The .Plan

One of the latest things that has been making its rounds on the Internet since the fall is the “free MacBook Pro” offer. The basic setup is that you sign up for some “trial offers” and in return you get the laptop. In the link just cited, the writer signed up for 18 trial offers on October 4, 2006 and had the laptop in hand by October 30. After cancelling all of the trial offers, the writer’s total out of pocket cost, net of shipping and refunds, was $98.69. Unfortunately, the terms of that deal have changed, and now there is a clause that prohibits participants from cancelling the trial offers prior to 90 days. That substantially undercuts the attractiveness of the deal.

There is a new Web site, ShopFreePay.com, that offers a similar setup, but the range of gift items is broader. You can complete 18 trial offers and get a MacBook Pro, or you can just complete 2 or 3 trial offers and get an iPod Nano. Since I have been on the market for a new digital camera, I thought I would give it a shot: complete 5 trial offers for a new Canon SD800.

Risks: 1) Increased volume of postal spam. Not a problem since I’m moving in 3.5 months anyway. 2) Increased volume of e-mail spam. Not a problem since I created a dummy GMail account precisely for this task. 3) Increased volume of telephone spam. This could potentially be problematic since the only contact number I could give out is my cell phone number. I’ve already got it on the Do Not Call list, and if I notice a rise in telephone spam I guess I’ll have to do it again. 4) Reduced credit score. For the most part, you can choose which trial offers to complete, but for some of the big ticket items like the MacBook Pro, it is sneakily set up such that you end up applying for one or more credit cards. For the Canon SD800, you can avoid applying for credit cards if you are willing to sign up for Webhosting services. 5) Failure to cancel services in a timely fashion. This could be a potential problem if you are trying to keep track of 18 different trial offers and scanning the fine print of 18 different contracts trying to figure out how in the heck to cancel it within the “free” trial offer period. The vendors do their best to set up barriers to cancellation, and in many cases you are only permitted to cancel by telephone (ie., assuming you are able to get a human on the other end of the line).

Benefits: 1) Canon SD800 for a fraction of the regular out of pocket price. Enough said.

Alternatives: 1) Wait for a camera deal to pop up on BensBargains.net. However, I’ve been following that site closely with my RSS feed, and the only Canon deals are for the SD900 which I consider to be an inferior camera. 2) Pay full price. Out of the question. I never do that.

In order to manage risk #5, I set up a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet with a list of the vendors, their contact numbers and hours of operation, important dates, logs of all contacts I had with them (including cancellation reference numbers and the name of the service rep with whom I spoke), and all out of pocket costs:

I began signing up for trial offers on March 10, 2007. ShopFreePay.com verified my participation by March 12 whereupon I cancelled my subscriptions across the board, the Canon SD800 was shipped on March 13, and it finally arrived today! It was packaged in a box from Amazon.com, apparently sent as a “gift order” but with no order slip.

At this point, my credit card has been charged $253.85. All of the trial offers have been cancelled, and $217.18 has already been refunded. There are one or two packages that I need to mark “REFUSE - RETURN TO SENDER”. Hopefully, all of that will proceed without a hitch.

Looking to buy a place in that ridiculous market? Check out my brother’s new project:

SFHousePrices.net

This salesman of foreclosed homes has a response for everything:

When mortgage lenders get stuck owning dilapidated houses in shabby neighborhoods, they often call James Odell Barnes.

Mr. Barnes works the rock bottom of the housing market, what his lawyer calls the “sub-subprime market.” He and his partners buy foreclosed homes by the dozens, sight unseen, often for just a few thousand dollars apiece. They resell them to low-income buyers who would have trouble qualifying for bank mortgages, providing many buyers with seller financing…

Mr. Barnes says that because the houses cost so little, it isn’t worth his time to inspect them before buying. He guesstimates what they’re worth, based on experience. Most buyers of foreclosed homes spruce them up before trying to resell them. Mr. Barnes wants nothing to do with renovation, a time-consuming and expensive process.

Houses are sold “as is.” When one buyer called to complain about finding a dead possum in a newly purchased house, Teresa Kastanes, who is married to Mr. Barnes’s lawyer and helps with the business, recalls responding: “Listen. I’m throwing in the possum for free.”
–James Hagerty, “Foreclosure Rise Brings Business To One Investor”, Wall Street Journal, March 14, 2007