Newegg offers free membership program to boost signups — includes free shipping and special deals

Newegg has a new free membership program, Newegg+ — because that's the symbol everyone is using these days. It includes free shipping on select items, exclusive offers and deals, discounts on extended warranties, and a dedicated customer service line. The only real catch is that you need to complete a two-step process.

First you'll need to create a Newegg account (which many long-time PC enthusiasts may already have). Then you have to opt into Newegg+ — you don't get it by default. Why require the opt-in process? We're not entirely sure. It appears that to some degree, Newegg is looking for more user registrations and is trading some extra benefits to get them. You can buy from Newegg as a guest, but this gives you more of a reason to sign up, especially if you're a regular shopper.

"Joining most retail membership clubs requires a large financial commitment that really detracts from the excitement of joining the program and the potential savings," says Kidd Liu, Newegg's senior director of business systems development in a press release. "Newegg+ is designed to help customers shop Newegg easier from day one with outstanding free benefits. Since Newegg+ is free and the positives are immeasurable, every customer should be compelled to join."

Those interested in signing up can do so at newegg.com/plus. Just signing up for a Newegg account isn't enough.

It seems Newegg also doesn't want this to lead to the next big hardware shortage: the terms of service state it's only for personal use. "Newegg+ members are not permitted to purchase products for the purpose of resale, rental, or to ship to their customers or potential customers using Newegg+ benefits," it reads.

We did wonder if there might be a catch, but having combed through the terms of service, we can't find anything glaring. Sure, the terms say that Newegg can't always guarantee deals, that it can accept or deny people from the program, that some large items might not be eligible for free shipping, and there's a clause that effectively attempts to prevent you from suing the company. But for better or worse, that's all pretty standard. It does suggest you might get promotional marketing emails, but ones that you can opt out of.

In many ways, this program isn't very surprising. A lot of companies have added programs with speedy delivery and other perks to compete with Amazon in the past few years, as it's a major competitor in many product categories, including PC components. Some like Target Circle 360 and My Best Buy Total, are paid memberships, like Amazon Prime. Newegg's program is for a far more niche group of customers, and it's hard to argue with free.