Bing has announced today that they will be discontinuing Bing Cashback as of July 30, 2010 highlighting that they “did not see the broad adoption that we had hoped for.”.  It seems not enough people read my blog.

This is what they said on their Blog this morning:

“Why are we doing this? When we originally began to offer the cashback feature, it was designed to help advertisers reach you with compelling offers, and to provide a new type of shopping experience that would change user behavior and attract a bunch of new users to Bing.”

“In lots of ways, this was a great feature – we had over a thousand merchant partners delivering great offers to customers and seeing great ROI on their campaigns, and we were taking some of the advertising revenue and giving it back to customers. But after a couple of years of trying, we did not see the broad adoption that we had hoped for.”

I thought this was a great program Mircosoft launched to draw new users to Bing and really begin to compete with Google in this arena.  At the same time I think it is one of Microsoft’s greatest secrets.  It was somewhat hidden.  Such a pity.

Bing Shopping will remain but like I said in my “Bing Cashback: It’s FREE Money” post, Google Product search is definitely superior over Bing Shopping. Without Bing Cashback, I can’t see a reason I would use Bing Shopping over Google Product search.

For more details: Bing Blog Announcement

and to learn what you need to do finalize your Cashback Account: Bing Cashback’s Letter to Customers

Goodbye Bing Cashback.  I will miss you!

Maybe’s it’s not free money?!?!

1) Check your Account after a Purchase is made

Make sure you check your account after a purchase is made. Check it for both:

1. Cashback % Accuracy
2. The Cashback has actually appeared

I recently made a purchase from Overstock.com (Pretty cool online shopping site) and going through Bing Shopping it said I would get 10% Cashback (See Below),

however, when it appeared in my Bing Cashback account I was only given 5% Cashback (See Below)

How do you resolve this? Contact Bing Cashback Support (https://support.cashback.discoverbing.com).  They responded within hours asking for a copy of the confirmation of the order and a screenshot from Bing Shopping showing the expected cashback percentage.  24hrs after I sent the details of purchase back to Bing Cashback Support I recieved an email back saying “we have credited the purchase to your account, pending merchant confirmation.  The cashback amount will remain in your account as “pending” for 60 days from the date of purchase.”

So fingers crossed, I should have my Cashback at the end of July.

I also have an instance outstanding for a purchase from Drugstore.com where the Cashback has not been reported (seperate from the instance below) after 14 days!  Bing Cashback support staff are doing a great job in updating me.  The delay is with Drugstore.com support.  I will keep you posted on this outcome.

2) Using Retailers Coupons can Void Cashback

This is a trick I learnt the hard way.  It doesn’t happen at all retailers, just some.  There is no way of knowing.

Having a child under the age of 1 I have found Drugstore.com a great place to buy diapers (nappies) and formula.  Free Shipping, no tax plus best price!  In the same week I got an email from Drugstore.com with a coupon for “$10 off a purchase of $50 or more”,  I also saw Drugstore.com was offering “20% Bing Cashback”.  It was too good to be true!

I went through Bing Cashback to Drugstore.com, selected my diapers and formula, went to the checkout, entered my Drugstore coupon code, completed the transaction. Waiting, waiting, waiting ….. no cashback “pending”  in my account.

When I read the Bing Cashback FAQs I learnt  “that coupons could void your cashback rewards”.

3) Bing Cashback does not Equal Instant Savings

In my last post I stated that your should receive you cashback in 7 to 21 days into your PayPal account.  In my early purchases using Bing Cashback my cashback did turn up in 7 to 21 days, but since then it seems things have really slowed down. Looking at all my “pending” cashback’s I currently have, it looks like I won’t be seeing my money for close to 60 days after purchase.

You can understand why Microsoft and their retailers do this.  If they didn’t, it would cause a huge administration overhead when consumers returned or cancelled their orders.

So, if you are looking for instant savings, Bing Cashback isn’t for you.  If you can wait 2 months for your cashback, then keep using Bing Cashback.

4) Always Check the Price by Going to the Retailers Website Directly

I also encourage you to always check the retailers website directly.  Open a separate browser and browse to the item on the retailer website (don’t go through Bing Shopping).

Why? A few times I have found the retailer jacks the price up when you use Bing Cashback!  Very uncool.

Take you time and maximize your savings!

I still recommend using Bing Cashback and it is a great way to get money back on your online purchases.  I just encourage you to learn there are a few tricks.

Last thing to note is that the Bing Cashback support staff and @bingcashback provide excellent support and are very responsive.  I have been very impressed.  Thanks guys!

If you have any other tips or tricks for Bing Cashback, please share below

Microsoft launched Bing Cashback very shortly after they launched Bing (with Bing Shopping) as a way to hi-jack users away from the popular Google Products and draw them towards Bing (This is how I see it at least).

If you aren’t already using Bing Shopping or Google Products you are already missing out of a way to save lots of money shopping online.  You simply type the product you wish to purchase and it brings back a list of all the online retailers selling that product with all the pricing information (including tax & Shipping) to show you which is the cheapest retailer.  When you shop online, you shouldn’t have to pay shipping (possibly tax also….lets not go there) and these sites make this simple for you to get the best deal.

Bing Cashback now adds even more value to using site like these.  Not only can you find the best price, pay no shipping and pay no tax but if you go through Bing Shopping you can get on average another 5-10% off, sometimes even more like my recent purchase at HP. (Discount varies from retailer to retailer)  Bing will either send you a check or direct deposit money directly into your PayPal, Amazon Payments or bank account.

It’s as easy as this:

1. Sign up to Bing Cashback using a Windows Live ID (Your old Hotmail account that is now just collecting spam) – https://cashbackaccount.bing.com/cashback/welcome.aspx

2. Once you log in, click ‘settings‘ and complete:

• ‘Your cashback account information’
• ‘Rewards Methods’ – Using your Paypal account ensures the fastest cash back
• ‘Quick cashback program’ – This makes it even faster to get free money!

3. Start Shopping using http://www.bing.com/shopping

4. Find the product you want, for the best price and click “go to store”

• You will only get the Cashback when you go through Bing Shopping

5. A window will pop up, enter your email address associated with your Bing Cashback account.

• At this point Bing Cashback will put a cookie on your computer and you will be redirected to the product on the retailer’s website

6. Shop & complete the transaction as normal.

• You won’t get anymore Bing Cashback visual interaction at this point.  All information is being sent in the background thanks to that little cookie

7. Usually within 10mins you should see your Cashback in your Bing Cashback account as ‘Pending’.

8. Money is then usually deposited in your PayPal account in between 7 to 30days

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No Shipping Charges, No Tax and now Free Money…..a great way to buy more toys!!

A few tips: