New Site

It looks nice enough - I'm just wondering what the catch is...

Looks good, seems well coded, no errors.

Now to the nitty gritty are you using the forum for promotion what is the catch ? what is done with the database of names you will eventually compile ? I am always naturally suspicious of these types of sites. Why are they/you giving away goods. I'll have an ipod, but are you going to spam the 5 names I refer on to you.

Hugo.

Hi,

There is no catch. If you click on & meet the criteria of any two offers and you can get five people that you refer to do the same you will get the item you choose for free. I am hoping to add some more offers on there later.

The cost of the goods is less than that will be made from the commission from the offers (which is how they can be given away for free).

The database is used to store details on which people have clicked offers etc. They will also get a weekly (or monthly) email with other promotional stuff that might interest them but they can opt out of this. See privacy policy.

The five people you refer are kept in a database but will not be spammed. Just sent a one time email from yourself.

Ok.... so maybe I am after a bit of promotion but I am genuinely intersted in what people think of the site (colours, layout, any other comments etc)....

Thanks

Asa

and there's me thinking pyramid marketing had its day back in the 80s. :?

i-Pod for me tooooooo, pretty please.
I'll come and collect it, to save you postal charges and give you 5 names at the same time
They are all close neighbours, all on the same post code - can your database handle that :?:

As to the site. There isn't much to go on unless I give you an email address and I ain't going to do that - oh no!

Well you are entitled to your opinion but this differs from pyramid marketing in many ways. Pyramid selling depends on referrers referring referrers. I think that's why they call it a pyramid

In this case you reffer 5 people and thats it!

Only one offer is permitted per household. See our terms & conditions and privacy policy:

http://www.hotfreestuff.co.uk/terms.php
http://www.hotfreestuff.co.uk/privacy.php

Asa Carter

Well, I refer 5 people to get my i-pod then each of them refers 5 people to get their freebies. So 1 goes to 5 - goes to 25 and so on. Beginning to look like a pyramid to me.

You miss my point entirely about the post code. There are in fact 11 separate *households* in my road with the same post code. Not uncommon throughout the UK, I suggest. So will your system accept only me and reject anyone else who has the same post code?

In this case you reffer 5 people and thats it!

Without having looked at the site at all I can tell this IS a pyramis sheme from your comments here alone :roll:

Next you'll be spamming out email addresses no doubt, where was that Obfuscator again lorraine ?

Yes but with pyramid marketing and in your example "1 goes to 5 - goes to 25 and so on". The person at the top gets all the benefits and is why they do not work and are illegal.

In this, 1 person relies on their 5 friends registering. Their friends then need to refer 5 of their friends to get their free stuff, but this has nothing to do with the first person who reffered them so it is not pyramid marketing.

The database allows identical postcodes but the database is monitered to ensure their are no multiple households as per the terms and conditions to ensure quality leads to the advertisers.

Asa

Also

Once regestering your sponsors offers page is all a bit messed up in FF, things are overlapping wrongly.

Also you refer a friend email validation is not that hot. You should tell me which one is in error it was quite tricky to spot the one that was "wrong", and probably have a more complex test, you can get all manner of shockingly invalid addresses to pass.

Ok. thanks for that. I will take a look.

Asa

Ah but I'm not the person at the top am I? Go figure.

In this, 1 person relies on their 5 friends registering. Their friends then need to refer 5 of their friends to get their free stuff, but this has nothing to do with the first person who reffered them so it is not pyramid marketing.

The database allows identical postcodes but the database is monitered to ensure their are no multiple households as per the terms and conditions to ensure quality leads to the advertisers.

Asa

One last thing on this, there might be some minor legal difference here, BUT in my view any scheme that will eventiually run out of people to make it benefitial to it's members is a pyramid. At some point there will be no one left who is not registered to make up the referals and hence there will be lots of dissapointed people. Smacks of a pyramid to me but as I said there maybe some complex legal definition I don't know about.

Of course any scheme or company could eventually run out of people to sign up in theory. Tesco car insurance could insure every driver in the uk and would run out of people but how likely is that. There are millions of people in the uk.

All I am trying to do here is introduce people to offers that might interest them. For this I take a commission and reward the person that signed up for it by giving something back that they want. Somebody could look up car insurance in the yellow pages and pay for it over the phone and get nothing back for it. If they click through to an insurance site on the web site, it will count as one offer. All they need to do is introduce 5 of their friends to the site and when these 5 have clicked 2 offers the user gets his item for nothing. It's really that simple.

Some of my advertiser's conditions are that they do not advertise on illegal sites and they review each site that contain their banner's.

Watch out for these schemes. If you don't cancel the scheduled charges you will not be happy with your credit card statement in a month or two.

What scheduled charges?

I didn't notice any ongoing charges but I have read the FAQ and Terms and Conditions very carefully.

As 12 offers have to be taken up (2 by me and 2 by each of the 5 people I refer) before I qualify for the free gift - I *might* be more interested if I knew which companies have signed up with you and what sorts of goods and services are on offer, before giving you another 6 live email addresses. What's wrong with fronting some of those details to make your service more tempting?

Alternatively, I'll take the free Parker pen, Air Miles, Nectar points (or whatever) that I know would be coming from the Insurance Company, rather than expect 5 friends to buy 2 items (we know not what choices they have) each just so I could have an i-Pod.

Have you/the site owner registered under the Data Protection Act 1998? You should, of course, and I would have much more confidence in your Privacy Statement and some of the Terms and Conditions if you did. I can't find Argyll New Media in the "Public" Register.
http://www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk/eventual.aspx?id=319

That's a terrible comparison. Each person using tesco car insurance, pays an amount, gets a service. Everyone is happy.

For you, people give names get an i-pod, the people wh are given then have to do the same to get something for themselves, eventually there will be no new people to give and the people at the bottom of the pyramid get nothing whilst you get their details to sell on of do what ever with. The countless losers at the bottom are by no means happy.

Never said what you are doing is illegal, just morally redundant

All that besides Lorraine raises a good point, I would never sign up to this sort of thing with real details without first having an idea what I might be able to benefit from. The front page contains far too little information.

Registrants details are not passed on to any third party.

That is a very good point about not having enough information about the offers that are available without signing up. This is something I will consider if people feel they want to know what the offers are first.

I am looking into registering with the data protection act.

. . . . we need to get this topic back on . . . topic or should I split it into 'Pyramid Schemes' in the OT section?

No TPH, let it run it's course.

Ok.. so would people be in favour of clicking on six offers rather than having to rely on five other people to click on offers?

Personally, I'd be in favor of not being spammed, but that's just me.

I take it you have not read the site's privacy policy then Triumph?

Actually, I'm talking about disguising an advertisement as a Site Check.

I did require a site check.

Also, as I can see from your feedback, the idea of referring 5 people does not seem very popular. Can anyone suggest other ways that people would be more willing to get their free gift?

For example when they click on an offer they will get credit for it. When they have so many credits their item will be shipped.

Any other positive feedback would geat.

Thanks,

Asa

A better way of people getting a free gift is to visit your website, select their gift, type in their address, and you send it to them.

Nobody gives things away for free.

The winner!

Oh look - déjà vu - all over again.
http://www.freeipods.com/Default.aspx?N=1&P=186

Step 1. Fill in your address
Step 2. Receive free iPod

Anything else is not worth anyones time.

Just look at it - seen anything very much like that before? - go to the top of the thread. :roll:

http://www.hotfreestuff.co.uk works under a similar principle but offers a greater choice if items available to choose from.

Asa,
What I see here is a kind of pyramid scheme, or some other way to make money for you without you actually doing any work, and a lot of people who really don't want to help you...

Well I have explained how it works and your all adults so you can make up your own mind.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/3683524.stm

The site is doing quite well now and several people are already on their way to getting their free stuff after a week. All I can say to the people that don't join is that they are the ones who a missing out.

I think we already have. See ya.

Unless this is getting back on topic, it's going to go downhill.

PM me if you want it reopened, or split into the off-topic section.