(CRIENGLISH.com)
Updated: 2007-12-05 09:39

Eating food, driving a car, living in a new hotel or trying on cosmetic products, and you don't have to pay anything. Is there such a "free for all" wonderful thing in the world? The answer is yes.

According to website www.itry.cn, there are about 150,000 people in southern Guangdong who have registered on the website as "free interns", waiting for such "give it a trial" deals, such as using free skin care products and new mobile phones.

Itry.cn has so far about one million registered members nationwide.

The website says most of its members are white-collars who love to chase after new fashions. These people have to provide basic personal information before they can choose products for trial use. Trial products cover a wide range: from toothpaste to food, from mobile phones to hotels, from cosmetics to cars. All that you can imagine might be included on the list.

It is not easy for all itry.cn members to get the free trial service. For example, there are 4,000 people applying for the trial use of one brand of cosmetics, but only 20 people actually get a chance in the end. Producers will take applicants' education background and income level into consideration. After trial use, they have to file back reports to the manufacturers. If they don't have any comments they will be refused a second chance.

Why do manufacturers offer such "free lunches?" Someone said it is a trick used by the manufacturers. Promotion of trial use can attract many people's attention. Those people who have enjoyed the free service can then play the "word-of-mouth" role. In addition, manufacturers usually choose their targeted clients as free users, who are more likely to purchase more products after trial use.