How many years has it been?

Before there was even a FreeOfferDetective.com there was just a group of internet marketers that thought the best way to approach bargain hunting on the web was to have an educated clientele base. 

Great, where do they get their diplomas? 

No, not that kind of education!  The average bargain hunter needs an education based on relevant information.  So, okay, answer these two questions about ‘relevant information’:

• what would it look like?
• how would it be provided to the bargain-hunting internet user?

Wow, you ask a lot of questions for someone from New Jersey.  (Are we dating ourselves with that line from Roseanne Rosanadana?)

But, when the marketers stopped to give those questions some thought, the consensus was that the method of providing the information was likely going to be a lot easier than deciding the form it would take. 

Rule #1

To their credit the group started by putting themselves in the place of internet consumers, and they began their research with that idea foremost.  They found that there was certainly a lot of free stuff (the best kind of bargains!).  But there was one genre of ‘free stuff’ that caught their eye(s) almost immediately.  These were the “free rewards” sites that required certain consumer interactions in order to “qualify” for the free items. 

These sites certainly had free stuff, but it was more than samples, or coupons, or sweepstakes.  It was a laptop, or a $1,000 gift card.  It was always very attractive, in-demand items that could easily have been sold for a “deep discount” and would still have had plenty of interested customers. 

But, free?  No way.

“How can they do that and still stay in business?” the group asked themselves. 

Formulating strategy

And the rest, as they say, is history.  The researchers started looking into the offers from the standpoint of consumers; as if they were potential participants—and, to a certain extent they were.  As they explored deeper into these sites, they began to discover that there was, in fact, a dollar offset from “free” but, while it was often reasonable, it never was actually zero.  But, they also found that with a little strategy (and timing), some good bargains could be found. 

Voila: better informed consumer

This “strategy participation” is the information that would educate the online bargain hunter.  Solid, actionable information could be placed into the hands of the consumer, and that would keep them in control of the decision to participate in a particular site or not. 

The group then found that the process for gathering this information felt as if they were detectives on various cases.  It seemed to be right out of the old movies based on the Hammett and Chandler mysteries.  (There we go dating ourselves again.)  And that sleuthing provided the theme and the name of their new informational web site with review articles on the offers.

Post-hibernation, Focus is Unchanged

We are happy to say that, following our brief hiatus, what you’ve read above is the same goal and steadfast endgame that we’ve always had: an informed consumer!

Head FOD

FreeOfferDetective.com

Lest we forget . . .

Free offers on the internet are like free money from the government, neither is ever really free and someone somewhere is going to have to pay something.

Stop us if you’ve heard this before (hopefully here) but the main incentive (giveaway) item that attracted you to the free offer sites will cost you nothing.  But, in order to obtain this incentive item, you will be required to participate in a specified number of product offers over the three selection pages (silver/gold/platinum) of the site.  Such participation will require you to spend money.  Here are the last of the nomenclature items that we’re reviewing:

1. Most Risk Free Trial (RFT) offers are called negative option transactions, meaning that, upon completion of the initial trial period, unless you cancel the order, you will automatically be sent a periodic supply of the product you originally sampled, and you will be charged for these products.  
2. This is why we continually stress that shoppers always read the “Terms and Conditions” (often called the “Gift Rules” or something similar) of each ad/offer as well as for the entire free offer site.  This is where the “fine print” is found which will spell out the transaction details.  For example, some offers require that you “bring a friend” who must also register and complete a set of selection pages just like you did, in order to qualify for the giveaway incentive item.  Other offers specify a time limit within which all transactions must be completed. 

Friends, there are some amazing items that are given away at these free offer sites, but you can’t be nonchalant when shopping at them.  They’re not like your favorite neighborhood dollar store.  You must use all of your carefully developed shopping skills and your finely honed sense of cautious skepticism when dealing with them.  Don’t be afraid of them, but don’t jump into them without doing some homework. 

We encourage everyone to review the glossary page next door at FreeOfferDetective.com.

Here’s Wishing You the Best of Bargains,

Head FOD
www.FreeOfferDetective.com

Just to reduce confusion, the FO esoterica needs to be addressed from time to time. All of the terms are found in the FOD Glossary next door in the main FreeOfferDetective.com website, but a quick review is always helpful.

The Free Offer (FO) sites are web pages owned and maintained by internet marketers who showcase the various products of their clients who have paid the marketers for a certain volume of traffic to be introduced to the clients’ product ad banners displayed on the FO site pages. In order to attract the traffic, the marketers offer a high-value “headliner” incentive item (Gift Card, Laptop, etc.), which will be free to participants if they accept and participate in a qualifying number of the clients’ offers. Such participation will cost the participants some amount for, at minimum, shipping and handling to receive the product.

Well, then how can they say that the Offer is Free?

Simple. Because there are two types of offers—the clients’ product offers (for sale) and the site owners’ giveaway offer (for free if you qualify for it by participating in the required number of client offers). The incentive item which “headlines” the FO site front page has nothing to do with the client ad/banners found on the Silver/Gold/Platinum presentation pages within the site.

In their Terms and Conditions page, the site owners specifically emphasize that their clients have no knowledge of the main incentive item, its purchase, or its disposition. They also mention that the national brand name company whose logo appears on the incentive item being offered, likewise has no knowledge that their item is being used as an FO attraction.

FO Bottom Line

So, after completing the requisite number of client offers, and the results are verified, participants will receive the main incentive item for no cost, per se. However, during the process of qualifying for the free item, there will have been a monetary outlay at the various ads selected by the individual participants. The aim of participants should be to minimize the outlays while still qualifying for the main incentive. The researchers at FreeOfferDetective.com have already done this and show their results in the review articles written about the offers in which they participated.

This is what makes the information at FreeOfferDetective.com so valuable.

Regards,

Head FOD

Some of the free offer sites are rolling out a “late inning” enticement to get you into the second tier section of their sites.  The second tier is another set of three selection pages just like the first ones (identical layout except for the survey pages—and, you’re already registered). 

To get you into that second tier of pages, some sites are giving you another major incentive reward as a “fourteenth selection.”  (We’re just calling it the “fourteenth selection” since the normal FO setup is a 2-2-9 selection program, and, if you go into the second tier of selection pages, the first choice you make there will be your fourteenth. 

Anyway, this means you’ll end up with three major giveaway items: this bonus 14^th selection and the main item in each of the first and second tier layouts.  But, the prize for the fourteenth selection is contingent on successfully completing the entire second tier offers.  So, you’ll end up with either three prizes or just one.

Two From Column A

Risk Free Trial

As the name implies, the RFT is a way for you to try out a product for a trial period. For this trial you pay only the account start-up costs, usually a small bookkeeping fee, or the shipping and handling charges, or both. This is why Risk Free Trials are also known as “Free plus” offers, meaning Free Plus Shipping or Free Plus S&H. Most health and beauty offers are RFTs. At the expiration of the trial period, you become enrolled in a membership program that automatically sends you the product at regular intervals and for which you pay a special membership price. Memberships continue until cancelled.  

Outright Sale

Here’s wishing you the Best of Bargains,

FreeOfferDetective.com