I want to say there was some sort of scam going on a while back where people would send you an item of minimal cost/value through the mail. Maybe it was an Amazon thing where if it was a verified purchase and shipment they could leave reviews marked as verified? I have a poor memory of this, but I think it was being done almost as an upfront product investment in order to develop a "legitimized" online review track record. I have no idea how they got people's names and addresses.

Maybe someone with a better memory than me can fill in the missing pieces.