Online free stuff and freebies

There are literally thousands of freebies available on the internet ranging from free software, cosmetics, pet foods, magazines and in some cases free money. So why do companies give away free stuff, what are the catches and where do you find them?

Many companies give away free stuff or freebies as a way of promoting their business and its products. The three main types of freebies are free samples, free trials and free rewards. There are other types of freebies such as buy on get one free or free delivery but to get these freebies you need to pay for something and although these can be useful and save you money they are not included within this article.

Free samples are smaller than the normal sized product and are given away to allow you to try a product for free. The companies know that most people will always choose the same brand because they trust it and in order to wean you off your current brand of product they give you a product you would not have bought yourself. The hope is that you will like the product, buy it in preference to your old brand in future and also encourage your friends and family to buy the new product.

Free trials generally involve you receiving the first few products for free and then if you take any more you have to pay the full price for them. This is very common with subscription products such as magazines where you sign up for the magazine and receive the first months magazine free but then have to pay the full price for the rest of the magazines you receive. Free trials are useful in that they allow you to try a product for free before you buy it.

However care should be taken when applying for a free trial as in the majority of cases you are required to provide either bank or credit card details to pay for you future subscriptions. If you try the product and do not like it then you need to contact the company and cancel your subscription otherwise you will end up paying for products that you do not want. If you are just after a freebie or do not like the product you should be able to cancel your subscription during your free trial period and this will save you having to pay a penny for the product you received.

Free rewards involve completing a small task and being rewarded with a free product, voucher or possibly cash. Common types of such free rewards involve completing surveys,  using a cashback rewards website and applying for insurance quotes.

Care should always be taken when giving out personal details such as your name, address, phone number and bank details out as although most companies are genuine there will always be a few rogues who will try to take advantage of you.  In order to avoid these rogue you should not provide any more information than you think is necessary, for example, if you are to receive a free sample - the sender will need your postal address but they should not be asking for your credit card details unless it is a free trial.

Always check that the website has a privacy policy telling you that the will not disclose your details to any third parties. Consider using another e-mail address for corresponding with free offers from sites you are not familiar with as this will prevent you being bombarded with spam from any rogue sites.

Only download software from websites that you trust. If you do download something from an unfamiliar site always check your computer immediately afterwards with your virus protection software.

Free stuff can be obtained from a variety of sources on the internet but for a sample of freebies visit our freebies page.

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