I spend a lot of money out of pocket even with the Eden points and gift cards. The points program and discounts mean this is the place that I buy everything from. There will be people like me that buy more in product than what is earned in points, which generates profit. Also, those that frequent the site will tell their friends about how great it is which generates word of mouth sales. There's also many shoppers that buy without taking advantage of the forums and review program which generate a large number of points.

I do my part with word-of-mouth. I got my Mum buying stuff out-of-pocket, and she uses my Partner Code.

I don't know, but I am not complaining. Sounds too good to be true huh?!

Like every other store that makes money?

Although it can be easy to assume that everyone using the site is clearly visible commenting and whatever, the vast majority of people who purchase things probably don't even have accounts, much less participate actively in the point program.

EF gives points for a reason. It's how they manage to generate so much content. I was drawn to the site because it was hard as hell to find good reviews of the products I was interested in with google alone. I knew a few blogs but sometimes you don't know what you want and want opinions about more things. Eden was there. Pictures, review upon review. That's why I started using. It had nothing to do with the points program, but a few days after I got my vibe I decided "you know what, I want to review this I'm going to make an account" and there it was. I think in the end, the content they're generating and what business and attention it brings them is worth more than what they give away through points.

I think I'm probably a good example of how they use the points program to make money. Before I found EF, I would usually just have one cheap toy and never thought much about it. I would use it until it broke maybe a year later and then buy a new one. So we're talking maybe spending $20 a year on sex toys. When I found EF I got much more interested in reviewing and toys and sex in general. While I've gotten a lot of stuff for free, I've also bought quite a bit of stuff out of pocket, much more than the $20 I would have spent otherwise. The points drew me into the community to learn more about toys and what makes a good quality toy. It's been win win for both of us because I've gotten a lot of free stuff as well as a lot of stuff that I bought and liked. They've gotten several reviews out of me, some word of mouth business, and more money out of me than I would have otherwise spent since I tend to buy more toys and higher quality toys than I used to.

EF has definitely increased my interest in collecting toys by expanding my knowledge of them but I don't rely on points for making purchases. Originally I made an account just to store my shipping info after my second or third purchase and was shocked when I fully realized the point system. I've taken advantage of sales, discount offers and free assignments but still haven't "spent" any points I've made here. I continue to buy moderately priced toys out of pocket as I can afford them and plan to use my points for a major luxury purchase somewhere down the road since I know I'd never drop that much on one toy out of pocket or be willing to save for it.

I think they have plenty of customers who don't want to spend time writing reviews and earning points, and would rather pay full price. That's fine by me. I'm a point-earner, and very glad for the program!

I just went to my account and added it up.

I've been a member for less than 6 months I think. So far, I've spent about $2 of real money at Eden and received about $600 worth of product, including free review items and items paid for by Eden Points and Eden Cafe / Lit gift cards.

I really really hope I've contributed $600 worth of content to the site in that time. It's certainly been a wonderful experience, though I don't think I'll keep up the pace I was at when I first joined and was so excited about the possibilities. I was trying to max out on what I could earn at first, but now I've settled into a more rational and sustainable rate of writing articles and reviews.

Thank you, Eden, for giving us such a wonderful community and so many opportunities.

You know, I've wondered this very same thing? I just figured that most people who spend $ on Eden probably don't have accounts and we never know about them. I'm sure EF wouldn't be so generous if they couldn't afford to.

In addition to what everyone else ha said the concept of loss leader is also applicable to much of what EF does: link

I know exactly what you mean, but they find a way lol.

Thanks for all the great responses, everyone! I thought I would respond to each person individually, but there's just too many

EF really has brought us a great program. I'm sure word-of-mouth is a big player in getting their name out there! And I hadn't considered how many people there must be who don't bother with EdenPoints, or haven't heard about them.

I wondered this for a long time as well, but then realized that the first 3 months I was a member here, I made 25 points per day, cause I didn't know about the whole scheme of things and the fact that you could earn points on more than just searches. So, if that was me, there has to be a ton of people like that, or who don't use the program at all. I am addicted to EF points! I get at least 500 each day now (personal goal) and, after adding it all up, I have received $1476.40 (that includes shipping) worth of free products.

I asked the person who sends our GC's from blogging about EF the same question, lol. She didn't give me a direct answer except to say that EF seems to be doing well.

I became more interested in 2009 when I won a gift card from a blog. Then, I moved on to blogging myself and love it. I hope the programs won't be discontinued in the future, this has been a wonderful experience.

Word-of-mouth advertising is the best for companies, and Eden is based on that. I'm completely loyal to Eden now and wouldn't dare spend money elsewhere because it's in my best interest and Eden's for me to continue to earn points here through purchases and whatnot.

Surprised to see that no employees have commented here yet

*waves to admins*

What do you guys have to add to this discussion?

I think they also make money off people like me that always want the free toy for orders over $70. I use buyouts a lot more than points or completely free review products.

OK Its all about mark up value and shear volume of product. Ok so lets say you buy a sex swing frame for 400 on EF well the fact is that EF dint pay 400 for that product. they paid maybe 100 and that means that if you bought that swing they maid 300. and that go's for all the products on ef. now that's the big stuff now the small is all about volume lets say a cock ring is 8 on ef they might have paid 5 for it that's 3 profit. now that's not much but if you sell 1000 in a month that's 3000 profit. so now we talk about points that is a cost that ef has to eat but this is small and worth it. this is because you are advertising there web sight with most company's spend thousands on every year. Also the fact that its online they save a lot on theft and running cost and they can reach out to a lot of people. this month alone i have brought ef 3000 in sales with the code x9t.