• deegeese@sopuli.xyz
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    1 month 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
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    1 month 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.

  • 5714@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    1 month 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
  • HootinNHollerin@lemmy.world
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    1 month 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

  • 200ok@lemmy.worldOP
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    1 month 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.

  • 200ok@lemmy.worldOP
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    1 month 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.

  • Firebirdie713@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    1 month 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.

  • Dr. Wesker@lemmy.sdf.org
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    1 month 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.

  • Vanth@reddthat.com
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    1 month ago

    Sometimes when I go into the big booze store for wine. If they have samples of a type I’m looking for and it tastes ok, I might buy. They’re usually sampling wines at very acceptable price points.

    I always test drive cars before buying.

    I change hobbies like I change my clothes. So to keep from sinking way too much into every new hobby, I try to borrow or rent for a bit before buying to make sure it’s a hobby that I will stick with. Example, I picked up dragonboat racing this summer but declined to buy my own $120 paddle and used the clubs slightly heavier, older, paddles that are a little big for me. If I keep going with the team next year, I might buy a paddle. But first will buy a new PFD so I don’t have to wear one of their “one size fits all but it’s going to ride up halfway to u/Vanth’s ears” lifejackets.

  • Thassodar@lemm.ee
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    1 month ago

    I got a 90 day “sample” of Ableton in 2020 with a midi keyboard I bought. At the end of it I had a few songs out and they gave me another 3 months for some reason. Now I’ve been using Ableton for nearly 5 years, full license.