As most of you know by now, I’m a big fan of Mr. Rebates($5 bonus) rewards program. They have some of the highest cash back from big names like Ebay, Home Depot, Walgreens, etc. Even better is Mr. Rebates referral program whereas you get 20% of the cash back at no cost to the people you refer.
For the very first interview on HustlerMoneyBlog, I have to reach out to Craig Cassata. He’s the founder and President of Mr. Rebates.
Where did you get your idea or inspiration for Mr. Rebates?
Mr. Rebates was actually founded to augment the online coupon usage phenomenon that started in the late 90s. I had thought that coupons were a great way to save money online but wouldn’t it be better to have a discount on every single purchase and not just when a coupon was available. Mr. Rebates fulfilled that void by offering both coupons and cash-back on purchases.
Could you tell us your role as President of Mr. Rebates?
In general, I have to say that I am involved in just about everything related to Mr. Rebates. It’s just my nature that I like being involved in all processes and seeing them to completion.
You have many competitors such as Fatwallet, Ebates, and BigCrumbs to name a few. Why should online shoppers choose Mr. Rebates instead?
Different strokes for different folks really. I think all cash-back sites (including Mr. Rebates) have strong points and weak points and it is really up to the consumer on what they value most from a rewards site.
With the recent addition of Microsoft’s Bing.com shopping and their astronomical cash back to some sites, can you give us your opinion on their business model and how you plan to compete with them?
Bing is a very different model than any other cash-back site. Their site was built on the idea of searching for a product to get a reward while most other cash-back sites are more of a “mall-based” approach. I think that is a big differentiator in the type of consumer that uses Bing vs. other reward sites
Two of my favorite sites, Fatwallet and Slickdeals, have a vibrant online community. Do you see Mr. Rebates starting a forum for your members?
I believe that Slickdeals and Fatwallet do a great job in their forum approach. We’ve taken some user satisfaction surveys in the past few years and forums have not been a requested feature so it is not something that we are looking to add to Mr. Rebates at this time.
-End of Interview-
I want to thank Craig for the interview. If you shop online, take a few minutes to check out Mr. Rebates.
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