Psychologists tell us that the word “free” sets off a mental trigger.
Endorphins are released when you see the word ‘free’.
Yet, ‘free’ also makes us immediately skeptical.
People say ‘free’ is never free. Free means that you have the opportunity to receive something without cost.
The reality is that nothing is free! The only question is – who assumes the cost? Nothing is free until someone has first paid for the item.
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Reasons To Beware Of “Free”
“Free” is often a marketing word. Researchers tell us people would rather buy one and get one free than buy two for 50% off. Any word that becomes a marketing resource is a word that should cause us to pause. When something free is being offered always stop and ask the question – why would they be offering that product to me for free?
Free might simply mean there is not a dollar requirement, but there might still be a cost. ‘Free’ can be a terribly inconvenient thing at times. Free can also be extremely time consuming. When someone offers you a free product, ask yourself if a cost is involved other than price.
Reflecting on my own experience with’ free’ I think many of us have a fear of free – and rightfully so. This month I have been offering a free eBook to new and existing subscribers on my site (www.moneyhelpforchristians.com). I offered that book to my readers ‘free’ in that there was no financial cost to the book. However, in this case there is a requirement – a subscription to Money Help For Christians. Furthermore, free to my readers did not necessarily mean free to me – the one who provided the eBook. When I offered the book free I did not ask readers to cover that cost; I carried it. This concerned people. Many were looking for the catch.
In the case of my eBook I was hoping to increase my readership, and so in exchange I was willing to offer a free incentive. Since my motivation to offer the product free was known, you could proceed with confidence. Once you determine why someone would offer the product for free, you can evaluate its worth. If, however, you cannot figure out why it would be offered free, it is quite possible something else is happening that you are unaware of. Avoid unexplainable offers of free.
Free – Consumer Implications:
As a consumer you need to remember that nothing is free! When something is offered ‘free’ it simply means the provider is assuming the cost. Typically, there is a valid reason for this. When you get a better deal, you spend more.
Just because something is ‘free’ does not mean it is better or even cheaper for you. Many organizations offer a free month or two for a subscription based product because they know most people will be too lazy to cancel their subscription after those free months. Remember, free is a marketing word.
Free – Ethical Implications:
While remembering that nothing is truly free, we should recognize that anything you take for free is coming out of someone else’s pocket.
Consider the the following example. You check out of the store and when you are unloading the groceries you realize that you unintentionally didn’t pay for an item. At this moment that item is ‘free’ to you, but the store has now assumed that cost. This is why it is important to pay for the product as you now have the product. Theft is a means by which some people get items free. However, a price has been paid – honesty, trustworthiness, and integrity were all sacrificed. As a result, the cost is assumed by the store owner instead of the customer.
How about another seemingly silly example? When you eat at a fast food place and you load up your bag with 50 ketchup packets so you can use them at home for ‘free’, you need to remember that all you are doing is transferring the ketchup bill from yourself to the restaurant. The ketchup is not really free – you just didn’t pay for it. In this case you essentially determined it would be more appropriate for another to pay for the item so you could have it for free.
We should only accept free products when they are offered.
Free – Christian Implications:
and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. (Romans 3:24 NIV)
As I read the Christian story I notice and embrace the importance of our freedom from the unrelenting forces of evil. On the one hand, the grace offered to us is free – we pay no price for our salvation. However, ultimately one cannot speak of forgiveness as a free product since a terribly substantial price was paid for forgiveness.
The beauty of forgiveness is not that it comes without a price, but that the price was not passed along to us. God assumed the cost. Though not ultimately liable nor responsible for the price, Jesus assumes it and pays it.
I, for one, am extremely thankful for God’s free gift of his son – Jesus Christ.
What good or bad experiences have you had with “free”?
Our kids have been experiencing the duplicity of the FREE word in regard to cellphones. They will download music or videos to their phones because the come on says FREE. What the marketer means is free for 30 days, but if you don’t cancel within 30 days, the meter starts running. It’s a perfect ruse to pull on kids.
Another area though is public services. People have come to think of those as free and might use them freely without considering that all of us have to pay to support the services, so demand for the services rise and so do taxes.
Healthcare is another area. We pay for insurance premiums, then milk the system on tests and procedures of questionable quality just because we don’t have to pay for them directly. But we all have to pay for them collectively.
Kevin@OutOfYourRut´s last blog ..On The Radio
I think when things come for free one should be careful, but not all free things are bad. Although 99% of the time when companies giveaway free items is a marketing campaign we can take advantage of them.
A few years ago a cable provider when into heavy marketing and offered me FREE PVR in exchange for my old receiver, after some thought I took the offer and its now been 6 years I have had FREE PVR which costs $30/mth plus taxes.
You just have to take a closer look but often free can work just great for consumers.
Of course I am talking about ethical free items and not stolen.
I have more than once bought something else on Amazon to get the ‘free’ shipping. I read in “Predictably Irrational” that when they decided to use the free shipping model they saw dramatic increases in sales, everywhere but in France, where shipping was 1 franc (twenty cents). Since it wasn’t free it didn’t have the psychological effect that it did everywhere else. When they finally changed from one franc to free in France they saw the same sales increases.
Craig,
While I think your cautions against free might be true in many cases, you should note that not all free offers have some kind of hitch.
I’ve been offering a free ebook about contentment on my website for quite some time. I’m not even requiring people to subscribe. I feel that the message is so important that I’m willing to give it away as freely as possible with no hitches or anything that might cause someone to find an excuse not to download it.
I’ve not heard any comments about reservations in regards to downloading that free ebook, but I have had a couple people thank me for the work I did. I know it’s helped bring some people closer to God, and that’s worth more than anything to me.
Sometimes free is a really good thing.
Paul Williams @ Provident Planning´s last blog ..Make Money by Selling Your Stuff
@Paul. You are right that not everything has a catch. I appreciate your offering a free eBook. I’ll be sure to check it out.
@Jason R Fisher. Thanks for the example. Free does certainly make us spend more at times. That is the strategy. Companies don’t exist to give us good deals, but to make us spend more through great deals.
I run a business Construction company which offers a service and work free to the consumer. The company did 5 million in business our first 18 months and opened 7 offices across the country. Of course in my case free to the consumer literally means the bill is passed onto someone else, the homeowner insurance company. It also means free isn’t really free it’s a provision of having and paying for homeowners insurance. Most consumers never write me a check, they pay their insurance company a premium and their insurance company pays me. A new roof, siding and gutters are free of charge because you subscribed to your insurance. If you pay into the plan you can get a $10,000+ of work done for no current lump some out of pocket cost. It’s like amazon prime or other subscriber based discount services.