Get paid back for buying cards

Not an ad or an endorsement! Just something I wanted to share...

I buy a few cards eBay on eBay each month.

I'd say I probably make 5-6 eBay purchases a month, give or take. Most of those are in the $7-8 range after shipping.

One thing that I highly recommend is making money back on the cards or purchases you make off of eBay. It just makes too much sense to get rewarded for purchases you were going to make anyways, similar to cash back rewards from credit cards.

Many of us are opted into eBay Bucks and usually get 1% back on purchases, unless they have a 8 or 10% back promotion, which is always fun. Seriously, when they do that, I am more apt to buy items that have been sitting in my watchlist. I bet I am not alone.

But did you know there's are a few ways to make back Monday ON TOP of eBay Bucks?

My personal preference is via Acorns. For those who don't know, Acorns is a robo-investing app. I've been a customer of theirs for a little over 2 years, after I heard that Kevin Durant invested in the company. Seriously, that's when it came across my newsfeed and I thought it was interesting. Basically, what happens is that Acorns rounds up your debit card purchases and once you've got $5 of round-ups, invests the money into an ETF (exchange-traded fund). No work needed on your end. For example, if I buy something for $4.25, then they round up to $5 and $.75 is set aside. Once the "spare change" hits $5 or more, it transfers from your bank account to your Acorns account.

Beware! The subscription is $1 a month, which is high if you don't put much in every month. I probably put in $30-$40 in each month (I use my debit card every day...I never carry cash), so the $1 doesn't hurt as bad. $12 a year for the account is covered easily, so far, in dividends, so I don't take the fee too seriously. But I know it could be a blocker for some if you don't put much in, such as $10 a month, and 10% of that goes to the fee.

Now on to getting money back! One of the best features is a section of the app called "found money." Found Money consists of a ton of retailers and services that will deposit additional money into your Acorns account by spending with them. eBay is one of those companies, and invests 1% of the final purchase price into one's account. Other retailers include Uber, Dick's Sporting Goods, Walgreen's, Walmart, Apple, Macy's, Nike, and more...so not just random places you've never heard of.

The only thing is, you have to go into the eBay app by way of the Acorns app, or by using the Chrome extension on desktop. So here's what I do:

Once I win an auction, or add a card into my cart, I'll close out of eBay, open Acorns, then click "eBay" under found money. The app opens right back up, I go to my cart, and check out. Then I still get my eBay bucks, plus another 1% of the purchase hits my Acorns account. Pretty cool.

It's not going to make me rich, but I've gotten about $17 back and invested in my account over the last year from purchases I was making anyways on eBay, with the only effort being clicking into eBay through Acorns. Small contributions, but they add up:

Other companies do this is as well, such as Rakuten (formerly Ebates), which actually offers actual cash back in the form of PayPal or a check. There are also other similar investing apps such as Stash (which I also use), and Robinhood. Tons out there if you're looking for a way to invest in some stocks/funds without going through big brokerages.

I'm not advising anyone to invest outside of their means, and in no way is this spare change app thingie going to make me rich. But it's a cool feature to consider and hopefully gets you looking for some other services where you can be rewarded for purchases you are making anyways. It's helped me save without feeling it in my wallet.

I have saved over $1300 from these round-ups, and I'd like to think it was $1300 I wouldn't have saved otherwise. Plus with dividends, eBay found money, and the market's current performance, it's nice to have a small investment account that just does its thing without putting much thought into it.