Doing Freebie Offers on the A4F Forum

Extra tips for trading Freebie offers

• Relax. I was very tense about signing up for things that I thought would be a pain to deal with later. Turns out that as long as you keep good records of each offer, you will know what to do and when to do it. It’s all about being organized and following up. I have a freeware program called CutePDF Writer that once installed becomes available as a printer choice. You can Google to find a download site with the latest version. Every web page I come across while doing offers I print to a pdf file and put in a folder named for the offer. I also make sure that I find the Terms of Service (TOS) and print that to pdf or text. Never do an offer without any information on the terms and how to end it if you so choose. If you can’t find any info on the TOS, skip that offer.


• Another tool that I have found to be absolutely essential is RoboForm (Google to find). This is a program that will save forms of information so that it is usually only one click to fill out a full webpage of information. It is really useful and a time saver. It also keeps track and will fill in passwords for you, and works VERY well. There may be other comparable tools out there, but I have not seen them. I believe the Google toolbar also has some of these features but I have not tried it yet. RoboForm has a freeware version with limited capability but you can get a fully functional version for 30 days for free. I ended up paying to keep the fully functional version as I can’t live without it.


• Sometimes you get screwed and don’t get credit for an offer. For example, I once selected an offer that redirected me to some other offer. I completed it but did not get credit. When I complained they told me that they don’t pay for redirected offers. Beware that the offer that you do is the same as the one you selected at the freebie site. There are also rare times when you just never get credited. So far that has only happened to me twice. When any of these happen, you can either do replacement offers or cancel the trade. I have never done the latter. Usually you can find another offer that will get you the credit. If you find that you cannot find any offers that you are willing to do, you can just leave the trade hanging until some time in the future. The freebie sites are always adding or removing offers so you may be able to finish it sometime down the road. Why give up the potential green. There is no penalty for doing it later.


• When trying to decide which offers to do, I always look for free ones followed by very low cost ones and then by ones that I may not mind paying for as I might want the product anyway. There are times, especially after you have completed many offers, that you will find it difficult to complete the site without choosing a more expensive offer to finish the green. I look at it this way, any money I can make is better than not finishing the site. I have at times paid out more than I got paid for the site. I did receive goods that had value but it doesn’t seem like a good way to make money. These are the tough decisions that you have to make. I usually will do whatever I can to get the green. If I don’t want the goods that are sent, I can sell them on eBay and recover my costs. As long as the buyer pays shipping, everything bid on the items is profit to you. The bottom line is that I want the green so I can raise my TR rating and be able to pay others to do offers for me (the ultimate goal here). The higher the TR the more likely you will get people to do offers for you. Also, each site you complete adds another link that you can trade to others and build up you choices.


• Try to have fun with this. I really enjoy getting the goods that are given for free or low cost (e.g., coffee, jewelry, books, DVD’s). Its fun when the stuff arrives in the mail. Some of the stuff I have given away as gifts (children’s books, jewelry, etc.) which you would have to pay for anyway, so it saves you money.


• Lastly, I can’t emphasize enough to do the cookie clearing routine with each order. You will hear about various methods of doing this on the A4F forum but this is what has worked for me:

1. Before doing anything, run Cleaner (freeware, Google to find). It will really clean your system of all the spam cookies and other junk. I also run it every night before shutting down the PC so I know that I always have a clean boot up. This may not be necessary, but is reassuring to me.


2. I always use Internet Explorer (IE). I understand that FireFox will also work, but have heard that it can cause problems. Others swear by it. I have had good luck with IE and am sticking with it.


3. When you are ready to do an offer, for IE, go to the Tools menu and select “Delete Browsing History”.


4. Close the browser window for the freebie site.


5. Open a new IE browser window


6. Click the link for the freebie site. I always put the link in my Favorites Bar until I’m done working with that site. Then I will move it to a favorites folder for later reference. Login to the freebie site if it is not already logged in. Closing the browser window does not usually log you out.


7. Select the offers page and if necessary the page where your offer is located The page and location of each offer are on my spreadsheet for this site. Complete the offer, printing to pdf all the web pages that come up, especially the last ones that states you completed the process and will usually provide you with some sort of reference code or number.


8. LEAVE THE OFFER WEBSITE OPEN FOR AT LEAST 10-15 MIN AFTER YOU ARE DONE WHILE CHECKING THE FREEBIE SITE (REFRESH) PERIODICALLY TO SEE IF YOU WERE CREDITED. This is crucial to getting credit. Don’t just close the window and start another offer. Wait until you get credit. Sometimes you will get it in a minute or two. Sometimes it takes the full time. Other times you have to wait days or weeks (not very often). If after 15 minutes, you don’t see the credit, go ahead and work on the next offer.


9. Clear cookies and close the Freebie site browser window and start over for the next offer. Always be patient and move slowly. Don’t rush. Make sure that the browser pages fully load before moving to the next step.

When I follow the above, I have little or no problem with the offers and my stress level is kept in the safe zone. Good luck and happy trading!

Suggestions

1. Keep very detailed notes of every step. I have a spreadsheet that I will send you if you would like a sample. I keep it in Google docs, but it can be loaded in Excel. I can’t stress enough how important this is.

2. Always read the TOS (terms of service) or other detailed (small print) information on each page while completing an offer. You will definitely need this later. If you don’t find it, don’t do the offer. You will regret it later.

a. I print each page to a pdf file using cute pdf (free program). And keep all pages in a folder under the freebie website name.

b. The TOS is often a link on one of the pages. Right click the link and open it into a new browser window. Print it out and save.

3. Save your confirmation emails for your reference.

4. Keep track of when your trial period ends. If you decide this product is not for you then before your trial period ends, you need to contact the customer service and discontinue your trial.

5. If you happen to cancel your trial membership or order, be sure to keep a confirmation number given to you by the offer customer service. If they do not give you one, be sure to ask! They have one or something to give you.

6. When you want to re-enter, be sure to go to the "log in" tab, etc. This is easy to find on any of the sites.

7. Never create another account on any same site, you will be BANNED.

A4F - Freebie Site Offer Completion Instructions

If this is the first time for you, please carefully read through the steps below. Do not actually do the steps until you have read through them carefully at least one time. Also read the suggestions at the end. When you are ready to start, follow the instructions step by step. If you need more help, PM me and I will try to get back to you as soon as possible.

Before doing any offers, make sure you turn off your firewalls, antivirus software, antispyware software and any popup blockers, including ones from toolbars. You can turn them back on after you are done doing offers for the day. It won't hurt to have them off as long as you only go to the freebie sites or A4F, etc. These don't have viruses or spyware. If you don't do this step, I can assure you that some of the offers will NEVER credit.

Step by Step Instructions for doing offers:

1. Choose some of the easier, lower payout, sites below.
   
   
2. Look at the offers by clicking the offers link.
   
   
3. Make sure you can (are willing) to complete the offers for the site before going further.

1. Notice the # of credits or % required to go green (complete all offers).
   
   
2. Put the cursor over some of the offers to get information about them.
   
3. When you find enough offers to do the site, don’t stop there. Make sure there is one or two extra offers that you could do if you needed to should one of your offers not work out. This does happen and we all have to put up with it occasionally. But you don’t want to be left hanging with a freebie site that you can’t finish. Don’t start it if you can’t finish it.

4. Close the offers page and click on my Trade Offers link in the upper left corner of this page.
   
   
5. Click the “More Info” link next to the freebie site that you are planning to complete.
   
   
6. Enter your PayPal email address in the edit box next to “Your Paypal Email Address” comment.
   
   
7. Enter your email address that you will use to sign up for the site in the edit box next to
   “Email you will use to signup” comment.
   
   
8. Click the Yes button next to the “Commit to Trade?” comment.
   
   
9. Click “Yes” to the message box that pops up.
   
   
10. Click the “Initiate Trade” button.
    
    
11. Now wait until I send you a Personal Message (PM).
    
    
12. Set up IE for accessing freebie sites

1. Start a fresh Internet Explorer window.
   
2. Click on the "Tools" menu option on the Menu Bar.
   
3. Select "Internet Options".
   
4. Click on the "Privacy" tab.
   
5. Click the "Advanced" button.
   
6. Select the "Override automatic cookie handling" checkbox.
   
7. First-party Cookies should be set to "Accept".
   
8. Third-party Cookies should be set to "Accept".
   
9. Select the "Always allow session cookies" checkbox.
   
10. Click "Ok".
    
11. Click "Ok" to close Internet Options.
    
12. Close Browser.

13. Run the cleaner (preferred) program, or clear your cookies from your browser (see links below if you need help with this).
    
    
14. Go back into the Trade manager and click on the “Offers” link. This will take you to the site.
    
    
15. Go to the login page and sign up for the site. Each site may be a little different, but similar signup procedure.
    
    
16. Make sure you use all valid, true information about yourself.
    
    
17. After getting logged in, go to the offers page and select your first offer. Make sure the page is fully loaded and done before the next step.
    
    
18. Complete the offer using valid credit or debit card information, prepaid debit cards is not allowed.
    
    
19. Make sure that each web page of the offer's website loads completely. Sometimes an image file may take awhile to load as it is verifying with third parties.
    
    
20. It is important that the "completion/confirmation web page" loads fully.
    
    
21. After completing an offer, leave the offer webpage open on your computer for at least 5-10 minutes
    
    
22. If you are doing multiple offers on the same site/webpage, don’t start the next one until this one credits.
    
    
23. If the offer does not credit after 10 minutes, then it is ok to continue. Sometimes the offers don’t credit for 1, 2 .. 30 days. Sometimes they never credit, but this is unusual. Most will credit within 10 minutes if you do everything as stated above.
    
    
24. Before you complete another offer, clear out your cookies and cache – this ensures you do not have any conflicting cookie files.
    
    
25. Do not cancel an offer right after completing it. This is considered offer fraud and you will be banned from the freebie site in addition to other freebie sites. You will not receive credit and will not get paid. You must make a good faith effort to try the product per the trial period. This is very important.
    
    
26. You should receive a confirmation email from the offer site. It is important that you save this email in case you have to submit a credit request (CR).
    
    
27. If you did not get credit, there are many reason why this could happen. After waiting the stated time period, but a minimum of 24 hours, you may put in a CR with the freebie site.

1. Go to your email box and find the confirmation email for the offer.
   
2. Make a copy of the email with the full header information (click here for info on how to do this).
   
3. Go to the support page
   
4. Click on the CR link.
   
5. Select the reference offer from a drop-down list
   
6. Paste the email in the edit box provided.
   
7. Add any other comments that may apply to this situation.
   
8. Submitt the request. It may take a day or two before it is read. Then it could take up to 30 days to get the credit. Patience at this point is necessary.
   
9. Contact me and inform me of the situation.