bhatnasx

EDITTED ON JULY 19, 2004!

Pseudoswede is taking control of this post over from L1011...N/StoHNL! who took over from bnarayan1511 - please see his comments posted here!

Also, note his new rule, which is an excellent rule, IMHO! Basically, to be active on this thread, you do need to be a little active on FT too.

Here's his new rule, which, I for one, fully support:

New Rule: I will be PM'ing the next two persons in the conga line to verify s/he is still around. I will also find out how many referrals s/he needs in order to fulfill his/her requirements. ANYONE WHO DOESN'T RESPOND TO MY PM WITHIN 48 HOURS WILL BE TEMPORARILY REMOVED FROM THE CONGA. YOU WILL BE REMOVED FROM THE CONGA IF THERE IS NO REPLY WITHIN 96 HOURS! Therefore, make sure you have a valid e-mail address entered in your profile, and that you receive notices of new PMs.

umguy

Ok couldn't hurt to try. I used your referral so can someone play it forward and use mine. Here is the link. Let's all hope this works

http://www.freeiPods.com/default.aspx?referer=6494303

bhatnasx

Thank you very much, umguy!

I think it should work - I've got one of my roommates doing it too, so I only need 3 more people. Once those three people post, person 4, please use umguys'.

I hope it works! To those that are signing up - it's probably best to ensure you use the same e-mail address & mailing address for the offer that you used to join freeipods.com.

JonNYC

To me it sounds very, very, very suspicious. A MLM scheme but w/ too good of a prize.

bhatnasx

That's what I thought too - but I've read everything in the T/C's & sounds legit - if you choose to apply for the HH Amex, it takes you straight to the application page on the Amex Server - if you go to Ancestry.com, which is what I did for a free 2 week trial, it takes you through a referral window - worst case scenario, if something does get charged, then you just dispute with your CC company. I think it's legit - but I could be wrong - which is why I used Amex (they're great about rejecting payment on things if need be) & a junkmail account - just click through the "survey" (no's for all) and then do the offer.

gleff

The website is getting a kickback from each of the offers. So the business model is to kickback some of the referral cradit to the person taking advantage of the offer, just like Mypoints, AirMilesMart, and all of the airline-branded online shopping malls.

So it's a reasonable model.

The questoins are:

(1) is the reward 'too good to be true' given the volume of referral credits the site might be generating? I have no idea what bottom-of-the-line iPods cost when purchased in bulk.

(2) even if it isn't, are they just looking to generate the referral volume without ever intending to fulfill their promise?

Registration for freeipods.com is as follows:
The 'gratisnetwork.com' website is pretty sketchy, all of the links seem to provide the same info (an unfinished website?) without legit contact info.

Dunno about this one. Little downside I suppose, so my theory is that they're nabbing the referral $ and won't fulfill the offer.

The fact that there's no address or phone number or even email address (just a contact us 'feedback form') on the website doesn't give me hope, either.

Hopefully I'll be proven wrong!

bnarayan1511

Like umguy said, can't hurt to try Where am I on the line? When it's my turn (if it comes that far) use

http://www.freeiPods.com/default.aspx?referer=6495680

Oh... the waiting is unbearable

bhatnasx

First, thanks bnarayan1511 for signing up - you got me one person closer to a free iPod

True - 2 valid questions - but for #1, I can't answer as I don't have a clue what they are paying & what kind of income they are generating from this - one only gets an iPod when they have 6 new contracts - Original person & 5 others - however, one of those 6 credits is a duplicate credit (i.e. say I use mine, umguy's, and bnarayan1511's - I still need a total of 3 more people - yet umguy & bnarayan1511 also need 5 more people - so it's really 1 iPod given out for every 5 people cost ratio for them, plus I'm sure they are generating credits for people just looking at the offer & generating fees for having the advertisers list with them, so it may actually be effective for them to do this - for #2, believe me, if for some reason, this doesn't pan out & they do not fulfill their offer, I'll be sure to follow up with the BBB & I live right outside of DC & I will have no problem showing up at their offices if it doesn't pan out. I strongly pushed the Office Max & UA promo for 7500 miles in December & I will push this further if it doesn't pan out.

gleff

Actually, sometimes it's almost more fun when the offers don't pan out at first. Then it's time to regulate.

Oh, and the economics of the deal could actually work out. They could be pulling in $100 for 5 completed offers (though they could be pulling in $15).

And no doubt they can make a decent margin even with the cost of sending out iPods.

And many folks will get to 3 activities but not 5, etc.

yevlesh2

Gleff,
I run some of these offers on one of my sites (although I only offer free sets of animated graphics in return ) , and I can assure you that the economics of this deal can work. Completing 5 of these offers will net the site well over $100.
You know, I think I should launch a similar site.

ScottC

$100 is nowhere near the $218 wholesale price a dealer will pay for the ipod.

Buyer beware.

tfong007

This is a big time scam. I have read about it and seen how it works. Lots of people sell the instructions to get a free Ipod, cell phone or something. They pay 5 bucks or 10 bucks to get the info and then have to recommend X number of people. Its a giant pyramid scheme. When it comes time to get your IPOD, they company disappears.

bhatnasx

This may be the case, however, with this particular offer, the company in question is getting referral credits & just to be on the safe side, I will save copies of the link webpages to follow up with the company & with the partner companies (whom I'm sure will be happy to follow in suit with legal issues if they really are paying commissions - I doubt companies like Columbia House, AOL & Amex are trying to be involved with shady companies - if they didn't have big name companies involved, I would be a lot more cautious).

The other reason why I don't see this as a big risk is because I'm not giving any money - yes, Ancestry.com has my Amex number on file now, but I'm not horribly concerned about it because I tested out my free trial & it does work (granted, its only limited access as a trial member, but the search did bring up my parents & family members). But I have a free trial that I can dispute with Amex if any shady charges appear on my card. The scheme you have posted above requires giving money for nothing. With all the promotions, you're using relatively big name companies & you're getting something out of it - even though you don't have to spend any money.

yevlesh2

If not everyone does all 5 offers, it can work well. If I remember the payouts right, someone completing 7 of these 9 offers would net the company slightly under 200 . I am not familiar with the other 2 offers.

While it is possible that a company will attempt to be dishonest, they don't have to in order to make a profit. Also, it may take a while to get the iPod due to their shortage.

wharvey

I'm Willing To Play:


http://www.freeiPods.com/default.aspx?referer=6496353