Frequently Asked Questions

...and links to our Help Pages.

How long does it take to get the free stuff? - OR - How come my freebie hasn't arrived yet?
Well, that depends: I've gotten stuff as fast as one week, as long as two months. It really depends on the company sending it.
   For the most part, stuff usually seems to arrive within 3 - 4 weeks.
   Look on the website giving stuff away for their shipping policy. Some will even allow us to track the shipments from their member pages.
   If you order something and it never arrives don't feel too bad - I've ordered a lot of free samples and then gotten nothing. Sometimes I get an e-mail that tells me that they ran out. It happens, nothing to do about it.
   On the other hand, if you have spent a couple bucks on shipping & handling then you should have gotten an e-mail or other confirmation from the sender with the approximate delivery date, a tracking number and a contact name for any questions.
   Note that I have never been stiffed by a sender that charged for S&H, and I've been ordering stuff like this for over four years. (Once, I did get a refund instead of the CD, but they apologized and included a couple coupons.)

If it's free, why do I have to pay for shipping?
It used to be said that there were two things you could count on in life: Death and Taxes. Today we can add the S&H charge to that list.
   There are large companies that will send stuff completely free, hoping that you will like it enough to pay full price for it later, and legitimate contests don't charge shipping for their prizes.
   But most companies are really too small and operating on too small of a budget to pay thousands of dollars for the promotional materials (samples) AND thousands more to ship it. Spreading the S&H cost over thousands of consumers is the only way for them to get the exposure they need.
   On the other hand, some companies are in the business of making money off the shipping & handling... they buy bulk or discontinued products and give it away "free plus S&H" - and hope to make a little profit on each item.
   The bottom line is that each of us has to decide for ourselves if that bottle of perfume or that CD is worth the $5.95 S&H. Sometimes it is, sometimes not.
   One more thing I've noticed lately - some companies seem to send stuff for a very low shipping cost, then I soon start getting more junk mail, as if they are only after my address to sell it to other companies.
   My advice to you is to find and READ the privacy policy - a legitimate company will have it fairly easy to find and it will clearly state that they WILL NOT sell your information to a third party.

I've seen sites that want a SASE - what is that?
Self - Addressed, Stamped Envelope. You may also see "LSASE" - which is a Large SASE.
   Just take an envelope and address it to yourself, put the required postage on it and put it into a bigger envelope. Send the whole thing to the address from the website and they use the SASE to send your free stuff back.
   You may sometimes be asked to send a "Padded LSASE". Get them from a department store or the post office.

I saw a freebie I wanted but when I tried to get it, they were all gone.
Companies that give away free samples usually have a limited supply, given away on a first come, first serve basis, so you have to be quick to get them.
   I may list a freebie in the Digest in the morning and it might be gone before lunch. It really depends on how popular it is.
   I suggest you read the Digest or visit the "New Freebies" page on the site as early as possible.

Yesterday I saw a good freebie but didn't have time to order it, today I can't find it, what happened?
Well, one of three things: A) The promotion ended and I had to remove the link, or B) The promotion turned out to be some sort of rip-off and I had to remove it, or C) The vendor making the offer requested that I remove the link.

I saw a good freebie in the newsletter, but why I can't find it now?
Well, some of the freebies that get listed in the newsletter just don't last long enough for me to bother with putting them on the website - I'd just have to (try to) remember to remove them in a day or two to avoid having (another) link that goes nowhere.

I signed up for your newsletter, but I'm not getting it, why?
Well, first, thanks for singing up! As to why you are not getting it... either your mail filtering program is rejecting it, your mailbox is full or you did not respond to the confirmation email that was sent to you to verify that it was, indeed, you who signed up.
   If it's being rejected by your ISP it's due to the increased spam filtering they're doing, they don't care if you signed up for it - if it scores too high on the "Spam Index" then you will never see it. (According to a report issued by Return Path, the Top Internet service providers blocked 17 percent of legitimate permission-based e-mail in the first half of the year! Read the whole article here)
  If your mailbox is full the newsletter gets bounced back to my mailing list provider and the policy is to remove any name that gets bounced twice... just empty your mailbox regularly, (Sometimes it's just the 'trash' or 'sent mail' folders that are full) or get an address with a bigger mailbox limit.
(you can get a free "Abby Mail" address, a full-featured web-based e-mail service just like Yahoo, compliments of Abbys Good Stuff and ZapZone.com. It's fast and easy to use ~ Sign up here.)
   If the double-opt-in process was not completed then the sign-up process has to be started over again. Sorry about the extra steps in the double-opt-in system, but that is just a necessary safety feature for me, because even one spam complaint can cause big problems and the 'single' opt-in process is too vulnerable to abuse.
   If you think that none of those are causing the problem, send me an e-mail at the address above and tell me when and where you signed up, and I'll fix it if I can.
  Update: - In November '03 our newsletter became 'online-only' and the mail sent to subscribers is only a short note with a link to the current issue. This short email rarely gets shunted to the spam folder or bounced. and subscribers still get the new stuff before it gets published in the website.

If you don't receive your newsletter, here are the steps to take:
* AOL users: Please add the domain "abbys-good-stuff.com" into your address book.
* Hotmail users: Please select "Options" >> then "Mail Options" >> then "Junk E-Mail Protection" >> then "Safe List". Type in "abbys-good-stuff.com" >> then click "add".
* Yahoo users: If you find your email in the "bulk" folder, please open the email and click the "Not Spam" button.
* Other Filtering Programs: Commercial programs typically allow domains to be added to their "white list". Follow your program's instructions for adding "abbys-good-stuff.com" or
* ISP Filtering: Does your Internet Service Provider (ISP) have a favored mailer or "White List"? If so, please follow their procedures to make sure that "abbys-good-stuff.com" is added.
Your ISP may designate our mail to be sent to a "junk mail" or "bulk mail" folder, or simply block us altogether. Again, please contact your ISP and let them know the mail from abbys-good-stuff.com is something that you have requested.

I'm on AOL and can't confirm my subscription to your newsletter...
The problem comes from the aol email program - it will take an address that is too big and place a line-break in the middle, which puts a space in the address - something like this example link :
http://yourmailinglistprovider.com/abbysgoodstuff.
com.abcdefghi123543njhh-09898knjhs?=confirm-ok.htm
and if you copy/paste it like that there is a space in the line between the (stuff.) and the (com.abc~etc)... the 'fix' is to remove the line-break with a text editor and paste the complete address into the address box, without any spaces, then click 'go'.

Can I get 50 or 100 items for (church/school/club/etc.)?
From most places, no. But - there are some places (mostly religious-related sites or huge, high-volume retailers) that will gladly send you a box of whatever they are giving away - if you email them and ask politely and explain why you want more than one.

Why do you make such a big deal about voting?
Voting helps to keep Abbys on the "best sites" lists, and that helps bring in new visitors and makes it possible to keep the site open. Without new visitors, I wouldn't be able to keep it up.
   Since I don't charge for a membership or beg for donations, voting is a small way you can help me keep the site going, and it's easy to do and only takes a few moments. So please vote every time you come in.
   One more thing: Soprano lists all the popular freebie sites, you can find other good freebie sites and get more stuff.
Vote here ~ It's easy! ~ Just two clicks each time you visit!

I don't want to give out my credit card number online, is there a safer way?
Good question - there are a few ways around this problem:
   One option is to look for an "Off-line order blank". Where you print the form, fill it in and send it via snail mail.
   A few years ago a lady told me she had a special credit card just for using online. She had a low limit put on it and NO overdraft protection, and she said that she checked the balance at least once a week, just to be sure.
   Another option is to use one of the online pay services. My personal preference is PayPal - they are accepted by over 38 thousand stores online. You can find out more about the PayPal service here.

Why are you doing this? - or - How do you get paid?
Well, first and foremost - this is my hobby. Some people paint, others fish, or knit. I surf for freebies, fun & interesting sites and good deals.
   I enjoy getting good freebies and sharing them with my friends and I want to bring to my visitors the best deals in free stuff that I can find. Also ~ because my friends couldn't keep up with me sending them e-mails with the latest freebies I'd found. Now I just tell them to 'see my site' & 'read the newsletter'.
   Also because I get paid for the advertising - the little buttons and links on the sidebar, ads in my newsletter, and about 20% of the links for free stuff - they all pay pennies, dimes or dollars for your clicks. (So - Thank You!)
   I'm not out to get rich off this website ~ I also do it for the challenge: to see if I really can build a big, complex website without spending a dime. (Also partly because a guy I know said I would never be able to make it work.) [Update june '03 ~ We left the free host and bought our own domain and got a paid host. Other than that we're not spending any money on this.]
   But mostly ~ just for fun! My biggest payoff is getting an e-mail from someone who has found a cool freebie and is happy enough about it to send me an email to say 'thanks', it really makes my day!

Can you tell me what companies are just going to rip me off?
Not really - I mean, I'd LOVE to, but can you imagine the lawsuits? All I can really do is refuse to list any company with a shady reputation, or any company that I have had a bad experience with.
   There are some places that make it their business to list known scammers and rip-offs.
   Try these places... And if you know of a good resource like these I'd love to hear about them.