A few months ago, I wrote about how I was able to save tons of money when purchasing my Christmas gifts last year using Microsoft live.com cashback to create eBay discounts. After reaching 35% off, it slowly dwindled and eventually the deal disappeared. All hope is not lost, live.com cashback has returned to eBay buy it now purchases! In fact, it actually has been available for a few months and now it’s starting to climb back to a decent percentage off. Just last week it was at 14%, but currently is at 8%. Still not a bad deal if you are planning on making a purchase on eBay.

So how do you get started?

• First, go to http://cashback.live.com and sign in (or sign up if you don’t have an account)

• Then go to Live.com and do a search for an ipod (other popular searches like xbox, playstation, kindle, nintendo DS and iphone have been known to work too)

• At the header of your search results, you should see a link to eBay in the Sponsored sites that show you may be eligible for Live search cashback

• Click the link to enter eBay and verify you see the Microsoft cashback ribbon at the top of the page

• Do a search for the item you want and follow through with the purchase

• The cashback is only eligible on buy it now auctions and you must check out using Paypal (regular auctions and best offer auctions are not eligible)

• When you check out, you should see a confirmation of the amount you’ll be getting back, if you don’t see it, you won’t receive any cashback

• Cashback is only calculated for auction price, not shipping

• After you complete the transaction, you should receive an e-mail and eBay notification that you have cashback

• You will need to start a new browser session to continue with each additional purchase

• Sometimes cashback is instantly credited to your Paypal account, otherwise you must wait 60 days to get your account credited

• While the terms state cashback is not valid on gift cards purchases, I’ve been successful, but don’t count on it

• Read the terms and conditions on eBay regarding live.com cashback

• Maximum $200 cashback per transaction, maximum of 12 per year (per eBay account)

• If you are running into issues, clear your cookies and browser cache and try again (or ask me for help!)

These eBay discounts are a great deal and it is available to everyone. Please don’t try and abuse the system. I have seen many forums where people have been in cahoots to get max cashback from their purchases without actually making a transaction. I’m sure they’ve since been reported, but let’s be honest when making these purchases.

eBay is not the only way to earn cashback with live.com. Many storefronts also offer discounts if you search for items from http://search.live.com/cashback (however, you will not see the eBay discounts from this page). I haven’t gone this route quite yet, but I’m confident there are deals to be had using this method as well.

This is the real deal and it’s legit. I’ll be happy to help anyone out if you are interested taking advantage of this offer while it’s still around. So far I’ve received over $300 is discounts since late last year. Don’t wait too long, but I’m sure we’ll see 14% again soon, but 8% is still a decent discount when buying on eBay.

Save some money with Microsoft live.com cashback on eBay! So channel your inner frugalness and find some good deals! Happy shopping and thanks Microsoft (yes, I really said that)!

Stupidly Yours,

Matt