Since you’re reading this article, we already know a few things about you. You have a computer (or access to one), you know how to read, you like bargains, you know how to find your way around the Internet and so forth. You also know what you want and don’t want, so telling you “how to get free stuff" will take a lot fewer words (toward the end of the article) than telling you



(1) What’s really going on in Freebie Land, and

(2) How to protect yourself against frauds and scams.

The fact is, if you use your head, you will actually get some things you need, at very low or no cost.

“Whoa!" you say. “What’s this ‘low cost’ stuff? Free is free, isn’t it?"

Good question, and you’re already up to Secret #2. Even with honest offers from reputable businesses, there may be a nominal shipping and/or handling charge. The item itself is “free" but the transaction is not. This is often the definition you will find in both print ads and online “freebie" sites, and if the value of the item exceeds the shipping cost (hopefully by a good margin) then you are still on the winning side of the deal.

Of course, well-run businesses don’t give things away without expecting something in return. Secret #3 is here to remind you that, whether you see it right away or not, there is something of value that the freebie giver gets in the transaction.

“S/H" charges and “consumables"

For a Free Vegas Poker Chip offer, for example, that “something of value" may be the difference between their unit cost (poker chip, envelope, handling time, postage, etc.) and the “nominal" shipping/handling fee of, say, $4.95. (Marketing studies have shown that consumers’ resistance to these fees kicks in at around $5 or so.) If the cost for getting one order to one customer is $2, then there’s $3 profit in every “free" chip.

There is a very popular business strategy that works well for manufacturers of inkjet printers. It’s popular, but most people do not know about it, so it comes to you now as Secret #4, the “free with purchase" strategy. When a printer is “bundled" with a computer system, the fact is that it really is “free" in the sense that you would pay the same for the system if you declined the printer. But why would Lexmark or Hewlett-Packard give you a free printer when you buy that new PC?

The printer manufacturers literally “give them away" because there is a much healthier markup on ink. Until the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) stepped in a few years ago, some manufacturers were making their printers incompatible with any ink cartridges but their own. Determining that it was a classic case of “restraint of trade," the FTC managed to persuade inkjet printer makers to cease and desist on that part of the strategy.

You are the “item" of value

With the advent of the Internet came a whole new way of collecting information on consumers, information that is immediately useful for the seller on a case-by-case basis, and perhaps even more valuable as part of a database. Even free offers that require only an e-mail address are getting something of real value, a guaranteed-legitimate address from someone who likes bargains.

Secret #5, then, reveals what the true “value proposition" is for the freebie givers: You. That’s right, you – at least, as much of you as can be gleaned from a sign-up form. This brings another factor into the equation, which is just how broadly you want your personal information scattered across the cyber-landscape. You can get some basic anonymity with a Hotmail or Gmail account, but if you need to provide a shipping address – or credit card info for the “S/H" – then you’re literally asking for more spam, junk postal mail, even telemarketers. Sure, some claim that your information is “secure," and some even mean it. Still …

Your info is very valuable. The more than businesses know about you, the more they can target specific sales pitches to you for things you actually buy. Now, this is a relatively free economy we have in the U.S., and information transfer makes all of the e-commerce and cyber-convenience work. Secret #6 is that you cannot avail yourself of all the freebies if you are not willing to give up some personal data. The amount and frequency of that will have to be your decision.

And now, what to do

Perhaps the least-known secret (our Secret #7) is that, while individual businesses have an incentive to inform you about their real or not-so-real freebies, they have zero incentive to tell you about any others. This means that comprehensive freebie sites, this one included, are not going to be well-funded Fortune 500 operations, as “Big Business" sees no “daylight" in the deal.

Therefore, the task of investigating, cataloging, describing and compiling lists of free offers falls to consumer groups, non-profits, community bulletin boards and individuals who believe in helping others. Some have tried to turn free-offer sites into cash machines, but as we enter the second decade of widespread Internet use no one has come up with any model for doing so.

So it really is rather a community effort, a low-level, bottom-up, grassroots kind of activity – which is Secret #8. There’s no Bill Gates, no Dell or Apple, behind freebie websites. They are usually operated as “labors of love," often requiring the support of grateful readers to stay operating. And that brings us to Secret #9: Slow down.

Bottom line advice

The first thing you need to do, when you’re working at light speed and surfing the Web and finding some free offers that sound enticing, is slow down. Read things carefully. Think things through. Calculate comparative values (giving up info vs. getting a certain item). Don’t make rash decisions.

You know how to use Google and other search engines. You know how to write e-mails and ask questions. You know how to find freebie sites – you’re here, aren’t you? There are no “secret" freebie sites out there giving away cars and houses and cash. That’s not the help you need, and those aren’t the secrets you’re missing.

It’s all about using your head. Now that you now a bit about how the freebie sites work, and how some “free offers" really aren’t, using your head shouldn’t be a secret at all. But since we only got to #9, we’ll make it official: Secret #10 for “getting free stuff online" is, “Use your head."

You’ll be glad you did!