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| signupmoney |
 Posted: Fri Mar 11, 2005 6:47 am Post subject: |
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Investing Sr. Associate
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6-7 years ago I (and my wife) started signing up for ALL kinds of free stuff and free CASH online. Think it started with a few free T-shirts, which quickly grew to 200 or so (gave most away to our homeless shelter). Then some free stock shares for all the start up companies. All of the 2 dozen or so never did anything until several months ago travelzoo went public. I ended up with 35 shares (made some referrals) and last December I sold the shares for about $3,500.
Then I (and my wife) discovered car Test Drive offers. Test drive a car and receive a free $100, $50, watch, backpack, savings bond, etc. We were doing anywhere from 2 to 6 EVERY week and probably did 200 or more. Of course the cash we kept but gave away most of the "stuff" as Christmas presants, birthday presants, etc. Actually we never needed to do the test drives the cars either. Just printed out or received the forms in the mail and asked the dealer to sign the form. Most dealers just signed the form and we were on our way in 2 minutes. We only had to physically do a test drive twice. Another site lists all the CURRENT test dive offers but they are usually "far & few between" these days, maybe 1 or 2 a month, but we still do them.
Then the "bank and brokerage" offers came. Ya know, open an account with $50 and receive $50 free, or open a brokerage account and receive free trades or cash. Probably did 100 of these. The bank offers started slowing down about 3 years ago but now they are back in full force. I know of about 50 current offers. Anyone remember Wingspan Bank? You received $100 to open a no fee checking account + $100 to get their no fee credit card + $100 for each referral!!! I received $100 for checking, $100 credit card, referred my wife for another $100. Then she received the same $100 checking account + $100 credit card, for a $500 total in about 1/2 hour. Sounds great but it gets a LOT better. I knew this offer would not last long so we began telling all of our friends and relatives and referring them to the deal. We even posted it on some online boards. I think the offer only lasted about 10 days or so but when it was over we walked away with some $12,000!!! The INGdirect deal (still exists) gives you a free $25 + $10 for each referral. We made 800 referrals to this. Do the math!
Ther are tons of this stuff out there but just too many sites or offers to list here. I use to have a web site which listed all of this but when the bank and test drive offers really started to slow down I closed the site. Who knows, now that the bank/brokerage offers seem to be comming back, I just may start it up again. |
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| Benjamin |
| Posted: Fri Mar 11, 2005 7:24 am Post subject: |
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Administrator
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Great post!
Do you get an unusual amount of Junk mail, Spam and Telemarketing calls as a result from this? |
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| signupmoney |
| Posted: Fri Mar 11, 2005 7:52 am Post subject: |
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Investing Sr. Associate
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| Back in the free T-shirt/free stock days yes but we really don't do any of the T-shirts any more and I have been removed from all of those lists. The free stock shares are almost non-existant. Test drives NONE! Bank/brokerage offers today usually have an "opt out" selection when one signs up and we usually opt out, so again, no. We use to receive our fair share of telemarketing calls (no more/less than others) but now with the "Do Not Call" list, those have evaporated to none. |
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| InvestingMac |
| Posted: Fri Mar 11, 2005 9:21 am Post subject: |
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Investing Manager
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| Impressive! I wonder how many others have tried what you do, and if there success is comparable. |
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| jeter4982 |
| Posted: Sat Mar 12, 2005 6:36 am Post subject: |
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Investing Sr. Associate
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Wow! 800 referrals. It sounds like a bunch of great deals, but I wouldn't want to give my information to that many people. Just increases the chance for identity theft! Congrats on all the money you made though! 
Tom |
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| signupmoney |
| Posted: Sat Mar 12, 2005 9:52 am Post subject: |
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Investing Sr. Associate
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Tom,
Have you ever made referrals? I didn't have to give my personal information to anyone. I just send a referral link from the bank to the referral. |
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| Mayur |
| Posted: Sat Mar 12, 2005 2:14 pm Post subject: |
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Investing Associate
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| I used to do this but I ran out of time. I mostly looked at www.slickdeals.net forums in their freebies section and got a few things. I got a neon blue mouse, a plush wiener mobile, a few t-shirts, a amazon gift certificate, and some other things as well. |
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| trixiezzz |
| Posted: Sat Mar 12, 2005 5:37 pm Post subject: |
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Investing Manager
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| I have heard about the Test Drive offers before, but every time I've requested a brochure in order to 'get on their list' ~ ALL I've gotten IS a brochure! Maybe I don't live in the right market. Oh well... |
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| signupmoney |
| Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2005 3:48 am Post subject: |
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Investing Sr. Associate
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Yes, some are "market area" offers but most are not. Sometimes I will receive the brochure but no TD offer. Again, these days they are few and far between. Request brochures from several different companies. Sometimes an un-advertised offer will come directly to you via email.
Probably the best list of TD's are www.thefunplace.com/forums/index.php . The Fun Place (Funtasia's) site has been up for a LONG time and it's also, a great place to find deals and online couposn. NEVER, request a brochure or TD from a hyperlink you see at any TD list. The car company WILL know that you came from that list and will probably just send a brochure. Manually type into your browser the car company site address and make the request. In her forum you will see posts where everyone is just getting brochures. Numerous times I have seen a TD at the forum, typed the car site address into my browser (instead of clicking the hyperlink), and received the TD offer when everyone else is just getting brochures. Good luck! |
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| raven3517 |
| Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2005 2:17 pm Post subject: |
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Investing Associate
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| jeter4982 wrote: | Wow! 800 referrals. It sounds like a bunch of great deals, but I wouldn't want to give my information to that many people. Just increases the chance for identity theft! Congrats on all the money you made though!
Tom |
Just wanted to make a note about the identity theft - there was just an article put out by the BBB that you are actually safer using your information online, than any other way. The majority of people who have had their ID stolen has been from having their wallet or mail stolen. They actually encourage people to do their banking and other business online for safety. |
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| alicia gist |
| Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2005 5:58 am Post subject: |
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Investing Sr. Associate
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| check around about the test drive. My husband works at a GM dealership. They're giving away Marriott gift checks, hats, and golf balls for test driving Buicks. |
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| signupmoney |
| Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2005 9:47 am Post subject: |
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Investing Sr. Associate
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| alicia gist wrote: | | check around about the test drive. My husband works at a GM dealership. They're giving away Marriott gift checks, hats, and golf balls for test driving Buicks. |
Do you have a "link" so I can print a voucher to take to a dealership, of maybe its just your dealership. |
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| jeter4982 |
| Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2005 5:49 pm Post subject: |
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Investing Sr. Associate
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| signupmoney wrote: | Tom,
Have you ever made referrals? I didn't have to give my personal information to anyone. I just send a referral link from the bank to the referral. |
No, I know what a referral is. The personal information I was referring to, was the info for all the other offers. Sorry for the confusion! |
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| signupmoney |
| Posted: Wed Mar 16, 2005 3:38 am Post subject: |
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Investing Sr. Associate
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| jeter4982 wrote: | | signupmoney wrote: | Tom,
Have you ever made referrals? I didn't have to give my personal information to anyone. I just send a referral link from the bank to the referral. |
No, I know what a referral is. The personal information I was referring to, was the info for all the other offers. Sorry for the confusion! |
Tom,
You sure did have me confused. I agree with "raven" above. I sure would rather give my personal info. and or credit card to a secure web site rather than a "person". "Encryped" information is a LOT more secure than anything else I have ever seen. Yes, when I signed up for my first offer and used my credit card online for the first time I was really nervious. I think if online idenity theft was a problem there would be a hudge melt down for the entire web, and magor companies and governments are just not going to let the occur.
The US Goverment's "Savings Bond" site use to have a great explanation of this but I couldn't find it since they changed the site around. Maybe someone else here might explain it better for us. |
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| paula0000 |
| Posted: Thu Mar 24, 2005 4:59 am Post subject: |
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Investing Manager
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| Wow that is impressive. I signed up for "freebies" on a coupon site and got inondated with tons of spam. I can't imagine how I would sift through all that junk to get the emails I am looking for when I am on so many lists! But, good for you- I am all for people who can make it work for them. |
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