People abusing free online samples?

One thing that irks me is when people abuse the free sample system. In Canada, there is a website called redflagdeals.com. Basically you will find the cheapest people in the world in this website, whenever people find something free(i.e free sample), they will post it in the forum, everyone will fill out the forms and kill whatever quantity that company has allocated.

So what do you feel guys feel about people who ask for samples and have no intention of buying even if they like it. They just want to smell nice for a couple occasions for free.

Some examples of how cheap these people are.

1) Most think cologne is a waste of money and all of them recommend to just shower.
2) If you need to smell nice, just pop into the store, spray whatever you need and take off.
3) Some of these people give samples away as gifts to there loved ones.
4) Some people will takes these samples and sell them off for profit.
5) If something was grossly mispriced and they know they cannot get it at this price because of a correction notice, they will try to pricematch with another company even if that company loses money doing it.
6) they think most people that buy cologne do it because of Body odour.
7) those that do buy cologne there will only buy 20 dollar fragrances and never bother with anything else.
8) If they get a free samples that consists of a moistened toilette, they will complain how cheap the company is.

People who actually cares about colognes and want to samples something prior to purchasing care I think might care.

I think samples are meant for a target audience that are willing to buy, not just cheap people who want something for nothing. I might not lose money in all this but I might lose getting a chance to get a sample of something I might want to buy. I have already seen companies run out of samples because of cheap people taking advantage of the system. Some examples that come to mind is lacoste and Hugo Boss.

Heck I think all companies would be far more willing to give samples, if people were not willing to take advantage of such a system.

I think the ones who irk me are the ones who think buying cologne is a waste of money. But when it is free they are all go.

To those that cannot afford it, perhaps some sense of charity might be in order. But even this should be limited. When I went to the department store, on several different occasions i noticed a hobo come in, spray 40-50 times on himself and take off.

I live in a city where it is easy to find a job and welfare programs are in place to ensure everybody is guarenteed a minimum standard of living, and anybody even the challenged which this person is not, can get a job. I thinks this hobos problem is the same as his application of cologne. You can't just hide stink, you have to find a real solution to the problem.

Just to clarify things, I meant online free samples. Those that actually try to score samples through coming in actually make some effort to obtain it and somewhat deserve it. However as Dimitri described someone trying to score mass quantities of samples at once is wrong, however atleast most people aren't this bad.

But onlines are the ones that get killed. I don't think any company can afford to mail cologne to every if even those not interested get cologne. E.g Someone posts in a deals website in the freebies section, get a free sample of cologne. As a result, way more cologne hits are received and the company runs out of samples much sooner than expected, and given to those that have no intent in buying their product.

Some examples of this to me is hugo boss(from vials to moist toilettes and run out) and La Coste(run out) and to an extent frederick Malle(who ships smaller quantities now).

I think the companies wanted to give samples to people who are actually searching for their product and wanted to find more information on it. Not someone on a deals forum trying to score a freebie.

I think because of the abusive system however companies that could afford to release samples have had to cheapen their samples because alot of people who have very little interest in cologne start gettting the samples because all it takes is filling out an address.
This dramatically makes it more difficult to sample a scent in regards to making a purchase. E.g the postcard, a postcard makes it very hard to experience all the notes of a scent.

Look at hugo boss for example, they used to give vials or atleast to the main application(not the friends), now its just post cards for everyone. I am actually happy about this because it makes cheapskates less satisfied for their actions and is way more sustainable for the company. If I am interested I might come in to the local shop, spray some on and sample it. Although it more effort on my part, it prevents cheap people from taking advantage of the system. And since my department store knows I am a good customer they will often give me a sample to take home(atleast now they do).

I don't mind if samples are given to prospective buyers or even people who genuinely like scents and appreciate them. But its those who have money and would never spend a dime on cologne because they think it is a waste of money or those that even sell their samples on ebay. Look at ebay and and you will see someone selling a 5 mL sample of frederick malle bottles for sale(frederick malle doesn't sell 5mL samples). Its these that bother me, and there is alot more of these people than you think.



Honestly, if someone put free 20 dollar cologne sample on a deals website and told them to fill out a form and posted a link to the frederick malle website. I know the deal would be dead in a couple months. The only thing saving it is the obscurity of the name to the general public.

I feel like everybody at basenotes can appreciate the stuff as it is our addiction and hobby. But its cheap deal websites that kill the deal for people that can really appreciate this stuff.

I kind of agree, I would not mind paying a dollar for samples and them take away free samples altogether. As long as I could pick the samples I want and have them shipped to me rather then getting random samples altogether. I think this is a good solution. Even the very poor could afford a dollar or two if they can afford a computer.

Although I couldn't organize it. I wouldn't mind if their was a club where we paid 5 dollars a month. Where a group somehow organized a network where we could sample any scents and have I guess a yearly limit(maybe 50-60) on how much we could request so people wouldn't over abuse(also no repeats requests). The person requesting the sample would still have to pay shipping, but I would like to join such a group. I can imagine it being the only solution as no companies going gather such a large network of samples other then the people that own them. The biggest giver away of samples would collect part of that 5 dollar membership base and even smaller ones would in some form of collection percentage.