It is easy to fall into the lure of certain marketing
campaigns when free stuff is involved.
Free stuff has the kind of appeal that can make a sane woman buy an entire box
of soap just to get a free pen. The real question is, are free stuff really
free?

Many organizations worldwide offer free stuff in exchange
for consumer participation. For instance, you can get a free fanny pack if you
join the Focus Group Discussion (FGD) on a particular radio show they are
promoting. The free stuff includes food (probably coffee and doughnuts), on top
of the small belt bag. If you take a closer look at this set-up, the free stuff
that you are getting is not entirely given in gratis. Time is money, and for
people who get paid by the hour, if they have to skip work just to participate
in an FGD, they lose whatever wages they are supposed to earn during that
period. Let us say you get paid twenty pounds per hour, and you decided to join
the activity for the free stuff. Let us also say that this activity took about
three hours of your day. This means that the free stuff (i.e., coffee, a couple
of doughnuts and a fanny pack) actually cost you about sixty pounds. Of course,
this is a different story altogether if this happened on a weekend.

Another popular sales ploy prevalent in shops includes
offering free stuff in exchange for a particular purchase, or a purchase worth
a specific value. Certain food establishments would offer you free stuff like a
regular meal worth three pounds after filling out a stamp card that requires
you to take six meals worth four pounds. Many people adore the promise of free
stuff that comes with this stamp card promo, and would readily pay four pounds
for their regular meal of three pounds just to get a stamp. In the end, the
so-called free stuff actually cost them six pounds for something worth three
pounds when bought independently. 

Credit cards also try use the appeal of free stuff by
offering free two-pound watches or other small items for single purchases worth
five hundred pounds. Unknowing customers scramble to buy things they do not
really need just so their receipt reaches the required amount, and they get the
free stuff (which are normally cheap token items).  Make sure you check out money supermarket as they
also have some great free stuff available.

Of course, this is not to discount the genuine free stuff
being given out. There are some free stuff that are actually worth your while,
and a number of legitimate companies actually offer them. You just have to know
where to look and what to look out for. Get some great free stuff in the
bargain.

Read more: Getting free
stuff in the U.K