Is This Really a Free Sample?
Submitted by Cheryl Mortensen 1/25/2011 10:20 am
With hundreds of free sample web sites offering free samples, how can you tell if a free sample is really a “free sample?” Online marketeers are pretty clever today. They know how to disguise free samples with junk samples really well. Hundreds of web sites promise to give you a free sample of their product if you will only give them some of your information by filling out a single short form. Sometimes this can be a trick! Companies know if they can get you to fill out one form with your information, you probably fill out 11 forms with your information. These 11 different forms will eventually take you to a final form where you will have to pay for something in order to get your free sample. That’s a “not-so-free-free-sample!”
Paid vs. Junk Offers
There are “paid” offers and then there are “junk” offers. Junk offers are the kind we want to avoid! Paid offers aren’t necessarily bad. These are usually official and legit companies who are choosing a free sample as a way to boost their online presence and will pay web sites to promote their product. Junk offers are the kind that will take you through ten offers and make you pay for something in order to get the free sample.
What Does the Link Look Like?
Notice the link the free sample sends you to. Often times, a “junk” sample will send you to a link that has NOTHING to do with the free product company’s home page. Take for example, a free sample of Diet Coke. If it’s a “junk” sample, it will direct you to a site that is not affiliated with Coke (the official Coco-Cola web site). If it is a real free sample, the link it takes you to will most likely be something like www.cocacola/free_samples.
How Many Pages Are on the Site?
See how many other pages you can go to on the “site” or “link” the free sample takes you to. This tip relates to seeing what the link looks like as well. If the free sample link takes you to a page that has no header or “official home” page, than it’s most likely a junk sample. But if you are able to explore and learn about the free sample on the web site link, it is a real free sample.
