John Wade
Chief Financial Officer
Aptimus, Inc.
206-441-9100, ext. 170
johnw@aptimus.com

For Immediate Release

              APTIMUS, INC. ANNOUNCES TENDER OFFER FOR UP TO 10.75
              MILLION SHARES AT $0.48 PER SHARE, AN 85% PREMIUM TO
                             TODAY'S CLOSING PRICE

      SEATTLE, August 27, 2001-- Aptimus, Inc. (Nasdaq: APTM), an online direct
marketing network, today announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a
cash tender offer to purchase up to 10.75 million shares of the Company's common
stock. The purchase price for the tender offer will be $0.48 per share. The
Company currently has approximately 12.64 million fully diluted shares
outstanding. Commencement of the tender offer is expected to occur in early
September 2001 following completion of the required regulatory arrangements. The
Company will fund the share purchase with its existing cash balances and
short-term investments. Due to the possibility of an over-subscription, the
Company's founder and CEO as well as its Board of Directors will be subject to
cut-back limitations on shares they tender, if any, to insure that all other
shares tendered will be purchased.

The decision to offer shareholders the opportunity to sell their shares to the
Company was made following many months of consideration by its Board of
Directors, management and advisors. The Internet economy upon which the Company
originally relied has changed dramatically and with it so has the market value
of the Company's common stock. Over the past several months, the company has
investigated numerous go-forward strategies ranging from evaluating a number of
merger and acquisition opportunities to liquidation. After considerable
evaluation, it was determined that a tender offer made the most sense for the
Company's shareholders, in effect allowing shareholders to choose their own
preferred route for the future.

During this period of evaluation, the Company concluded that its traditional
direct marketer clients were adopting its Internet-based solution. The Company
also concluded that there may be an opportunity for the Company to strengthen
its direct marketing foundation through category consolidation. At the same
time, the Company recognized that clients were slower in adopting its direct
marketing solutions than anticipated and that, combined with the negative impact
to shareholder liquidity of an expected Nasdaq National Market delisting, led to
the decision to let shareholders choose their own path.



Given the current position of the Company and the industry as a whole, the
Company felt it was at a point in time in its evolution to offer its
shareholders a choice to either sell all or a portion of their share interest in
the Company at a substantial premium to the recent trading value, or to remain
shareholders and participate in what the Company believes, but cannot guarantee,
will be a successful future.

Tim Choate, Aptimus' Chairman and CEO, stated, "The past year has been extremely
challenging. With the changes in the marketplace and our company, along with the
likely delisting of our stock from Nasdaq, we feel that we are at an inflection
point. We continue to believe in the power and efficiency of the Internet
solution we provide to our direct marketing clients. We also hope to pursue
strategic opportunities we believe make sense in today's evolving marketplace.
Yet, we anticipate that some of our shareholders may feel differently. We thus
believe that the best course of action for our shareholders is to offer them
their own choice for the future. Shareholders can choose to either sell their
shares now at a substantial premium or keep them and share in a future that we
continue to believe will be successful. Aptimus was one of the few Internet
companies to aggressively cut costs early to preserve capital. Those efforts now
benefit shareholders who can make their own decisions about the future of online
direct marketing and Aptimus. I believe," concluded Choate, "that marketers will
in time spend major portions of their direct marketing budgets online, creating
a great opportunity for Aptimus. At the same time, I am pleased to provide our
shareholders the choice reflected in the decision announced today."

This press release is for informational purposes only and is not an offer to buy
or the solicitation of an offer to sell any shares of Aptimus' common stock. The
solicitation of offers to buy Aptimus' common stock will only be made pursuant
to the Offer to Purchase and related materials that the Company will be sending
to its shareholders shortly. Shareholders are encouraged to read those materials
carefully as they will contain important information including the various terms
and conditions to the offer.

The tender offer statement and other filed documents will be available for no
charge on the Securities & Exchange Commission's website at http://www.sec.gov
and will also be made available without charge to all shareholders of the
Company by contacting the information agent for the offer as designated in the
tender offer documents disseminated to Aptimus' shareholders.

About Aptimus, Inc.

Aptimus (formerly FreeShop.com Inc.) is seeking to create the most powerful
online direct marketing network. We provide a single-source online solution for
marketers to acquire new customers via online media. The Aptimus Network
presents consumers with relevant offers geared to their immediate interests,
allowing marketers to reach consumers with the right offers when they are most
likely to respond. Our offer presentation serving technology platform enables us
to promote offers contextually across the Internet. Built on a technology
platform that is flexible and scalable, the Aptimus Network can support millions
of users and hundreds of marketers and Web site partners.



Aptimus is headquartered in Seattle, and is publicly traded on Nasdaq under the
symbol APTM.

This press release contains statements that may constitute "forward-looking
statements" within the meaning of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934, as amended by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995. Such statements include comments regarding the ability and anticipated
timing for the company to achieve profitability, the expected results or success
of particular programs or undertakings and the future rate of growth of Aptimus.
Prospective investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are
not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties, and
actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by such
forward-looking statements. Important factors currently known to management that
could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking
statements include, without limitation, fluctuation of the company's operating
results, the ability to compete successfully, the ability of the company to
maintain current client and distribution partner relationships and attract new
ones, and the ability to integrate acquired companies. For additional factors
that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by
such forward-looking statements, please see the "Risk Factors" described in the
company's Annual Report on Form 10-KA, dated April 11, 2001, and in other
quarterly reports and filings on file with the SEC, which Risk Factors are
incorporated herein as though fully set forth. The company undertakes no
obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect changed
assumptions, the occurrence of unanticipated events or changes to future
operating results.

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