TechGamesBlog.com

by Mads Boedker

There are several types of internet freebies available today. The most common types are:

Free Gift Cards
Free Laptops/Electronics
Free Trials

The internet freebies of today have a history in the old Brick & Mortar store promotions of the past. First, the freebie isn’t really free – there’s always a catch. Second, the freebie is intended to bring you in as a new customer.

Predecessors

Back before the financial meltdown of late 2008 there were credit card offers everywhere. Southwest Airlines frequently promoted their credit card in the airport terminal. Usually the freebie was a free T-shirt. Cactus League baseball games in Arizona usually had one credit card company or another giving away game day blankets or baseball caps if you’d sign up for their credit card.

Did you ever get a call for a Time Share? The freebie they offered was usually a couple of nights stay at a nice place and a dinner.

Typically if you were being sold on a particular Resort property they then your free nights were at that property. Dinner was often a gift certificate for a restaurant on site as well. The pitch was always that you only had to sit through a 90 minute presentation. Just try to leave after 90 minutes. That’s when the high pressure sales pitch would start. Good luck finishing in less than 2 hours.

So what’s the catch on the Internet?

The Free Trials are fairly straight forward. You get to use the service for a certain time for free. Typically the free time period is 14 to 30 days – sometimes 60 or 90 days. These free trials are usually just like any other free trial. At the end of the trial period the company starts billing you a monthly fee for continued use of the service.

Since many people forget that their free trial period is about to expire the company offering the free trial always wants you credit card up front.

That way most of the people who sign up get charged for at least 1 month of service. Sometimes the free trial comes with a minimum contract length as well – i.e., if you decide to keep the service after the free trial period you are agreeing to keep the service for at least 3 months… This is true for both Internet free trials and Brick & Mortar free trials.

What about Free Gift Cards Electronics

Typically these free gifts cards and electronics are really reward gifts. You are being rewarded for completing the sponsor’s program. The more valuable the reward gift the more complex the sponsor’s program will be.

Gift cards range from to 00. The free electronics usually range from about 0 to up over 00. New offers come out every week so the value vs. the program requirements changes over time. For example, an offer for a free MacBook may be worth approximately 00 at the time the offer is created. However, 6 months later Apple may lower the price of the MacBooks. The free MacBook site will still state that the MacBook is worth 00 but that’s not the real value to you since you can now buy the same MacBook for less than that.

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