A person was telling me how he just signed up for this in-store credit card and how he got such an awesome deal. Basically, anyone who signed up got this free small portable radio player of some sort that was the size of a cell phone it seemed. To him he basically got like $30 for free.
The funny thing was I passed by a store not too long after and was surprised that I saw that exact same player for sale. Wouldn’t you know it, the price was $1 and there was a stack of them. And no, I didn’t end up telling him that.
You always have to think too as if the guy is willing to throw in all these little items for free just how much are they really worth? Buying a cell phone is a great example as many times dealers say they throw in all these phone holders and extra goodies that are worth over $50 yet you can probably find them in places like dollar stores as well.
Seminars and workshops are the most prolific examples too I’d say as companies often clamor that just for attending you get these high valued items for free. Similarly, they are probably only worth few dollars in the market.