We did a short interview with Burke Jones, owner of FreePalms.com, a site pointed out to us today by a reader that appears to offer the same sort of deal as FreeiPods.com, except this time giving away Zire 72, Tungsten T3, and Tungsten C PDAs. Since they’re site is a little spartan, we figured we’d ask some basic questions that those interested might have. While I’m relatively convinced this is on the up and up (as much as FreeiPods, at least), please don’t take this interview as any sort of endorsement of their program.
What kind of deals do people have to sign up for?
We have an assortment of offers available from some of the most
trusted organizations. For example Blockbuster Online, Netflix,
Bargains.com – everyone should be able to find at least one offer they
are interested in participating in.
How long have you been doing the FreePalms program?
We have been in development for several months. We have officially
been “open” for only a few days. Tactical Gear Inc. (our company)
runs several other web sites that sell everything from flashlights to
gun vaults, so the fullfillment end of this business is nothing new
for us.
How many have you sent out so far?
We have not sent any Palms out as of this date. However, I expect
that to change shortly as many of our members are almost finished with
the requirements.
How are you making revenue yourself?
We have partnered with companies that provide us with revenue when one
of our users completes an offer. Through this revenue stream we are
able to provide the free Palms to our users.
What sort of turnaround could people expect?
Once a user has completed the requirements, their product should ship
out within a couple of weeks. This allows time for us to do a
thorough fraud review of the account.
Could you do just a quick break-down of the process a customer would
have to go through to get their Palm?
Here is how the process works:
1. Sign up and complete an offer.
2. Refer 8 friends to do the same. They each have to complete an
offer just like you did.
3. Thats it!
Are you selling customers’ information to anyone besides the companies
they sign up with?
Just to clarify, we are not actually selling customer information to
the companies they sign up with – each of those companies will have
their own privacy policy that may be different from ours.
At this time we have no immediate plans to share the signup
information with third parties. Although our privacy policy says that
we have this option. Please note that we do not collect any financial
information like credit card numbers on our site.
Do you have any plans to offer the newer Tungsten T5 or Treo 650?
We do not plan to offer the T5 or Treo at this time. The three Palms
is what we will stick with until they become obsolete. The three
units we have now fit a price point that makes it economically
feasible for us to continue this business.
The Signup Page [FreePalms]
