Free Gift Cards for Trial Offers

I went to our mailbox this morning, and guess what was there! I found a $30 Staples gift card, 2 $10 Exxon gift cards, and a $10 Target gift card. These were all rewards for trying online offers.

I first heard about these offers from my favorite blog site, Hip2Save. You can read her post about these offers HERE. All I had to do was sign up for a one-month trial with several companies. (You can try them one at a time if you prefer.) I paid $1 for a one-month trial for some, and others were free.

Before I started, I printed a calendar. Then, as I signed up for the trial offers, I marked my cancellation date on my calendar. That way I wouldn't forget and get charged $19.99 a month (or more!) by accident. I checked my email and followed the directions to request my gift cards. (They don't come automatically with the free trial. You have to fill out the online request form.) Then I waited......

And today I got 3 envelopes with gift cards inside! I have two more coming!

If you want to try these trials, I have a few tips to offer:

• Don't use your regular email address. Sign up for a Gmail or Yahoo account, and use that one for these types of offers. You know there's spam coming!
  


• Use a credit card rather than a debit card. We don't use our credit card for regular purchases. In fact, we're in the process of paying it off. But I did opt to use it for these offers so that my checking account wouldn't get debited. Another option is a virtual credit card number that your bank might offer. These are one-time-use numbers, so no company can hit the account again after the initial charge.
  


• Stay organized! Have a calendar, and check it regularly to see what needs to be cancelled.
  


• Check out the services offered by these companies. You never know when you might just find one that you love! That's the purpose of these trial offers, getting you to take a look at a company that you may not have ever considered before.
  
  
• Print out the confirmation page from each offer that you complete. It will usually give you your account number and the terms (in small print) of the offer.
  


• When you cancel, get your cancellation number. If you cancel online, print the cancellation confirmation page. If you cancel over the phone, document the time, date, and the person you spoke with along with your cancellation number. That way, if a company does charge you later, you have all of the information that your credit card company will need.
• Remember to request your free gift. I'm sure that these companies count on people not taking this last step. You usually need to request your gift before they send it to you.

I'll let you know when my other rewards come! Let me know if you do any of these offers and get gifts.