Who doesn’t want something for nothing? We all like free stuff, but is it true you can get things free on the internet? Yes, you really can. But why would a company want to give something away?

In one word, advertising. They offer samples of their items free as an incentive to get you to try their products, or promotional items branded with their logo. Are free t-shirts your passion, or mouse mats perhaps? If you like to try new things, food samples are quite readily available. Books, cds and beauty supplies are being given away as well.

So, how can you get your share of this merchandise? There are several ways. Keep in mind you sometimes have to fulfill certain requirements to receive the goods. Some offers require you to fill out a form, answer a questionnaire, or sign up for their mailing list to be eligible for the free merchandise. Others require more elaborate methods like getting 10 people to join, or submitting 5 friend’s email addresses. You can sign up for email lists which will send you a weekly update of the best free things out there. Some websites maintain an ongoing list of the best offers at the time. You can also enter “free stuff” on most search engines for hundreds of results. Below, rather than listing individual offers (which expire and change almost by the minute!), I’ve listed some great places where you can get info on current offers.

justfreestuff.com is just fantastic. Current offers include makeup, toothbrushes, books, and so much more.

free2try.com has tons of freebie links, many of which are trial subscriptions with an option to cancel within a specified time period.

onlyrealfreestuff.com is just that; they only list offers which do not require any money. They have listed different offers from those I’ve seen on some of the other sites, its worth a look.

This one is unique! At startsampling.com you can receive one free sample per day, with several offers to choose from. I’ve received Jolly Rancher candy, Kellogg’s Snack-Em’s, Life Savers, and some terrific tea samples so far.

freebies.com (the homepage of Freebies magazine) lists a few enticing offers for terrific free stuff, with the hopes you will subscribe to their magazine.

Free coupons are yours to print and clip at coolsavings.com.

Samples and trial sizes are a great way for companies to advertise without bombarding us with commercials and billboards. If you do sign up for these offers and the company asks for your opinion, please be courteous and reply, they do value your opinion.