A Web wanderer spends 10 hours at the PC finding giveaways

While my shopping spree saved money and trips to the mall, it wasn't as free as I had hoped.

First, I spent about $80 out of pocket mostly for shipping and handling charges. Then I had to wait up to two weeks for my products to arrive in the mail. Finally, I learned that some stuff was not in stock and had to be back-ordered.

That said, there's little reason to complain. Among my loot: three CDs (Etta James, Dave Matthews and Miles Davis), the board game Scrabble, a silver frame for my beagle's picture, a blue button-down shirt and enough toiletries to last me months.

In the spirit of the challenge, I also used a free Internet service provider (www.netzero.ne) to go online.

Self-imposed ground rules limited my ability to collect even more free stuff online. For instance, I decided before my shopping spree that product samples such as jelly beans wouldn't count toward my tally, and neither would partial discounts, such as $5 off a minimum purchase of $40.

"There's an old saying, 'Vote early and vote often,'" says Robert Haft, president of Vitamins.com, an online retailer.

"The same thing applies here. It's a consumer heyday. ... This is about the best it's going to be."

Mr. Haft's site offers new customers $15 off their first order plus free shipping. I bought a large container of 180 Vitamin C wafers. My total out-of-pocket cost: a nickel.

It's reasonable to ask how companies such as Vitamins.com can survive if they continue giving away free stuff. According to the prevailing attitude on Wall Street, the winners are the ones that attract the most eyeballs, not necessarily the most profit.

Sites are falling over each other to attract new visitors because they strongly believe that the first company
to attract the customer will reap lifetime loyalty and a bundle of cash.

As fast as technology changes, though, so do the online offers. Since my free online shopping spree last month, several deals have evaporated.

Within a couple of days after I ordered, Paulfredrick.com stopped its free shirt giveaway and replaced it with a free tie offer. The free offers at toysrus.com and npo.com have likewise expired.

Not all is lost, though.

Healthquick.com, for instance, still subtracts $15 from a first-time purchase. Ourhouse.com continues to deduct $10, with no minimum purchase.

Naturally, retailers don't give away free stuff without an expectation that customers will return and purchase goods at full price. Nearly all sites ask consumers when they are registering if they would like to receive e-mail reminders of promotions. In most cases, the company
has already checked the "yes" box, requiring users to make a conscious move to change it. Since I didn't want my mailbox to be flooded with reminders from dozens of companies, I checked no.

Some offers of free stuff require customers to perform several steps to earn the item for free. For instance, I purchased the Microsoft Encarta encyclopedia, which retailed for $35, from Beyond.com. I used a $10 coupon for first-time buyers to reduce the program's cost to $25.

Not so coincidentally, I found that Microsoft is offering a $25 rebate on all Encarta purchases. Once I get my rebate check, I will have only spent $4.95 for shipping and handling.

Another site that requires customers to spend money upfront, only to get reimbursed later, is Singleshop.com. Singleshop allows users to find the cheapest price for books and compact discs by searching the prices offered by several online retailers. Customers receive a check from Singleshop equal to the value of their first order, up to $20.

My selections: the book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil and a Dave Matthews Band CD -- arrived from Borders.com, but I am still waiting for my rebate check, which takes four to six weeks to process.

In the course of my browsing, I found one site (www.cyberrebate.com) that is devoted entirely to finding product rebates.

When venturing into cyberspace, I received immense help from friends who had been trying this since before Christmas. And I was greatly aided by coupon-clipper sites and discussion boards, where shoppers share bargains and offer promotional codes that help secure deals not advertised on a company's Web site.

Several coupon-clipper sites alerted me that I could combine a first-time user coupon at Ourhouse.com with another $10 promotion to receive $20 in free stuff. The news was too late for me, though, since I already received my 96 kitche
n trash bags. But I was able to log on again and get another $10 in free stuff using the promotional code. This time, I chose a toilet scrubber and two bottles of Lysol bathroom cleaner.

At other sites, making money seems too easy. X.com, an online bank, offered potential customers $20 just for signing up, even without making a deposit. In addition to getting $10 more every time you referred a friend or relative, X.com allowed you to transfer the money into other bank accounts. After receiving my bonus cash, I transferred it right away into my other bank account, and sure enough, it worked.

Several sites, including Bestbuy.com, offer customers $10 gift certificates that can be used when the sites begin operations. Others, such as Theathletesfoot.com, offer gift certificates that can be used either online or in their physical stores.

The two best deals I received online were the free dress s
hirt from Paulfredrick.com and $20 in free postage from Stamps.com. The latter site allows you to print real postage stamps on your envelopes, packages and certified letters.

Stamps.com also offered me a $10 gift certificate from buy.com for registering within 24 hours of downloading its software.

Database administrator Christopher Leidy, 27, started his coupon site
(www.couponsdaily. com) in December, offering helpful hints on getting free stuff online.

"I see no end in sight to coupons," says Mr. Leidy of Ann Arbor, Mich. "Once you see the deals obtained, it takes you two to three minutes and you're hooked."

Geoffrey Kleinman, who runs the Web site www.DVDTalk.com, says consumers should take advantage of the offerings now before it's too late. DVDTalk.com hosts an online forum devoted exclusively to free stuff, and hundreds of people participate each day.

"We are in a unique time where e-commerce is still in its infancy," says the 29-year-old who runs Web sites for a living.

"There are a lot of new businesses that are coming out online that are going to give you things, deals, discounts, products to win you as a customer.

"It's a wonderful time to be an online shopper."

Even though my challenge has ended, I continue searching online for great deals. And the free stuff continues to arrive.