As a person who frequently wins auctions on Ebay.com, I was very happy when Ebay launched their cashback program. It’s called the Ebay Bucks program. With the Ebay bucks program, a buyer can earn money back with each auction that they win. The amount of cashback varies depending on each item however it is always 2% of the total purchase price. You can then use this cashback towards future Ebay purchases. Best of all, it’s free!

Here’s how the Bucks program works. The first thing you have to do is sign up for the bucks program. After you have signed up, go shopping! When you see a product you are interested in bidding on click on it. The auction ad will list the amount of Ebay bucks (if any) you can earn by purchasing that item. You can easily see this by looking for the green Ebay bucks icon directly under the current price of the item. Once you have paid for your item, the Ebay bucks are not instantly deposited. Ebay distributes bucks every 3 months. Once you have received your Ebay bucks, you have 30 days to use them towards a future Ebay purchase.

Almost all Ebay purchases qualify for Ebay bucks however you must be actively enrolled in the Ebay bucks program “prior” to your purchase for it to qualify. The sign-up process took me less than 2 minutes. Also, only items purchased thru Paypal qualify for Ebay bucks.

There is a list of items that as a rule do not qualify for Ebay bucks. Some of these items include gift cards and real estate. Ebay has posted an entire list of disqualified categories in the help section of their website but as a rule of thumb if you don’t immediately see the Ebay bucks icon in the listing then that item does not qualify.

Redeeming your Ebay bucks is a very simple process. After you have purchased your items and are ready to pay, the Ebay system will automatically advise you that you have $X.XX in bucks and ask if you would like to apply some or all of your bucks. It’s very similar to using a gift certificate.

After you select how much of your bucks you would like to use, the Ebay bucks are deducted from your total and then you are directed to Paypal to complete your purchase with the modified total. It’s just that simple!