Getting stuff for free and/or at a great deal
 

Have you ever gotten something for free? Isn't it great when you get something, whether it's someone giving you a birthday gift, free samples at the supermarket, whatever, it feels nice. The last free thing I got would have to be some money for my birthday, but recently I was able to get a newer PC game at a really cheap price since it was labelled on the shelf wrong, basically got like a new $30-40 game for like $1, though I haven't opened it, some kind of Rome Civilization game or something. What have you gotten for free or at a great deal?

As for other free stuff and great deals I usually check out the website FatWallet.com for nice offers and deals there. You can sometimes find people that post links to free magazine subscriptions, random office supplies, coupons, etc. Also you can find great deals that people spot in stores near them or how you might be able to use a price match and a rebate offer in a single transaction to save lots of money, though it might not always work, sometimes the management of the store lets it slide.

Another good place to find stuff in your area for free stuff would be on the CraigsList.com, just search your local area and use the keyword "free" or browse the "free stuff" forum. Mostly you might find like free dogs or cats, but occasionally you'll find a real good deal. I missed one listing that was giving away an old Super Nintendo with a lot of games. I guess you could also look through your newspaper classifieds, but I reckon that would take much longer instead of just using an Internet search like this.

Other than that some other websites that are good for specialty items, like PriceWatch.com is good to find new, low-priced computer parts. Are there any other websites like this that you frequent to find free or cheap stuff? I also try to browse on eBay to find older games that are out of print, but some of the classics like Final Fantasy or other games that be a bit pricey, since they're like collector's items. Or do you have any other techniques or tips on how to get stuff for free or at a great deal? There are swapmeets where I live, but I'm not a good haggler, actually, I don't haggle at all, so I can't win there.

Supposedly, there was this one website called w00t.com where at midnight they offer great prices for computer parts and merchandise. There's also mypoints.com where you can earn free points for buying things from E-Bay or other on-line stores or you can earn points slower by clicking on an ad in order to get 5 points everyday (sometimes there are questionaires you can take for points). You can cash those points in for giftcards for your favorite on-line or off-line stores.

I like to get cheaper books for college at half.com. Sometimes they will have books that are 20%-30% off and some are as high as 70-80% off.

It's been a while since I actually got something worthwhile for free, not "free" with strings attached. Probably the closest I've gotten to free so far was a book liquidation where they had to basically get rid of as much books as possible, so I somehow managed to get like 20 some novels for like a buck. They are still unread and collecting dust. For cheap deals, I usually have to shop around quite a bit and be patient. I did fill out a customer survey where I could hopefully win $500 in gift certificates to Futureshop, so that'd be sweet, and FREE!*

*Mathematical skill testing question required to qualify :(

Does free candy at Hallowe'en time count;___;

p.s. Maico, Beat Angel Escalayer FTW!

www.woot.com still exists, just uses o's instead of 0's in the name. I frequent them every night at 1 AM EST. Awesome, awesome deals.

I am a stickler for free shit, like, bonus goodies you can get for pre-ordering or something. I remember I preordered MGS3: Subsistence just to get the MGS Saga DVD, but when they were all out, I ended up getting a sick ass piece of art from Metal Gear Acid 2 (since nobody preordered it).

I will often go to Best Buy every Tuesday just to see what kind of deals they have going on with new DVD releases. I know that the 29th I will be dropping probably $200 on all the awesome releases coming that day (Nip/Tuck and Arrested Development for starters). But I digress!

Yes, I love free shit and deals!

This thread reminded me of some other thread on another forum years ago. I think the board was run by the guy who created all those homemade portable console systems.

Basically, a bunch of people went dumpster diving at their local computer shops or movie rental places to check for still usable parts or media. I remember I was appalled at what some people found: slightly scratched games and DVDs, older game consoles (DCs, SNES, NES).. stuff like that. The thought of doing it myself crossed my mind, but I remembered what city I'm living in.

I found this crazy multicolored ceiling fan in someone's trash. (I'd show a picture but...) I decided I'd take it to the park with me, and as I sat there spinning it around an old man came up to me and said, "I'll give you 25 dollars for it!"

I was so drunk that night.

At Krispy Kreme, when the light in the front window is on, that means they are giving out free samples of donuts. I've gone there for free donuts before.

I'll always stop by a free samples thing in a supermarket...
I also always take any complementary sugar/coffee/tea from hotels .etc But that's about it...
I also get the odd free biscotti from the coffee shop I go to...
I think the greatest deal when I was younger were 'Broken Biscuits', and it was basically 1kg of biscuits for £1, and most of the biscuits were perfectly fine...I ate one a day until they ran out of stock...:(

"Shopping Spree: How to Get Free Books, CDs, and Movies from Focus on the Family—Thereby Taking Money out of the Pockets of Anti-Gay Bigots—in 12 Easy Steps"

http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Content?oid=54084

Costco gives free samples every other time I go there. It's probably every other day or week, or whatnot. Of course, the free food samples are infinitely more popular than the free detergent samples, or any non-food booth for that matter.

I remember getting free fans twice. The first was at Animenorth until supplies ran out, and the second was in Chicago when this woman was handing out fans that promoted a play called "The Pirate Queen".

Scouring the arcades also sometimes nets you free stuff. I remember some kid just walking off of a game of Marvel Vs. Capcom which I played after. Also, random games seemed to have 1 credit more in them that people don't seem to realize they'd put in. At Playdium, before the unlimited card's time limit expires, I'd go to as much machines as I could and give them a credit to be generous for other people who chose not to get that particular deal.

Free food is a timely occurence at certain malls. For instance, a trip to Galeria Mall yielded a food court where someone from every restaurant was constantly forcing people to try the particular restaurant's food. That means at least 10 people standing and giving at all times.

things i got for free:

-big sterio system. very big, very loud, very high quality. awsome sterio
-small sterio. same as big one except smaller. i use it for my computer and stuff.
-PS2. it was broken so my cousin gave it ot me after he got a new one and i fixed it. he let me keept it
-Gamecube. same way as PS2
-computers. best one i got free was 450mhz. it was pretty decent at the time. my grandma just stopped by and gav me a computer :)
-15" LCD monitor. came with computer
-semi-working 26" TV. it works about an hour and a have a week. i use it for family guy because my parents don't want me watching it with little brothers around

Does getting free stuff from those referral sites count? Because I've gotten a majority of my current-gen gaming consoles through this way.

But along the lines of everyday items that I get for free, I usually browse slickdeals' forums; items that I've received can include: a couple of Schick Quattro Razors, T-Shirts, office supplies, and gift cards.

Sega sent me about 20 pre-release white-label copies of their games and games they were publishing for the Dreamcast back when I used to do reviews for my old student paper. I also got a number of games across various other platforms too (I had several PS2 games before I even had a PS2 XD), music, some films and a guy I worked with even managed to blag a PDA.

I'm a member of a freebie forum that I frequent occasionally. I love samples. I don't ever get anything really great though.. I usually miss out on those deals. I get little shampoo bottles a lot and I love them. XD Oh, and cat food. Getting samples in the mail makes my day.

Do you have a link to the forum? I also enjoy getting freebies in the mail. The best was probably a free t-shirt from Carl's Jr, at least it was probably the most expensive, well compared to like free pens and other novelty items. I also got a free razor and coupon from Schick on my birthday several years ago; how they knew it was my birthday to send it through the mail I don't know, maybe I subscribed to their website one night, the world may never know.

I've received an anime DVD for free a few years ago for simply joining a forum that was affiliated with the store. It was the first volume of the Last Exile series, and it came with the display box as well.

Unfortunately, I'm too much of a n00b to post links, but hopefully you can figure this out:

hxxp://forums.slickdeals.net

:D

The freebies section is where I go a lot, but sometimes you'll find something good in Hot Deals too.

I think it's woot.com. w00t.com used to be a prank call site. I bet no one remembers it :(

We get free stuff all the time at the campus. Kelloggs came today and gave stuff out. I got breakfast for the next few days.

Does this thing really work? Has anyone been using it?

My dad's used it for five years and he's normally very anal about trusting sites. He gave my mom the fifty dollar gift card they sent him for K-Mart when he cashed in his points. He will reload webpages two or three times if he thinks there's something different about it b/c he once had his Neopets password stolen when my siblings were using his account.

These sites are exciting! I'm a cheapskate.

I've been using Mypoints/Bonus Mail for more than 4 years myself, and I can assure you that it really does work. It takes a long time to get points though. I've gotten a Toys R Us and Chapters gift certificate from them. I wish they had a certificate for EB Canada though. That would be awesome.