Gifts with purchase are a common marketing technique used to encourage people to buy products. They are offered in many industries, including cosmetics and infomercials, and can include free samples, reduced rates, or buy-one-get-one-free deals. However, some gifts may require a sales pitch or have hidden costs, so it’s important to consider the value of the gift before making a purchase.
A gift with a purchase is a marketing technique familiar to many. It aims to encourage people to purchase items, in order to receive a free gift. This advertising technique is used in many different industries. It is quite familiar to people who are regular cosmetic shoppers; most major lines of cosmetics in department stores have an annual giveaway with buy-back offers. You usually have to spend a fixed amount to get your gift, which can vary depending on the cosmetic line. For example, you might spend $20-50 US Dollars (USD) on a product to receive a cosmetic bag, moisturizer samples, and a couple of lipstick shades in smaller sizes.
Other companies, like Sephora, always offer free samples with internet or catalog purchase. The sample sizes are very small, but usually you have about 10-20 sample choices and can select three. It can be a good way to try out products you might be interested in buying at a future date, but you can’t always depend on the company offering a sample of the product you’re most interested in.
Another familiar marketing technique occurs in many infomercials. In addition to buying whatever the advertisement is selling, you may be given the option of receiving several free “gifts”. Indeed, these are not completely free. You usually need to pay shipping and handling for any extra “gifts” you receive, so they don’t constitute the same gift with the purchase of one that would be available if you were buying cosmetics. Sometimes the handling fees for these gifts can be very high, so you may want to consider whether the fees are worth the gift.
Instead of offering a gift with the purchase, a retail store might offer a reduced rate on other items. For example, department stores often have large stuffed animals that they sell at a reduced price if you spend a certain amount during the winter holidays. The quality on these varies. Also, since you have to pay for them, they don’t actually constitute a gift.
Other gifts with purchase are not dependent on a purchase, but may be dependent on your time. For example, some auto dealers offer gifts to people who test drive their car, or they may offer free trips to places interested in selling timeshares or real estate. In most cases, you won’t walk away with your gift so easily. You will need to hear a sales pitch; in the case of timeshares this can take several hours or a whole day. The car dealer will definitely try to sell you a car; so make sure the value of the gift is worth it.
A twist to the gift with purchase is the buy, get free deal, which many different stores may offer at different times of the year. Prices usually reflect the mark-up, so the value of such a gift is minimized by higher prices. This may be of little importance if the items purchased are still relatively cheap.
The types of gifts with your purchase that you should try to avoid are usually things like free gifts from auto dealers, timeshare dealers or day spas. Unless you want to hear a sales pitch, these aren’t real gifts. For example, a free monthly gym membership as a gift is usually an invitation to hear a sales pitch about joining the gym, and sometimes there are hidden costs associated with the supposedly “free” month. The gift with purchase that makes the most sense is when you are already thinking about buying something, such as cosmetics, a massage or the like. In other cases, the free gift is simply not worth the purchase, and you still get nothing for nothing since a purchase is required.
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