• deegeese@sopuli.xyz
    15·
    2 months ago

    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?”

  • Sundial@lemm.ee
    10·
    2 months ago

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

  • 200ok@lemmy.worldOP
    6·
    2 months ago

    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.

  • bamboo@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
    3·
    2 months ago

    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.

  • 200ok@lemmy.worldOP
    3·
    2 months ago

    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.

  • HootinNHollerin@lemmy.world
    3·
    2 months ago

    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

  • Dr. Wesker@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
    3·
    2 months ago

    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.

  • Firebirdie713@lemmy.blahaj.zone
    3·
    2 months ago

    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.

  • 5714@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    3·
    2 months ago
    • 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