The Truth About Internet Freebies
When it comes to getting Internet freebies, it helps to begin your journey with knowing what these freebies are really about. You have to pay real close attention to the way that a website is advertising their freebies because you may not be getting the bargain that you are hoping for. Let's start by looking at these first.Totally Free Stuff
These offers are those that are obviously the best and most trusted form of free stuff to find on the net. This is what every single one of us who seeks freebies looks for when they search the net, and we do it because it is the opportunity to get goods and services absolutely free of charge.These companies are offering the web visitors a free item in exchange for valuable marketing tools such as a hold on their key demographic and psychological information that they could use as a means to gather information on your behavior and interests and they will eventually use this information to more effectively influence your buying decision.
So what this means is that in return for a free t-shirt you are providing the company with information about yourself and in some cases you are even agreeing to sign up for a newsletter that will help the company promote their goods.
The totally free services that the net offers are almost always paid for by advertising. This ends up being seen to their advantage because then they are able to pay you to surf is by selling advertising and giving you a small percentage of what they make in advertising revenue.
Different Internet Freebies
When it comes to the different types of freebies that are out there you have a huge variety of them to choose from. I have to admit I am a freebie junkie myself and have sifted through just about every type that you can think of.If have had my share of successes in this area and my share of failures as well. I have received great freebies that I still use today and I have had to chuck some of those not great ones too. Just some of the freebies you can find on the net include things like:
- Free Groceries.
- Software.
- Music Samples
- Free Baby Stuff.
- Movies and movie programs.
Although on the surface this claim sounds great and makes total sense, the reality is that there are a wide variety of ways that the term freebie is used on the Internet. For the average consumer It's important to understand the different types of freebies that are out there and the meaning of each.
Free Sample
This is the most common type of freebie that most people will find when looking around. A free sample is when a product is given away with the intention of letting you try it to see if you like it. Let me tell you that in this case, more often than not you will actually be receiving a sample size as well. Think of Avon's mini lipsticks that are good enough for about 4 real uses.This happens because the manufacturer believes that in sending you a free sample of a product and covering the shipping costs will entice you to buy their product on a regular basis. Most of the time these do not carry any hidden costs. These are the best and most straight forward freebies that you will find.
Just know that some free samples are not free and require you to pay for the shipping cost. You know that commercial that you see with the free full size bottle of the 'focus' pills? That is my case in point.
Free With Postage
This type of freebie is when you are offered a free sample of a product, but you're required to pay the postage of the item or send a self addressed stamped envelope (SASE) if you are going to receive it. This sounds pretty straight forward right?What you have to watch our for in this case is that the site providing the freebie isn't hiding the actual cost of the product within the shipping charge. A good thing for the average consumer to note is that the legitimate offers are usually much better than the ones that you can get from a free sample with free shipping.
Free With a Purchase
This is actually pretty straight forward because it is very simple. Basically for this freebie you receive an extra something for free when you purchase a certain product. It is generally a like object such as if you buy a set of cosmetics, you get a free carrying case for them. While these can be good deals if you were planning to buy the main product being sold anyways, however it is pointless if you don't really need the main item. Don't buy it if you don't need it just because it comes with a free product.Free After Rebate
Like I said above, this is where you start off by paying full price for the product and then are able to send in some type of proof of purchase in order for you to get your money back. While these can be a great deal if you actually go through all the steps to get your rebate, they are often more trouble than they are worth.It's also important for you to read the fine print and terms of service thoroughly before making the purchase. There is a good chance that you will find some restrictions which can make getting the rebate difficult.
Free Trial
This is just annoying because for this you get a product or service for free but only for a limited time. Two perfect examples of this are in the case of gym memberships where the first month is free with the full payment of a year's membership or like you can get three free issues of a magazine with a paid subscription.This is very process as you get with a free sample because the companies giving away the free trial are hoping that once you begin using their product or service, you'll continue to it for a long time.
Sometimes the free trial will be completely free with nothing for you to do once the trial period is over but that is rare. Most of the time you'll be required submit some sort of payment first so that you can try a product and then cancel the membership or subscription once the free trial period is over.
The problem here is that if you don't or forget to, then you'll automatically be billed for the product or service that you really don’t want. A good example of this is the case with the free AOL service for three months. Eventually you will be billed for it even if you don’t like the service simply because you forgot the cut off date.
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