Do your homework!

Just because Gratis Networks is a legit company who is actually giving away "free" iPods does NOT mean the road to your "free" iPod is safe. The internet is indeed a dangerous place at times, and scams are all about. Before making any moves or completing any offers you need to be sure that what you're doing has been done before, and would be recommended to others.

Here's a link. Bookmark it. RateTheOffers.com

Rate The Offers (.com) is a site I came across in my travels while doing referral trading. (Something I'll explain in a bit more detail in a future post) I was in the middle of a week long stretch of completing offers for other folks and realized I was running out of the obvious 'safe' offers. (Blockbuster, Stamps.com, Real Rhapsody, Napster...) I was about to steer into uncharted territory, but I wasn't willing to go alone. I asked some friends for advice, and was shown this site.

Rate the Offers (.com) is user driven. Call it the epinions of the freebie website world. It compiles feedback from the general public as to their experiences while attempting to get their shiny new free thing. Which offer they completed, how much it cost them, if there's a trial period, how easy it was to cancel... as well as user comments. It does the same for the websites in general, and even has a ranking system to show which sites are the safest.

CAUTION : because this website is open to the public, ANYONE can post on it. Including people who work for the sites that you really shouldn't join. Make sure you read at least half a dozen comments on an offer before you try it, and pay close attention to the details of the transaction : namely how much its going to cost you. I've found several offers which seem simple enough when you sign up for them : get a free trial of this diet pill, just pay S&H. What they don't tell you is that they're going to charge you $99 a week later, and claim that you didn't return the pills. Not only that, but now you're on some sort of diet pill subscription that's impossible to shake because they don't have any customer service you can speak with (for a reason) and when you finally get it all sorted out... you're out a bit of money, and left wondering why you even started doing this in the first place.

Be careful. Look both ways before crossing the street.

Do your homework.

And remember : When in doubt, don't.