How to Get Free Stuff With Little Effort

ByKELLI B. GRANT

HOW MUCH IS YOUR

time worth? There are plenty of companies willing to bet that a few minutes of your time is worth a chocolate fondue and a couple of hours, two tickets to Sea World.

Borrowing a long-used tactic of the time-share industry, companies are increasingly rewarding consumers who are willing to sign up for newsletters, hear their sales pitch or try out their products, says Edgar Dworsky, editor of Mouse Print, a consumer advocate site. "Whether they reward fairly is another question," he says. "You really have to ask yourself, 'How much benefit am I going to get for the effort I expend?'"

The more time you have to spare, the sweeter the reward. Here are four freebie deals worth considering:

Join the Club

Time spent:

Less than five minutes.

Signing up for a free reward club or e-newsletter is easy and always worth it. Plenty of retailers offer immediate bonuses just for signing up, with additional gifts and coupons to follow some will even send you something on your birthday. To avoid promotional email overflow, set up an alternate email address to use specifically for such clubs.

Potential payoff:

Try on Clothes

Time spent:

five minutes.

Walk into the dressing room with a pair of jeans, and stroll out with a discount or some free accessories. Retailers use such try-on incentives to lure in shoppers, especially those in competitive markets like teenagers, says Kathryn Finney, a.k.a. The Budget Fashionista. (Exactly what you're trying on varies by season. For fall, jeans are the hot promotional item.) Look to fashion blogs and deal sites like Fat Wallet for reliable listings. "The goal of these incentives is to get you in the store," she says, "so retailers don't send them to frequent shoppers. They already know you're going to buy."

Potential payoff:

Take a Test Drive

Time spent:

30 minutes

If you want a free Thanksgiving turkey, an American Express gift card or a gratis pair of Bose headphones, look no further than your local auto dealership, which will dole out freebies as long you agree to test drive their latest SUV, says Brian Moody, a road test editor for Edmunds.com. Many offers are invitation-only, sent out to carefully targeted consumers (i.e., those with enough money to buy a car, and who have shown some interest in doing so). Get on the list by requesting information from the auto maker's web site. Or seek out promotions online and call the dealership directly for an invite.

"The dealership isn't hoping you're going to walk out with a free gift," says Moody. "They're hoping you're going to walk out with a free gift and a brand new Buick." That said, most dealerships won't subject you to a hard sell you should encounter just a short pitch about the car, then you'll take the drive. Promotional gifts are typically rewarded after you hand back the keys. To avoid a misunderstanding, be clear from the get-go. "Say, 'I'm here for a test drive; I'm just shopping; I'm not buying anything today,'" suggests Moody.

Potential payoff:

Tour a Time-Share Property

Time spent:

1.5 to 2 hours

We'd be remiss not to mention the old time-share shtick. Even if you're not in the market for a time share, taking a tour of one of these resorts during your next vacation can be well worth the effort, says Larry Hayden, president of Timeshare Resales Worldwide. Basically, all you have to do is walk around the property, visit a model unit and listen to a short sales pitch. In return, you'll walk away with a gift certificate or other prize such as tickets to a local show or theme park usually worth $100 or more. To secure an invite, just call the resort.

Helpful hint: If you can't bear the thought of enduring the hard sell for two hours, you might want to try your luck with a big-name time-share group like Hilton or Marriott, suggests Hayden. There's no pressure for these companies to sell so the tours tend to be shorter and relatively hassle-free. "Sometimes they'll just let people get their gift and leave," he says. Another bonus: The gifts are often bigger, too.

Potential payoff:

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