Intro to Freebies

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What are Freebies?

Freebies are exactly what you think they are: free things. They are promotional items given out to the public, from companies that primarily sell physical goods. Freebies tend to be small tasters of a proper product or may even be the real deal. Either way, they cost you absolutely nothing.

There are plenty up for grabs, if you know where to look. Once you've got into the game, you'll have a long list of things you'll never buy again. I can tell that you don't believe me that there are real goods on offer for absolutely nothing, but you'll soon see how it all works.

Money Saving Expert Freebies - Probably Busy

What's in it for You?

Don't you like free things? I thought that's what you're in the game for. What's in it for you is that you get the chance to test out things before they launch to the mass market. You get to sample goods that you might not otherwise buy. You get the chance to explore things that would otherwise pass you by.

Freebies just make sense, so don't miss a chance to take them for yourself.

What's in it for Them?

A brand that manages to get their product in front of a potential customer is doing something right. There's always a chance that you will follow-up on the interaction to go on to buy it.

If it's a new brand, it's a great way to spread awareness for what you're about. Many will request that you opt in to receive promotional material from them – by phone, email or physical mail – so they can continue to shout about themselves.

The websites hosting freebies can fully rake it through brand partnerships, affiliate schemes and ad revenue. The fact that some are spending money on paid search shows that there's plenty of money to be made off freebies.

Where Can I Get Freebies From?

There are a fair few sites that act as hosts to freebie giveaways.

For example:

Latest Free Stuff (make sure you sign up for their WhatsApp)
Magic Freebies
Wow Free Stuff
Hot UK Deals
Money Saving Expert

Where Does Money Come Into This?

Saving money is nice and everything, but I'm not here to give you tips on that. I'm focusing on freebies because there's an opportunity right here to make money from absolutely nothing. If something's been underpriced, there's always an opportunity to make a little change off it. With a lot of these freebies, you're getting very bitesize portions of whatever the proper thing is meant to be. On its own, it's usually worth next to nothing. As a bundle, it's a different story.

Most freebie offers requests state that only one of each item can be claimed per person. In which case, get the whole family and/or friends involved. If you have none, make them up. Others say you can only have one per household. Always try your luck and request the items on different days, using your full name on one and initials on another. Once you have a group of things that can be sold together, turn that into cash. We are talking very little cash here. You're probably best selling these kinds of things at boot sales in bundles for 50p. Extra money is extra money, at the end of the day.

What's My Experience with Freebies?

Freebies came into my world a good 10 years back. All of the mobile phone networks were offering free SIM cards, and I would order a pair of O2 and Orange SIMs daily. I then walked around with this backpack full of SIM cards, selling them for 20p each. (People of South Nottingham, back me up).

I started to wonder what else you get without paying (legally). A few different websites were about back then, and they mostly offered free food. I took them, because you can't turn down such a thing, but it didn't last long. Sites have come and gone, making my interactions with them fade and renew every now and then.

The very slick and professional sites around now certainly make it exciting to get into the world of freebies, but the results are all over the shop. These days, you can get lots of snack samples, perfume minis, bite-size versions of cleaning products. All of these are great. The issue is that many sites mention that they'll be with you in 30 days, and that it's only available while stocks last. As it's a freebie, they have no obligation to send anything to you. The majority of the things I've asked for in the past two years (just doing it when I have a spare minute) just never got to me.

Freebies, much like comping, requires you to spend a lot of time doing something that probably won't be worth it. If you're thinking of giving it a go, ensure you set up a brand new email, get yourself a free SIM and put that as a fake number for yourself. Then run wild and grab whatever you can. Just don't get your hopes up about what you think you're going to get.