Let me start off by saying Microsoft did not pay me to write this post. I am only writing it because I think it will save you all money for the holiday season. I personally bought something on this yesterday. Now, let me get to how you can save 25% on your holiday gifts, it is really easy and legit.

As many of you know, Microsoft is desperate to gain market share for Live.com. How desperate? Extremely. Microsoft is so desperate that they are willing to pay for 25% of whatever you buy through Live Search, if you do it through their cashback program. Microsoft Cashback which launched in May of this year is still offering huge discounts. Let me take you through how you can buy almost anything and get 25% off.

Yesterday, I purchased a Delta faucet, specifically, Victorian Centerset Bath Faucet, for one of my bathrooms. My wife has been eyeing it for a while and I felt, I would be a good husband and buy it for her. The sticker price is $282.65 but after you go to normal stores, it runs just about $200. I figured, why not try using Microsoft’s Cashback to get an extra 25% off of the $200.

Step 1: Search for wii on Live.com
Step 2: Find an eBay ad (or any ad) that has a cashback logo and click on it:

Step 3: Make sure towards the top of the eBay page it has the cashback logo. That logo looks like this:

Step 4: Now search for what you are looking for, in my case, 2555RB-216RB, which is the model number of the faucet I want to get my wife. If you find it, then your in luck, now its time for…

Step 5: Make sure you have a PayPal account, most of you do already, but if you don’t, you need one. You can do this in a new window.

Step 6: Make sure you have a Cashback account, takes not too long to sign up for one. You can do this in a new window.

Step 7: Buy it now with your PayPal account. Make sure you see that cashback logo throughout the process.

Step 8: The confirmation receipt page, should have a blue “Get cashback” button. Make sure to click on it.

Step 9: A new window should open up and it might ask you to login to your cashback. Do that and you should be set. Don’t worry if you don’t see the cashback refund immediately. It should show up in a day or two. I received an email with my reward 10 minutes after.

The email looked like this:

Soon later, you should see it show up in your CashBack account. I know several people who use this often and it is really a great way to save some of your hard earned money in these tough times.

Now, I know people who take advantage of this platform. I won’t discuss those details, but most of you can figure out how to make some money off this Cashback system. If not, maybe I’ll tell you via Twitter only, not via email, but you need to follow me on Twitter and @rustybrick me and Ill reply that way, if I see it.

Hope this helps a few people and if it helps Microsoft, great!

Forum discussion at Search Engine Roundtable Forums.