Free Facebook Offers Are Not For Us: No Jumping Through Hoops Here

Honesty is one of my flaws.  Maybe it is because I am a terrible liar and my ears turn bright red when I even think about lying, but it is just one of those skills I don’t have.  So at Coupons Are Great you will find a ton of honesty.  Every deal that is posted at Coupons Are Great is one that I would feel comfortable with my grandparents doing.  Yeah, my grandparents.  Trust me, I hate spam deals just as much as you do (maybe more) and I can certainly find that Facebook “unlike” button faster than an Olympic hurdler completing the 100 meter race.

I use Facebook as a user…someone who likes to interact with my friends.  There are also a few bloggers who I like to follow….some deal bloggers, some natural eating bloggers, some home decorating bloggers (surely I could follow a million of those and I would still need to be smacked with a can of paint in the perfect color to know what I should do when it comes to decorating).  That being said, my Facebook feed is blowing up with friends claiming offers.

So, what’s the deal with all of these brand new Facebook Offers?  On September 21st Facebook announced to thousands (that’s just a guess) of bloggers that they could try Facebook Offers for free….just once.  Everyone wanted to see just what a Facebook Offer could bring in terms of views to a post.  Some “offers” have gone viral (that’s a fancy term for thousands of people have liked that post/claimed that offer.  Who gets that Fancy Nancy reference?).

But you won’t find us posting these sorts of deals.  Why not?  Because there is an element of deception that makes me a little uneasy.

Posting offers for “FREE 8×10 canvases” or “FREE photo calendars” are misleading because you are not told that you need to pay shipping.  We will not post that you can get a “Free $10 Target/Home Depot/Barnes and Noble” gift card offer….because what you are not being told is that when you sign up for Ebates and make your first $25 purchase within 30 days THEN you will get your free $10 gift card.

Don’t get me wrong.  I like free offers just as much as you and I definitely like when you click links that we post.  I just don’t need to or want to trick you into getting a free offer when it is really not free.  I prefer quality readers…ones who come back because they like what they see….than readers who become fans because they are tricked into getting a not so good deal.

What do you think about these recent additions to your Facebook newsfeed?  Have you taken any actions (including claiming offers, liking, or unliking pages)?  We would like to hear your thoughts.

Now let’s be fully transparent here: This post contains affiliate links.