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Raise.com
Regular Cheapskate readers know of my fondness for cashback services, which, like certain credit cards, refund you a small (occasionally medium!) percentage of your purchase.
(If you’re not a regular reader — well, why not? Anyway, check out my post from last year: Three important things you should know about cashback services.)
Anyway, the folks at TopCashback have reached out with an exclusive offer for Cheapskate readers, and I think it’s a pretty sweet one: You can get $15 back on any gift-card purchase from Raise. Before you click through, though, let me explain a couple things.
First: What the heck is Raise? It’s a gift-card resale service. Suppose, for example, someone gives you an iTunes gift card, but you decide you’d rather have cash. You list the card on Raise at a slight discount; someone buys it, you get your greenbacks.
In this instance, you’re the “someone” looking to buy a gift card for less than face value, which is sweet. A $25 Starbucks card, for example, might be available for around $23. Not a huge savings, but as with cashback services, it can add up over time.
And with this TopCashback deal, you’ll get a $15 refund even if you buy a card that’s only, say, $5. (Anything over $1 qualifies.) Pure profit, people!
There is, alas, one small caveat: This is for new TopCashback customers only. No griping allowed; this is a perfectly cromulent effort to attract newcomers. However, as pointed out on the offer page, accounts are not limited to one per household, so why not refer a family member (using your referral link)? That’ll score you $10 and them the $15 Raise dealie. Everyone wins!
Once you’ve signed up, hit the offer page (full disclosure: those are my referral links, which you absolutely need not use), click Get Cashback Now, then find and buy the gift card you want. The shopping experience at Raise is no different than it would normally be, except that you started it at TopCashback. (That’s how it works with these services.)
Take note, also, that it’ll be at least 90 days before you can “cash out” your $15 credit — which is also how it works with these services. In the meantime, keep hitting TopCashback before you shop at other stores, scoring extra percentage points here and there. If you shop online as much as I do, you’ll be amazed at how it adds up!
Update: For this promotion, TopCashback will let you cash out after just 14 days instead of the usual 90. Bonus!
Update No. 2: Just to clarify, once you’ve signed up for TopCashback and then clicked through to Raise to buy your gift card, you won’t see any indication that TopCashback is “there.” That’s normal; there’s simply a browser cookie in the background that’s tracking your purchase. This can be a little disconcerting, as it’s different than, say, applying a coupon code; you don’t get any immediate proof of your cashback. But as long as you follow the steps — signed up for/signed into TopCashback, then clicked through from TopCashback to Raise (via the offer page linked above) — you should be good to go. From there, however, it may still take seven days before the transaction is posted to your TopCashback account.
This offer expires at midnight tomorrow.
Bonus deal: Game time! One of the most gonzo open-world games of 2013 is on sale: Cdkeys.com has Saints Row IV: Game of the Century Edition (for Windows) for $7.52. Plus you can knock 5 percent off that if you’re willing to “like” the company on Facebook. Price on Steam: $29.99. Check out GameSpot’s review, summed up thusly: “Crazy missions, fun superpowers and funny writing make it an enjoyable way to live out your destructive fantasies.” Um, yes please. Should tide you over until GTA V sees a similar price drop. Be patient, it’ll happen.
