How to get increased cashback: a life hack for shopping lovers on AliExpress

I started shopping on AliExpress a long time ago, it seems as soon as I came to Lifehacker: here everyone was buying something there, and I thought it might be worth trying for me too. As a result, I have been making orders there almost every month for about three and a half years. I spend on purchases in different ways, on average 5,000 rubles a month, and sometimes much more - for example, I recently bought a PlayStation at TMall.

In general, I am guided by a simple principle: if I need something urgently, I will buy it somewhere in a store in Moscow, and if I can wait until it arrives by mail, I will buy it on AliExpress. Basically, there I take all sorts of wires, chargers for laptops and phones - such things for me are a kind of fetish. My separate love is all sorts of teapots-thermoses. And I also really like that the Chinese come up with a lot of cool things and modify some traditional devices - they create “enhancers” of reality.

I also have a long relationship with Tinkoff. In general, I am the holder of all the bank's products: I have several debit cards, I have a Lifehacker and Tinkoff credit card, an individual entrepreneur, a business card, premium cards, an investment account. Oddly enough, there was no joint card. The thing is, I couldn't figure out if I was spending so much on shopping in the marketplace to make it make sense. But the question was resolved by itself, and I started testing.

Part one. Shopping

How to get increased cashback for purchases on AliExpress

As soon as I received the card, which was at the end of October, I immediately went to the AliExpress website. Here's what I bought:

A pillow in the form of a log. I like to buy all sorts of knock-off items like fish-shaped sneakers or Trump face mask. This time it's a log pillow. I don’t know yet how I’ll use it, now it just lies on the armchair.
Two passport covers. I have two passports: Russian and foreign - and they need covers.
Laundry bags. I read it on Lifehacker: if you put underwear in the washing machine in bags, in the end you will not get a pig in a bag, but unspotted underwear.
Green screen for filming. This is not just a screen, but a screen that attaches to the chair. Looks like a peacock's tail. It is for Zoom: we are all at home, and there are a million calls every day - of course, they need a screen.
Case and bag for Nintendo. The same "enhancer" that I mentioned above. If you play on the console for a long time in handheld mode, your hands get tired, and this super-ergonomic case with overlays solves the problem. Now I'm testing it - I like everything.
Desktop shelf for paper. I, like many others, have an office at home now: you need documents to be pretty somewhere somewhere.
Ring light. Another thing for Zoom. It is small and portable, it can be hooked up to a monitor - so that in the evening during the call I could be clearly seen.
Garland. I already had garlands, but I decided to hang them all over the house, so I bought another one. They can create a New Year's mood on any day - when the coronavirus is raging around, this is especially necessary.
Case for IPhone 11. To dress up your smartphone.
USB cable 3 in 1. I already have one, this is the most fun cable from Baseus. They can simultaneously feed several devices, and it is simply useful to have a universal wire always at hand that will fit anything.
Portable charger. I travel a lot, I have a separate charger for all devices that I take with me. When I'm at home, I don't touch her: all the charges are in a separate bag and are waiting in the wings. So I decided to buy another portable device so that I could already have it at home.
Windscreen for microphone. I have two RØDE PodMics. In one YouTube video review, a cool sound engineer said that if you attach windscreens to them, explosive vowels will be less noticeable.

Spent: 16 198 rubles.

I have a lot of cards, so during the testing period I rarely used Tinkoff and AliExpress debit cards. I paid for the Internet on a tablet for six months in advance - 4,000 rubles, bought comics - 6,000 rubles, several times paid for the delivery of products in Yandex. Lavka - 20,000 rubles. And of course, I could not resist and bought a lot more on AliExpress.

Part two. Cashback

Cashback of Tinkoff and AliExpress cards is credited not in rubles, but in points. They are stored in the bank's application, and you can use them to fully compensate for any purchase from AliExpress. Bonuses are accrued from three sources.

As a result, during the month of using the card I have accumulated 1,740 points. 1 point is equal to 1 ruble. That is, I got 1,740 rubles. I used them like this: I went to the Tinkoff application and reimbursed with points the purchase of a magnetic brush for cleaning windows for 1,369 rubles (I ordered it on AliExpress on November 20).

I still have 390 points left. I will reimburse them for some other purchase on AliExpress later: perhaps in a month I will purchase something else on the marketplace and there will be more cashback.

Part three. Impressions and conclusions

For everyone who loves shopping on AliExpress, this card will be really useful. In one month you buy a bunch of goods, the next you get a point cashback for them, which you can use to compensate for new purchases - in my opinion, it's great.

Otherwise, under the terms of Tinkoff and AliExpress, it is similar to a regular Tinkoff Black card. With her you can:

withdraw cash without interest from Tinkoff ATMs (up to 500,000 rubles per month) or partner banks (from 3,000 to 100,000 rubles);
deposit cash free of charge and unlimited at Tinkoff ATMs or up to 150,000 rubles at ATMs of partner banks;
transfer to cards of other banks up to 20,000 rubles per month without commission;
if the account has more than 50,000 rubles - do not pay for the service (if the amount is less - 99 rubles per month).

Tinkoff and AliExpress also have a joint one. There is more cashback for purchases on the marketplace - 3 bonuses for every 100 rubles, otherwise the conditions are as follows:

Cashback for spending in restaurants, pharmacies and gas stations - 2%; for all other purchases - 1%.
Credit limit - up to 700,000 rubles.
Grace interest-free period - 55 days.
Free replenishment by online transfer from another card or offline - in cash through any ATM.
Service - 990 rubles per year.

And also "Tinkoff" returns money to the card: for a debit card - 1,000 rubles, for a credit card - 4,000 rubles. The only condition: you need to buy any things on AliExpress for the amount of 10,000 rubles by the end of 2020.