That's How It Happened

How to get 10% off at Amazon without even trying.
I'm pretty sure most people aren't doing this already, so I thought I'd present a little primer for Amazon Associates. The program is designed for web-meisters to earn a small cut for linking to Amazon products. However, you don't need to have a website or follow a link to get the cashback on anything you buy:

Step 1: Sign up here, and receive a small code/username. In my case it's "thatshowithap-21".

Step 2: Start shopping.

Step 3: Check the URL of any item you wish to purchase for this section: "ASIN/...followed by a 10 digit code". Amputate the URL after the 10 digit code, by pasting in your associates username.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/
ASIN/1576871797/qid=1098973233/sr=1-1/
ref=sr_1_10_1/026-5671158-9172427

Becomes:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/
ASIN/1576871797/thatshowithap-21

Step 4: Checkout.

Step 5: Receive rebate on credit card at end of quarter. Smile.

Note: the item numbering system is marginally different for amazon.com as opposed to amazon.co.uk, but the system works just the same way.