A Guide to getting the most from free trials

It's an age old marketing trick to provide consumers the chance to consider using a product or service before committing to buy it. Most of the time this can be useful for both parties, as consumers can get a taster of a thing that they could decide to buy later on and then the merchant can share their wares, increase their reputation as well as perhaps win many new clients. Inside the digital age you'll be able to get free trials for all kinds of things, be it DVD rental, antivirus software or a web based credit checking service and every one of these items have good and bad aspects that are worth taking into account prior to signing on the dotted line.

The initial question you'll want to address is whether the corporation offers the trial offer for the best reasons. The best type of free trial offeris one with completely no strings attached, even though this is becoming much rarer considering the growth and capability of online payment. Many firms will require that you pass some private information to be able to register with a free trial. At least this can mean passing on your current email address, although you can do this relatively safely if you get the choice to stop the firm passing it on to 3rd party advertisers.Occasionally you will need to give credit card details and it is at this time that you must be cautious. Often firms will make reference to something as a free trial when it could be better referred to as a free first month of service. You will have to opt out once the limited free period is up so that you can make sure that you are not charged for something you no longer want, or within the worst case scenario sold on a lengthy contract.

It is important you read the terms of a free trial offer before you sign up, as the length and content of the trial offer will differ in each circumstance. Many will last for a fixed amount of between a few hours and a month, at which point you may find that your service becomes inaccessible until you buy the full version. Alternatively you may be automatically charged as mentioned above, so prepare yourself with all of the details from day one. Some trials may operate slightly differently, with a set quantity of usage based on variables such as time or data being determined once the trial begins.

When you find yourself coming to the end of your free trial offer and you have decided to cancel the service, you need to contact the firm and make them aware of your intentions. Make sure that it is explicitly clear in any correspondence that you are not going to continue, particularly if you have given card details and do not wish to be charged. It is usually sensible to set a reminder on your PDA, phone, computer or calendar highlighting the period at which the trial offer concludes so you remember to get in contact, as you must never rely on the firm to contact you because it is in their interest to keep you signed up for as long as possible.

In essence the most effective way to benefit from free trials is to read all of the small print inside the terms and conditions before you give any details. The large, established firms act relatively transparently and must make it easy for you to opt out before any kind of payment is taken, but this is not always the case, so caution is advised.

Some free trial sites are better at offering transparent offers than others. For some of the best on the net take a look at: freetrials.co.uk