If you’re looking at signing up for your first home broadband connection you have plenty of things to be aware of. You’re concentrating on looking at speeds and data limits, but there’s another factor too. Many providers will offer free gifts as incentives to sign contracts, and these can be fantastic deals. In this article you will find out all about broadband with free gifts so that you can know what your options are.
Why You Get Free Stuff
There are a couple of reasons that you get free stuff, depending on where the offer is coming from. Free gifts from broadband providers themselves are simply the result of competition. There are plenty of broadband providers to choose from in the UK and they’re all vying for new customers, and that means that many companies are willing to offer you a free gift as an incentive to sign a contract with them rather than with the competition.
Third party free gifts are also a question of incentivizing. Some broadband providers let other companies sell their contracts, and these companies then get commissions for each contract they get signed. Sometimes these third party contracts are a little cheaper than buying directly from the provider, but more often you’ll be offered a free gift as an incentive to sign up with the third party company rather than through the provider where you’d be offered a contract at an equal price.
What Kind of Free Stuff You Can Get
There are tons of offers around and you can get all kinds of stuff for free. Probably the most common free gift is a wireless router, which is handy because you’ll probably need one if you’re going to be signing a broadband contract anyway. If you are looking into combined cable television and broadband packages you will also often be offered a set top box or DVR of some description, which again is pretty handy.
Mobile broadband contracts sometimes offer free laptops or tablets to go along with them, so you can make great use of that new mobile internet service. All kinds of broadband services can offer free service or discounted service, and these are always great offers that will save you a fair amount of cash on your annual bill.
Third party offers can really be anything. Electronic devices such as iPods and televisions are common offers, as are vouchers for high street shops or supermarkets. You might even get bottles of wine, cinema tickets or restaurant gift certificates. The options really are endless, so you’ll want to do your research.
Where You Can Find Free Stuff
The majority of special offers are to be found online. Online shopping for contracts is cheaper anyway (since overheads are lower for retailers) so you should always try internet shopping to get the best general prices. With so many offers and so many providers though, going to each provider’s web site to find out about their offers can be kind of frustrating.
It’s best to use one of the many broadband tariff comparison sites out there to let you know what your options are. Sites like uswitch.com will let you find contracts that are offering free gifts, and even narrow down your search options so that you’re only seeing the kind of gifts that you’re interested in. These sites are by far the best way to research your options.
How You Get Free Stuff
There’s nothing complicated about this process, though in a moment we’ll be talking about how to make sure your deal’s a good one. You’ll simply need to go through the sign up process and whatever gift you choose will be yours. This does mean that you need to be eligible to sign a contract in the UK though, so you’ll need to be eighteen, a UK resident and you’ll need to pass a credit check as well.
What to Do to Make Sure It’s a Good Deal
Of course, it’s always best to make sure that you’re getting a real deal, especially if you’re shopping on the internet. This means that there are three main things that you’re going to need to do to make sure you’re getting a great offer.
The first of these things is to makes sure you know exactly what you’re getting. Especially if you’re being offered electronic products like televisions or laptops, ensure that you know the model name and that you research that model so you know it’s a good one. Unfortunately, many less than reputable third party sites use these free gifts as an opportunity to give away low end or discontinued products that they can no longer sell.
This brings us to our second point, make sure that the company you’re dealing with is reputable. With major UK broadband providers you’re probably going to be fine. With third party offers, things can be a bit more dodgy. Go online and check out customer reviews of the company before signing up, if other people have had a good experience, go for it, but if customers report problems you’ll want to look for a better company to do business with.
Finally, make sure that you’re getting something that you actually want and will use. Offers with free service or wireless routers are practical ones, since you’ll use these things. An offer with a free iPad can be tempting, but if you don’t need one and you’re not going to use one then there’s not much point in signing up really. Don’t sign a contract to get something that you don’t need, just look at one of the many other offers available and choose something more suitable.
For first time broadband buyers there are tons of options out there, and many companies reserve their best deals for new customers to get them to sign contracts. With some careful shopping and a little time and patience you can get both the broadband plan that you’re looking for as well as a great free gift.
Phil Turner was asked for advice by his son-in-law about first-time broadband choice. He advised him to look for broadband with free gifts.
This article is copyright free.