Free stuff just by asking for it? Anyone tried this?

masterthief

thanks for the posts - and do't apologise for the length of them, lol, if you've had lots of successes its worth writing about.

yeah, the complaint letter success thread has a lot on there about ppl complainingand getting free stuff as compensation, but I wanted to know how often ppl got free stuff that way and how often ppl got free stuff just by asking, so feel free to keep posting.

I have a couple of emails sent off and will post about them when I get replies/a sufficient period of time as passed.

as a serious point for this post though, I'm considering making a sort of 'press pack' (since I'm a girl who plays guitar), and hitting some companies up for informal 'sponsorship' of me. I often get girls (and guys) complimenting me for being a rare girl guitarist who rocks, so I think it might be in the company's interests to give some stuff as 'product placement' esp. since there's been a move among guitar companies to start actively marketing towards girl guitarists. obv, I'm gonna focus on companies I use a lot anyway, then widen it out if I don't get enough success. the 'press kit' will include pics of me playing, some 'moody' non-playing pics (lol), some mp3's of my own tunes and some show-offy guitar tunes too. what do you reckon? is there anything else I should include? are there any companies you think might be willing to support a young chick guitarist in this informal way (i.e. the occassional mail-out of stuff for as long as they choose, in return for me using it and promoting it at gigs, on websites, etc).

LizD_2

Maybe some of the 'alternative' clothing companies? I'm thinking PunkyFish and similar.

Merry_Wanderer

Masterthief - I am sure that if a company feels a good match to you then they would be happy to. Good on you for the cool idea.

masterthief

thanks for the responses guys - yeah I was thinking about Punkyfish...........my first pair of Punkyfish jeans were soooooo comfy I wore them to death. Then got a replacement pair (diff. style same brand) but was way less impressed by them. Might check them out on the web, thanks for the suggestion!

I'm strongly considering the surf brand O'Neill - once I get a decent 'press pack' sorted so can put a strong case. As a big company, they might send some clothes (since it would probs be a negligble amount of their annual business), and I do wear them anyway. I actually have a warm jacket and fleece from them, both bought almost 10 yrs ago and both still in great condition despite me not taking great care over them, so their clothes are real quality - and I recommend them anyway.

the grand master(thief)plan is, of course, to persuade Gibson to give me one of them pretty purple-burst girl Les Pauls.......they're around the same price as a 'real' Les Paul but have holes drilled in them to lower the weight and make them more chick-friendly.....TBH if I had that kinda cash, I'd want a 'real' LP, but the purple-burst is sweet, and none of my local guitar/music-shops stock them so I've no idea if they're any good (the music-purist in me feels the overall sound quality will be compromised by the holes). But that's a long way off yet.

Merry Wanderer - PM'd you and v. interested in what your company does, cheers for posting.

victoriajayne1987

i emailed pg tips like a day or 2 ago saying i love their tea. Got a letter through the post today thanking me for my comments with a £2 voucher for any unilever food item.

vixarooni

If you have a genuine praise for a company than its fine.

But drawing up lists of who to write to on the off chance you might get a freebie isnt. Thats the angle im going down.

Perhaps people who write these letters should write to stores about good customer service. instead of about the company directly. It gives people who work in retail a boost when (especially at this time of year) customers are in the foulest moods and you wonder why you bother helping people at all!

masterthief

I do take the time to thank helpful staff in stores, but the staff in stores aren't really responsible for the quality of the product. And I will return to particular stores on this basis - I put an average of several grand per year through one music and computer shop in my town, rather than using the other one, based primarily on customer service. I'll even (where possible) pay a premium to support this local store (its not a major chain) rather than buy on the internet (within reason, obv, I've only got so much funds).

I get what you're saying about not drawing up lists of who to write to, if you're just sending random impersonal 'great service' letters in bulk in the hope of some freebies. But complimenting certain companies (e.g. I could name my top 3 clothes, guitar, amp, etc, companies instantly based on their quality) shouldn't be frowned upon.

I don't really think that drawing up lists for a legitimate 'sponsorship request' isn't out of line either. It is, at the end of the day, what PR people get paid to do. And the companies do have the right to say no if they don't feel it is advantageous to them.

But anyways, that my opinion. Sorry if I sound like I'm getting argumentative with all these defence-posts, lol, I just feel a lil obliged as the OP to respond. I think we al agree that some form of consumer-producer communication is okay - but where do we feel the parameters of this should be drawn?

kalchis

every year i aim to raise £1000 minimum for breast cancer, last year i sent out letters to all the companies i could asking them if they could donate something for me to rafell or ebay to raise money, all i recieved was one teddy,
i am going to try again this year as i realy need to raise the money for charity or i feel realy bad, im hopeing to win some prizes worth rafeling aswell:j ,

bigmomma051204

kalchis wrote: »

every year i aim to raise £1000 minimum for breast cancer, last year i sent out letters to all the companies i could asking them if they could donate something for me to rafell or ebay to raise money, all i recieved was one teddy,
i am going to try again this year as i realy need to raise the money for charity or i feel realy bad, im hopeing to win some prizes worth rafeling aswell:j ,

I also do this kind of thing for a couple of charities - what i would say is that the companies that you approach would probably like some proof that you are actually doing what you say you will do with the products - i usually get a letter from my charities just supporting my claims. Otherwise it all sounds a tad dodgy to companies! Also, smaller companies are much more likely to give out stuff in my opinion - and if u promote them as part of the deal (ie, if selling on ebay make sure buyrers KNOW that the company has given the item free of charge AND give their web address or shop address) they are also more likely to be generous!

HTH
:A

lollylolly

My husband likes painting model f1 cars. Last year he painted one and noticed at the end that the instructions were wrong and that a part of it should of been painted a different colour. He was very annoyed and I told him to email the company that make them and they sent him a brand new model set from Germany. Took a while to receive but it did all the same!!