For those of you who know about it, the Bing cash back program was one of the best things to happen to card collecting since eBay. Well, those days of free money is over, and the program is ending shortly with no prospect of return. I used it almost exclusively when buying on eBay and racked up close to 200 bucks in cash back over the course of its use. Basically what it did for its users was provide a percentage of cash to your paypal account from every purchase you made, as long as you found the item through their searches.
What made this so special for the hobby was through message boards, where people found ways around the system’s limitations. Rather than searching for TVs or DVDs, they found ways to buy cases and singles at extremely low prices thanks to getting 5-25% cash back 60 days later. All you needed was an account on the system and you could be on your way. I think Microsoft found the error of their ways because all you had to do was access eBay through their search and the browser cookies would do the rest to make sure anything you bought during that session was considered for the program.
Its really too bad to see this go, and there is a possibility that sales may drop slightly because of how many whale collectors used it with the prospect of gain. Almost every case breaker I know who bought their stuff through eBay was a frequent user of the Bing program, and already I have gotten negative reports on future buys now that it is gone.
This may actually be an eBay thing as well, as eBay has been doing their own cash back program for a while. Ebay bucks is very similar to Bing, though anything you buy at anytime is eligible for a small percentage back as long as you are invited to the program. Its been in “testing phases” for a long time and may be rolled out system wide if they feel that it could benefit their sales. Google eBay bucks if you want tips on how to be selected, as I think that anytime they want to give you free money, it cant be a bad thing. I have had eBay bucks for the last 8-12 months, and thanks to it, I got a free Chrome Strasburg when Bowman came out.
I really wish that the cash back program would stick around, but I know that all good things must come to an end. Maybe Blowout or DA will institute a program where they can open rewards accounts for their top members. You know, free cards and stuff. How awesome would that be?