Ebay cash back suspended (ebates, fat wallet...): How you can STILL get paid for shopping on eBay

Ebay announced recently, with basically no prior notice, mind you, that they were "temporarily" suspending their cash back website rebates with all the cash back websites like Ebates, Mr Rebates, Shop at Home, Fat Wallet, Big Crumbs, etc, effective June 16, 2011. They say they are conducting internal testing to determine how best to structure their relationships with these cash back websites, and that this is temporary. Well have to wait and see about that.

For those of us who use these cash back websites, and count on getting our 1-3% cash back from our eBay purchases, what shall we do now? There is a simple work around solution, where you can STILL get paid from your purchases at eBay. In fact, you may even make MORE money than you ever got in cash back before, as I have been getting between 3-7%. However, it will take about 30 minutes of your time up front.

You can still get paid for eBay purchases by making a Squidoo page. Squidoo is an online writing platform where you can join for free, then create your own pages about any topic you want. You can also add revenue generating "modules" including eBay and Amazon modules (see photo below). When someone purchases an item on eBay or Amazon after coming from a link on your Squidoo page, you will earn a commission from the sale. Squidoo is the actual affiliate who gets paid a commission for any sales made from your pages. However, they split this commission with you 50/50. Actually, this is pretty much what the cash back websites do too. Although they don't always split the commission with you 50/50, rather the cash back websites tell you a specific percentage they will pay you, say 1% of your purchase.

1. Join Squidoo for Free here
2. Make a Squidoo page about yourself, something you are interested in, or about the types of eBay products you typically buy on eBay
3. BOOKMARK your Squidoo page so you can find it again!
4. Add a few eBay modules (you can feature any eBay items -make it easy on yourself and feature items that you usually buy on eBay)
5. When you want to make an eBay purchase, simply go to your new Squidoo page, follow one of the eBay links over to eBay, and make your purchase. Note: you do NOT have to buy the exact item that you clicked on from your Squidoo page. Once on eBay you are free to shop for any other items, and as long as you are still in your same browser, your purchase will result in a commission.
6. VERY IMPORTANT: To get paid, log into your Squidoo account and set up your "Payment Settings" to be paid to your paypal account. If you don't do this, Squidoo will automatically donate 100% of your earnings to charity. You will receive your eBay commission about 45 days after the end of the month in which the sale was made. For example, for eBay purchases made in July, you will receive your commissions by September 15. Squidoo pays out monthly, and you can set your payment settings to receive your commission when you reach at least $1.
7. Still have Questions about how Squidoo works? Read this page on Squidoo: How to Get Started on Squidoo

I've earned anywhere from 3-7% commissions on eBay purchases. However, the commission that you earn from your eBay purchases will vary. (Unlike the cash back websites who told you upfront that you would earn 1% or 3% or whatever).

Here's why your commissions will vary. Squidoo pays you 50% of whatever money they get from eBay. This commission amount is based off a few things.

1. The seller's fee of the eBay item purchased
2. The quality of the clicks sent to eBay
3. probably more things that are unknown

The seller's fee will vary based on what type of listing the item is, Buy it Now or Auction, and also if the seller upgraded their listing (more photos, etc). It will also vary based on what category the item is. So each eBay item basically has a different seller's fee, and your commission will vary simply because the seller's fee vary.

The quality of clicks is a new system the eBay partner network put in place to reward affiliates (like squidoo) who send quality traffic to eBay. By quality, eBay means "less browsing and more buying". They also factor in how soon the item is purchased from the time the click is referred from squidoo. Higher quality means they bought an item immediately or today, rather than next week. The eBay cookie that tells eBay that the buyer came from a squidoo page only lasts for 7 days. So it's best to click on an eBay link from your new created Squidoo page immediately prior to BIDDING on an item. You must follow your Squidoo link prior to your INITIAL BID for your commission to count.