Obtaining Knowledge In A Unique Way To Earn Cash Back. Discussion 2 of 3.

I can recall, at a particular point in time, thinking about a person I saw, wearing some pretty sharp low/mid top basketball shoes. They were actually good enough in my sight, to complement the man for his great selection of taste and quality.  So now in my train of thought, I realize that it is 5:30 am Tuesday morning on a fall day and still dark and cold outside.

Seeing that I at the least have a smartphone at my disposal, I decide to whip out the laptop and do some early bird Tuesday online shopping.

I get the Google Chrome up and running and head straight to my site.  The first thing that caught my shopping curiosity, was a pair of Nike Lebron basketball shoes which started the spending at $179.99 from FootLocker.com. What is nice about online, is that normally they have the size you are looking for. If you know your feet the way I know mine, you don’t have to wait in a mall store, for anyone to assist you with physically trying on shoes. After placing a pair of Nike Hyperdunks @ $99.00 and  a copy of a Nike Jordan Long Sleeve @$44.99 on my charge card, I now think about some threads to go along with these selection.  The only problem is that I already based my shoe selection on clothing that I already own and realize that it is late November and not July so I now focus on all of the possible future snow advisories and storm watches that are yet to come.

A quick visit at sears.com and I see the new snow blower that I will need to battle such harsh Michigan Winter elements.  This ends up being a bill of $671.93 which prompts  me to walk away from the cpu for a few hours seeing that it is lunch time. When I return, I think about a few more things that I can add to my orders before the afternoon is completed and decide to shop for a new television, days in advance, of the Black Friday Rush.

The popular choice of the day, is a Sony Bravia XBR Series 52″ Television which hits the piggy in the head @ $1,298.00.  Seeing that it is a smart television, a pair of  Turtle Beach Ear Force Stealth 500P Premium Fully Wireless Gaming Headset- DTS Headphone: X 7.1 Surround Sound for only $105.96.  I loved the design of this equipment and had to take advantage of the competitive pricing!

Well at this point, the credit card is radioactive from all of these high end transactions being charged to it, and I appropriately put it away in the “to pay off list.” I could only imagine my bill if I had a wife and kids.

What is unique about internet shopping, is that you can spend $2293.91 in five minutes without ever leaving your bed if one wanted to.  The one silver lining with this particular online spending moment, is that I can expect an automatic cash rebate on all of my purchases, because of simple techniques and circumstances.

The FootLocker.com purchases, produced a decent cash back discount of $9.70. This is not bad considering, that my Capital One Credit Card, is not the “cash back type”.  My Sears Outlet  snow blower charge, printed out a $ 10.07 return on my needed purchase while the Sony Bravia 52″, bought from internet giant, Amazon.com, shared a cash return, of $51.92.  Oh I almost forgot about the nice set of wireless headsets from Turtle Beach, also from Amazon.com, which made me $4.23 profit with cash savings. When the total of $75.92, is deposited into my checking account 90-100 days later, I just happen to be broke this day.  Imagine receiving these types of small payments on a monthly, bi-weekly, or even weekly basis.

It took years for me to realize, that the key to anyone going into business for themselves, is to possess “invisible leverage” over your chosen market.  I look at cash back offers, as a form of this type of financial leverage.  When someone knows that they will get their discount in the form of a instant price reduction, common sense, should tell us that the majority of consumers, end up spending their money with the merchant.

If that same company, offers both a reduced sales price and a cash rebate, most individuals will at least take the sales price but not necessarily take advantage of the cash rebate.  How many times, have you the reader of this post, took time out of your busy life, to even notice the rebate form looking you in the face at the checkout counter.  In order for one to take advantage of these special offers, you must fill out and mail in some sort of rebate document.

It is factors like these, that make certain banks and their credit and debit cards very popular and resourceful.  The customer automatically receives cash back on their purchases without filling out extra forms.  It is also true, that everyone does not have great credit and do not qualify for these types of perks.  Like the average credit American, I found ways around the “not eligible at this time” label on my hard earned decent score.

In time, deposits like these, will become frequent and often as months of retail research and creative thinking has brought me to this moment in time.  In part 3 and the final part of this series, we shall discuss a plan of action, which one can take, to maximize and enjoy their shopping experiences on and offline, and also produce a positive cash flow, in one’s bank account.