PINCHme

I have been a PinchMe member for a few years now and I used to love the samples. Now though, It's become just another sample site, where you get nothing but spam emails when you select one of their "partner" sites. Not liking their partner sites one bit. I signed up for one and now I get nothing but weird emails for strange products - had to send it to my spam folder. I really am disappointed in this new format. It's not about always getting a box, but having to select inappropriate sites in order to receive something is just not my thing. Sorry, PinchMe... not impressed.

I like Pinchme it's a nice sample site, but it can take a long time for samples to arrive, and you need to be quick when samples are available or you miss out. You can go months before without catching the available sample. I've discovered some good products through this site thanks to all the free coupons I've gotten from them. And there are frequent offers for free magazine subscriptions, though it isn't a wide selection.

Amazing that no one talks about how invasive the QwizMe surveys are. First question is your ethnicity. Second question is your income. People are really OK with sending this very personal information into the Great Computer in the Sky that shares everything and never forgets?

As for the PinchMe sample boxes, you can get them without filling in the QwizMe surveys. The boxes have become more frequent lately. Some time ago, before the days of QwizMe, there was a long period in which no one seemed to ever qualify for a sample box.

This Moroccanoil Blonde Perfectting Purple Shapoo Was sent to me for free by Pinchme to try and give my honest opinion. I got it through the mail I was so excited and I went to wash my hair very first thing. As I put it in my hair I thought it might turn my hair purple. As I rinsed it I felt my hair. And it was so silky. It felt like I had new hair. When I blow dried it it looked so helthy and brought back my sheen. I want every blonde one to try it. I recemend this for blonde it will brighten your hair.and this says this is for blondes. Not tring to leave anyone out.

Read the terms and conditions carefully. They have full access to your Facebook log in credentials among other things. If something is too good to be true, it probably is.

I've been on pinchme awhile and usually qualify and receive a few monthly samples but I still see how ridiculous the quizzes can be and usually dont waste my time. You may not even qualify for most quizzes, wasting time filling out 10 minutes of questions to find out you then dont. And 3000 points for a deluxe sample box? At 100 points for a 60 minute quiz, you will spend 30 hours, at least, trying to earn one of those boxes in a week. It doesnt take rocket science or some pompous 1000 word review calling everyone an idiot to see that pinch me is not for everyone, especially people with lives.

They are slow about shipping but if your order has been placed, they will get to it eventually. You can't just say that it's a scam because they ship late and sometimes you might not qualify for the samples. Also make sure to check your account for updates. They put samples up on tuesdays. I have recieved like 4 pinch me boxes and I have been waiting on tgis box with gum, sleeping pills, and biore skin treatment. I imagine they will ship in the next week making my wait about a month. 6-8 weeks is a good measurement of when to expect your box. You could always ignore their emails unless you are looking for a certain email from them (password reset) Don't bother eith the site's partners or offers. I also hate the wsy they hold giveaways. However the samples that you do get or legitimate products that are useful so long as you didn't lie on your surveys.

At first, I really liked this site. The first few times I was able to select good products to try. Around the 3 - 4 time, not only was their selection limited, but everything was sold out. I even signed on the same day they said their new samples would be released. It is completely free, so I suppose I can't complain too much, but it still stinks that I'm unable to get any samples now.

I was really excited to join pinch me. I love new products and am always happy to share my thoughts on them... However the samples are very few and far between so not nearly as good as I thought it would be

I signed up for PINCHme and was not able to claim samples that day. 3 or 4 days later I get another email notifying me to claim samples. So I did. Claimed samples 10/1 Samples Shipped 10/26. Still haven't received them. I have until 12/27 to post my opinions. The next Free Sample Tuesday comes around and lo and behold no samples available. This time I didn't get to claim any samples 3-4 days later. And now all of a sudden you can sign up for PINCHme Plus and have the option to pay $3.99 to "unlock free samples the day before Free Sample Tuesday". If you ask me that takes the meaning of FREE completely out of the equation. Let's see if I get samples after I receive my Sample Boxes and post my opinion...

I've been a member of pinchme.com for a few years now. When it first started, there were samples every week and you could just choose whatever you'd like. I used to get all kinds of fun stuff and full size samples like makeup, nail polish, soaps, snacks, candy, treats for my dog, etc. Ever since they made me make a "profile," I hardly ever get offered any samples now because my profile "doesn't match the brand partners' offers." Really disappointing! They now offer samples about once a month so if I don't qualify then I don't get anything. Sounds like they've got several hundred thousand people using the site so I guess that's part of the problem. But hey, I got some great free stuff in the past so I can't complain too much

I think this is a great concept but really overpriced. I mean look at other companies with the same model, like birchbox. That's only $10/month, whereas bark box is $20-$30/month. I'm not spending more on my dogs than myself. Ridiculous.

I always appreciate freebies so I'm thankful for PinchMe & I don't mind using my time to fill out reasonable length questions/surveys, feedback etc for free samples. But the feedback for each small sample is time consuming. Before you decide to sign up, decide if you're willing to be at your computer or phone exactly at the time they release the samples (on a specific date at 12 noon EST) & are you willing to fill out lots of feedback questions plus a 50 word minimum review for each individual sample (& now they're incentivizing reviews on actual company sites where as before all feedback was done just on PinchMe's site... read more below).

Side note - just because you finish all of your feedback on time, does not mean you'll get any samples during the next sample offer. I always finish my feedback on time & over the past few months, I wasn't offered any samples in my account. So be aware that you can put in all the time answering feedback but that doesn't guarantee you'll get samples every time they're offered. There's been many months that I've only been offered 1 or 2 samples, whereas in the past I'd be offered 5-10+. This has been an ongoing theme & many are complaining about it so again, decide if you're willing to get zero or just 1-2 samples some months. Word is, as more people have joined they're giving people less samples. Kind of frustrating to long & good standing members.

Honestly, it's a lot of work for some very small samples. If I wasn't bored, I would never use PinchMe ha.

Also it takes a long time to receive boxes, so be prepared to patiently wait for them.

They've just recently made a positive change where they give you 30 days from when they ship the box to finish your feedback. FINALLY! Because for the past few years feedback was due way before I received the box so I couldn't complete it in time for the next box. Then because I couldn't finish my feedback, I wouldn't get the next sample offer. Finally PinchMe fixed that crummy system & is allowing enough time for honest feedback & being able to qualify for more samples. They never should have had that system in the 1st place. That just allowed for everyone to feel forced to leave fake feedback for samples they hadn't even received or you wouldn't get any more samples (there are tons of complaints about this online). It took them long enough to fix this issue, but at least they finally did it.

The only newest change I didn't like is this last time, they basically bribed us to write a review on Burt's Bees website. We had to go to Burt's Bees site, create a Burt's Bees account, write a review & that just felt like way too much effort for a small packet of protein powder. You didn't absolutely have to write the review but it said if you didn't you might not get future sample offers.

PinchMe should be careful with making its users feel obligated to write a review in order to get future samples. This is exactly why Amazon clamped down on their reviews back in October 2016 saying many were incentivized & customers were losing trust in reviews. PinchMe should allow users 100% choice either way to leave a review, saying it will be appreciated but not required & it in no way will affect future sampling offers, not making users now feel forced or they won't get more samples.

This isn't the most ethical way of getting reviews & some people may feel nudged to leave a more positive review even if that wasn't their 100% honest opinion.

Overall I don't mind leaving feedback for free samples because I really enjoy freebies, am grateful for them & I'm bored A LOT. So it's worth it for me. But PinchMe's feedback requirements take quite a bit of time just to get a few small samples. Plus the feedback questions are pretty basic & get boring fast so the process is tedious.

My suggestions for PinchMe would be to shorten the feedback questions and/or make them more interesting if possible & not require/incentivize any reviews, allowing them 100% as a choice.

Side note - if you do sign up for PinchMe, stay away from their possible product trial offers. They're a waste of time with no guarantee of getting any product. I answered a bunch of questions to apply for a product trial (knowing it was just a possibility, not a certainty so that was fine). My issue is, then I received an email at 9am saying I was approved for the product trial, so I was excited & immediately went to claim the product & get started in the trial. It took me to PinchMe's site where I didn't find it anywhere. I contacted PinchMe & they responded saying there's a limited number of products & if it wasn't in my account then they were gone. How about just approve people according to how many products you have & then 100% put it in our accounts?
Here's the email I received:

"You have been selected to participate in an exclusive trial of BAND-AID® BRAND SKIN-FLEX ADHESIVE BANDAGES!

Here's what you need to know:
1. Click the button below to claim your product now
2. When you receive your product, try it out!
3. We will be in touch in the next few weeks asking you to leave a review of the product."

The email they sent is super misleading because it makes no mention of you needing to hurry to claim it, there's limited product, it's on a first come first serve basis etc. It makes it seem like I was approved & it was in my account. Super lame on PInchMe's part. I DEFINITELY won't be wasting my time signing up for any more of their trials.

Overall, if you're willing to put in quite a bit of effort to get a few small samples, then it's ok. Otherwise, you probably will find more satisfaction picking up a new hobby or spending time with friends or family or just watching Netflix! Hope all this info helps you!