Yeah.

Mini story.

Back in the day, me and my best friend got on a mailing list for samples. We didn't do it intentionally, but it ended up being pretty cool. We'd get all kinds of stuff. Some of it was shit, some was good, the way you'd expect.

But over the years, those samples worked. Sensodyne, the toothpaste for example. Tried a sample, and since it's as good as anything else as toothpaste, the fact that I preferred the taste more than most was enough to switch.

But the cool shit was when they'd ask for feedback. Sometimes you'd get full sized freebies.

One of those was the candy, take 5. A pretzel with caramel, covered in chocolate. This was before they were for sale. We tried the samples, sent in the little card, and a few weeks later got boxes in the mail full of the samples, asking us to get other people to try it. So, we did, and those people usually sent the cards that came in the box the we gave them.

Turned out that the little number on the card was our number. So, when people sent in the cards with feedback, they knew it was us doing their marketing for them (that's what the whole thing is, it wasn't just them being nice). Well, another month or two passed, and we see them in stores. And we would buy them here and there, because they are insanely good, if a tad too sweet overall.

Then, we got more boxes from them, packed with the full sized packages, plus a whole booklet of coupons, and a surprisingly nice little form letter of thanks. It ended up being something like fifty free packages, twenty free coupons plus another twenty of half price.

I played the free demo of Factorio for about 10 hours and got hooked. Waited a bit to see if the price would go down, but it didn't and I didn't care. Bought it at full price and sunk a few hundred hours into it, which is some of the best entertainment ROI from a cost/hours perspective. It turned out to be a bad ROI from a general life perspective since I didn't do much else during that time, so be careful to not get too addicted.

Winrar and mIRC are pretty good but I'm not quite sure yet...

Back in the 90s when PC GAMER magazine would include demo CDs, there were a handful of games I liked enough to go buy the full game.

Some furniture wax. And I still use it, I just bought two more tins.

Does marriage count?

/s

Shareware, AKA “try before you buy”, now known as free game demos.

My first one was DOOM on 3.5” floppy disks. I remember my dad asking “What’s this I.D. software you ordered?”

I was in NYC for Pride the other year and got a sample of a cannabis drink made by a new-at-the-time company Cycling Frog. Flavor is good for a seltzer type drink, and the inebriation level is tailored to be about equal to 1-2 alcoholic beverages, which makes it easy to dose. Hubby and I loved it and bought a couple of cans on the spot. They are now available in dispensaries near us, and we still pick up a case every few months.

I don’t go to Costco but every few years and I went hungry with a friend who has membership and bought too many of the samples I had

Costco samples sometimes. Doesn't happen often though. I think the last time was this huge bag of popcorn that was actually really good.

Video games, for sure.

Protonmail yes

It wasn't a free "sample", but I got someone's hand-me-down leggings and they were so comfortable that I bought a new pair when I needed a different size.

I got a 90 day "sample" of Ableton in 2020 with a midi keyboard I bought. At the end of it I had a few songs out and they gave me another 3 months for some reason. Now I've been using Ableton for nearly 5 years, full license.

• Cracked Minecraft Beta 1.7.3 to full Minecraft Beta 1.9 Prerelease 5. (I don't like Microsoft and Notch is a Nazi)
• Cheese (before I was vegan. I kinda miss free food sampling)
• Monthly countrywide public transit ticket (well 9€ wasn't free, but for a net of 39,000 km railway alone plus every other PT except HSR, it basically is). 49€ now, 58€ in 2025 (=> Subsidy regimes are not on parity to motorised individual traffic)
• Library subscription

Sometimes when I go into the big booze store for wine. If they have samples of a type I'm looking for and it tastes ok, I might buy. They're usually sampling wines at very acceptable price points.

I always test drive cars before buying.

I change hobbies like I change my clothes. So to keep from sinking way too much into every new hobby, I try to borrow or rent for a bit before buying to make sure it's a hobby that I will stick with. Example, I picked up dragonboat racing this summer but declined to buy my own $120 paddle and used the clubs slightly heavier, older, paddles that are a little big for me. If I keep going with the team next year, I might buy a paddle. But first will buy a new PFD so I don't have to wear one of their "one size fits all but it's going to ride up halfway to u/Vanth's ears" lifejackets.

I definitely did at a BBQ place near my old office. If you give me a bite of good BBQ, I’m buying what you’re selling.

Usually beef jerky

Always buy from the grocery store sample person.

Yea, snacks are the most likely culprit for me.

I received a "gift with purchase" lip balm. I usually just toss it after discovering how sticky/goopy/fragranced/tingling it is, but this one was really mild/neutral/pleasant so I got the full one when I finished the sample.

Plasticity (3d software)