Making money online.

But not exactly getting rich from it!

Yesterday I posted a link to my facebook status as follows:

If you sign up to this cashback site before 29th Jan they will donate 50p to the Haiti appeal, as well as putting £1 into your account and mine. I’ve made £20 through it in under a month, mainly by doing a free trial with lovefilm, which gives £18 cashback!

Granted, I probably could have phrased it better, maybe less spammy in wording. But it wasn’t much of a hard sell, and while I hoped a couple of ppl might sign up, I wasn’t really bothered either way. So it surprised me when I was bothered later on when someone commented that they would rather donate breastmilk, and linked appropriately.

I’m not sure why this bothered me, so I thought I’d have a think about it.

Perhaps ppl would have been more happy clicking on the link to donate 50p if they didn’t think that I was getting anything out of it? But I’d have felt wrong linking it that way, dishonest in some way. So I went for full disclosure. Did this then backfire on me – do ppl only feel happy donating when they don’t get anything out of it either? Seems wrongheaded to me – where is the problem in getting something at the same time as giving something? If you don’t want to get the money yourself, fine, don’t ever use the website (I won’t get any money that way either as I only get the referral fee when you’ve earned £5) but sending an extra 50p to Haiti can’t hurt can it?

Is it because the donation feels like a bribe? Again, this is just perception, and doesn’t have to affect future behaviour. Has this donation scheme backfired on the website then?

I happen to think that the website is a pretty good one, I found it via Money Saving Expert which is itself an excellent resource in how to cut financial corners and save yourself a little money day to day. If you *are* going to shop online, MSE and I recommend using a cashback website. You might as well have the referral fees for your shopping instead of someone else having them. And as it won’t harm you, I would like it, obviously, if ppl signed up via my link. So, did I do something wrong putting that link on facebook? You tell me.