Make Christmas Shopping Easy
Written: Dec 21 '00
| Site Ease of Use: |
 |
|
| Effort vs. Reward: |
|
|
|
| Full Review |
IGain is probably best known as an account center for members of web services and consumer research sites like Greenfield Online. Any money you earn (or win) from these sites shows up in your centralized IGain account. As the site explains, “Cash is deposited in your iGain account when you perform simple tasks or participate in online activities with iGain sponsors. It's often as easy as browsing a site, taking a survey, or shopping for your favorite products.”
It’s a great idea, but the IGain site, itself, doesn’t show you how to earn money “browsing a site” or “taking a survey.” To earn money this way, members need to have been already directed to IGain from these external sites. Earning in this way falls under the IGain heading of “Money Making Steals.” In addition to taking surveys, members can enroll, via IGain, for various email ad-feeds (i.e., site memberships), apply for new credit card accounts, or join fee-based clubs. This might fatten your account fast, but before you know it, half the internet will have your email address and vital statistics.
Most of the earning potential at IGain, however, comes in the form “Cash Back Deals,” or rebates on purchases made through its mall portal. The rebate potential can be as high as 20% back on purchases, but the average is around 6 - 8%. The IGain collection of online stores is varied and numerous, but lacks some obvious names like Amazon, Target, Barnes and Noble, and Lands End, to name a few.
Shopping is the easiest way to increase your IGain earnings, and my advice is to just be patient with your account. Buy only those items you would already buy and don’t fall for $20 Money Making Steals that commit you to endless targeted advertising, fees, or interest payments. I buy cat food online anyway, so why not buy it through IGain? The $2 rebates may add up slowly, but it’s “free” money in the sense that it doesn’t cost me anything in time, junk mail, or lost privacy.
And if you’re a member of Greenfield Online, you may occasionally win a $10 or $20 survey incentive prize. Don'’ count on this money, but if you’re lucky enough to find it occasionally deposited in your IGain account, so much the better! With patience can come a potential of $30 or $40 every few months. Request a check and get your hair done, go out for dinner, or donate to your favorite charity.
This year I chose to purchase my online Christmas gifts through IGain.com. I have about five gifts to get family members who live out of state. Just three short years ago, I used to buy these gifts in “bricks and mortar” stores, lug them home, wrap them up, then wrap them again for the postal service, finally lugging them down to the post office. Obviously, online purchasing has simplified this process – no wrapping, no driving, no Post Office lines. But purchasing through IGain provides one added benefit: the IGain rebates I received from the first four gifts paid for the fifth!
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
TheAdvocate
|
|
Reviews written: 53
Trusted by: 98 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.