Free is free, right? So how can there be different categories of freebies and free offers? Well, there are. Those wily marketing executives are always coming up with new tricks to get us to help them cut costs and hopefully continue to buy their products. And so they have devised different variations on standard offers for freebies.

In general, freebies can fall into one of four categories.

1. Free
   Just what it should be. One–hundred percent free, no strings, nothing more to buy, no shipping and handling.
2. Small fee required
   The product is technically a freebie, but the company offering the freebies requires you to cover shipping and handling for a small fee; these shipping and handling fees should be minimal – as a rule of thumb, under 5% of the cost of the product (if you were to buy it)
3. Trial offers
   These types of freebies give you something for a designated period of time for free, then charge you for the product or service if you do not cancel before the freebie trial period ends. These are often the freebies that ask you for a credit card number. If you don't want to incur charges, you have to be sure to keep track of contact information and cancel the subscription/offer before time is up. Thirty, sixty, or ninety days is a normal free trial period. Magazine subscriptions or memberships to organizations/websites often use this type of freebies marketing.
4. Incentives
   These types of freebies require additional participation ("free w/participation", etc.) afterwards in order to receive your freebies. You might have to fill out a survey or take part in more offers. The trick with these types of freebies is also to keep good track of what you have to do and when you've fulfilled your obligation (along with contact info) so you don't end up paying out.

There's nothing to say that one type of freebie is better than another or that one kind is not legitimate; in the right context, all types of freebies are both valuable and legitimate. But like everything else in the freebie marketplace, you've got to be clear about what you are getting yourself into so that you don't wind up costing yourself more than what you are getting in return.