Recently, Ebay launched their new Ebay Bucks incentive program for buyers on their site. Here’s the gist of things, as I understand them: when you purchase (fixed price listings) or win an auction for qualifying items listed on the Ebay website, you’ll earn a certain amount toward your Ebay Bucks account. Currently, purchases that don’t earn Ebay Bucks include those made on Ebay Motors, Ebay Classifieds, Real Estate, and Business & Industrial Capital Equipment. In addition, your Ebay account must be in good standing.

Drum Roll……
I am proud to say that I’ve already earned 76 cents in Ebay Bucks from making 3 purchases. Who hoo! To break it down: $.21 in Ebay Bucks from a purchase of a $10.50 item, $.13 from a $6.50 item, and $.42 from a $21.95 item.  So it appears that Ebay Bucks is a 2 percent rewards program—assuming Ebay uses this same rewards formula at all price levels. It’s not a huge amount, but every little bit helps, especially with the holiday shopping season nearly upon us.

Tip:
To earn even greater rewards when paying for purchases through Paypal, attach a credit card to your Paypal account that offers a rewards program, and make the payment using that card (through Paypal.) This way, you’ll not only earn your Ebay Bucks, you’ll also earn rewards from the credit card program. I’ve been earning cash on my credit card using this method for several years now, and have a nice rewards sum saved up.

How to know how much a given Ebay listing is worth in Ebay Bucks:

When you pull up a listing on Ebay, the “Bucks” value of purchasing that item / winning that auction appears in the details right above the shipping cost. When the item is being auctioned, the Ebay Bucks value increases as the high bid increases—so the higher the price of the item when it sells, the greater the final Ebay Bucks value.

Currently, Ebay awards Ebay Bucks certificates once a quarter in the amount earned. When you are awarded your certificate, you can use your earnings towards a purchase on Ebay. They’ve notified me that I’ll be receiving a certificate October 3 for the 3-month period ending September 30.

There are rules and restrictions on the program, of course, which may change. When you sign up for the program, be sure to review the up-to-date rules. Make sure you read these carefully, as it’s entirely possible some of the details will change since the time of this post writing.