Short version: when we open a brand-new market, the first business to order is rewarded with a single $785 ad slot on that first mailing, for free. It covers that one mailing only. Here's exactly what the reward covers.
The reward
Every market starts with a first-ever mailing: 18 open ad slots, nobody signed up yet. The first business to commit earns the only free slot on that mailing, applied automatically at checkout. It shows on your invoice as a line item: $785, a $785 reward, $0 due.
If that first order is a subscription, the reward covers just that first mailing. Every mailing after — for that subscriber, and for every other advertiser in the market — bills at the normal rate.
Common mix-ups
It's not "slot 1 is always free." It's whichever slot gets reserved first — could be slot 7, could be slot 14. Position doesn't matter; order of arrival does.
It's not free slots, plural. Reserve more than one slot in that first order and only one of them is waived — the rest bill at the normal rate, same as any other order.
It's not every mailing. Only that market's very first mailing has a free ad slot. Its second mailing — and every mailing after that, forever — is full price for every advertiser, including whoever earned the free one.
It's not every market. Once a market has shipped any mailing, it's no longer "new" — there's no free slot to earn there, no matter how recently it opened.
It's not reserved or selectable. The first order that actually commits (card on file or charged) earns it. Everyone else pays the normal rate for that same mailing.
Right now
This list only shows markets whose first slot hasn't been claimed yet — the moment someone reserves it, that market drops off here.
If we haven't launched your market yet, tell us — new markets are exactly where this reward shows up first.
Full terms in our Terms of Service (Section 5, Fees and billing).