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For example, imagine some food company decides to make their fruits permanently free.

Online, you can "order" them (for free), but in person, what do you do? What would be the professional term? You don't "buy" them, since they're free. You could say "take", but IMO that has a slight connotation of stealing, does it not?

And I don't mean when speaking to someone, ie. "I'll pick up some fruits while I'm there". I mean in a Business English way.

For example, if the company limits each customer to 50 apples per person per purchase, how is it possible, in English, for the company to decribe that?

"Limited 50 apples per person per purchase."? Well, it's not a "purchase" if it's free right?

I can't think of any word and it's driving me insane.

P.S. I'm not looking for "gratis" or "on the house" etc. Just a business English word for "purchasing" something for free (a paradox, I know)

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    You just order free goods on a website.
    – user 66974
    Commented Sep 20, 2023 at 8:28
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    Why are they giving stuff away? It might depend if it was a charitable thing or a subscription deal or a reward or a sales promotion or something like a state benefit/social security or a government-mandated compensation for past wrongdoings (e.g. if they'd previously ripped off customers and were told to make recompense). A general term such as get or collect would work for picking up, and you could reword your rule to Limited to 50 apples per person per day or per transaction or per order.
    – Stuart F
    Commented Sep 20, 2023 at 8:29
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    Claim your free fruit at the checkout till. Limited to 50 apples per person per claim.
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Sep 20, 2023 at 10:23
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    Why my downvote? Because single-word-requirest that paint themselves into a corner (e.g. it must be a single noun or a single verb) or that ask for a word which must meet an impossible condition (buying something for free) or that are too particular in the set of requirements (a word for the sense of surprise you feel when someone you don't know is knocking at the door after sunset) are driving me insane.
    – TimR
    Commented Sep 20, 2023 at 12:08
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    @FumbleFingers, your suggestion, claim, seems (reasonably close to being) adequate for the purpose. Why not post it as an answer? The term captures the idea that there is some formality to the transaction, which makes it comparable to purchasing, and which is missing from take and pick up.
    – jsw29
    Commented Jul 28 at 15:31

2 Answers 2

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There seems to be some confusion in your question. If the offer is for "free apples", then "Limited 50 apples per person per purchase" would mean that if you make a purchase, then you are entitled to take up to 50 apples. It is the initial "purchase" that is, indeed, a purchase.

If the farm is giving away apples, e.g. the stall outside says "Free Apples! Help yourself" and you take a dozen, then you report:

I've just got these apples for nothing from the farm. / I've just got these apples [for] free from the farm.

There is no special verb as this is the default of "to receive into one's possession" and "for nothing/free" is almost parenthetical.

However, "purchase/buy" adds a layer of meaning and gives us "to exchange money in order "to receive into one's possession"."

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Claim your free fruit at the checkout till. Limited to 50 apples per person per claim.

claim (noun) a right to have something or get something from someone
(also exists as a verb, meaning to exercise that right)
...in the cited context, the company has given you that right.

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  • 'Buy' entails a transaction whereas a 'claim' may be fruitless.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented Jul 28 at 23:35
  • I'm sure OP only used the words "buy" and "purchasing" faute de mieux. But they're not really relevant, since nothing is being paid for. Greybeard's answer chooses to interpret "purchase" as literally meant, but it's pretty obvious to me the OP never had any concept of "free" apples only being available to customers who had already bought something else.
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Jul 28 at 23:40
  • @EdwinAshworth, true, as a conceptual matter, claiming may be fruitless, but if something is offered for free to anybody who claims it, it is unlikely to be. So, in this context, claiming is practically equivalent to claiming-and-getting. Note that the OP has analogised the concept in question to ordering, which also, as a conceptual mater, may be fruitless, but in the relevant context, it normally isn't.
    – jsw29
    Commented Jul 29 at 14:34

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