 Freebie Tips
Freebies are powerful marketing tools and are used to good effect by many smart marketers. Unfortunately, not every freebie offer is legit. Freebie seekers need to use some healthy skepticism and resist the temptation to fall for some of the more common freebie scams. Below are some good tips to help you avoid being scammed. Too Good To Be True
If an offer appears too good to be true, is usually is. Think about the motivation for the free offer. A free trial size deodorant makes sense because the company is trying to sell the deodorant. A free trip to Hawaii is unlikely, unless there are hidden charges involved. Weird Websites
Most legit sites offering freebies have little to no off-site advertising. If there are lots of Google ads or the site otherwise does not look legit, skip it. Another thing to we wary of are websites that have the word "free" in the URL. If a website is badly constructed and has lots of spelling and punctuation errors, slams you with pop ups or downloads you should just close the window. Other signs of a possible scam site is if the offer is being hosted on a free hosting domain like Tripod or Yahoo. Legit companies spend money on real hosting packages. Ask yourself "If a website has enough money to send out thousands of free samples why have they not spent any money on the development of their website" The answer could very well be that they are only looking to collect your personal information, and no free sample will ever be sent. Is The Freebie Being Offered a Win-Win?
Often times when a company is giving out a free sample, they do it so that people can sample their product and possibly purchase from them in the future. This is just good marketing. If a website is offering free samples, look for a link or some sort of information that directs you back to the company. If there is no link or address, think to yourself "How will customers buy this product if they like it?" No company would be willing to give away thousands of free samples with no way for the consumer to purchase the product if they like it.
Who owns the site? If a sample is being offered by a major company or brand like "Crest" is the URL www.crest.com? If the URL is not the actual company or parent company (example: Crest is owned by P&G) that is offering the freebie, it is likely a scam. Some exceptions are well known retailer websites like Walmart.com. If you are not sure who owns a website you can try running the URL through this site: www.whois.net this will tell you who registered the website. Pop-Ups and Banners
If a freebie offer comes to you in a pop-up or banner ad while surfing the Internet, it is probably in your best interest to pass. This is especially true of advertisements that take you to another website than the official website of the item being offered. Tips for preventing spam and scams Use an alternative email: Most freebie seekers have signed up for a free email address through Yahoo, Gmail, or Hotmail to use for the sole purpose of signing up for freebies. These sites have pretty good junk mail filters. Freebie seekers do not use their main email address. That way if they do fall for a scam their main or real email address will not be clogged up with spam. Even the legit freebie sites can be somewhat "spammy" in their emailing of newsletters and other information about their products Don't pay for prizes: There are no legitimate free samples or lotteries where the winner has to pay a fee to claim their prize. If you get a email or postal mail claiming you the winner of a great prize, don't do it. It is a scam and the only winner are the scammers out to get your money Read the sites FAQ or Terms of Service- If there is one, read the FAQ or TOS and all fine print. Is there a guarantee that you will receive the freebie? Is the freebie limited to only the first 10,00 participants (and if it is realize that you may not be in that group of the first 10,000 and now the site is just collecting your information)? If the fine print says that it is not affiliated in any way with the product being offered as a free sample, or anything like that, move on. Its a scam. Using common sense and these tips you can avoid common freebie scams and enjoy the legitimate samples and offers that are offered everyday on the internet.
__________________ Heidi - Hotcouponworld Co-Owner  The normal half of Hotcouponworld
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