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As something of a bargain hunter, I’m always trying to chip a bit extra off (or get a bit more back from) my online purchases. My principal method for this is the cashback sites like TopCashback and Quidco, and the “miles for shopping” sites like the Avios eStore and Virgin Atlantic Shops Away.

Imagine my unconfined joy, therefore, when I came across a way of not only earning cashback, but getting a further reduction at various online stores, too.

The method? The rather wonderful Zeek. Via a current Zeek bonus, it’s even better too.

What is Zeek? And what’s the Zeek bonus?

Zeek basically allows people to instantly buy and sell gift vouchers for various online shops, including:

• iTunes
• John Lewis
• Debenhams
• Sports Direct
• House of Fraser
• H&M
• Argos
• Ticketmaster
• M&S
• Toys R US
• Tesco

Here’s 5 reasons why you need to start using Zeek (including a saving of £3, and cashback of £7!)

1 Instant savings

The huge advantage of Zeek is that you can instantly receive the gift voucher. So, if you plan to make a big purchase at House of Fraser for example, you can simply go on to Zeek and buy a gift card discounted by up to 9%:

Given that you get the voucher instantly, and you were about to make that purchase anyway, this is a great way to get an additional discount on your standard online shopping.

The key point is – only buy these gift cards through Zeek when you’re about to make the purchase anyway! That way, it’s a pure saving, rather than dead money locked into a gift card (until you find something – possibly spurious – to spend it on).

At the risk of making matters a touch confusing at the outset, you can even buy Zeek credit at a 1% discount, that you can then use to buy the vouchers above, so saving you a further 1% (thanks Adam). 

2 Savings AND cashback

Now, there is a key point here. You won’t earn cashback (or miles) on purchases made on these online retailers via gift cards.

HOWEVER, and this is the big however. You will get cashback on your spend at Zeek, via TopCashback. Indeed, via a current Zeek bonus, you’ll get cashback on your first purchase of a gift card with them at a massive £7.

Outside of this initial Zeek bonus, you’ll earn £1 cashback per transaction.

Clearly therefore you need to work out what’s better value out of the ordinary cashback if you just buy the product via TopCashback, versus the saving you get by using the gift card, plus the £1 cashback via TopCashback. Clearly this position is much better on your initial transaction, where you’ll get £7 cashback.

It’s worth making the point too that you’re comparing a saving here versus cashback. On the basis of the bird in the hand argument, you may well be better going for the Zeek saving even where the cashback is slightly higher than the saving via the gift card.

3 Savings where cashback is not available

This is where Zeek is really fantastic. Take SportsDirect, for example. You cannot earn cashback if you’re an existing customer:

You can’t earn Avios as an existing customer, either:

So, as an existing customer, Zeek really is a fantastic (and perhaps your only) way of chipping a bit off your SportsDirect spend. Of course, any promo code or other sale on site will still apply to the purchase made via the gift card, too.

4 You can sell your unwanted gift cards… and get cashback too

We’ve all had that issue where you’ve received an unwanted gift card, or taken something back to the shop only to be told they will “refund” you via a gift card. That’s where Zeek comes in. You simply list your gift card for sale at a price selected by you, and Zeek then transfer you the proceeds when you sell.

Note that in most cases, Zeek can create an electronic voucher to be sold, so no physical shipment is required.

What’s more, make the sale via TopCashback and you’ll get £2 cashback every time, too.

5 TopCashback PAYS OUT to Zeek vouchers with a 15% bonus

I know this is all getting a touch circular, but it’s worth noting that TopCashback pays out cashback earned to a Zeek e-gift card with a 15% bonus.

That means not only can you buy gift vouchers for your online spend at a solid discount, you can pay for that gift voucher with a gift voucher that you received a 15% bonus on. That really is deal stacking!

Anything else?

Signing up via this link should also get you a further £3 off your first purchase with Zeek, too.