Do those free [insert electronic device] sites work?

[MTsoul]

The new mac mini is really tempting me. I can probably afford it, but I really don't need it and won't whip out $800 Canadian dollars. So I started looking at the free mac mini sites.

Has anyone actually gotten one of those to work? I guess I'm ok with submitting to one of the offers (and cancel it), but it seems really skeptical that I have to have 10 other people do the same thing.

I'm not sure how this logic goes (maybe that's exactly how they make money - have people sign up and can't refer others, ending up with nothing).

Damn I want a Mac mini bad.

[Mik3]

Hmm... You'll be doing lots of work and having to wait a long time to get the Mac Mini you want.

In addition to this, why does the Mac Mini interest you? They still haven't fixed the hugehugehuge flaw in it, it's graphics card is so bad it's like it caps the whole system...

[MTsoul]

I want a mac desktop and a media center. The new mac mini (with frontrow and all) seems to fit both of those purposes. I won't use it for intense applications, probably just testing, daily use, music, movies, etc.

I found one of the sites that has an offer that seems pretty nice (on the ratetheoffers.com), but it requires 10 people. That's my main concern. How hard is it to convince 10 people to get a mac mini and submit an offer?

[Mik3]

Well, it's hard to get 10 people to give their credit card numbers away to a site and have to cancel a subscription to whatever they signed up for on the site to avoid getting charged all for someone who wants a free Mac Mini.

[Yeldarb]

Yeah, for the amount of time it would take, you'd probably be better of just taking a(nother?) part-time job and working to get the extra cash to buy the Mac Mini.

[Jeff Wheeler]

I read a statistic that one in twelve people get theirs, according to some guy that works in their corporation. I signed up for the free-ipods one, and while I did not get mine, I did get twelve CDs for the price of one, through the BMG offer. It worked great. :thumb:

[MTsoul]

Yeldarb you are probably right. Working would probably be a more reliable alternative.

nokrev, come to think of it that's actually pretty good. I guess I'll just watch for the good offers. If they come, I'll grab them and complete my offer.

[teet]

I spent a good day thinking seriously about doing one of those "free mac mini" things. Everything seems legit on them, and to be quite honest, after I thought about how much work it would entail, the offer didn't really seem to be too good to be true:


Well, it's hard to get 10 people to give their credit card numbers away to a site and have to cancel a subscription to whatever they signed up for on the site to avoid getting charged all for someone who wants a free Mac Mini.

I think this is the main reason those sites succeed. People sign up, get 2 or 3 friends to do it too, but then never actually complete the offer. Finding 10 people to convince is quite a lot...especially in today's world of phishing and identity theft. I know I would have a hard time convincing my own mother to sign up for one of these things!

Alternatively, you could try to get people to sign up for something that was from a well known legitimate company but that costs money. For example, when I was looking at doing it, they had a $10 Blockbuster online rental offer (like the netflix thing). Essentially, I was considering offering to pay the $10 for the person, if they would sign up under my name. Then they would be required to cancel the subscription themself (or I would do it if they weren't tech savvy). Basically, I would then be buying a mac mini for $100...still a good deal.

In the end, I decided against doing it. It could end up being a major pain, and I just didn't feel like dealing with the potential problems.

-teet

[MTsoul]

Yeah that makes a lot of sense teet. I'm probably not going to do it.

[Juanamichi]

Not really sure about the Mac Mini sites, but GamingMadness (www.GamingMadness.net) has piad me more than once...

I got $1000 >_< (a 60 Gig Ipod and 600 Paypal bucks) So it's likely that they work.

[tpspoons]

i read somewhere how this sites make money... i cant remember exacly how it works but it is basicly this.

(note the figures are just made up) Lets say in this offer you get a free psp.

Nowerdays more and more people are using popup blockers, ad blockers, and stuff like that. So companys are trying to find other ways to get you to visit there site/ advertise.

The idea of these sites is that companys pay the site whenever somebody completes a offer, lets say £10 for example. A psp on for the site costs £130. So the site needs to get a minimum of 13 people to complete a offer so they make their money back. So they then ask you to get lets say 20 people to complete the offer for u to get the free psp.

£10 x 20 = £200
£200 - £130 = £70

they make £70 profit (in this example, again the figures are just made up).


Also the bbc and other trustworthy places have recommended it.


TIPS!
I remember reading some of these tips elsewhere, so i thought i might as well share them with you.

1. LOADS of people post a advert on ebay to get you to click on the link.
(the first one i found: )

2. Also some people put them on amazon in reviews and stuff.

3. Again if you go to price comparison websites, you can put a review with your link in.

4. You could even make leaflets lol