We all know that our offers include cash back, but did you know that buying through Cashback Club could also land you lots of free products too?  Well here’s a run down of some of the best free gifts available from our stores:

Free Case of Virgin Wine

Buy any of the selected Hotpoint appliances  from Boots Kitchen Appliances and get a free case of Virgin Wine worth £60.  Containing 12 bottles of mixed grape wines, just order any of the selected Hotpoint products, and your wine will be sent direct to your door 14 days later.  If you prefer a Whirlpool or Electrolux appliance then you’ll get double the Advantage Points than normal instead.  Don’t forget you’ll also get 1% cashback on all your purchases too.

Free Wireless Home Hub

Take out any BT Broadband package and they’ll bundle in a free Wireless Home Hub for you.   Usually costing £30, this sleek wireless hub will connect all your devices whether it’s computer, laptop, printer or games consoles or even all of these.  You can also connect the BT Hub Phone to, which if you take option 3, will also come free, allowing you to make cheap telephone calls over the internet through your normal phone.  As well as these great freebies, you will also enjoy £15 cashback.

Free Shirt and Tie Pack from Burton

Burton are offering our cashback club members a free shirt and tie pack when you buy any suit from their online store.  Choose from any of their suits in any range and you’ll also get to choose a free shirt and tie pack.  There’s also another great freebie offer from Burton for those of you who buy a record label t-shirt, you’ll be given 3 free music downloads.  Whatever you choose, you’ll also get 2.5% cashback too.

Free Spa Day for 2!

Simply spend over £100 at Days to Amaze, the online retailer of experience days, and they will throw in a free spa day for 2 people to enjoy.  Try out all those pamper treatments and therapies for free and with a friend, nice and chilled!  You’ll also enjoy 6% cashback on your purchase too.

Free Gifts and a Free Sudoku Game

Healthy Direct have a some great freebies to be had when you buy any of their range of vitamins and supplements.  With all orders you will also receive a free gift (currently Odourless Garlic) as well as free delivery.  Spend over £30 an not only will you get these gifts, but you’ll also get a free Sudoku Game as well.  Of course you’ll get your 10% cashback too.

Free 1000 xBox Live Points and HMV Vouchers

HMV are giving purchasers of the new Grand Theft Auto 4 game for xBox 360, will also get these great freebies with your order.  Available for pre-order, GTA4 will be sent to you on the release date, complete with a free 1000 xBox Live Points card and a Voucher book with over £130 worth of HMV vouchers too.  This offering is exclusive to HMV, plus you’ll also get up to 3% cashback on your purchases too.

Free England Home Shirt

Worth £39.99, you’ll receive a free England Home Shirt (07/09) with every order of the new England Away Shirt bought from Kitbag.  Just add an England Away Shirt to the basket, and the Home Shirt will be added automatically.  There’s also 2.5% cashback to be had too.

Free Key Cover worth up to £25

Take advantage of Kwik Fit Home INsurance offer, where not only will you get £60 online discount, and up to another 15% discount (for taking both buildings and contents insurance) but you will also get free key cover, which will insure you against theft/loss of keys.  Not just your house keys, but also your car keys too.  £21.25 is the amount of cashback you’ll also get with this offer.

Free MOT - if you take out a motor policy with Kwik fit, you’ll have the pleasure of 15% discount, and free MOTs for your car too.  Cashback for motor policies is £21.25.

£50 free fuel

More Than are offering a special offer for owners of vans.  Take out their Van Insurance and and not only will you get 20% discount as a new customer, but you’ll also get £50 of free fuel too.  That is on top of the £37.50 cashback you’ll also get.

Free David Beckham Toiletry Bag

Perfume Point are giving away a free vial of perfume with all orders, if you order more than £40 of perfume and toiletries from them they’ll also throw in a free David Beckham Toiletry Bag.  You’ll enjoy the up to 80% off the retail prices which Perfume Point charge for their products, and now you can enjoy the free gifts too, all whilst being paid 3% cashback.

Bonus Cashback - If you buy any of the “Touch of Light” highlighter pens, then you’ll get a massive 15% cash back.

Free New Moringa Shower Gel

Body Shop are giving away a Free 250ml bottle of their New Moringa Shower Gel with all orders over £25.  If you’re  a new online customer you can also get 10% off your first order with our special voucher code DHAD000265.  There’s free delivery on all orders over £20 too.  Cashback at Body Shop is 4%. 

Free Binoculars from National Trust

Join the National Trust and you’ll have free entry in to over 300 stately homes, castles and other properties for he whole year.  Buy online and they’ll give you 3 months free, so you’ll only pay for 9 months.  Pay by direct debit and you can save a further 30% off membership charges.  All new customers will also get a free pair of binoculars as well as £10 cashback.

Take advantage of some of these fantastic freebie offers, and ensure that you are really getting the best value for your pound, and all these have cashback too.

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Understanding Broadband Cashback

Although Broadband seems to have been around for a while now, the concept of it can still seem quite alien to many people. For those not in the know, Broadband is a fast, more reliable internet service, almost 150 times quicker than a typical 56k ‘dial-up’ modem and it is called ‘Broadband’ because it has a much higher ‘bandwidth’, giving it more capacity to send and receive data.

With a Broadband connection, the user generally pays a monthly fee to be connected to the internet 24 hours a day, using it as much, and visiting as many sites as they like, without having to pay any extra costs. Broadband is superior to older modems because it works separately from the phone lines allowing for calls and internet use simultaneously. It works by converting the analogue phone line to a digital line (ADSL line or; Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) which works at a much faster rate. But Broadband isn’t just about quicker and more convenient access, it is about keeping up to date with the ways of the modern world. Internet technologies are constantly evolving and the user can have access to newer services such as internet telephony and live radio with broadband connection. As the technological revolution shows no signs of slowing down, those who don’t embrace the basic concepts of internet advancement are at risk of getting left behind.

Broadband Packages
There are currently well over a hundred Broadband packages available in the UK alone, and choosing the right package to suit can seem quite confusing for those not familiar with some of the more technical terms. The simplest way to decide on the best package is to work out what connection speed is required, or, how frequently the user accesses the internet. Broadband providers tend to cater for one of three types of consumers: occasional, average and busy internet users.
The occasional user, someone who spends no more than a couple of hours a day online, shouldn’t need to worry about download limits and could easily opt for one of the cheaper packages. Most people tend to fall into the second category, and the average user will spend between two and four hours a day on the internet, downloading files only occasionally. The average user should be careful when considering download limits as exceeding them can prove costly. The busy internet users tend to work from home, download lots of music and play games online, download films and lots of files. They can spend up to 24 hours a day online. There a specialised Broadband suppliers for the busy user. The customer tends to pay more but will have benefits too such as unlimited access and high-speed connections.

Most internet providers will have their own websites giving details of price plans, and there are many price comparison sites that can help to list those Broadband providers with the most competitive deals. However, as long as price comparison websites rely on commission from the retailers who pay out when a customer makes a purchase, the customer is never really going to be exposed to the cheapest deals but rather, those packages that have the best marketing programs.

Broadband and cashback
Cashback websites bridge the gap in assisting consumers with their product search whilst also encouraging the best financial offers. Unlike the price comparison sites, the cash back sites will return part of the commission they receive from the retailer, to the customer. Essentially this ensures that the cash back site member returns to build upon their credit or points before finally receiving a payment after they have reached a benchmark value. The cash back credit can be spread over a number of purchases from a variety of retailers so for those who make regular purchases over the internet, the cash back sites can really pay off.

The other advantage for the consumer is that retailers can’t afford to not be in the running – they rely on internet advertising in order to reach as wide an audience as possible. However, in order to keep getting hits, the retailers are constantly forced to review their deals and offers in order to entice new customers, driving the general costs down as competition heightens.

The cost of Broadband connection has dropped significantly since it first started to appear in homes, but it is still worth doing some research and comparisons before signing any contracts. Because the ideal package will vary depending on the individual needs of the consumer, the retailers have begun to offer those added extras in order to drive custom their way.

One of the more seductive marketing offers currently available comes from one of the biggest Broadband providers (supplying a basic package for average internet use) which includes the 1st month of connection for free, followed by 18 monthly payments of £19.99 (total cost of: £359.82) but driving forward some of the newest technology, they also offer a free wireless router worth £50. Not only do they offer wireless security protection, but for those customers who ‘go wireless’, they can receive a free laptop. (With a delivery charge of £14.99) The incentives are good, particularly in comparison to other suppliers, but when applying for Broadband online through the cash back website, the consumer is also entitled to cash back of £16.00.

The offer sounds good but another internet supplier offers a new line with evening and weekend calls for just £13.95 a month, which is then reduced to £13.20 from April for a 12 month period so the total cost comes to less than £200, but there is an installation cost of £125.00. Like the first retailer, this one offers the free gift of a ‘Wireless Home Hub’ which normally retails at £30.00 and buying through the Cashback Club website also entitles the member to cash back of £15.00. The customer has a better financial deal with the second package but consumers are now in a position where they can expect more than just moneyed incentives.

Getting Broadband need not be a hassle, but it will require a degree of self assessment in terms of internet and telephone use; in most cases the websites will be clear about which provider would suit best and purchasing over the internet certainly seems to have its financial rewards.

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Understanding Cashback on books

According to a recent survey spanning more than 48 countries and researching more than 26,000 internet users, the most popular product bought on line is the humble book. Over the last three months, shoppers have bought more books than any other item and the UK falls into tenth place in order of which country buys the most books on-line. (Beaten, incidentally, by the likes of South Korea, Germany, and Austria in first, second and third place!)

Online book marketing
With information like this being made available to us, it comes as no surprise that retailers would want to cash in on the most popular product, which works out well for the consumer as retailers are forced into competition to produce the most competitive prices and deals. In order to reach the widest available audience, it makes sense for retailers to cash in on internet-marketing, partly because consumers are more likely to pay for a smaller delivery fee than hit the high street crowds making it cheaper in terms of labour required, but also because administration and online advertising costs tend to be much lower as well.

But with so much choice available to the consumer, not just in terms of genre and author, but also in the wide variety of retailers that claim to offer the best deals on books; it would be easy to get overwhelmed and confused with where to begin. For those that have the time and prefer to browse on line in the comfort of their own homes, perhaps taking a few moments to read one of the many on-line reviews of a new author or research the best-seller list, there are a number of websites that can help to direct the consumer towards the best value-for-money offers on the book of their choice.

Price comparison websites are ideal for book searches, especially where the title or author are known as these make easy key word searches and therefore quicken the process of an on-line search. These sites work on commission from the retailers selling the books and pay either a flat rate (lump sum), or a proportion of the total spend of the customer introduced to them via the comparison site. But even these comparison sites, it would seem, are becoming more and more common on the internet leaving the customer with the dilemma of more choice rather than a helping hand. Because the websites work on commission, they are less likely to vet the retailers who choose to advertise with them, which also mean that the customer can be exposed to those retailers who lack incentives for their demographic.

Books and cashback
Cashback websites are the next stage in the website evolution in that, like the price comparison sites, they also list the best value-for-money retailers, but the key difference is that they return a large proportion of their commission back to the customer; preferring a sense of ‘membership’ and loyalty from customers and therefore encouraging them to revisit. The sites are popular because of the incentives they offer, so retailers are more likely to find a deal that stands them in good stead alongside their competitors.

Although cashback sites offer a wide range of products from an even wider range of retailers (Cashback Club has links to over 1,200 retailers) members are guaranteed at least some return on their spend and the potential savings themselves can make a huge difference.

As customers spend money, they accumulate points or pounds which are reserved by the cashback website to be redeemed by the customer either at a particular time or after hitting a particular threshold of, say, £50 or £20. The cashback site will then return the cash to the customer either by cheque, through BACS or possibly even in discount or gift vouchers, which ever is preferably to the customer.

Books are of course just one of many products available at on-line discounts, and whilst the initial returns may be lower than other products, the percentage of savings speak for themselves, and remember that cash back websites don’t restrict to one retailer; the customer can build up their credit of a period of time and through a number of different retailers so even the smallest of contributions is considered a large benefit.

With a little bit of investigation, finding a bargain amongst the bargains is even possible. A search for the same paperback on three retailers advertised through the Cashback Club offered different results:

The book has a list price (standard UK price) of £11.99.

The first retailer, a well-known high street bookstore, offered the book at a price of £8.99 making a general saving of £3.60. But with 2.5% cash back available, the customer would make a total saving of £3.80.

The second retailer, a well-known stationery store, offered the book at a price of £5.99, making a general saving of £6.00 (50%), but also offered 4% cash back and free delivery. The total saving is £6.23, plus the cost of delivery.

The third retailer, a supermarket chain, offered the book at a price of £7.00, making a general saving of £4.99. The cash back offer was 1% making a total saving of £5, but there was also an offer of free delivery on orders over £15.00, a free E-Coupon and club-card points upon purchase.

The three examples offer different deals and are a good example of how shopping around can reveal a spectrum of competitive offers so the consumer will always find something that suits them subjectively, as long as they are prepared to consider the options.

A similar search on a box set of children’s’ books found offers reducing a high-street price of £78 to just £4.99 with £2.99 postage and packaging (giving a total of £7.98), but offered double the normal incentive with £8.00 cash back if the purchase was made through the website. Surely offers don’t get much better than that!

Like some other cash back websites, Cashback Club welcomes new customers and even rewards them with a £5 cash back bonus, and a member can receive another £5 for every new customer they introduce who makes a cash back purchase. The incentives are undoubtedly strong.

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Understanding Insurance Cashback

Potentially, any risk that can be quantified can be insured. This is the basic premise of Insurance, placing a financial value upon any risk and calculating what the cost would be to alleviate any damage. Anything that has a significant value to an individual can be insured but this can prove costly, especially given the number of things we tend to need insurance for. In some cases, a particular insurance plan may cover a number of categories, for example, car insurance would typically cover both property risk – covering the risk of fire, theft or damage to the vehicle – and liability risk – covering any legal claims towards the cause of the accident.

Insurers tend to make their money in two different ways: the first is through underwriting which is where the insurers assess the risks to insure and calculate how much to charge in premiums for accepting those risks. The second way is by investing the premiums they collect from the insured.

Wading through the insurance market
The types of insurance available, the qualifying elements and the definitions of what they cover are too many to list here, but it’s no wonder that customers frequently look towards the internet for help in finding the plan most suited to their own requirements. Price comparison sites are useful for searching the internet for the best tailored packages but whilst they may offer support in introducing the customer to the insurer, they aren’t necessarily going to help them save money.

Insurance and cashback sites
In order to find the best deals available, it is always best to know as much information about what you’re looking for – especially before speaking to any of the insurance companies directly as you can be sure they may try to entice you to sign up with extra features on an insurance plan that you simply don’t need. Some special deals are often excluded from comparison sites as well, so for those really looking to get the best offers, then a cashback website could really help.

An important fact to remember for any customer is that you can almost always find the product cheaper online. The rise in internet use has added pressure on all retailers to come up with competitive details to attract new customers and to reward loyal ones. With customers able to search for their product from a world-wide source, it comes as no surprise that competition for almost everything is going to be high. But retailers can benefit too: the internet exposes their business to a much wider audience, and the costs of advertising on-line tend to be much lower.

A cashback website will advertise a variety of insurance brokers, and take commission from them every time a new customer signs up to one of their policies. Unlike comparison websites however, the cashback sites return a large amount of this commission back to the customer, storing this credit until the member either reaches a certain threshold usually after building up their cashback credit from a number of other purchases, or until they reach a certain period of time – many cashback sites will work to a quarterly turnover so may hold onto the cashback credit until a certain date. The cashback can be made via a BACS transfer, a cheque sent, points redeemed onto a credit card balance, or sometimes even gift vouchers issued.

Doing your homework
With insurance deals to cover anything from homes, vehicles, pets, dental treatment, health, travel, life and pensions – one retailer even offers a policy to cover weddings, confirming that for anything that may prove costly but has foreseeable risks, can be covered. But, with different brokers offering a range of incentives for new customers, working out the best value-for-money and tailored plan can need a little bit of research.

A search through Cashback Club on three different retailers found the following results for travel insurance. The premise was for a single trip to Europe, for one person at the age of 35, from August 1st 2008, to August 15th 2008.
One insurer quoted £17.78 for the insurance, but for those customers applying through the cashback Club website, a cashback of 7.5% was also offered. The price after cashback would therefore be £16.47.

Another broker quoted £20.90 with a 5% online discount and with £4 cash back for a single trip. The total cost after cash back would be around £15.80.

The final search was from a smaller insurance company but y far had the most competitive deal. The same trip would cost just £10.00 to insure and when purchased through the Cashback Club website, offers cashback of 7.5%, so the customer would effectively be paying just £9.25.

All of the retailers offered similar packages in what they cover, but differed in the time periods for claims and the available added extras. These are just examples however, of the types of savings available online and the benefits of making the purchase through a cashback website.

As similar search carried out on home insurance deals saw similar discounts available, though it was noted how competitive an industry this must be as the incentives differed significantly. One large bank offered combined contents and buildings insurance with a range of incentives including 1/3 off for new customers, a 15% first-year discount, and customers purchasing through the Cashback website could claim £45.00 back. Because the rates of re-payment vary depending on the insurance cover, then assessing value-for money becomes tricky; though all of the websites had clear definitions and there would be nothing to stop a customer from enquiring in person to assess insurance details, but then waiting until they get home to make the claim through a cashback site and claim that cash back reward.

Reading the small print
As with any contracts, remember that it always important to read the small print before signing up. A good insurance policy should always have a cooling off period which allows the customer to opt out within a certain period of time. It is also important to remember that the site that offers the most cash back might not necessarily offer the best all round deal, and with so many retailers competing for customers, the numbers can at first seem confusing. But Cashback Club is a great place to start and the rewards are certainly worthwhile.

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In this weeks double cash back update, there’s plenty of offers which will pay you double the normal cashback amount. Make extra money when you buy from these retailers.

The first of our highlighted offers is time limited and better than Double Cashback:

Post Office Life Insurance

This is a really special offer, take out Life Insurance from the Post Office through CashBackClub, and not only will we give you £21.50 CashBack, but the Post Office will give you a whopping £100 cashback too! With cover starting at just £5 per month, this really represents a great offer. Terms apply.

HSBC Bank Account Plus - Now £50 Cash Back

Open a new Bank Account Plus account from HSBC and get double the amount of Cash Back, now £50. The Bank Account Plus gives you more from your bank account, preferential interest rates, travel insurance, preferential mortgage rates and now £50 cash back too!

Waterstones - Cashback now 5%

Waterstones have doubled their cashback rate until 29th March, you can now get 5% cashback on all your purchases. Why not take advantage of these great rates to buy some of their special offer Home and Garden books where you can save up to 30% off the normal price. Remember all your purchases from Waterstones online store are now delivered free of charge.

Jeans Direct - Cashback now 10%

Jeans Direct have a better than double cashback offer on their New Season section. Buy any items from their New Season Range, and you can get 10% cashback instead of the usual 3.5%.

Hotter Shoes - Now 11% Cash back

Hotter Shoes just got hotter, not only are there some truly stunning shoes, boots and sandals on their site, but until the 27th March you can get double the normal 5.5% Cash back which means you now get 11% back in cash from us.

Hotel Chocolat - Eggstra Cash for Easter

Hotel Chocolat is the place to buy some really fine Easter Eggs and other chocolate gifts for this Easter. Not only will you receive some really great tasting chocolate, but as an eggstra sweetener, you’ll get 6% cash back instead of the usual 3.5%.

Evans Clothing - Double Cash Back, Now 5%

Our final double cash back merchant is Evans Clothing, they are now offering 5% cash back instead of the usual 2.5%, plus if you spend over £50 on their clothes, you will also enjoy free delivery. Check out the new ranges of ladies clothing now available a Evans Clothing. Double CashBack offer is only valid until 26th March 2008.

These are time limited offers and in most instances are only available this week, so take advantage of the extra cash back on offer from these merchants before they run out.

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Understanding cashback DVDs

Watching the latest films no longer has to be an expensive business – where a trip to the cinema to see one film may have cost £5 and above in the past, for the same price, the consumer can watch the same film (with extras!) as many times as they like, and in the comfort of their own home.

The online DVD market
The popularity of DVD’s has gradually led to a revolution amongst the retailers, all of whom find themselves under increased competition from businesses offering competitive prices. The rise of the internet plays a significant role in that consumers have become exposed to a world wide market where films can be bought internationally, pre-release and with cheap and quick delivery to the home.

With retailers cashing in on the popularity of DVD’s on a world-wide scale, the choices available for the consumer continue to grow, and finding the best offers and deals can be time consuming; so it comes as no surprise that customers are looking at the internet to help them in their quest for the best value-for-money products.

Although general internet searches can help, and whilst there are perhaps two or three forerunners in the sales of DVD’s, a simple price comparison website can assist in identifying those retailers with the most competitive prices. These sites primarily rely upon revenues from retail advertising, taking a commission everytime a customer makes a purchase after having been introduced to the retailer through a link on the comparison site. But whilst the comparison sites can identify those retailers that stock the product required, increasing pressure on retailers to advertise on the internet can result in a surge of businesses claiming to offer the best deals when there are superior ones on offer elsewhere.

DVDs and cashback
Cash back websites, like Cashback Club, have formed a more incentive-driven package for the consumer in that, unlike those sites that simply compare prices, cash back sites return a portion of their commission back to the consumer either in the form of a percentage or as a flat rate.

For those not familiar with how cash back works; a member of a site can collect points or pounds that are redeemed to them through purchases made with those retailers who have advertised on the cashback site (providing of course the customer has followed the link through the cashback site). Sites can vary in how they reserve the points or pounds belonging to the customer, occasionally waiting for a specified period of time, whilst in other cases waiting until customers reach a specified amount, which they can then claim after they hit that mark.

Cash back can be transferred to a member either through BACS (bank transfer) a cheque or even swapped for discount or gift vouchers. Vouchers can be obtained at trade price by the cash back sites and so occasionally may have a higher value than those sold on the high street. In some instances the cash back site may e-mail the member with a discount reference code which is then given to the retailer upon purchase.

For customers looking to purchase DVD’s, then a simple bit of research can identify those sites that give the best vale-for-money. Cashback Club assists in the choosing process by listing reputable companies but also by identifying clearly, the amount of cashback they would receive after purchase.

DVD cashback examples
To test which sites offered the best purchase prices on DVD’s a simple comparison test has been completed on a new release 2-disc DVD, with a regular retail price of £27.99.

- The first retailer sold the DVD at a price of £15.99, making a saving of £12.00 (43%). It also offered free delivery and when purchased through the Cashback website, came with 2 % Cash back. (Making the overall spend £15.67)

- The second retailer, a major highstreet music and DVD store, sold for £17.99, again with free delivery but came with a slightly higher cash back rate of 3%. (Making the overall spend £17.46)

The examples above only show the kinds of deals that can be made on new-releases (still a minimum discount of £10 from the RRP) and essentially these tend to be the more expensive DVD’s as retailers try to cash in on the zeitgeist of the product. But it should be noted that, as with many high street retailers, DVD’s can often come with deals attached; one retailer advertised on the cash back site offered 3 DVD’s for £20 and the range of choice seemed perpetual.

But for those money savvy members who perhaps prefer to see a wider range of films and want to keep the costs down, the DVD rental might be a more suitable option. Internet rental services are still relatively new, but have proved quite successful in their short time.

Essentially they work exactly how you might expect: a customer joins the rental service and creates a list of titles. The chosen DVD’s are then posted (Royal Mail 1st class) to the customer along with a return envelope which the customer then sends the DVD back in.

Most companies will let members keep the DVD’s for as long as they want; though there is usually a limit on the number of discs that can be rented at any one time. Once a disc is returned, then another is sent out in its place and as members are required to provide bank details for billing purposes, the rental companies have that add insurance that their discs will be returned whilst the customer has the incentive of returning in order to receive more.

There are a number of DVD rental sites accessible on the Cashback Club website so members can have access to even better details. One of the rental companies listed offers a choice of 6 different packages which establish the cost and number of discs the customer would rent on a monthly basis. Members can rent to suit their viewing habits with the minimum cost of £4.99 per month for 2 discs, up to £24.99 per month for 6 discs – still less then the cost of buying just one new-release DVD. This particular retailer adds further incentives by offering a 2 weeks free trial on certain packages and the first month half price to new customer; there is also a free prize-draw for new customers. Joining up through the cashback website will guarantee £1.50 cash back so the member actually makes a profit if they sign up for the 2 weeks free trial.

Whilst movie studios and production companies battle over the rites of internet movie downloads, the next stage in the technological evolution, it still remains flawed and lacks the confidence from consumers that DVD purchases and rentals bring. Searching for the best deals is subjective in that every customer has different needs and tastes, but at least through searching on a cash back site, there is some guaranteed reward.

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Understanding cashback mobiles

In theory, cashback deals on mobile phones can be very lucrative for the customer, though with the increase in competition from various networks and retailers, the offers and conditions of contracts mobile phones and the incentives they bring, can be confusing to say the least.

Mobile phone tariffs and cashback
For those thinking of buying a new mobile phone or switching contracts, it is worthwhile considering the tariff that best suits you. The tariff is the network’s setting and for both contract and Pay-As-You-Go packages, dictates the cost of calls, number of free minutes (if any), and number of texts. However, the same tariff can vary depending on the hand-set, retailer and whether any cashback deals are offered.

The big discounts are from cashback redemption which has to be claimed by the retailer rather than the customer, though there has in the past been lots of controversy surrounding certain retailers about how reliable this method is, so it’s certainly worth giving careful consideration before making any contracted commitment. Mobile phone contracts have a tendency to be rather strict which is another reason to ensure you enter into the right deal; failure to pay bills on time can result in a breach of contract and, as such, means that any pre-arranged cash back deals become redundant.

For those who use fewer than 150 minutes of calls and 100 texts per month, then a Pay as you go will tend to work out cheaper. Contract phones can be substantially cheaper for those who use their phones on a more regular basis and have the added incentives of free upgrades, inclusive call packages; and the big advantage is that the caller won’t run out of minutes. The disadvantage is that the customer is essentially locked into the deal and these can prove costly.

If a contract package costs £30 a month for a minimum of 12 months, this would work out at £360 for that period. With cashback deals, the retailer might advertise the contract at £15 a month for the year. The customer would pay £30 to the network but then claim £180 in the form of cashback from the retailer in one or more instalments. Customers should be aware that these types of offers are designed to make the packages seem cheaper and encourage them to enter into a contract and for the network and retailer to therefore gain an additional customer. It is common for the cashback deals to be paid back in staggered instalments on a set month during the contract term.

Clarity and simplicity
There have been instances where customers have struggled to get the cashback from the retailer and only recently have trading standards cracked down on retailers who draw up complex contracts between themselves and the customer. It is advisable to read the terms and conditions of the retailer’s cashback policies carefully, fail to follow their procedures exactly and on time could mean you miss out completely and it is the retailer who gains rather than the networks.

Networks rely on retailers finding new customers for them and pay them a hefty sum when they sign someone up. A network might offer a retailer £400 commission for every new contract but then the retailer is free to negotiate their own terms of cashback offers thereafter. Essentially this is how most retailers make their money as they offer only £200 cashback to the customer, leaving a nice profit of £200 for themselves. Many retailers know that the hassle of posting bills off to the networks can be a hassle and many customers don’t even bother to make the claims so the retailer gets to keep all of the commission they earn from the networks, however, it is certainly worth making the effort to claim the cashback as in many cases the packages can cover a years worth of mobile monthly fees worth hundreds of pounds

Mobiles and cashback - key benefits
Another way to further the discount on mobiles is to buy online through a cashback website. These sites not only provide lists of the best value-for-money deals, but they too can offer cashback simply by introducing the customer to the retailer or network’s website.

Internet marketing can be much cheaper for the retailer and it makes sense to advertise in as many places as possible to ensure wide exposure to a world wide market. Retailers pay the affiliate cashback websites a commission for every customer who makes a purchase as a result of their introduction, ie, every time a someone clicks on a link on a cashback website and then goes on to make a purchase, the retailer can trace the site that provided them with a new customer. Rather than keeping all of the commission, the cashback website returns a large proportion of the cashback reward to the customer to ensure loyalty.

The rewards can vary from up to £45 cash back (useful for those who opt for a pay as you go rather than a contract where the handsets tend to be free), to a percentage of the total spend. One retailer offers 2.5% cashback on all deals which could be an added bonus on top of any cashback contracts they offer as well.

A comparison made on the different retailers found a host of incentives for both new and existing customers. Looking at a contract phone with same hand set each time, the packages varied: £12.00 line rental a month with an 18 month contract (£216.00 excluding bills); but for anyone who introduced a friend to the network, both parties would receive a cash back bonus of £30 each, with doesn’t include the £40 cash back reward just from ordering through the Cashback Club website.

Another offer included £35 a month line rental on a twelve month contract but with a host of different incentives including a choice of free gift (gifts varying from a free I-pod to a free satellite navigator), an impressive £250.00 cash back and £25 free gift for every friend recommended.

Some promotions run for a limited time but members can be sure to find the most competitive deals online, and with the added incentive of two lots of cashback, ordering through the cashback websites can prove very worthwhile.

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Understanding Cashback credit cards

Ever since the arrival of ‘The Discover Card’, the first credit card to offer a cash back reward program for its customers, the financial markets have gone into overdrive in an attempt to achieve loyalty from existing customers and strong incentives for new ones. Whilst many credit card lenders now offer interest rates as low as 0% for over six months, there has to be a limit as to how low these lenders can actually go in order to continue making profits. So, rather than continue to lower interest rates, many lenders have increased the number of loyalty rewards for their customers, focusing on the number of pounds the customer spends on the card.

The rise of the cash back credit card has proved particularly useful to a society of consumers who use credit cards more and more to pay for everyday expenses such as bills, groceries and petrol. If consumers tend to pay off their card bill off in full each month then they could certainly benefit from a cash back card that would give back a percentage of total spend as ‘cash’. The rates can vary depending on the lender but with a little research, the consumer could easily find themselves getting a return anywhere between 0.5%, to 5% for a limited time; so a customer that spends £4,000 a year would receive anywhere between £20 and £200 cash back.

With some credit card companies the customer will receive their total cash at a predetermined time of the year, and with others it may be a case of receiving a cheque once a certain cash value has been reached such as £20 or £50. The cash back reward can be redeemed against the balance on the statement, or if preferable, can be transferred to the consumer via BACS (bank transfer); each offer tends to vary so it is worthwhile taking that time to research and consider. Only a few credit cards offer a blanket cash back reward of 1% (1p cashback per £1 spent) so any card that offers more is seriously worth considering.

It would also be advisable to take in account your spending and repayment habits before committing to a particular card. The best way to get the most out of cash back cards is to pay off the monthly balance in full before finance charges are applied – the finance charges may surpass the cash reward making the benefits redundant.

Spending habits
Managing finance can be a tricky task and it would be advisable for anyone who has fluctuating spending habits to consider whether they can cover the cost of the monthly balance before taking out a card in the first place; but there are of course some added bonuses from paying on a credit card. Our consumer rights state that: spend on any credit card and the customer gets ‘Section 75′ consumer protection which basically means that buying anything over the cost of £100 (providing some of it is paid on the card), and the credit card company is equally liable with the retailer if anything goes wrong. A credit card company will usually request information on annual income which is why those who earn £20,000 per annum and above may find the annual interest rates lower or the cash back reward higher.

With the rise of the internet exposing the consumer to a much wider range of competitive offers, retailers have had to evolve their marketing schemes and produce the most lucrative deals in the hope of retaining their place in the public eye. With consumers already overwhelmed with internet advertising, understandably, it simply isn’t enough to offer the consumer the same deals they might find on the high street: with administration and labour costs reduced, and with a proven success rate in marketing through affiliate websites, it comes as no surprise that retailers are now looking to find the most suitable websites to advertise their products. Not to be outdone by other competitors, the retailer can’t afford to ignore the benefits that these sites could bring in terms of new custom and loyalty. It is worthwhile remembering that the fees for advertising on a website are much lower than any television or high street campaigns.

Cashback sites and credit cards
Cashback sites are a form of advertisement in that they recommend the most competitive retailers for a particular product, receiving commission from the retailer when the customer makes a purchase as a result of that introduction. However, the incentive with using a cash back website is that they return a large proportion of that commission back to the customer in the form of points or reserved cash which can then be claimed back in agreed intervals. Therefore, in addition to the cash back benefits that can be received on the card alone, simply by using a cashback website to buy, the customer can increase the rewards. For example, one major credit card lender offers 5% cash back for the first three months with up to £200 money back, then up to 1.5% with no limit on cashback. A spend of £500 per month will see a return of £75 in the first quarter and £67.50 for the rest of the year; but simply by applying for the cashback card through the Cashback Club website guarantees a reward of £13.50, plus a joining credit of £5, giving a total cashback reward of £161 with that particular lender.

Similar to the cashback credit cards, the cashback websites will usually store points or redeemed cash for a certain period of time, though this is mainly to encourage customer loyalty which essentially benefits everyone: the more you spend, the more you get back. Unlike a credit card that might redeem cash onto the existing balance of the credit card i.e., pay off some of the debt on the card with the cash back earned, the money accumulated and redeemed through a website can be spent on any number of other retail providers. Though there may be some research needed into making your money suit your spending habits, the potential rewards are very much worth any effort.

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Understanding Cashback Mortgages

Getting a mortgage is undoubtedly the biggest financial commitment we are ever likely to make, and in an era when house prices are booming and mortgage rates can seem unstable, never before has there been such a great need for constructive advice.

There are many different things to consider when taking out a mortgage, and as most people with experience will be able to explain, there are always ‘hidden costs’ that can escalate beyond the buyer’s anticipation. Some of the more general costs alone can mean balancing phenomenally large sums of money so it is important to research and consider before making any final decisions. Although a borrower may have a general knowledge about the minimum and maximum amounts of money that their mortgage provider will lend, and have an understanding about legal costs, valuations and surveys, estate agents fees, removal costs, mortgage arrangement fees and stamp duty; these tend to complete the approximate estimation of how much it will cost to buy a property, though there of course several other factors to consider.

For first-time buyers especially, anticipating the costs of buying a house can be very off-putting, but there are some signs of relief in the form of Cash back mortgages. This is where the mortgage provider pays the borrower a lump sum of cash on completion of the new mortgage. The amount of ‘cash back’ could be a fixed, specified amount, or it could be a percentage of the amount borrowed. Sometimes the mortgage lender will offer a sum of money specifically intended for legal costs or survey charges though in these cases the amounts tend to be a little lower but with higher interest rates.

Cashback on mortgages

Getting cashback on a mortgage can be useful to those who have underestimated the hidden costs of buying a house and in the weeks and months after finalising the move, may find themselves in need of quick cash injection for furniture or decorating the house though there are no conditions on what the cashback must be spent on; and when considering the real cost of moving house, there are a number of things that a quick cash injection might contribute to.

Mortgage high lending charges are fees used to buy insurance to protect the mortgage provider if you borrow more than a certain amount. Many lenders will have a cut off point, lending you as much as, say, 90% of the value of the property without this fee; but if the borrower wants more, then they are usually required to pay insurance to ensure that the lender will get a full return if the property is sold for less than the amount of the mortgage. Given the general uncertainty of house prices at the moment, it is understandable that these charges are becoming more common.

Mortgage related insurance is another cost that borrowers can sometimes overlook. Lenders naturally insist upon a buildings insurance policy which would cover the usual risks, but as an addition, contents insurance would be required in case of theft, fire and damage. There are other types of insurance to protect against unemployment, redundancy and sickness.

There are two ways in which a cash back mortgage may be offered by a mortgage provider. The first is a cash back mortgage with a lenders standard variable rate (usually abbreviated to SVR). They can offer large sums back on completion of the mortgage, often as high as 6% though figures have gone even higher in more recent times as the general cost of house prices have raised. Though there are no conditions on what the cashback benefit should be spent on, it is perhaps worth mentioning that the cashback is often paid two to three weeks after the mortgage has been completed, making it difficult to use as a deposit on a house purchase.

The other cashback mortgage available is usually offered alongside another mortgage product such as a discount rate scheme or a fixed rate program. The sums of cashback are usually smaller, enough to cover a mortgage valuation perhaps or contributions towards legal costs.

The main advantage of a cashback mortgages is that the available cash can be useful when all other finances are tied up in the process of borrowing, but without careful consideration, the drawbacks can outweigh this if an early repayment charge may apply for a set period which could effectively mean the borrower is paying back all of the cash they received.

Mortgage cashback rates

The rates of cashback will inevitably vary depending on the lender, though a typical example might be 5 % cashback on the initial mortgage so a loan for house purchase (rather than re-mortgage) of £90,000, would produce an available cashback sum of £4,500. But for those money-savvy people who have the time to shop around, there are ways to further the levels of cashback returned on a mortgage.

As the internet becomes more accessible domestically, shopping habits of the consumer have changed. With the freedom to research and shop at leisure and with a variety of choice that surpasses expectation, the consumer is quickly becoming overwhelmed as they search for the product they require. The rise of price comparative sites has narrowed the choice for the consumer, directing them to the best value-for-money offers but it is the rise of the ‘cashback website’ that offers the most optimistic change in internet shopping.

Cashback sites and mortgages

Cashback sites will list those providers of a particular product, taking money from the retailers for advertising their business and providing a direct link to their own websites. The retailers pay commission to the cashback sites every time a customer makes a purchase as a result of that introduction. Rather importantly however, the cashback website then returns a proportion of that commission fee back to the customer either in the form of loyalty pints or cash which they can claim back after a particular period of time. (Ideally the customer will acquire more cash from shopping on a variety of sites, so the cashback websites will request that the customer reaches a particular amount before they claim back in full).

Though offers on cashback mortgages vary from site to site, a typical offer for just completing an online application form could be as standard cashback reward of up to £75.

Cashback mortgages should be considered carefully. In short, they can offer some great incentives for those who have confidence in the specific mortgages they are after but remember that whilst these offers have an obvious short-term advantage to borrowers, the type of mortgage they are attached to often has a ‘tie in’ period that lasts a number of years in which the cashback must be repaid in part or in full should the borrower decide to pay off their mortgage or switch to another lender.

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Understanding Cashback deals and terminology

For those new to the concept of cash back websites, then understandably they may seem a little bit confusing to begin with. Essentially cash back sites are a step-up from ‘Price Comparison websites’ which literally search the internet for you and provide those retailers with the best value-for-money offers on the particular product you’re searching for. One thing to be wary of with price comparison sites is that they earn their revenue from retail marketing, i.e., the retailer pays the website to list its brand alongside the other competitors – depending on the quality of the site, there are few regulations to vet the content so be sure to shop around to ensure you are getting the best deals available.

Cashback sites - the key difference
The cash back sites are also a form of advertising for retailers but differ in that they return a large proportion of their commission back to the customer as an incentive to make more purchases and build up credit. A member of a cash back website is by no means restricted to one retailer and can build up cash back over a number of purchases from a wide variety of retailers. Cashback Club for example, links to over a thousand retailers.

Getting to grips with the website’s terminology should be relatively simple; it will clearly list what the discount or proportion of cash back available is next to the name of the retailer, along with the conditions of any purchases made. For example, a travel insurance company might offer up to 7.5% cash back, but the customer should also look at any conditions that may apply to this – further inspection will clarify that the application needs to be completed wholly on line for this to apply built there are no catches, all travel insurance comes with 7.5% cash back when booked through the cashback website.

Theoretically it tends to be the more finance-related items that offer the best cash back deals, but likewise appear to be more complex in how they work. It is important not to feel overwhelmed by numbers, particularly for those not too confident with their maths – it really is easy once you try. With credit cards for example, the flat rate issued on the cashback website usually refers to the amount of cash back the member will receive simply by completing a successful application for the credit card online, and the ‘APR’ numbers and levels of interest simply refer to the percentage of the total balance on a card that will be added as interest by the credit card provider.

It is important to remember that some retailers will try to make a package sound as attractive as possible by offering low charges and high rewards early on, but once committed, the customer may find these competitive deals reverting to a less-attractive deal, so be sure to read the small print. The Cashback Club gives a general breakdown of how long the competitive rates will last so members could consider this as a general guide as they shop.

Building cashback value
Cash back that is redeemed from a percentage of the customer’s total spend tends to be worthwhile specifically in the cases where the purchase price is likely to be higher. For those everyday items that generally cost less such as DVD’s or books, then a percentage redeemed to the customer won’t necessarily be as great as a one-off cash back payment or ‘flat rate’, but they are still value-for-money and worth doing if they are items that are bought frequently so that the cash back starts to build.

Some sites will ask that a customer places a specific ‘code’ into their payment details when making a purchase from the retailer’s website. For example, a large supermarket chain offers deals on Mother’s Day Gifts and requests that the on-line customer enters the code ‘mum’ when making their purchase. These codes are essentially the key to unlocking a greater discount exclusively for the cash back website members as a bid to compete against other retailers who might also be advertising on the internet.

Referral Earnings may sound a little complicated but is actually very simple to understand. Though not all cash back websites have this, some have an added incentive for existing members in the form of an added cash back bonus for every family member or friend that they introduce to the cash back website. Cashback Club offers £5 cash to every member when their friend qualifies for their first cash back payment. There is no limit the number of friends that can be introduced so as long as they become active members, the rewards can be high simply for the person who introduced them.

Cashback payments
Payments of cash back can vary from site to site but the common practise is for a cash back website to initiate a specific period of time in which the member collects a number of points or pounds and then redeems (cash in) in one go. Some websites prefer to establish a three month period in which the customer’s cash back is stored and added up and then released after this time. One of the main reasons for this is that the retailers may have quarterly turnovers when they release their commission to the cash back website i.e. the cash back site needs to wait up to a maximum of three months before they get the commission back from the retailer so can’t forward on the money to the customer until then. The other option is for a cash back site to establish a threshold of, say, £20 or £50 and when the customer’s cash back credit hits this mark, the customer can claim this in one lump sum.

When earnings have reached a set amount or come to the agreed time period set, the customer can request payment directly from the cash back website. Payment is usually made in the form of a BACS payment: ‘Banks Automated Clearing System’, which is a simple electronic transfer, ideal for making regular automated payments to repeat customers. Some cash back websites also offer the option of being paid in gift vouchers which are sent via e-mail to the customer and include a code of numbers and letters which, when entered onto certain online stores, can make even bigger savings.

Whilst there are clearly a few technical terms to digest, cash back websites are essentially designed to help shoppers find the right packages to suit them with an added bonus of discounts and cash back. Though they can offer a general breakdown of retailers, every customer will have different needs so members should be mindful of making commitments.

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