Intro
Back in 2020, during the pandemic, I stumbled upon a Reddit thread that sparked my interest. It was about getting products for free in exchange for honest reviews. Curiosity got the better of me, and I dived into research, discovering "TryIt Sampling" as a popular choice. I eagerly applied, and after a long wait with no response, I finally received an unexpected approval email.
The Process
Once I was in, the first six months were a mix of anticipation and action. I'd get an email now and then—sometimes weekly, sometimes bi-weekly—prompting me to select from available products for review. It was all about timing (as it was first come, first served), so I set up push notifications to catch these emails promptly, ensuring I didn't miss out on the cool stuff, often getting a sneak peek at products before their official release. 
Automating the Process
As an engineer, manual repetition is a no-go for me. Missing out on exciting review opportunities due to delayed email notices was frustrating. So, I embarked on an automation journey. The goal was clear:
- Schedule a job to run around the start and middle of each hour, keeping an eye out for new campaigns.
- Scrape the sample portal within these windows to spot new products.
- Automatically claim any new finds, ticking all necessary boxes along the way.
- Alert me upon successful claim.
The Python
Ideally, a swift and headless method using requests would do the trick, but the site's quirks led me to pair Selenium with BeautifulSoup for a more hands-on browser interaction. With the help of modern development aids like Co-Pilot and ChatGPT, getting a starter template and dropping in the entire HTML and navigating through the site's elements and x-paths became a breeze.
The Notifications
To keep track of claimed items, I opted for Discord webhooks—a straightforward choice that required minimal setup and offered a neat overview of my hits and misses, all without needing to build a custom notification system. 
The End of an Era
My journey with TryIt Sampling lasted until 2024, when they merged with another sampling platform and ceased operations. Throughout, I maintained genuine reviews for every product, thoroughly enjoying the blend of technology and consumer experience in this project.