Has anyone done this....

[Huck]

Has anyone done the online things were you get a free laptop or free camera? I was thinking of trying one and curious to know what others have thought about it. Cant hurt to try right?

[Wes]

I've never done it. I get enough spam as it is and I figure that I would just be setting myself up for more.

[JamesB]

if you do do it set up a disposable hotmail or yahoo account and be prepaired for tons o spam.

I think some of these are a very similar to a pyrimid sceme or MLM type deal where you sign up for some magazine subscription and then you have to get 20 people to do the same and so on before you get your free item.

there is no such thing as a free puppy.
http://dogs.about.com/cs/newtodogs/a/free_puppy.htm

James

[epoh]

Ditto James. They are pyramid scemes, but of course, if you are at the top you get stuff! A friend of mine got a free iPod w/one of those sites a few years back. So they do payout.

[Jeff_Green]

I am typing this on a Dell Inspiron that I got through one of those "scams". I might have paid $75 in buying stuff in order to get mine, but it was a minor cost compared to the laptop. Obviously it isn't the greatest nor was it the greatest when I got it.

The main deal is to CANCEL whatever you signed up for the following month before you get charged again. That is why they do it... to get lazy people to forget to cancel. I had ordered Belisi (maybe?) silk ties, webhosting (which I still used), Vonage (which didn't work with my setup so I cancelled and paid nothing), weightloss pills ($5 shipping is all I paid) and a couple other things.

Also you have to keep on them after you finish your purchases or they will take forever.

One more thing is I believe they have figured out that they needed to have more expensive items in the last two categories which is why I haven't done it again.

Jeff

[DoctorWu]

Use a credit card that you can cancel right away and make sure you dispute all of the charges that are placed on it.

My wife "started" to do one of these things, she was halfway through before I found out and stopped her. By that point around $200 had been charged to her card. we canceled the card and disputed all of the charges.

[Huck]

thanks for the insight. i got an offer for a 30d plus a free laptop so I thought maybe I would use a prepaird credit card and try. Even if I spent 300 bucks, I figure I am still going to come out ahead. I hear on the radio in OKC all the time ads for a free XBOX 360, maybe it works. Thanks!

[Jeff_Green]

They can work if you are on the ball. Most of these have three categories that you have to order 2 things from each. The first one is always fairly cheap... 5-10 bucks a piece. They have made it so that the next category is usually around 20-40 bucks each. The last category seems to be much more expensive now... a couple hundred maybe.

I've been thinking of doing it again though.

Jeff

[mcphotography]

i do the free magazines online but i do have a friend who did the free camera and she got it - a kodak digital 6mp forget the model number - she setup a dummy email acct for all the spam, filled out some junk forms over and over and over and over and over (get the picture) again, and after about 2 months or so she got her camera...i know she tried a couple of the paid services but she was going to do the ones she selected anyway, so she was cool with it....i do the paid surveys - esearch, etc. - and those pay me through paypal anywhere from $1 to $150 so that's more my cup of tea

[Torrey]

Originally Posted by mcphotography

i do the paid surveys - esearch, etc. - and those pay me through paypal anywhere from $1 to $150 so that's more my cup of tea

So those aren't scams? What all is involved with surveys, if you don't mind telling?

[mcphotography]

nope not scams - at least the ones i do - i NEVER pay to get the surveys sent to me...too many companies send them for free...for some I beta test online services (those typically pay between $20 and $150), for the others, they send me a link with the survey, I pick the ones I want to complete and just go through the questions...usually no more than 5 to 15 minutes...once it's completed then about 30 days later the money is in my acct...some have screening questions but most are open to all participants.

[LPFyreDawg]

Originally Posted by JamesB

there is no such thing as a free puppy.
http://dogs.about.com/cs/newtodogs/a/free_puppy.htm

Been there with a 2.5 month old Red Heeler $2000 to keep him from dieing of Parvo. Which he started showing signs on a Sat afternoon. By the next Sat we had spent $1960 on his treatment at the Doggy ER and the regular Vet. He's a lucky lil Smart puppy. He is now 8 months old.

Dawg out.....

[Jeff_Green]

I just checked a couple of these out and they now don't seem worth it. I started to do one for a macbook pro. The first two categories you can get things for less than 40 bucks for both categories (two items a category). The last category they want you to purchase two of the three items listed. One is a years contract on webhosting (not too expensive). The next one is $1500 worth of furniture from the RoomStore. The last one was $1800 worth of travel.

So tell me how it is that I am getting a free laptop, or even a good deal on a laptop when I am paying the equivalent to full price?