Well, my latest discovery is as close to that as I've found.
It's a referral website, called Ebates. Online retailers (such as Bloomingdales and The Container Store) pay Ebates a commission for every customer who makes a purchase after selecting said retailer through the Ebates website. Ebates then shares that commission with you! Every three months, Ebates will send you a check for your part of the commission. They call it "cash back" and the percentages vary by retailer.

Example: Say you were already planning to buy the Large Wooden Drying Rack from Gaiam at $99. If you were to click Gaiam from the Ebates website and purchase the drying rack, Ebates would send you a check for $9.90. (The Gaiam cash back offer is 10%)

Since this is an offer from Ebates and not a coupon from the retailer, you can still use coupon codes on the retailers website. Even better, every morning Ebates will send you an email showing you the "Daily Double". This is the website of the day which has an increased amount of cash back. Sometimes it is even more than double. I recently took advantage of a Daily Double for Yves Rocher. The normal cash back rate is 9% but the Daily Double rate was 30%! Combine that with a fantastic sale and free shipping and I received well over $100 worth of merchandise for around $35! Who can argue with that!?

Ebates is a free website so there's no risk to sign up. There's no catch - I've already received my first check (they sent my first one out early to prove it was real). From now on, I'll been doing nearly all my online shopping through Ebates!

Happy shopping! x

Eta: Oops! I forgot to mention, when I signed up, they offered a choice six gift cards. I chose a $10 Home Depot card, which Ebates sent me after my first purchase just for using their website!

UPDATE: Someone just notified me that when you click the link, it asks for a referrer's email address. I didn't realize but if you fancy letting them know who sent you, the address I used is jmarq002 at yahoo dot com. Feel free also to send me questions and comments to that address!