Confession time, I rarely sign up for free samples. It seems too time consuming, too annoying, and who wants all that junk mail in their in box? Then I started wondering this weekend, maybe free samples are worth my time and effort? The only way to be sure is to track my time and the samples I receive. There is no reason to pass links on to my readers if I wouldn’t do something myself.
Since most free samples take between 4 – 6 weeks to arrive I will run this experiment until May. I have several blogs in my reader that regularly post free sample offers so I will use those sites as my resources for finding the samples. I don’t have time to scour the internet for samples, so I am depending on these bloggers to find them for me.
I have set up a specific email address for receiving these offers so my regular email doesn’t get clogged with their newsletters. If you see a free sample offer please feel free to email it to me at freesamplehousewife (at) gmail (dot) com.
I’ll update monthly with time spent vs samples received.
How about you? Do you regularly sign up for freebies? Do you think you are making a wise time investment? I would love to hear your thoughts!
I have a hard time wrangling all my free samples, so I quit signing up unless it is full sized!
I have to be in the right mood to bother sending away for free samples. Although…I do admit. I am thrilled when something comes in the mail to sample.
Thanks for the article.
I seem to have a lot of free samples just sitting around.
The Homeless shelter or food bank can use all the samples. They are always in need. I love getting goodies in the mail.
Not all free samples are the same. Some sites just waste your time. But I love getting free stuff from brand name companies. I couldn’t tell you in detail which ones I am signed up with, some are 1 time deals & others are continual. I have received free food, feminine products, cleaning products and bath & body items.
Having a dedicated junk email acct is a must! The other thing I do to make signing up easier is I use a Firefox Plug In called FireForm. I can simply click on the icon at the bottom on my browser window & voila, it fills in the info on most forms. Sometimes I have to make corrections because the database admin is a poser & fields are not labeled properly. Still, it’s a big time saver.
Other than that, I just enjoy the products that show up in my mail box. For one particular program called Psssst! I do surveys about the products, but they aren’t time consuming & are on track with the product…meaning it doesn’t go down a never ending road of data gathering.
I do sign up for freebies. I follow the link from blogs I already read. In between school, housework, chasing my 8mos around and attempting to keep up with DH’s crazy Marine schedule, I just don’t have time to hunt for freebies.
I do keep an Excel sheet of samples and freebies I order. I write the website I found it (in case it doesn’t come) on, the date I ordered it, how long it will take and the last column is where I put comments. I put the companies I email about their products on the same form.
I requested a razor hubby and it never came. I emailed the company, they sent me a coupon for a free razor ($12)
I love signing up for free samples. Our family travels a bunch and it’s nice to have the travel friendly size of some items on hand. Other times I receive full size products and I’m amazed. I really love the coupons that come with most of the samples, they seem higher in value to me. I also ask for samples at the perfume counter at the store. They have wonderful samples to take along on trips with you. Once we not only received a bunch of samples, but the rep was there for a particular brand and gave us a carry on size suitcase!
I laughed when I read the post about the gold bond sample that came the other day, it looked like someone just smeared a dab of lotion on the foil. But it also came with my sample of Nestle Coffee that’s awesome! I keep all my samples in two separate containers in my storage room. We’ve used the samples in the past to put together hygiene baskets for some of the kids at school. I love getting little surprises in the mail, but my kids think I’m nuts!
for someone who claims to not get comments….
my 2 cents on freebies, if i have to jump through a lot of hoops to get it, i won’t do it, but if i have a minute and it only requires an address and my alteremail address, i’ll do it. i love it when a couple of weeks later that free maxi pad arrives in the mail.
I don’t pursue samples or coupons.com because they booger up my computer (separate email account) with tons of spam. Maybe if i set up a gmail account vs. another misc. email thru my business account (kidslovetravel), that might help some.
Still, I appreciate YOUR focus on this to evaluate the worth.
One of the many reasons we love to follow you…
Sorry I haven’t read all the comments so I am sorry if this is a repeat but I have known that some people have set up a P.O Box for free samples just so that they don’t have their home address out there with all the companies. And as long as it is something you do regularly you get your money back from all the stuff you get and savings too. I guess you can also use it for any type of samples or coupons etc and it would reduce the amount of mail to your home
I definitely sign up for free samples. However, I don’t spend hours searching for them on the web. I follow a few blogs and will sign up for things as they come up. In an average week it’s probably about 5 to 10 items a week at about a minute each. They don’t all come but they are a nice treat when they do. I do make a point to use the samples shortly after they arrive. For example, if a shampoo sample shows up, I use it that week. It means one less use from the shampoo I paid for so it lasts longer and it can be fun to try out a product I haven’t used before!
Well I must say, yes!
I watch my brother’s and his wife’s baby everyday, 7:15 to 3:00ish. He’s a good sleeper already, so he naps from around 1 ’til 5! I spend some of the time studying for my CSET, making calls, or reading books. However, that is a bit of time to fill!
Signing up for free samples is worth it for me because it takes me 15 seconds to sign up for a sample, and then I receive something free of charge in the mail!
That’s less money out of my pocket! The way I see it, my husband and I don’t have to spend money and receive something we probably wouldn’t have spent money on otherwise. We get to try a lot of things we wouldn’t have gotten to if I hadn’t signed up for them.
Plus, it’s a fun little treat getting something for free in the mail.
I think the value of these things depends on how stretched you are for time! :]
freebies are a waste of time…