People selling information on how to get products cheap

[Tyanon]

Did a search last night on ebay for Xbox's. Came up with more hits with people selling "Information on how to get an xbox for 40 bucks" etc etc then I did actual xbox consoles. Anyone ever bit and bought one of the information guides? it must be a scam, but what exactly is it?

Troy.

[yiggy]

yeah i saw something like this on ebay as well. except it wasn't for specifically an xbox, it was just any consumer electronics in general.

the seller was saying he got all his tv's, and equipment for free, and in the package he would tell you how to do so.

weird thing was there was appropriate feedback and it *seemed* like ppl were buying the package and were happy with it...

but that seems way too weird to be true.

[IVNP]

When you see something is too good to be true........well most of the time it probably is. :) Those are scams, they basically sell you a text file on how to scam companies to send you their products as free sample by pretending to be a business owner. If you dont believe it, you can try your luck and waste some change to find out the truth yourself.

[airodus]

Originally posted by IVNP@Dec 17 2003, 12:30 AM
When you see something is too good to be true........well most of the time it probably is. :) Those are scams, they basically sell you a text file on how to scam companies to send you their products as free sample by pretending to be a business owner. If you dont believe it, you can try your luck and waste some change to find out the truth yourself.
that's exactly what it is

i visited a website once where someone posted what he got from one of these auctions. they basically tell you to send letters to whatever companies to ask for samples for your company to either test or sell. retailer, review site, cyber cafe are a few of the covers that work well.

does it work?

my friend tried about 10 different computer companies and got:

- top MS keyboard and mouse of the time
- two altec lansing speaker sets, and 1 headset

so 2/10 ain't bad. he got what he asked for (picked items under $100)....... for free. only cost a few bucks to send the letters out

supposedly you can get big ticket items, but you probably need a real track record to do that. my buddy said that he was just starting up a business (which he was) so he didn't have a track record (and that's why he targetted low end stuff).

so that's it. feel free to donate to me whatever those auctions for for lol.

[RenegadeX]

I always pictured the 'info" that you receive to be something like this (I made this up..):
"You just paid $5 for this info right? How much is the ______ (insert item here) you wanted to buy? Alright! Just divide that price by $5 and you'll know how many more info packets you need to sell on eBay. Hey - you're almost there, can you feel it?

Heck, if you feel like it, you could even sell a few info packets, and then pay for your item with hard cold ca$h like the rest of the population! Let's say your item was $200, and you've sold 32 info packs already... you just bought yourself a $200 item for only F-O-R-T-Y BUCKS!! Awesome!

Now go get 'em!

[spacehog]

this sounds dubious to me. if the guy has the info that'll allow him to get free high-end stuff, why share it with others and effectively create competition for himself? why doesnt he just monopolize "the market" and sell the actual free stuff on ebay with 100% margins? either these sellers are scam artists or really really REALLY ********. jmo

[Tyanon]

haha, I think renegade is on the right track :)

Thanks for the info guys :)

[gimmegimme]

I like Renegade's idea. :)

spacehog: I think a lot of the companies are getting smarter about giving away free samples. So it's not as easy to get all this free stuff as they (the seller) would have you believe.

[airodus]

Originally posted by spacehog@Dec 17 2003, 02:31 AM
this sounds dubious to me. if the guy has the info that'll allow him to get free high-end stuff, why share it with others and effectively create competition for himself? why doesnt he just monopolize "the market" and sell the actual free stuff on ebay with 100% margins? either these sellers are scam artists or really really REALLY ********. jmo
how many "samples" do you think they can get?

[eelfliw]

I came across an e-bay listing some time ago that basically posted the information that one would get if they had paid for the bid. Seems an annoyed e-bayer tried to put those info sellers out of business by posting their the info they try to sell. I've got to look around my computer. If I find it, I'll post it - as long as the mods don't mind.

[Kurtz7834]

First of all, I would never pay for this information as a lot of these practices are shady. I think these things move on Ebay because a lot of people don't read the auction posting carefully, and think they're actually buying a used Xbox for $40 or whatever.

As for actually doing this, I think if you run a business that somehow relates to the product or are a genuine reviewer, there's nothing wrong with writing in a request.

However, if you're Joe Consumer, making up a company name claiming to be a retailer, I'd be careful. There's a thin line between doing this and fraud.

I'd imagine most RFDers would stay away from these sorts of shady practices.

[eelfliw]

I found the "Get Free Stuff" article that was posted on E-Bay some time ago buy some user. As mentioned in my post above, the poster claims that the info is the the same you'll get if you had paid for it (ie. auctions selling $10,000 digi-cams for $9.99 and the fine print says that you're bidding for "info on how to obtain" $10,000 camera, not the camera itself). He's posting it so other won't fall into the trap of paying for useless info.

The info posted below is gathered from e-bay. I did not take part in its production nor do I take any responsibility for its contents or any actions you take after reading this. Other usual disclaimers apply.

To me, this sounds like a scam. But I'm no lawyer. Besides, MIRs and Staples OOS practices sound like scams too and they're running full steam ahead. Read it as entertainment. I don't recommend you doing this.

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How You Can Receive Consumer Electronics and Other Products Completely Free!

Introduction

First off I would like to thank you for purchasing my program and in the near future you will most likely be thanking yourself for purchasing it also. I would suggest getting comfortable because once you get started you won’t want to stop. I know you are extremely anxious to know what exactly this bizarre sounding program is and how it works; now I am going to finally reveal this little known secret to you.

I’m sure you’ve received those worthless free product samples in the mail such as cat food, cereal, or maybe even tampons which I receive occasionally for some odd reason. So why are these items for free? I know the items are worth nothing but the concept behind them is the same; the companies are willing to give your free samples to try to persuade you to buy their products.

Now I know what you are thinking, “Free cat food is one thing, but a free $2000 in-dash DVD player is impossible!� But guess what, it’s not! If you are a distributor or interested in selling a manufacturer’s specific product, they are usually very happy to send you one or more free sample units (even if it’s a $2000 in-dash DVD player) which are yours to keep! Usually all it takes is requesting a price quote and a sample unit, it’s that simple! They are yours to keep! Another great thing is once you have contacted a manufacturer regarding a product; it is not uncommon for them in the future to automatically mail you similar or related new models also. Remember an LCD monitor costing you $1200 may cost the manufacturer only $30 to produce, if not less. So you can see why most manufacturers don’t have a problem with mailing you a sample.

Getting Started Please read everything over before you begin

STEP 1:
As I mentioned the only things you need to get started are a mailing address such as your house or apartment, and an email address. I’m assuming you already have a house or apartment, but if for some reason you don’t you will need to get a post office box at a Mail Boxes Etc. or related service since some of your packages may require a signature upon delivery and they will sign on your behalf. Second you need an email address. You already have one since you received these files however I suggest setting up a second email account for business use. Your second email should be professional sounding; for example, something like “rwifan02@porn.com � wouldn’t cut it. I would recommend the initial of your first name followed by your last name. If your name was John Smith, then “jsmith@email.com � would be great. A few good locations to get free email I have listed below. I wouldn’t suggest getting an email at Hotmail or Yahoo considering literally any username you can think of is taken and they are well-known for being used to spam.

www.email.com
www.postmaster.com
www.emailaccount.com

I also suggest opening up a free account with FedEx or DHL online using a debit or credit card. You will then be issued an account number. If you are unfamiliar with the way this service works, think of it as a credit card for shipping. You can include this account number with the emails you send. If the manufacturer requires you to pay for shipping, they can simply enter your account # on the international airway bill for the package. The shipping costs are then billed to the credit or debit card on your account. You do not want to have these packages shipped overnight or 2 day airmail. As you can imagine a TV sent FedEx overnight from Malaysia to the US is not too frugal. Instead, check with the shipping courier your account is with (FedEx, DHL) by phone to speak with customer service and find out which international shipping method would be the absolute cheapest. DHL in most cases is the cheapest since they offer slower delivery than FedEx. Once you have researched and found which shipping method is cheapest (each courier has names, i.e. “FedEx International Economy Rate) mention in the email you would like the sample shipped using that method. Although paying for shipping is not necessary to receive free products, you should have much better success if you do. The cost of the sample usually isn’t what the manufacturer cares about; it is the cost of shipping.

STEP 2:
Now that you have the two things necessary you can start. Instead of you searching and seeking out companies and their products directly, I am going to provide you with a website which will allow you to do it directly to begin with, which my company as well as hundreds of thousands of others uses. Eventually after you have done this for a while you will be able to search out other manufacturers directly to contact using search engines. However this website offers access to about 150,000 suppliers which are plenty to get started with. www.globalsources.com After you arrive at the website you will want to register for a membership, which is free. Click on the “Login/Register� and you will come to a page for current members to enter their login name and password, scroll below to where it says “register now.� Now that you will be conducting business relations you will need to have a name for your company. Once you have decided enter the name as well as the rest of your other contact information and submit. Then select the categories of items you are interested in if you would like to receive product alerts (optional).

Now you are ready to begin. On the main page of the Global Sources website, click on “product search� and from there you can either browse or search. Take an hour or so to relax and look around at products which interest you. Do not contact or request any samples yet.

STEP 3:
Now that you have looked over the products it is time to start requesting your free samples. Since you are just starting, you should begin with products (from any category) that have a consumer retail value of $20 or less. Only after you have had some experience and received a few should you start requesting the more costly items such as televisions, DVD players, etc.

There are a couple ways you can contact the companies to receive your samples. Once you are on the page of a single specific product, you can click on the company’s name near the top (it should be in a blue font) which will take you to a page which will have their contact information including at least one or two email addresses. You can then email them from your email address.

Another way to email them is to click on “request sample� or “inquire now� on the product’s page; this will contact the companies through the Global Sources website instead of you emailing them directly. When you email the companies, you should introduce yourself, mention you are interested in their product(s) and you would like them to send you more information regarding the product(s) as well as a sample unit. Be sure to include your mailing address. I have enclosed a picture of an actual sample correspondence between myself and a company (must censor text: company policy). What you write in your letter is up to you, it does not have to be long; a paragraph or so may do. The information contained in my letter is true; I do not advocate or support you writing any type of fictional information in your correspondences. Include your DHL or FedEx account number as well as the shipping method you would like if you opened an account.

STEP 4:
You may have to communicate by email with the companies a couple times back and fourth after your initial request. One thing I cannot stress enough is to be patient. In the United States, we do everything fast with a “gotta be done now, can’t wait� attitude and adhere to a strict schedule. Many other parts of the world including much of Asia are not like this. You may not receive a reply to your email for a few weeks. This does not mean they are ignoring you, that is just the way business is conducted there and they reply just as slowly to large corporations usually also.

When you do receive your free products, they will usually be shipped as a “commercial sample, no value� so you do not pay any tariffs on them. This is a very good thing; tariffs can be almost 40% of the product’s value! Below is a picture of an actual invoice.

TIPS AND TRICKS:

1. Remember there is no limit to how many different manufactures you can request samples from; the more you contact, the more free products you will receive.

2. Start out small by requesting low valued items (products with a retail value of <$20) this allows you to gain the experience you need. It is very important you follow this step.

3. Contact companies which do not have any of their products pictured. Click on the “view more suppliers� when you have came to the last page of the pictured products in a category. Email them and have them forward you their product brochures first.

4. If you pay shipping costs you will have greater success.

5. Be patient.

6. After you are experienced you can begin contacting manufacturers not listed on Global Sources by locating them using search engines such as Yahoo.

7. If there is a specific model you must have, and the company does not give out free samples, you can always purchase one or more at true wholesale cost.

8. Stock up on free knick-knacks, these are ideal to begin with to get some experience. Some of my favorites include: a. premium pens and stylish desktop clocks b. Health and exercise supplies (electronic abs belt, etc.) c. Golf accessories d. Novelties e. Things for the house, from extension cords to doorknobs

9. Remember if you receive a product you don’t particularly like you can always sell them.

10. Take your time and do not rush the process.

GOOD LUCK AND HAVE FUN!


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Mods, please delete if you feel this doesn't belong here.

[pkphilip]

Now most manafacturers are aware of these people. So if you want to get free sample, be prepared to fork out "Sampling Fees".

There are actually 2 type of these scams available. One is the Sample way, and the other is the Matrix way.

Since someone already covered the sample way, the Matrix way is like the concept of bank (using a pool of money to buy things).

Example, I want set up a matrix for a cell phone, say the phone cost $500. I can advertise on eBay you can buy the cell phone for $50. The catch is, for every tenth people enters the list, the person on the top of the list gets the cell phone.

Which means, this is also what we called a prymaid scheme. The people on the bottom will have to keep selling those "info" and encourage them to get on the list thus they can get the cell phone.

Philip

[felix]

It's usually a pyramid scheme. And if it's selling for less than $0.99 they're just doing it for feedback. If it's not for feedback, some sellers NEG you if you don't follow through with the transaction. So beware if you want to keep your feedback profile clean.

[Absolute]

eelfliw, thanks for posting that file, I've always been curious what they say in it!