Why not download our free ebook (originally £8.99) "How to get anything for free!" right here for free Charity Quest Day One

The principle behind my charity quest is simple. I ask a few companies for unwanted product samples, and offer to review them or the company behind them. It’s what got me 250 products in the past, only this time I’d also be raffling off every product I receive in January in a charity auction.

The tricky thing is, once you mention a charity people want to know a lot more about what you’re doing, why they should care, how it will affect their corporate image etc. Things become messy. Thankfully all of this is explained here.

So I thought that to start the ball rolling I’d put my money where my mouth is and donate a ton of my own freebies to the auction. In doing so I hope to encourage companies, PR agencies and journalists with unwanted product review samples to say “we don’t need these samples stuffing up the office any more, why not get rid of them and get some exposure for our company as well.”.

So for day one here’s five products you will see in the auction (don’t worry I’ll be donating lots more in the days to come), all of which were attained through me spending no money of my own which will now be sold for charity.

AZBO's

Although a strange freebie, the AZBO's were interesting for their quantity alone. Six figures will be included in the auction which are brilliant bits of satire ranging from chubby men to tarty women to blingged up rappers. Nice, if unusual gifts. Value: £60. Thanks Nemesis Now

Eddingtons: Squirrel Nut Cracker

Life is strangely poetic at times. After seeing the Nutcracker ballet I was chuffed when a mere few days later an actual Nutcracker should pop through the door from Eddingtons. Even better I’d missed out on buying a Nutcracker at the show so this product was already in my good books on arrival. Thanks Eddingtons

Go! Go! Asian

Generally when a product arrives I can take one look at the packaging and ascertain straight away what it’s for and how to use it. So when “Go! Go! Asian, Koi Garden Green Tea Antioxidant” arrived I wasn’t at all sure what to do on name alone. Maybe our auction winner will be? Here's hoping. Thanks Go! Go! Beauty

eJay Virtual Sounds 1-3

There used to be a point where every video game included a sound test mode where you could listen to second long sound clips from the game. So you’d hear Sonic grab a ring or Mario go “hoo-hoo I got it”. Playing Virtual Sounds is almost exactly the same experience, a sequence of sound clips you can play one by one. Thanks eJay

The O.C Game

Officially licensed board games seem to be everywhere these days. They seem to magically fill the void between seasons and sequels by letting you act out the lives of your favourite characters and invent your own plot lines. The OC Game on the other hand takes another approach and instead of giving you a fantasy scenario to develop it chooses to test your knowledge of the first few seasons of the show. Thanks re:creation plc

We end the first day with over £100 of products in the bag to be auctioned off for charity but will any other companies get involved? And can the selfish concept of freebie grabbing and “something for nothing” really be applied to help out a good cause? I dunno… join me Monday and maybe I will….