Introduction
Shopping in Australia has evolved.We used to buy from shops and malls made of bricks and mortar, now we shop on the Internet because it saves us money.But are we really paying best possible prices?

Unfortunately the answer is a resounding 'No'. In this article I'd like to introduce you to online cash back shopping, explain how it works and why it is much cheaper than buying from online stores directly.

While the Australian Bureau of Statistics suggests millions of Aussies shop online, it would seem that very few currently take advantage of the huge savings offered by cash back shopping and are hemorrhaging huge amounts of cash as a result.

I suggest that the savings which we made by switching from buying on the street to buying on the Internet are probably at least equaled by the savings we could archive by cash back shopping rather than buying from online stores directly.

What is Cash Back Shopping?
Cash back shopping means you buy an item from an online store and are later refunded part of the price you paid for it.For example, you might buy an exercise bike for $200 from xyzstore.com.au and later be paid back $20, thus reducing the price you paid to $180.

To achieve this you need to join one of the many cash back sites on the Internet and shop through them rather than visiting the store's website directly.

While cash back sites often vary greatly in the amount of cash back offered for a particular store, as well as in the range of stores offered, they all basically function as follows. (Kindly see the resources section at the bottom of this article for an example of an excellent value cash back site.)

When you visit the cash back site you'll search for store or product that you are interested in and you'll be presented with links to matching stores. Clicking on a link will direct you to the store's website where you can proceed to buy the item you want. When you return to the cash back site you'll notice that the purchase you made has shown up on your account, along with the refund that you are due. A little while later you will be refunded the money by one of various means such as PayPal.

It is important to note that you shop on the same website whether you arrive via the cash back site or otherwise.If you arrive by typing in the address directly into your browser or by clicking a result from a web search you won't get any money back, but if you click the link on the cash back site you will.

It really is that simple and it really does work.

How does Cash Back Shopping Work?
So why does it work? How does the cash back site give you money for shopping at someone else's site? It's all down to sales commission.

Traditionally when we shop online we probably surf the web for a while to find what we are looking for at the best possible price.We use various websites to aid us in this process including search engines, shopping comparison sites and shopping directories.In one way or another these sites are all driven by advertising, stores are prepared to pay a great deal of money to advertise their goods.

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