My Mom always says, “Nothing in life is free.” In a way, she was correct. Even the laudable Google products – often considered free – are heavily ad-supported. For the price of free, Google’s algorithms decode our behaviors, messages, and actions to better sell others’ products.
The loss of information privacy has led to a data-based growth in marketing. Fair or not, by exchanging personal information with companies, prices decrease – sometimes they become free.
Fortunately, “free” isn’t limited to the digital world. Every couple weeks I receive yet another freebie from a company looking to promote a new food or magazine. Last week, I opened my mailbox to find Rolling Stone and Wired Magazine. Today, I received a six-pack sampler of instant coffee. All three were free.
There are ways…to snag loads of samples, perks, swag, and other promotional goodies at no cost—and with little or no risk (Time).
I’ve been receiving these samples and subscriptions for years now. There’s no magic secret or private list that requires special membership payments. All you have to do is find the right sites and be quick to grab the free offer. I recommend checking out these three sites.
3 Best Sites For Freebies
1. Reddit (r/freebies+efreebies)
Reddit is the “front page of the internet.” It is the catch-all website that has thousands of different categories – subreddits – and topics to choose from. Reddit is the 119th highest trafficked website. Because of this incredible audience and user base, the site is a hub for freebies and ways to save. The crowdsourced nature of Reddit allows regular users to post new content and ideas. The freebies+efreebies is the first place I look for updated offers. This combined subreddit includes both digital and physical freebies. New products are being offered every day – check back regularly.
Link: http://www.reddit.com/r/freebies+efreebies
2. Hey! It’s Free (HIF)
Hey! It’s Free (HIF) prides themselves on deals that require no credit card or donation to acquire. The site has been an active site for freebies for the last 6 six years. Through HIF, I’ve found numerous deals for free magazines: Rolling Stone, ESPN Magazine, and Wired. The quality of these freebies tends to be strong and the effort is minimal.
Link: http://www.heyitsfree.net
3. Hunt 4 Freebies
Similar to HIF, Hunt 4 Freebies writers are scouring the net for freebies. Once they find some good ones, they post them directly to their site. By the time I check out this one, there’s usually quite a bit of overlap. But, sometimes there’s a hidden gem. Yesterday, I applied for a free bottle of lens cleaner and contact case. It wasn’t featured on either of the other two. Using a diverse group of sites helps to make sure you find all the freebies you can.
Link: http://hunt4freebies.com
I now have two new subreddits to visit on a regular basis.
Thanks for sharing, I hadn’t heard of any of these sites before.
Thanks for your comment, Bob! Appreciate you reading and getting something from it. -Sam
Nice, thanks a lot. Love freebies.
I never considered looking at Reddit for freebies, thanks for the advice!
Absolutely Nick! Glad to help. 🙂
-Sam
These are great links. Thanks!
Absolutely! Thanks for reading, Michael!
I’ve been a redditor for a while now and never bothered to look into freebies there wow. Great article and great tips, thanks for sharing!
Do you have to sign up for a FaceBook account to get freebies?
Nope! In fact, most don’t require anything but your shipping address to get you the freebies!
Thanks for the input! Good suggestions.
Is it hard running a website and doing a PHD simultaneously?
It’s definitely challenging, Jason. But I feel like graduate school is almost perfect for a writer. This site helps me improve my writing, save and make money, and use extra time for this task. I never feel like it stands in opposition to my academic goals.
Thanks for the question,
Sam
Hey great post! A nice freebie site I like is http://www.simply4free.com
If you can add our site to the list it would me much appreciated. We only have real freebies on our site and we check them to make sure they are only from trusted sources. http://getfreebies.net
Great post! Another site I often visit it http://www.freebieoholic.com Updates constantly!
BE careful about Freebie Shark. They are extremely unethical. They put links to entries in contests that are their own personal referral links hidden in disguise in the link as a bit.ly to gain them extra entries USING YOU by the thousands to get them to win the items themselves!!!! When I pointed that out to their website visitors, they became indignant and self righteous then blocked me from posting any further about this unethical behavior they perpetuate on their readers.
I’ve been following FreebieShark for 3+ years and have never had a problem. I saw the thread you were blocked, you were insulting him big time. You deserved to be blocked. Stop being so bitter and maybe e-mail him and apologize for it.
http://www.sweetfreestuff.com is the best!
vonbeau.com should definitely be on this list! Love it! 🙂
Awesome post! Another site I love for free samples is Tryspree https://www.tryspree.com
Great list! I also use /r/freebies a lot, they usually post everything that’s available now!
One other blog I use is http://freebiehunter.org I really like the interface and they do get some hidden gems that I haven’t yet seen on reddit!
Thanks, and good luck with your freebies! ❤