Rewards Programs

Rewards Programs

There are a couple of types of rewards programs. I've labeled them the "Get a Gadget Free" rewards programs and the "Points" programs. People are usually hesitant to try either even though legitimate programs do exist. This hesitation is with good reason since, like Get-Paid-To websites, this offers rich, fertilized soil for spam and scams. As mentioned before, it helps to have third-party websites to verify the validity of the program.

"Get A Gadget Free" Rewards Programs

One type of rewards program includes the "Get a popular hundred-dollar gadget FREE!" Slogan.

Free iPhone

Free Plasma Screen TV

Free iPod

Free Nintendo Wii

Free Macbook

Free Camera

Etc.

Here is how works:

There are 3 groups or parties involved: You, The Freebie site, and the advertising website(s).

The Freebie site attracts you with an ad that says "Get a free gadget".

You go to that site and select "offers" to complete in order to get the gadget. Sometimes the offers involve free trials, buying a service or product, referring your friends or a combination of any of these.

The offers are made by the advertising websites, and they are paying the freebie site for customer referrals. When the freebie site earns enough from the advertisers to make what they want and pay for your "Free" gadget, then they send you the gadget.

The person getting the freebie must complete all the requirements in order to get the freebie. The freebie site and advertising sites still make money off of people who don't complete all the requirements. (Essentially the same way Free After Rebate sales make revenue since not all consumers request the rebate)

It is quite possible to get your free gadget without paying anything. Some freebie sites will give you the gadget just for signing up for free trials. You sign up for the required amount of free trials, mark your calendar for when the trial is over, get your gadget from the free site, and then cancel the each of the free trials at the end of the free trial periods. This takes careful planning, but it can be done. Remember, getting something for free is not for the lazy. (If that isn't mentioned at once on every page of this website then I'm not writing this properly). Sometimes canceling the order at the end of the trial period will involve sending a product back to the company (just an FYI).

For sites that require that you complete offers and refer friends, there are referral exchange websites where you can find people to exchange referrals with. This will mean completing more offers, but then you'll have the referrals you need.

If you find a paid offer that you decide to complete, be very cautious. Many of the websites that make the offers have a whole line of products; and when you sign up to buy one of them for a bargain price, you also might be signing up to buy the entire line of products at regular price (or an inflated price).

Video Professor is an example of this. The company offers some kind of free CD-Rom all the time. But then after you get the free CD-Rom, the next month your credit card will be billed regular price for the next CD-Rom in their line of products. And they'll bill you and keep sending the CDs in their line of products every month until you've purchased them all. So you have to cancel the contract you didn't know you were getting into.

For another example, you sign up with Colombia House to get 7 DVD's at 49 cents each to complete one of your offers for your free gadget. But then somewhere in the fine print you find out that you have buy 5 more DVDs at "club" prices in the next 2 years before you can cancel your membership without getting fined. Do the math: 7 DVDs at 50 cents each is $3.50. The 8th movie is $15, the 9th movie is $10. Plus 3 DVDs at $20 each is $60. So by getting 7 DVDs at 50 cents each, you're committing to actually spend $88.50. You can get 12 DVDs for much less on eBay, or even free through bartering.

After doing the math with the Colombia House offer and imagining hundreds and thousands of people doing this a week (due to the freebie site referrals) its easy to see how Colombia House can afford to pay the freebie site enough so that the freebie site makes the money they want and still have enough left over to send you a "free" gadget.

Tips:

Do a background check on the website giving away the free gadget before you give them any of your personal information. Third-party websites are a good place to start.
Use a separate email address. There are plenty of places to get a free email. You can create one just for this purpose.
Read all the fine print and plan according to their rules.
Mark your calendar for the end of the free trial and cancel the service before your credit card gets charged. Also send back any required merchandise.
When you decide to buy something, make sure you're not committing to buy the company's entire line of products or committing to spend more than what you have to pay up front.

Josh Clark is an example of someone who was able to get some gadgets completely free. On his website he logs complete details and time lines of everything he does to get the freebies. He got the idea from here.

Websites that offer "Get a Free Gadget" programs.

The better-known sites are owned by Gratis Internet (gratisinternet.com). Click here for their BBB report.

FreeDVDs.com
FreeGiftPlanet.com
FreeIpod.com
FreeiPods.com
Freepay (ipods.freepay.com, cited by businessweek.com)
FreeVideoGames.com
FreeFlatScreens.com

(These sites have not been tested by ActuallyFree.info. An editor from CNET.com tried to get an iPod. Read about his experience here.)

Other sites:
trainn.org - Transcendent Innovations (not tested)
rewards1.com (not tested)
freebundles.com (not tested)
prizerebel.com (not tested)
gaminglagoon.com/index.php (not tested)

An article at Businessweek.com also describes another rewards program called TrialPay.

submit a site

Referral exchange websites:

(Where you can trade referrals with other people so you can help each other get your freebies.)

getref.com (not tested)

thefreebieexchange.com (not tested)

submit a site

"Points" Rewards Programs

Another type of rewards program involves earning points, which can often be integrated into the "get a free gadget" programs. These points rewards programs are similar to credit card rewards programs. (Although they won't affect your credit unless they specifically involve a credit card).

Earning points is achieved through a variety of activities. Some are similar to the ones listed on the Get-Paid-To programs page. (Ie. Take surveys, read email, look at this ad for 15 seconds, etc.) Other ways to earn points might include completing the offers like the ones mentioned above or simply buying any product from a retail store through the freebie site's link.

When you've accumulated enough points, you can exchange them for some kind of prize, like a gift card or even cash.

The point values, the prizes, and the requirements for earning the points all depend on the site you're using.

Websites that offer "Points" rewards programs.

If they have not been tested by ActuallyFree.info then they will have the label "not tested". Some of the offers in the programs below involve signing up for credit cards. Your credit rating could be negatively affected if you choose to take out more than 5 lines of credit or sign up for more than 3 credit cards (CreditInfoCenter.com), so be cautious.

bondrewards.com

fatwallet.com

mypoints.com
upromise.com
memolink.com (not tested)
mycokerewards.com

ebates.com

rewardsnetwork.com

submit a site

Get Deals at restaurants and/or money back just for booking a table at these sites:

dinnerbroker.com

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