Is It Really Free?
Of course not. Only a fool would believe that... But with some effort on your part you can get some pretty cool stuff for essentially no cash. The offers industry was pioneered by Gratis Networks. They have been running offers-based sites for a while now. Apparently, one morning they stumbled upon the idea of offering iPods to folks that completed one affiliate-based offer and referred five friends that did the same. Cool idea. They make $$ when you and your friends complete an affiliate offer. The idea is that for every iPod they give away they have had at least six affiliate offers completed. These affiliate offers earn them an average of maybe $25 each. That means that they lose money when they send you an iPod or other gadget but there are plenty of people that complete offers but never achieve the total needed. If you are going to do, DO IT. You have to put some effort into it. Put the link in your email and forum sig, tell friends, etc. The offers are legit but it is a numbers game and statistically the numbers are in favor of the offers companies on average.
A few things to keep in mind. There are good offers and better offers. If you have means, a credit card offer is ideal since it costs you nothing to complete. Also, offers that you have an interest in and would like to try are ideal. There are offers that you can sign-up for and then cancel with no or minimal financial cost such as the ancentry.com offer or the blockbuster offer. Have a look at the offers available and keep in mind that they do change over the course of weeks and months.
I personally have completed three offers - freeipods.com, dvrs4free.com and mp3players4free.com. I elected to receive cash from OfferCentric for the mp3players4free.com and dvrs4free.com offers and within two weeks of completing the offers I had an extra $275 in my PayPal account. This stuff is legit but it takes time and effort to complete the programs.
Finally, Gratis has added some really annoying ?optional survey crap? after you input your shipping information when initially signing up. Just close your browser and go to bed. The survey seems to be targeted towards getting you to complete other offers without getting credit. Just say no. OfferCentric does not do this and it is not required.
OfferCentric is a freeIpods.com competitor that is offering Tivos, PVPs, and MP3 players for completing offers. They have a wider selection than Gratis and they offer things Gratis does not such as Personal Video Players and Personal Video Recorders. OfferCentric also offers cash as a gift type on each of their sites in the form of a PayPal transfer! OfferCentric recently introduced the ability to complete certain offers to get instant cash without gathering the required number of referrals. It looks like they are offering to give you 25 - 50% of the money they make from the offer. Not bad, not incredible but it is cash. Tip - don't opt for the bonus gift as you need to complete one additional offer yourself and have additional people sign-up. USA/Canada only.
Notebook Computers - Complete one offer yourself and have eighteen friends complete one offer. Current gifts to choose from - 14.1" iBook G4 1GHz w/Combo Drive, 12.1" iBook G4 1.2GHz w/Combo Drive, Pavilion P4 2.8GHz Notebook, Averatec Pentium 4 3.0GHz Notebook, Averatec 3250HX-XPH Notebook, $1000.00 cash.
Mac mini - Complete one offer yourself and have eleven friends complete one offer. Current gifts to choose from - Mac mini 1.42GHz G4 80GB HD, $550.00 cash.
iPod Shuffle - Complete one offer yourself and have three friends complete one offer. Current gifts to choose from - iPod Shuffle 512MB, $85.00 cash.
Digital Cameras - Complete one offer yourself and have seven friends complete one offer. Current gifts to choose from - Canon A95, Sony DSC-W1, Sony DSC-P100, Canon S1 IS, $325.00 cash.
Nintendo DS - Complete one offer yourself and have four friends complete one offer. Current gifts to choose from - Nintendo DS, $150.00 cash.
Tivos - Complete one offer yourself and have five friends complete one offer. Current gifts to choose from - 80 hr. Tivo, 80 hr. ReplayTV, $275.00 cash.
MP3 Players - Complete one offer yourself and have five friends complete one offer. Current gifts to choose from - 20GB iPod, iPod Mini, Rio Carbon 5GB, iRiver H320 20GB, $275.00 cash.
Personal Video Players - Complete one offer yourself and have ten friends complete one offer. Current gifts to choose from - Archos AV420, Color iPod Photo 40 GB, iRiver PMP-120, Creative Zen PMC, 10" Portable DVD Player, $450.00 cash.
Gratis Networks is the original free offers company. They became well known for their free iPod offer and continue expanding their family of offers. They currently offer designer purses, computers, ipods, Mac minis, and flatscreens. USA only.
Game Systems - Complete one offer yourself and have four friends complete one offer. Current gifts to choose from - XBox, Sony Playstation, Nintendo DS, Nintendo GameCube.
iPod Shuffle - Complete one offer yourself and have three friends complete one offer. Current gifts to choose from - iPod Shuffle 1GB.
Mac mini - Complete one offer yourself and have ten friends complete one offer. Current gifts to choose from - Mac mini 1.42GHz G4 80GB HD.
Photo iPods - Complete one offer yourself and have ten friends complete one offer. Current gifts to choose from - Photo iPod 40GB.
iPods - Complete one offer yourself and have five friends complete one offer. Current gifts to choose from - iPod 20GB, iPod Mini.
Flat Screens - Complete one offer yourself and have eight friends complete one offer. Current gifts to choose from - Samsung 15" LCD TV, Samsung 17" LCD Monitor, Sony 27" Flatscreen TV, Toshiba 24" TV/VCR/DVD Combo.
Desktop PCs - Complete one offer yourself and have ten friends complete one offer. Current gifts to choose from - Dell Dimension 3000 P4.
Handbags - Complete one offer yourself and have five friends complete one offer. Current gifts to choose from - a Burberry, Coach, Prada, or Kate Spade handbag.
