...themutual.net in the first place?
There is just one (or two) cloud(s) on the horizon though. These being:-
a) Despite being 'shares', your awards sit in limbo merely as awarded points for up to three months before being convenrted into shares, and
b) Once they are shares, the only ... Read review
Advantages: Get 'paid' for logging onto Ciao! Seemingly money for nothing... Disadvantages: ....but precious little of it sometimes. Redemption charge - ouch.
...buy or sell shares in TheMutual.Net through normal channels.
I wondered why they could afford to give you 5,000 of the little blighters just for signing up, but at 0.155p each, that explained it. However, this was the closest to a free lunch I’d gotten for weeks.
HOW IT WORKS
Original sign-up is easy enough – you know the kind of thing, socio-economic questions, inside leg measurement, interests, sex (answer ... ...paid back to me as TheMutual.net shares.
*Of course, a truly lazy person would just put a female vibrator inside, make sure they’ve both got batteries and let them get on with it.
On a more serious note, this kind of scheme does help you to shop around. For a start you get shares every time you use Kelkoo to search for something. I notice also that I’ve earned one lone share not attributable to shopping since I signed ... more
I’VE REVISED THIS REVIEW QUITE HEAVILY SINCE I FIRST WROTE IT FOR SEVERAL REASONS:-
a) THE VALUE OF A MUTUAL.NET SHARE HAS RISEN SHARPLY SINCE I FIRST JOINED,
b) THEY HAVE SINCE COMBINED BY TAKEOVER, WITH MYPOINTS, RELAUNCHED AS MUTUAL POINTS, AND
c) THEY NOW PAY YOU TO VISIT CIAO – SIGNIFICANT, I’D SAY!
Now as they say in all good narratives (and this one), back to the plot…………..
Now here’s a novel incentive to buy ‘stuff’ via the net.
“Yeah, yeah, Chris, another ‘iPoints’ or Air-miles scheme no doubt.”
Well, yes and no really.
TheMutual.Net’s angle is payment in shares in a company quoted on the LSE's AIM listings, i.e. themselves.
Before you get too carried away in a frenzy of buying in a depressed market with a hope of making a killing later, these really are ‘Penny Shares’, or ‘Point Two Seven Of A Penny Shares’ to be accurate at time of re-writing in November 2003. Titter ye not, these shares were worth only 0.155p a matter of eight weeks ago.
Joking apart, you are free to buy or sell shares in TheMutual.Net through normal channels.
I wondered why they could afford to give you 5,000 of the little blighters just for signing up, but at 0.155p each, that explained it. However, this was the closest to a free lunch I’d gotten for weeks.
HOW IT WORKS
Original sign-up is easy enough – you know the kind of thing, socio-economic questions, inside leg measurement, interests, sex (answer Yes Please!). I followed a link from the now 'resting' U-Rate-It opinion site to the www.borntoloaf.co.uk site, whence I was led gently down the path to TheMutual.Net, with an exhortation to earn a free £5 – someone wasn’t doing their sums. 5,000 x 0.155p equalled…….er…..somewhat more that £5, £8 being nearer the mark. Of course, shares (and other things) can go up as well as down, as Fergie was often informed, by her financial advisor!
Shopping through the Mutual.net site falls into two main categories.
a) One-off activities like signing up for a new credit card (Accucard, in this case), and you guessed it, casinos. This kind of deal gets you a specific number of shares. Accucard, for example earns you 20,000 shares, worth around £50, which, if it was the kind of thing you were going to do anyway, is better than “un coup de pied aux noisettes”.
b) The more reliable way to rack up shares, is to buy things through their comprehensive list of retailers, and I really do mean comprehensive. Many of the big ‘Web High Street’ names are their. Names like BOL*.com, W H Smith, Amazon, PC World (holds up crucifix and garlic), Dixons (don’t put the anti-vampire kit away just yet) and Argos.
* BOL give a generous 10% discount - some of the others are more meagre, but TheMutual.net's site lets you sort retailers by alphabetical, % or Shares order to see who the big payers are.
The are many other lesser-known sites like www.amandakiss.co.uk where for the princely sum of £34.95, I could now be the (proud, ahem) owner of a ‘Munroe’s Lips Male Vibrator’ (Soft and succulent lips and a vibrating jelly shaft with nodules to tease you to a great climax every time you switch on. A deep throat orgasm every time*.) Sorry, I had to put that bit in - as the bishop said to the actress.
More importantly, I get a 5% discount paid back to me as TheMutual.net shares.
*Of course, a truly lazy person would just put a female vibrator inside, make sure they’ve both got batteries and let them get on with it.
On a more serious note, this kind of scheme does help you to shop around. For a start you get shares every time you use Kelkoo to search for something. I notice also that I’ve earned one lone share not attributable to shopping since I signed on. Must be for turning off the PC properly or something! Actually, it's for being sent an e-mail. You can earn another 50 for altering your default web-page to theirs (changing it back doesn't seem to lose them again!)
Here’s a real example of what I mean. I was in the market to get a digital camera for my wife (no, it’s not a swap!). The one we were after was the Canon IXUS 400, retailing anywhere between £350 and £400.
Thanks to links to Amazon, Argos, Dabs.com, Dixons and EmpireDirect, PC World, I found that Dixons (shocked gasp) was the cheapest at £349. However, they only give 2% discount in shares compared to Amazon’s 2.5%, so it obviously pays to be a bit canny, and extras like delivery charges start to figure largely in the decision. Another fly in the ointment, is that Dabs, whilst being a couple of quid dearer, and only giving me 1.25% discount also give me ‘Dabsmiles*’, arghhh, quick get me something to cool my fevered brow, possibly something from the www.amandakiss.co.uk range!
*Convertible to Airmiles at a 10-1 ratio.
Joy of joys, you now get shares just for following TheMutual.net’s link prior to logging on to CIAO! – at time of re-writing (Nov 2003), this amounted to 37 shares per go, at 0.27p, say 9p worth. Not bad since it would take somewhat longer than a trice to earn 9p on Ciao, and that’s if your opinions even qualify.
WHO GIVES DISCOUNTS?
At this stage, I would have inserted a list of all the retailers signed-up to this scheme, but the transfer to text-only has cocked up the formatting that I so carefully set into columns. You can easily access the list from the front page of their website however.
Take it from me that I could spot literally dozens of firms that I already deal with (No, not www.amandakiss.co.uk BTW), such as Amazon.co.uk, Screwfix, WH Smiths, Woolworths, Argos, Dabs.com, Dixons, Currys, PC World, so hopefully, the prognosis for my not spending any extra is good.
I think the major thing to bear in mind with schemes like this, is that they are designed to get you to spend more money. Obviously, TheMutual.Net’s income has to come from somewhere, presumably a commission from the retailers. I think if we are all honest, those of us that shop on the internet probably do spend more than we used to, just as credit cards increased people’s spending when they were first introduced – after all, it’s not like REAL money, is it?
However, IF you spend money at any of those listed, then why not do it via www.themutual.net in the first place?
There is just one (or two) cloud(s) on the horizon though. These being:-
a) Despite being 'shares', your awards sit in limbo merely as awarded points for up to three months before being convenrted into shares, and
b) Once they are shares, the only way to redeem them is through normal brokerage channels with a 1% or £17 minimum commission, therefore you have to run up quite a few to make it worthwhile cashing them. Of course, they could always go up in value too.........
As Sue Magee has pointed out, these things have a habit of going t***-up at a moment's notice, so the dilemma you face is whether to cash in frequently, and see several lots of £17's creamed off, or wait and risk not seeing any of it.
Advantages: free shares, great outlook for long term growth, earn share back Disadvantages: due to internet and stock market crash last year, shares have not recouperated
...thousands of free shareholders in themutual.net and if you have not signed up yet you really should. Well for the long term as at the moment the shares are worth very little, in fact, nearly nothing. So if you sold all your 1000 free shares at the going rate of 0.004p you may get £4!! (Before dealing costs!! of around £25.) The next payment date for the units to be transfered into shares is Feb 2002 and is likely to only generate pennys for pepole ... ...in the stock market crash, themutual.net have started properly running as a business and gaining more and more sponsors and links through for their web site creating revenue which at first they did not have. This now nearly making themutual.net almost breaking even in its operations, yet still has to convince the shareholder. I am convinced that this company will be profitable and am increasing my volume of extra shares to 1,000,000 as I feel confident ...
christopherbrown 05.01.2002
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of themutual.net
Advantages: easy, fast, lots of shops, big rewards Disadvantages: erm..none that i can think of...
I've being using themutual.net since March 2006 and I am very happy with this sort of rewards page. It's the best of all I have ever used. I will explain why I'm happy with it and why should any of you join! Don't expect to read in my review all the details of the side, how it works and all that bla-bla-bla stuff. I will only tell the basis, my experience and if it's good for you to use! Why I'm I using it?
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Well first of all ... ...Shopping 32,029 Clicking themutual.net e-mails 42 Referrals 6,000 Set Homepage 40 Set Favorite 20 Manual 834 Custom Campaigns 3,300 Registration Campaigns 30 Search Rewards 348 One Click Deals 140 Converted To Shares or Cash -15,141 Total 29,642 Pending (shopping) 8,514 Pending units will automatically be validated after 30 days. This allows time for the advertiser to confirm your transactions and decreases any reversals on your total number of valid ...
dorach86 09.06.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of themutual.net
Advantages: cash / shares back on internet services Disadvantages: unable to find any!!!
...the average share price of themutual.net plc shares for the last five working days Or
Units can be turned into cash by the following equation
Cash value in £ = Number of Units x 0.1667 / 100 The cash is sent to your address in the form of a cheque.
When your Shares are issued they will be in the name of IRG Trustees Limited which will hold the Shares on your behalf, you will get an e-mail with a code so you can visit your holding whenever you ...
michael4wood 22.02.2005 (27.02.2005)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of themutual.net
Advantages: Easy to use, lots and lots of everyday shops. Disadvantages: Can be slow to get credits, may influence your spending habits!
*********
INTRO
*********
Themutual.net is essentially an advertising site. The difference is that once you register with them, instead of the profits going to the sites' owners, the they get shared with the users! Its a win win situation for the consumer.
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GETTING STARTED
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Registration is simple. Simply go to the homepage, provide your email address and address. There is an optional part for ... ...in the long run if themutual.net share price goes up. Of course, the opposite could happen, and you could lose it all. (I feel like one of those financial adverts!) Like the cashback option, once you have reached £25 worth, you can opt to transfer your points to shares allocated (although this is also only done approx 3x a year). The share price has been up and down, and at present (May 2006) there is no dividend but the price is UP (a lot!) People ...
Dan_ep 08.02.2005 (29.05.2006)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of themutual.net
Advantages: Free shares Disadvantages: No real content on the site
...thousands of free shareholders in themutual.net and if you havent signed up yet you really should.
When you sign up to themutual.net you are instantly given 1000 free shares in the company. themutual.net is a company that makes money by sending advertising emails to its subscribers. When you sign up you decide what kind of adverts you want to be sent and you will begin to recieve them within a few days. When you click on a link that comes on an ... ...a lot one day. themutual.net is really a good idea, it dosent take long to sign up and you are making money from it. Always remember that although you dont have any instant results the value of this company is sure to go up over time. ...
leggb 07.07.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of themutual.net
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Advantages: free emailing service ,good genral info on demutualisations and associated rumours Disadvantages: sometimes a bit too general and also some silly postings too ,on occasion
This site although not unique is still one of my "favourites".It is well laid out and not only do you obtain the latest information regarding demutualizations ,in the insurance and building society sectors,but you also can obtain accurate information regarding the latest campaigns, aimed at conversions of mutual organisations and many other non-related freebies.They also run an email register so that you can be informed of the latest demutualization information periodically.I have been using the site for the past few years and credit them with helping me obtain windfalls and shares that i otherwise would not have received(as the information is posted on the site ,so quickly).For example i have free shares in themutual.net and totalise.net all thanks to this website,and only recently,received a windfall from the bradford and bingley too ...
Advantages: What better than £50 for free ? (Or £150 if you are lucky !!) Disadvantages: None
will then receive an email invitation, if you respond by email or by phone quoting the code sent to you they will forward an application pack.
Complete the application pack.
Then you have to do ONE of 3 things -
1) Transfer in an existing share dealing account from another dealer.
2) Make a purchase through your account.
or
3) Transfer in some shares you already hold - now many of you may hold some Totalise or themutual.net shares, or perhaps some demutualisation shares - simply send them in and they will put them in your account for you.
Now sit back and collect the free £50.
It doesn't take long, cost much or cause too much hassle - I did it and so can you !! ...
IainCMartin 12.09.2001 (27.11.2001)
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