How to Get Cash Back When You Buy Fabric Online
Hi guys! I usually post about bra making or lingerie sewing related topics, but today I have a life/money hack for all you fabric lovers!
I’m guilty of spending quite a bit of money on fabric, especially online. To alleviate some of that spending guilt, I usually try to find a coupon or some kind of savings for all my purchases. Getting cash back is one form of savings that I usually take advantage of.
So I thought I would share with you guys how you can combine spending money on fabric and getting some of it back by using a cash back website.
The premise is simple. All you have to do is to click through a cash back website, complete your purchase as usual, and get a percentage of your purchase back in cash.
So if you are interested in getting some cash back for your online fabric purchases, read on to find out how!
Note: This method will only work for stores that participate in cash back websites.
This post contains affiliate links.
What is a Cash Back Website?
A cash back website is a reward website that pays its users a percentage of money they spend on qualifying purchases at participating merchants.
Which Cash Back Site Should I Use?
I’ve been using cash back sites for a couple of years now, and I choose them based on the following criteria
- Attractive sign up bonus
- Number of merchants
- User friendliness
- Consistent, strong cash back rates
- Will actually pay you
The two cash back sites that I use primarily that meet the above criteria are Ebates and Be Frugal.
Why Ebates?
The site is easy and intuitive to use. Ebates is on top of their game when it comes to keeping their site updated with their merchants’ latest promos and offers, which will allow you to enjoy discounts AND get cash back. They currently have an attractive sign up bonus of $10 (that will be credited to your account after you make a qualifying purchase of $25+ at any of the participating stores.) $10 is one of the highest sign up bonuses available across cash back sites.
Click here to sign up for Ebates.
Why Be Frugal?
Be Frugal currently offers you $10 bonus just for signing up! However, it is only payable once you’ve accumulated $25 or more in cash back. This is pretty feasible considering Be Frugal’s high cash back rates!
Click here to sign up for Be Frugal.
Other Cash Back Sites to Consider:
- Top Cash Back (strong cash back rates, large number of merchants)
- Shop at Home (large number of merchants, “featured” merchants have higher than usual cash back rates for a limited time)
- Mr. Rebates (strong cash back rates, has a “Store of the Week” feature, where they will offer a high cash back rate for a select store for a limited time)
How Many Cash Back Sites Should I Sign Up For?
My suggestion is to get an account with two cash back sites that have strong cash back rates regularly. Here’s why.
Most cash back websites have a minimum payout of around $5.01-$25 dollars and you are more likely to reach the payout threshold by using fewer sites to stack your cash back earnings quickly.
Another reason to use two cash back sites is cash back rates for the same store might be different depending on the site you use! For example, as of making this post, the cash back rate for fabric.com is 3% on Ebates and 12% on Be Frugal.
Cash back rates are not set in stone and can bounce up and down. So if you are using two cash back sites, I would check what the cash back rate is and go with the site that’s offering the higher cash back rate at the time of purchase!
3% cash back for fabric.com on Ebates (as of 05/09/17)
If you don’t care about getting your payouts sooner, there is a strategy you can employ to get the most cash back on your fabric purchases near the end of this post.
If you’re not concerned with getting a higher or the highest cash back rate on your fabric purchase and don’t want to handle accounts on multiple cash back sites, just stick with one site.
How to Use a Cash Back Website
Cash back websites are very straight forward to use. Here are the steps to use a cash back site:
- Log into your Ebates or Be Frugal account.
- Search for your store.
- If it comes up, click on it. You will be taken to a landing page where it tells you the current cash back rate as well as ongoing offers or promos.
- Click the “Shop Now” button and you will be taken to the site where you will be making your purchase. A tracking ticket is generated when you click “Shop Now”. You can either browse the site, add items to your cart, and check out OR if you already have your items in your cart, just check out.
Note: If you close out of the tab and come back later to finish your purchase, the tracking ticket will likely have expired. If you want to ensure that you get cash back for your fabric purchase, log into your cash back website account again and repeat the above steps.
How to Use a Cash Back Website (Example)
I’m going to use Be Frugal as my cash back site and I’m ordering something on fabric.com.
I log into my Be Frugal account and search for fabric.com. I click it when it shows up in the search.
I’m taken to a landing page with the current cash back rate and latest promos and coupons. I click the “Shop Now” button.
A tracking ticket is generated.
I am redirected to fabric.com and as you can see there is a tracking id embedded in the url. Since my fabrics are already in my cart, I just check out as usual.
See? Easy peasy. It will take a few days for the order to post on Be Frugal along with the cash back dollar amount. There will be a waiting period before the cash back becomes payable. This policy is in place in case of returns or order cancellations.
Also, please note that if you return all or part of your order, Be Frugal or otherwise will deduct the appropriate amount of cash back from your earnings.
List of Online Fabric Stores on Ebates and/or Be Frugal
Below is a list of fabric stores that you can find on Ebates and/or Be Frugal. If you plan on making a purchase on any of the below sites, be sure to click through a cash back site before checking out.
**Etsy is obviously not a fabric store, but you can purchase fabric there.
Are Cash Back Websites Worth the Effort?
I think they are! It takes less than a minute to click through a cash back shopping portal and you are getting some money back for a purchase you were going to make anyway.
Some cash back offers are quite generous.
In addition, cash back sites are not limited to fabric stores. You can get cash back on qualifying hotel and airline bookings, books and digital media purchases, and much much more.
Here’s a recent example! I had to renew my domain and web hosting services on GoDaddy not too long ago. Since Be Frugal was offering 15% cash back, I clicked through that cash back portal and completed my transaction on GoDaddy. As you can see below, I will be getting 15% of my transaction price back.
So yes, I do think cash back sites are worth that tiny extra effort. 🙂
How to Get the Most Cash Back On Your Online Fabric Purchases
As I’ve mentioned above, if you’re interested in getting the most cash back for your fabric purchases and not getting paid sooner, this is a strategy you can employ.
Instead of sticking with one or two back sites, you are just going to use the cash back site that offers the highest cash back rate during the time of purchase. To quickly identify which site is paying the most cash back at the time of purchase, use cashbackholic.com.
Search for the site where you intend to make your fabric purchase on cashbackholic.com and it will generate a list of cash back sites and their current cash back rate for the site.
For example, I want to make a purchase on fabric.com. I’m interested in getting the most cash back on my order. I go to cashbackholic.com and enter fabric.com in the search box.
I hit search and cashbackholic.com will generate a list of cash back sites and the cash back rate for fabric.com. The highest rates will be on top. On 5/09/17, you can see that the highest cash back rate is 12% and a couple of cash back sites are offering that rate.
If you already have an account with one of those cash back sites, just log in and make your fabric.com purchase from there. If you don’t already have an account, pick a cash back site with good reviews and a good signup bonus and then make your fabric.com purchase from there.
By using this strategy, you will usually get the highest cash back rate for your fabric purchases at participating stores.
Final Notes
If you want to get some money back for spending money on fabric online, use a cash back website for your purchase! Not all online fabric stores will show up on a cash back site, but take advantage of the ones that do. Happy shopping!
Pro Tip: Get even more cash back by paying for your fabric purchase with a credit card or debit card that gives you cash back for using it!
4 Comments
Ginny
May 9, 2017 at 7:20 PM
Such a great idea Ying! I’ve been using Ebates since 2003 and my cash back total is now at $800.00! And it’s practically effortless to use! I hadn’t heard of BeFrugal, but I’ll definitely be checking it out now! Thanks!
tailormadeblog
May 9, 2017 at 8:23 PM
Yes! I’m also a long time Ebates user, but lately I find that Be Frugal has higher cash back rates across the board!
Lisa
May 10, 2017 at 6:53 AM
Wow! I hadn’t heard of this before. Thanks!
tailormadeblog
May 10, 2017 at 10:05 AM
Yay! I’m glad you found it helpful. 🙂