Listia

[meinzorn]

OK.. so I just stumbled onto this site called Listia and it seems too good to be true so I figured I'd ask this community if they have used it and what their experiences have been with it.

It is supposed to be a place to give things and get things for free (with shipping being the only cost if necessary)

It uses a point system where you can bid on items using points that you get (I'm not entirely sure I understand how you get more points)

It seems that this could be neat if done right, but I get a feeling that it is something that is profiting for the owners and not so much for anyone that uses it.


Anyways, I guess I'm just asking what others experiences are with it..

 

[deadlyapp]

Without going to the site, i'm guessing that in order to get "Points" you have to do something like - do surveys - sign up for stuff (some of which may be free or some that require a credit card initially) - or get other people to sign up.

All of which the owner probably profits from. It's just like the sites that offered a free ipod or tv or fill in the blank, but required quite a bit of legwork to do so.

Sure, there were people who were able to do it without spending a dime, but they were working wayyy harder than the brains behind the operation.

 

[ahenkel]

Without going to the site, i'm guessing that in order to get "Points" you have to do something like - do surveys - sign up for stuff (some of which may be free or some that require a credit card initially) - or get other people to sign up.

All of which the owner probably profits from. It's just like the sites that offered a free ipod or tv or fill in the blank, but required quite a bit of legwork to do so.

Sure, there were people who were able to do it without spending a dime, but they were working wayyy harder than the brains behind the operation.

You don't have to sign up for surveys or even have a credit card. A paypal account does help to pay for shipping.

Its not a free Ipod scam or anything like that. It's just a way for people to give things away that are of little value to them but might be of use to someone else.

You get points by signing up, then using the service just like you would ebay.

 

[deadlyapp]

Oh, so it's like a barter website? So say I've got an old monitor thats useless to me, I can put it up, get points for "selling" it, and then use those points on another item?

Thats actually pretty nifty and would make sense as it's not truly 'free'

 

[ahenkel]

yep exactly there's no money changing hands. Well except for shipping costs, and some items are free shipping. You can't buy points you can only earn them by using the service.

 

[meinzorn]

ok, so if someone "buys" something off of you with points.. you get those points to bid on things from other people? It seems like a great idea if thats the case.