So if the membership is free, why again do you need my credit card?
 

Yeah got a spam today asking me to come back and see this new site for FREE! NO GIMMICS! You know, the standard hype-speak... so I check it out and they want my credit card information for this free site.

Now I run free sites, and I don't need to ask my surfers for their credit card information. Could it have something to do with having cross sales on the join page? :disgust:disgust:disgust

no they just want to verify you are 18

Wouldn't they have already done that if this is a mailing list from when I joined LAST time? Hmm...

Names please.

they can't send you COD for hidden x-salex.. or can they??? :1orglaugh

or at least your daddy who owns the creditcard

xsale, upsales on members page etc...

If we all did that, only people with the means to pay would see our advertising.

:1orglaugh:1orglaugh:1orglaugh:1orglaugh:1orglaugh :1orglaugh:1orglaugh:1orglaugh:1orglaugh:1orglaugh :1orglaugh:1orglaugh:1orglaugh:1orglaugh:1orglaugh :1orglaugh:1orglaugh:1orglaugh

Hahaha LOL.... well at least I know you know absolutely nothing about me then. :1orglaugh:1orglaugh:1orglaugh

read the fine print
theres 2 i have seen lately
1 is its free for life but it comes with a prechecked free trial cross sale that cant be unchecked

the other is a free membership as long as you signup for several free trial sponsors in x amount of days

use a prepaid credit card with $1 on it

Must be a USA thing, because in Canada, we don't have prepaid credit cards... at least none that i've ever seen.... anyone? :2 cents:

negative.

Where.. links? Seriously.. :2 cents:

oh negative as in i havent seen one either.

Here in sweden most banks offer them, you get it set up online so you can load it whenever you want and it gives you a new CC number everytime you want to make a purchase.

Im always amazed these companies stay in biz. Are surfers really that dumb? Sadly, I guess many must be or they wouldnt do it.

that;'s what i would like to know!

you can buy them at shoppers, etc.

some are reloadable some arent

u can get prepaid mastercards / visa's are drugstores.. anyone that sells alot of different giftcards usually has them as well now

western union has one.

99% of the "for free" programs do this. It's just a trial membership but instead of paying 1.95 or whatever it's free the first few days.

Nothing wrong with it if the terms are clear but ofcourse in many cases people get billed to hell because it's impossible to find out what exactly they signed up for.

Personally i don't push for free programs because i don't believe that the ratios are better than any other program where the surfer has to pay right away. If you click something because it's advertised as free and then you have to give your cc info...it looks a bit dodgy right?

Also look at it this way. Some of these programs don't charge the surfer at all. But they do have the email of someone who is interested in adult stuff and has a credit card.

Now where a general email is worth let's say 50 cents (double opt-in) an email with a confirmed cc attached has to be worth at least double that or probably 4 times that.

Just selling that info (not talking about illegal stuff: selling cc info - just the emails and confirmed cc owners) to the right people is worth a lot of cookies.

You pay a small upfront membership and activation fee for your Card ($39.95).

Holy smokes that is expensive. And it takes weeks for it to get mailed out. :disgust

So um... You've never promoted a site with free trials or what?

Actually, very little. I promote revshare primarily... only exception was the Hustler $100 PPS a couple months back... that was a sweet promo and I did very nicely and it's a trusted name, but generally my thinking is, if you need to offer crazy PPS then your content must suck because your not banking on any rebills (cross sales only), because it sure ain't because you love affiliates and want them to get rich... and if anyone actually believes that, well nevermind. :helpme

i always pass on promoting free trials.... why lie and say something is free when they have to pull out the credit card... its not free

:2 cents:

Nothing is free. It's just marketing. You already knew that. Why the thread? It isn't like that's something new to anybody here.

:2 cents:

actually there are consumers out there that actually think its free.

You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond it is another dimension - a dimension of sound, a dimension of sight, a dimension of mind. You're moving into a land of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas. You've just crossed over into the Noobie Zone

And that's the point of that marketing technique :)

shady shitty billing tricks for sure

This type of marketing appeals to the most basic user ... one who expects something for nothing, but is uneducated on how to find it for free. After getting burned they transition from that "curious" consumer to one that either:

a) pays for membership or clip sites
b) continues to search for "free" methods for their porn pleasures.


If they continue to expect something for nothing, FUCK THEM. Hope their computer clogs up with malware, viruses, spyware etc ... making them lose valuable data :)