I am sure you have all seen the ads. Free laptops, free Ipods, etc but are they really free? Is the stuff offered for free worth it? In this article I hope to examine some shed some light on these so called free offers.
The free item
The item they are offering whether it is a computer, Ipod, or whatever is totally free to you. The company who is making the offer will ship and give you the item if you provide accurate information and take advantage of offers they let you pick from. The basic idea is you sign up for a certain amount of offers and than they give you a incentive item for doing so.
The offers
The offers range from free trials, purchases, or items that you just pay for the shipping. They will show you list of offers and you have to pick so many of each type. The company may qualify the offers as silver, gold, and platinum offers. The number of offers you have to complete can range from one offer to as many as twenty four. Some are even higher than that. They may even require you to get three to eighteen people to take advantage of this free item. In other words they ask you to enlist your friends.
The time it takes to confirm
It can take up to 8 weeks for the company to confirm each offer you signed up for. Before they will ship your item they must confirm that you actually completed each offer. If your going to take advantage of any of these make sure you read the fine print.
The problems
The companies making these offers can make it as easy or as difficult as possible to complete these offers. This can take time and money. In the long run you could be spending a lot more time and money in order to get something free than to just out right buy it. The companies may require you to submit documentation and credit card statements showing offers completed. Companies do not pay for an item the same as you would to buy it retail. The actual value may be higher or lower than the items worth.
Their plan is that some will give up and not follow the completion of the item being offered for free. For them its a numbers game cause they know not all people will spend their time and money to complete 20 some offers to get a free Ipod. The average offers they ask you complete is around 6. If each offer cost you $10 to complete they just made $60. The advertiser pays them advertising and extending the offers. Normally the advertising dollar is even higher than the cash outlay you make. The reason this is true if you have ever taken advantage of an offer lets say that costs you $2 and by completing it you make $20 imagine how much they are making on each offer.
If you find an free item being offered to you and want to take advantage of it. Make sure you read all the fine print before you lay out any money. If the offer sounds to good to be true it probably is.
