Influenster Campaign Kohl’s Back to School VirtualVox

My kids and I usually do our back-to-school shopping toward the end of July or the beginning of August. Summer vacation is almost over and school starts again in two weeks and one day. This summer went way too fast and as they spent a month of it with their Dad, what time I did get with them was far from enough. On 07/19/18, I received an email from Influenster that it selected me to join its Kohl’s Back to School VirtualVox. Like every other VirtualVox, you get selected without doing any surveys. Thus, you get to decide which ones you take part in and which ones to ignore. My plan was to head over to Kohl’s and see if they had any items my boys wanted. If they did not want anything, I would have declined to take part in this one.

The $10 in free Kohl’s Cash was valid from 07/19/18 to 07/29/18. Since we already had a day of activities to take part in on Saturday, the 28th, I decided to add some back-to-school shopping to that date. After shopping, we were going to watch my nephew’s soccer game, where the city selected the best local players to square off with a professional team. While that is not the point of this article, I will say that they played extremely well against the pro team, and for a while, I even thought they could win. Even with the loss, it was a great game. Considering the pro team plays together all the time and this group of young men who all come from different teams always play against each other, it impressed me that the locals had great chemistry.

A reminder email that the campaign selected me to take part arrived on 07/21/18. Influenster gives free trial products of everything from beauty products to household items. To qualify for programs that involve products, you fill out quick product surveys. Once you’ve qualified, they mail the products. Try them and tell people what you think in person and on social media. Complete a short exit survey and review the product(s) on Influenster. The more active you are the more programs you qualify for. Everything received from Influenster is free. Some virtual Voxboxes or multi product packages include coupons to redeem for the product. At times, the coupon will not cover the full amount, but you can opt out of any program that only offers discounts or does not interest you. If you are unfamiliar with Influenster, you can read my overview.

There is even a checklist of things no one needs now, like long sleeve shirts and a winter coat. I have to say Kohl’s and Influenster are pretty clever. While I do at times like to shop at Kohl’s and like it even more when I can earn and redeem Kohl’s Cash, I probably would not have even considered stopping there for their back-to-school shopping. By sending me the $10 in Kohl’s Cash (the second smallest denomination awarded outside of $5 birthday offer and $5 for spending $100 on the rewards account), it got me into the store. Thankfully, I am also a regular Kohl’s customer so I receive emails for all of its regular offers, including the one for 20% off for the friends and family sale. That ends today. If you make an online purchase, use code FAMILY. A banner to print an in-store pass is on the front page of the website. Because I think mine ties to my account, I am not linking a photo.

Those who are taking part in this campaign need to complete the tasks above to earn the badge. Since my boys found plenty of stuff to buy at Kohl’s, I’ve decided to go for the badge. Why not? I mean after all, $10 in free Kohl’s Cash got me into the store to spend almost $500. Kohl’s is offering $10 in Kohl’s Cash for every $50 spent (pre-tax) through today, so I also earned $80 back (would have been $90 but I barely missed the $450 pre-tax amount) to go back and get them some more items soon. Plus, you always get $5 for every 100 points earned (1 point per dollar spent), so I will have $100 in Kohl’s cash at the beginning of August. Kohl’s cash gets you back into the store to spend even more money. Did I mention how smart Kohl’s is?

Considering they are still shopping for some other things online and still need all of their supplies, I am happy to get some reward back for what we spent yesterday. Earning badges and completing campaigns does increase the odds you will get selected for future campaigns with actual products, so I do not mind completing this one. Plus, my boys would have gotten the same number of items no matter where we shopped. Saving the $10 in Kohl’s Cash and $29.90 from the discount pass (they purchased a lot of items from Nike and Under Armour that were excluded from the 20% off coupon or they would have saved more), is better than paying full price for everything. Getting some money off is always nice.

This is the Kohl’s Back-to-School board I had to download and print. I have two kids, so I probably could have printed two. It only wanted one upload, so I listed both boys on one paper. My boys are going into second and sixth grade. Time moves way too fast, and I wish I could slow it down.

If you love trying new things, and who does not love free things, sign up for Influenster and get started. Already signed up? I’d love to read about any campaigns you’ve participated in or any badge prizes you’ve received. See all Influenster articles. View my main page for the guide map to the site and deeper deal exploration.

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