Disclosure: I am an affiliate for the company that manages all of the picture links below, not the company I'm writing about. However, this means that I could get paid if you click, sign-up, buy something after you click on the picture, etc. This doesn't mean that I necessarily endorse the company below, but I am definitely doing my best to filter the junk out so that you guys can get real deals and skip the rest!
Freeflys - Free Coupons and Samples
Clicking on this ad will bring you to the Freefly's website. When I first clicked on it myself, I was impressed with the fact that it had over four million likes on Facebook. I don't know a lot of scam companies that have that many 'likes', so I'd say that the company reputation is a pretty good one here. I even had a couple of people on my personal friends list that were members!
After you sign up: You'll come to a screen saying that you'll get a list of Freebies 'shortly'. But first!... please review the free offers that have been selected just for you. (Ugh.) In my experience, a lot of 'free' offers aren't 'free', but that is a soapbox for another time.
My first offer was Yes or No to the Official Tennesse Vacation Guide. I picked yes because I have family in Tennessee, I like to travel, and it seemed to be a truly free thing. Next up was a free sample of Prilosec, yes or no would I like one? Well, my husband gets heartburn, so I picked 'yes'. They wanted to know how often I treat heartburn, and gave checkbox options to receive Prilosec's newsletter (I chose no) and/or P&G emails (I picked yes). The Prilosec offer wasn't good in a few states and said it would take 6-8 weeks for delivery. You don't have to re-enter any information because they pull it off your Freeflys account.
Next was something called ReadySetEat, offering an e-newsletter with recipes that can be made in 30 minutes or less with 7 ingredients or fewer. I was all-for that. (It should be noted that Freeflys lets you check out a sample of their newsletters & emails so that you know whether they are the type of thing that you would benefit from.) I love cooking, so I went ahead and accepted this offer as well. Next was an offer for Enfamil, which I turned down immediately since I have never needed infant formula. Even when my babies were little, I was a breast-feeder.
Still wasn't halfway across the progress bar yet at this point, and received an offer for a 10% coupon at Overstock.com if I sign up for their email program. To be honest, I don't have the money to shop right now anyhow, so even though I kind of like Overstock.com, I said no because I don't need anymore emails reminding me about all the cool stuff I can't afford. Next up, did I want to join Iams for coupons & tips? They advertised a welcome kit as part of the deal. Since we have a puppy at home, I need coupons and I could use just about anything in a welcome kit (hopefully it isn't a lame one!) since we don't have a whole lot of animal stuff yet. I had to provide my birth month & year and the number of dogs and/or cats in my household, and then the birth month/year and breed of my dog. I was given the option to receive offers from Iams and the option to receive emails from P&G. I said yes to Iams, no to P&G (because I'd already said yes to them in a previous offer).
Whew. Got past the first rounds of offers and my progress bar was showing almost two-thirds finished. Now they were just tossing the offers at me in a long list: Learning Resources, do I want 15% off my first purchase and to get all their emails? (No.) The Bachelor, did I want episode news via email? (No.) GoodRx, how about them online pharmacies!? (No thanks.) Did I need a PayPal Mastercard? (Definitely not.) Do I want a free sandwich for becoming a Honeybaked Club member? (Nah.)
MySurvey.com membership? (Why yes, I would sign up... except I'm already a member!) GerberLife Grow-Up Plan? (Bleh. No.) Go-Today travel deals with $25 off my first booking? (Again, no money for much, so worldwide travel is probably off the table. I picked 'no'.) Would I like to win $15,000 from Better Homes and Gardens? (Where's the no button!?!) Qponning newsletter? (*Sigh*. I don't even have time to cut out the coupons from the Sunday paper, so I skipped this too.) Finally at the bottom of the page, I see the blue Continue button...
At last! At last!... Wait. No. There's more. I have another list. Shadow Shopper Club to become a mystery shopper? (I'm intrigued. I do this for a living anyhow... sorta. I picked yes.) PennyGrab to get gift card auctions? (Sounds interesting, but I'll pass for now. I'm sure it will come up again sometime.) Glamourpage sign-up for free samples/coupons/giveaways? (Pass.) Mommypage? (I'm already a member of a bazillion mommy things, so, pass!)
$5in5 to get a FREE promotion of... (I stopped reading after the all-caps 'free'. Pass!) Vindale Research to get paid for surveys? (I'll pass, I have too many survey club memberships already.) Get Paid To Try FREE... (Nope!) Ebates sign-up? (Already a member.) You could win $10,000- (Pass!!!!) Opinion Central membership? (Again, too many survey clubs already.) Whew. Continue button. Again.
Annnnd... success! I was at the main page where I could browse samples, coupons, the blog, etc. I have a feeling that the 'trigger' allowing me to continue on was the fact that I selected 'yes' to the Shadow Shopper Club. I love samples (when they are legitimate) so I looked at that category first.
Note that when you are on the site, there are ads that look like something the site has put up (the very thing these offer breakdown posts of mine are about). It doesn't mean that the site is endorsing them, so click with caution - that weird little triangle next to the picture means that they are ads! On the left of the page is the actual list of sample categories, click those instead. I went with food samples first. When I checked, they had free DeMet's Turtles, free pack of Thomas Bagels, free bottle of Neuro Sleep, free bottle of Spree Sparkling Water, and free sample of Maxwell House. Then an ad in the middle (beware, beware!). Then a free pack of gum, free Cabo Fresh Guacamole, free Menchie's Frozen Yogurt, free Rice Dream Beverage, free 20oz Coke Zero, free Firecracker Chicken Breast at Panda Express, and on and on and on.
There were about 25 offers in all. Now. Please note: Most of these offers have stipulations.
You might have to use a coupon, or sign up for the restaurant's special club, or be one of the first 6,000 people to sign up. But other offers, like the Maxwell House coffee one, had no stipulations whatsoever. It appears that what this site does (and they are doing well) is taking an entire motley of offers from around the internet and converging them into one place. That's great! It's something I could happen upon all on my own, and isn't any crazy offer I couldn't have already discovered with a little extra digging.
That's really great. Do you know why?
Because that means it is legitimate. People don't get something for nothing. That isn't the way it works. There is always a 'something' behind it. Maxwell sends out samples frequently - with coupons attached. Because they know you'll want to use the coupon and buy a whole tub. It cost them a few cents to send you a sample, and in return, you may start buying their coffee over your current brand.
Restaurants will send you a free appetizer because they know you'll buy a drink while you're in there, and probably some dinner to go with it. It costs them next to nothing to make the food item, and you end up spending money you would have otherwise held onto. Having all these offers in one place just makes it incredibly easy for people like me to find them. Instead of accidentally finding them I can go here and find them all at once. Much simpler than flying by the seat of your pants.
The coupons section appeared to be nothing more than a link-in to the Coupons.com site. Freeflys isn't listing that out of the goodness of their heart... more than likely, they have an affiliate link embedded in all of those coupons. They probably get a payment (a very tiny payment) per coupon that is used when it is printed through their site. The blog was good. It outlined which deals were relevant, when they landed, how long they lasted, and what they were about.
My final recommendation? Go for it. This is a site that will help you find deals quicker. You won't be disappointed with the end-result although you may have to spend some time unsubscribing from emails if you choose beginning offers that you end up not liking. I had one email from each of the places that I said 'yes' to, with the exception of the travel guide (they didn't email me at all). All of them were very legit-looking and unspammy emails. Although it took me about 4 minutes to complete the initial sign-up with Freeflys, I was pleased that the offers were on the level, and I don't have to worry about the Prince of Nigeria asking to borrow money later tonight. (Haha.) Thanks for reading!
$5in5 to get a FREE promotion of... (I stopped reading after the all-caps 'free'. Pass!) Vindale Research to get paid for surveys? (I'll pass, I have too many survey club memberships already.) Get Paid To Try FREE... (Nope!) Ebates sign-up? (Already a member.) You could win $10,000- (Pass!!!!) Opinion Central membership? (Again, too many survey clubs already.) Whew. Continue button. Again.
Annnnd... success! I was at the main page where I could browse samples, coupons, the blog, etc. I have a feeling that the 'trigger' allowing me to continue on was the fact that I selected 'yes' to the Shadow Shopper Club. I love samples (when they are legitimate) so I looked at that category first.
Note that when you are on the site, there are ads that look like something the site has put up (the very thing these offer breakdown posts of mine are about). It doesn't mean that the site is endorsing them, so click with caution - that weird little triangle next to the picture means that they are ads! On the left of the page is the actual list of sample categories, click those instead. I went with food samples first. When I checked, they had free DeMet's Turtles, free pack of Thomas Bagels, free bottle of Neuro Sleep, free bottle of Spree Sparkling Water, and free sample of Maxwell House. Then an ad in the middle (beware, beware!). Then a free pack of gum, free Cabo Fresh Guacamole, free Menchie's Frozen Yogurt, free Rice Dream Beverage, free 20oz Coke Zero, free Firecracker Chicken Breast at Panda Express, and on and on and on.
There were about 25 offers in all. Now. Please note: Most of these offers have stipulations.
You might have to use a coupon, or sign up for the restaurant's special club, or be one of the first 6,000 people to sign up. But other offers, like the Maxwell House coffee one, had no stipulations whatsoever. It appears that what this site does (and they are doing well) is taking an entire motley of offers from around the internet and converging them into one place. That's great! It's something I could happen upon all on my own, and isn't any crazy offer I couldn't have already discovered with a little extra digging.
That's really great. Do you know why?
Because that means it is legitimate. People don't get something for nothing. That isn't the way it works. There is always a 'something' behind it. Maxwell sends out samples frequently - with coupons attached. Because they know you'll want to use the coupon and buy a whole tub. It cost them a few cents to send you a sample, and in return, you may start buying their coffee over your current brand.
Restaurants will send you a free appetizer because they know you'll buy a drink while you're in there, and probably some dinner to go with it. It costs them next to nothing to make the food item, and you end up spending money you would have otherwise held onto. Having all these offers in one place just makes it incredibly easy for people like me to find them. Instead of accidentally finding them I can go here and find them all at once. Much simpler than flying by the seat of your pants.
The coupons section appeared to be nothing more than a link-in to the Coupons.com site. Freeflys isn't listing that out of the goodness of their heart... more than likely, they have an affiliate link embedded in all of those coupons. They probably get a payment (a very tiny payment) per coupon that is used when it is printed through their site. The blog was good. It outlined which deals were relevant, when they landed, how long they lasted, and what they were about.
My final recommendation? Go for it. This is a site that will help you find deals quicker. You won't be disappointed with the end-result although you may have to spend some time unsubscribing from emails if you choose beginning offers that you end up not liking. I had one email from each of the places that I said 'yes' to, with the exception of the travel guide (they didn't email me at all). All of them were very legit-looking and unspammy emails. Although it took me about 4 minutes to complete the initial sign-up with Freeflys, I was pleased that the offers were on the level, and I don't have to worry about the Prince of Nigeria asking to borrow money later tonight. (Haha.) Thanks for reading!
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