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30 day free trial offers - what's the catch?

by Spyder77
7 replies
I've noticed some of the "lite" free services I'm using are offering a 30 day free trial on their full package. One example: I've been using Hub Spot's free site checker and blog grader as one set of tools for improving my blog (and recommend them highly to any other new IM'er who's still learning the ropes of site/blog building as I am). They also offer free 30 day and 60 day trials on other optimization & promotion products too.

I've noticed a couple other companies offering similar promo offers: sign up and get a free 30 day trial - is there a catch? Any negative repercussions if you elect not to continue beyond the trial period?

Or is the type deal where you part with your credit card info for the freebie and they promise only to bill you if you don't opt out before the 30 days is up - otherwise you wind up a paying subscriber and discover the charge on your credit card.

Just wondering what - if any - catch is involved with these types of offers.
#catch #day #free #offers #trial
  • Profile picture of the author christopher jon
    30 day free trial offers - what's the catch?
    That you forget to cancel in 30 days and are charged for the next month. Best case scenario, you forget to cancel for months and month and month.
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    • Profile picture of the author Warrior X
      Originally Posted by christopher jon View Post

      That you forget to cancel in 30 days and are charged for the next month. Best case scenario, you forget to cancel for months and month and month.
      This is true. I remember reading in a Seth Godin book how AOL still has 1000's of people who have never canceled their monthly service 10 years later (remember those CD's with 1,028 free minutes or whatever). That company still gets a passive income for basically doing nothing.
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  • Profile picture of the author Vlad Romanov
    As mentioned above they rely on people that will either A. like the software and keep using it or B. people who use it once and forget to unsubscribe
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  • Profile picture of the author BlakeM
    Some make it really hard to cancel after you sign up, but with most you can cancel with no harm done and no fee paid.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jeannie Crabtree
    This has been used before and seems to come back around every once in a while. For some things, 30 days is a nice long time and people find they cannot do without it, so continue.

    Example: Eban Pagan is doing a thirty day free trial at this time, so it is not just those that think they can sucker people into signing up and forget to get off before the trial is up. Some are really publishing top quality information.
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  • Profile picture of the author TryBPO
    I used to think the "catch" was that they wanted to get you signed up in the hopes you'd forget to cancel, but I have a new perspective on that approach.

    I think, like anything, that there's a bit of a learning curve to starting/trying anything new. Because of that, the people offering the 30 days know:
    1. Their service is good, helpful, etc. They know that if they can simply get more people to try it out, they'll make some believers, instant fans, and will quickly increase their user base.
    2. Their service is a bit complicated. It will take you a little while to figure it out and, once you've passed the "learning curve" you won't want to go with anyone else, so you'll stick with them.
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  • Profile picture of the author fccs
    There isnt really a catch.. it's just annoying if you don't cancel as said above
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