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Contest & Sweepstakes Forum Guide - Please Read

85,748 32,546 May 19, 2007 at 03:39 PM
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Last Edited by serra | Staff February 5, 2016 at 11:21 AM
+33 Deal Score
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The Official SlickDeals Rules

Quote from Registration Process :
"By agreeing to these rules, you warrant that you will not post any messages that are obscene, vulgar, sexually-orientated, hateful, threatening, or otherwise violative of any laws."


COPY & PASTE is our FRIEND
Thanks, javaflower
  • start with searches of key words in the new sweeps name to be sure the sweeps/contest isn't already posted
  • THREAD TITLE: enter sponsor, sweep's official name as the thread title, then the age requirement (examples 6-16 YOs or 18+ ) followed by end date (this makes searches more efficient and the end date allows us to see when bumping of the thread is most likely about the offer because it is still active or about the prizing because the sweeps has ended)
  • include in the title if there is some extra requirement like a photo, essay, limited age range, limited states and social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram)...this allows us to not even have to open the thread if it won't pertain to us
  • in the MESSAGE include:
    1. link to entry page
    2. link to Official Rules (this has saved me many times when after the sweeps is over the entry page takes away the rules link - we still have it posted here for reference) many Official Rules are in pop-ups - to find a pop-ps URL, right click on it and then scroll down to "view page info" copy and paste page URL listed in the page info box
    3. beginning and end dates and times
    4. eligibility requirements: age, country, states, and for contests: essays, photos, social media such as Facebook/Twitter/Instagram, etc too - again this allows us to see at a glance if I am old enough to enter, live in a country that is allowed to enter etc.)
    5. Limit to entries from the original rules - (even though the new flags show us this info in a basic form - some sweeps only allow one entry per household, etc...it helps to have that info in the basic info page)
    6. PRIZES and limitation to how many can be won, if that applies (IWGs especially)
    7. any other information that may be helpful to know
  • if after submitting, the alert shows up that this may be a repost, please, check it out to be sure it is NOT a repost, before hitting post it anyway.

THANK YOU for considering this when posting new sweeps/contests!

Referrals/Self Promotion

Referrals are not allowed. This includes posting of referral links, asking for a referral, PMing referrals, having a referral link in your signature, or linking to any & all sites that contain referrals.
If you think it's a referral, get a Mods OK first!

Reposts
A repost is a duplicate post of an offer that has already be posted here within the last 6 months!
* if the same poster reposts the same exact with in or to the day of 6 months, the Moderators can merge those posts together!
* if the Moderators notice a post has been edited the same day/time that a similar post was made in order to still be the OP, the Moderators will not merge the offers!

There are 3 different ways to make sure that your post/offer hasn't been mentioned before:
1) The Global Search.
This search function searches the entire site.

2) The Contest & Sweepstakes Search button.

3) The URL Checker.
Mr. SlickDeals was nice enough to make a program that checks the URL of each link in a new post, before it's posted.
-The URL checker works in Freebies, Magazines, and Contests & Sweepstakes.
- It will not work if the original post (OP) has more than 1 link in the post!
A message will appear when the URL checker has detected the same link in another post:
It is possible that this freebie/deal is a repost. The URL in your post has already been posted in the following Insert Thread Title Here abroad thread. Please verify that your deal is not a repost. If it is not, please submit again.

If you see that warning, please DO NOT ignore it! It's there for a reason.

Personal Contests
A personal contest in our definition is a contest where you are giving away an item that you have in your possession at the time of the post. A personal blog-run contest is not "personal contest" and should not be promoted via SlickDeals.net.
Please make sure any contest that you plan to run has been OK'ed by the Moderators, and mention the approval in the post. Any contests that have not be OK'ed by a Contest & Sweepstakes Mod will be deleted.

-Contests requiring any monetary transactions what so ever (charity, paypal, referral, etc.) is not allowed!
-Contests requiring rep points and/or certain number of posts is also not allowed. If post count is a restriction, then screen at your own discretion. No not do it publicly.

Cross Posting

Cross posting a offer between 2 forums is allowed here. If there is a Freebie that has a separate Contest/Sweepstakes, it can be posted in both forums. If the free sample requires an entry into a Contest/Sweepstakes, it should be posted in the Contest & Sweepstakes forum

Thank you,
The Moderating Team

Mod Alerting Reposts
  1. Find the original post
  2. Go back to the repost and click on the "Mod Alert" icon
  3. In the text box, please write something to the effect of "Repost� followed by a copy of the original thread URL
  4. Submit the report and move to the next post
Do not Reply to the thread:
"REPOST" or posting the link to the original post.
That doesn't help the Mods, and it makes you look very lazy.

Providing Answers
Do not promote lying in order to enter for a contest. That includes, but not limited to, posting answers, coaching others on how to answer, admitting to giving false information, etc. This is a violation of Slickdeals.net TOS as well as the TOS for the contests. If you are found promoting or providing information to falsify a survey, you will be warned. Consider this your first friendly warning!

Good Deal?

Community Wiki

Last Edited by YARDEE October 8, 2018 at 12:10 PM
*this content moved*

This post can be edited by most users to provide up-to-date information about developments of this thread based on user responses, and user findings. Feel free to add, change or remove information shown here as it becomes available. This includes new coupons, rebates, ideas, thread summary, and similar items.

Once a Thread Wiki is added to a thread, "Create Wiki" button will disappear. If you would like to learn more about Thread Wiki feature, click here.


The C&S Forum Guide is long past due for an important rule clarification.

For years, most experienced OPs in the forum have been including the name of the sponsor as the first item in each thread title, even though this is not specifically mentioned in the forum rules. There are a couple of very important reasons for doing this other than just reader convenience.

Personal Information
Some people are only comfortable entering promotions sponsored by well known companies. If the thread title reads "Huge Amazon $1,000 Gift Card Giveaway" users might click through to the entry form on the assumption they will be giving their personal info to Amazon. But what if those people knew that the full sweeps title with sponsor was "Joe Blow's Huge Amazon $1,000 Gift Card Giveaway." They might not be comfortable giving their info to Joe Blow.

Avoiding Reposts
Think back to the holiday season when every sponsor and his brother had a "Thanksgiving Giveaway" or a "12 Days of _____ Sweepstakes" going on. Without the sponsors in thread titles, OPs would've had a helluva time figuring out if a specific sweeps was already posted.

Real Examples
Here are 14 actual sweepstakes that have been posted over the last 3 days. I've dropped the sponsor names, leaving just the official giveaway titles, as per the existing forum rules. Chaos!

2016 Valentine's Day Sweepstakes
Valentine's Day Sweepstakes
Valentine's Day Sweepstakes
Valentine's Day Giveaway
A Valentine's Surprise
February 2016 Drawing
Promotion
Giveaway
Sweepstakes
Sweepstakes
Sweepstakes
Kitchen Sweepstakes
Bakery Sweepstakes
The Sweepstakes

In conclusion, I suggest updating the Thread Title rule from the current "Enter sweep's official name as the thread title..." to "Enter sponsor's name, followed by sweep's official name..."



*REMINDER: Sweeps posts on SD (or any other sweeps listing sites) are a basic recap of the rules. It is the responsibility of each individual to READ THE RULES on every sweeps they enter.

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Joined Jan 2006
L10: Grand Master
> bubble2 8,978 Posts
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allyn9
02-16-2013 at 07:37 PM.
02-16-2013 at 07:37 PM.
Quote from apjung :
It's not working, I have gotten the 20 entries for linking my FB account to my SD account. It's just the recent days I can't get the 15 entries for liking SD on FB.

Another thing is I can NEVER get any bonus entries for time logged on SD. Any ideas?

Check the contest entry again. I just did, and now all my checks and entries are there.
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Joined Jul 2007
L3: Novice
> bubble2 164 Posts
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apjung
02-17-2013 at 01:42 PM.
02-17-2013 at 01:42 PM.
Okay, I tried unlinking my SD account with FB and relinking so that worked.

I'm still trying to get the time logged bonus entries to register.
EDIT: Never mind, I see that time logged meant time spent browsing the SD site while logged in and I see I'm only at 4 days, 12 hours, 48 minutes, 56 seconds and counting!
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Last edited by apjung February 17, 2013 at 01:48 PM.
Joined Sep 2010
L6: Expert
> bubble2 1,359 Posts
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mj025
02-21-2013 at 06:41 AM.
02-21-2013 at 06:41 AM.
Quote from apjung :
Okay, I tried unlinking my SD account with FB and relinking so that worked.

I'm still trying to get the time logged bonus entries to register.
EDIT: Never mind, I see that time logged meant time spent browsing the SD site while logged in and I see I'm only at 4 days, 12 hours, 48 minutes, 56 seconds and counting!
When you go to SD are you typically logged in? Surprised you have such a low amount of time considering how long you've been a member. I have 2m 3w 2d 18h 37m 37s logged in since 2010. Granted I usually keep a tab open to SD...

-MJ
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Joined Mar 2013
L1: Learner
> bubble2 1 Posts
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vikarriebteft
03-05-2013 at 07:44 PM.
03-05-2013 at 07:44 PM.
Thanks for sharinfg this information, really useful and helpful. I do notice that there quite alot of spam here. but its a good thing that this is still quite clean.
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Joined Sep 2013
L1: Learner
> bubble2 1 Posts
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johnnydunn0508
09-06-2013 at 06:53 AM.
09-06-2013 at 06:53 AM.
if a contest says one entry per email per eligible person, does that mean that one person can not enter with two different emails?
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Joined Oct 2008
Sweeps Addict
> bubble2 5,152 Posts
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Sweepaholic
09-06-2013 at 07:58 AM.
09-06-2013 at 07:58 AM.
Quote from johnnydunn0508 :
if a contest says one entry per email per eligible person, does that mean that one person can not enter with two different emails?
That is correct.
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Joined Dec 2006
L9: Master
> bubble2 5,806 Posts
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megablank
12-18-2013 at 01:50 AM.
12-18-2013 at 01:50 AM.
Probably should stop people from posting magazine subscription contests, they are too easy to accidentally "subscribe", and I get the feeling I've been subscribed even after clicking the no sub link, that or its easy to screw up. Then once it happens its a pain to cancel because they make you jump through hoops. If their site was responsive it would be one thing, but half the time its responses like this...which force you to contact them through email or phone...
"Cancel My Subscription


We are sorry that you want to cancel your subscription.

Your current order is not eligible for cancellation for any of the following reasons:

* It was sold as part of a bundled order
* It was sold as part of a gift order
* Your mailing address is undeliverable

Please email customer service for assistance.



"

The icing on the cake is when you click the "email customer service for assistance" link

An error has occurred.

Error Description:
Could not find the requested JSP due to an invalid request. Please validate that the following parameters are correct: cds_mag_code, cds_page_id, lsid, and vid.

Yes, it throws an error.

Its not an isolated incident, its happened to me before, in the past, but i forgot and in a signup spree got hit again, so their system doesn't need to be "fixed" its permanently broken on purpose to try to score accidental subscribes by being a nuisance.
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Last edited by megablank December 18, 2013 at 01:56 AM.

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Joined Dec 2013
L1: Learner
> bubble2 1 Posts
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TopixLLC
12-20-2013 at 12:35 PM.
12-20-2013 at 12:35 PM.
I am not sure what I am allowed to post and not post, my work is doing an XBOX giveaway and I wanted to share it, but I do not know if that is considered a referral or self promotion? How do I post about a giveaway without getting banned? PLEASE HELP

Thanks
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Joined Dec 2005
n00b extraordinaire 8^)~
> bubble2 6,376 Posts
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Sr. QA
widgit | Staff
12-29-2013 at 05:34 PM.
12-29-2013 at 05:34 PM.
Quote from TopixLLC :
I am not sure what I am allowed to post and not post, my work is doing an XBOX giveaway and I wanted to share it, but I do not know if that is considered a referral or self promotion? How do I post about a giveaway without getting banned? PLEASE HELP

Thanks
I'm sorry but the person that previously replied to you was only partially correct. They were correct in saying that unfortunately you and your company may not post a deal, even a contest, for your company. That is considered self promotion and is not allowed here, sorry.

The incorrect part is when the other user told you to PM another SD'er to post it for you. That also is not allowed, is still self promotion and that will not only get you or your company warned or banned, but will also get the other SD'er in similar trouble if they do post it. Because the minute they agree to post it, they created a relationship with your and your company and so is still self promotion.
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Joined Apr 2008
L5: Journeyman
> bubble2 804 Posts
scorealert
01-30-2014 at 04:54 AM.
01-30-2014 at 04:54 AM.
All contests are self promotion for someone. Shouldn't we have a members only promotion area? Or only big corporate cracker companies can have promotions that are applicable?
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Joined Jan 2014
L1: Learner
> bubble2 10 Posts
12 Reputation
steelcitylady
04-02-2014 at 06:49 AM.
04-02-2014 at 06:49 AM.
Why has the forum appearance organization changed (at least on my computer)? I no longer see the category icons like daily, IWG, One Entry, etc. Is the page under maintenance right now? Yesterday I assumed it was an April Fools joke.
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Joined Dec 2010
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> bubble2 26,018 Posts
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User1144648
04-02-2014 at 05:35 PM.
04-02-2014 at 05:35 PM.
Quote from steelcitylady :
Why has the forum appearance organization changed (at least on my computer)? I no longer see the category icons like daily, IWG, One Entry, etc. Is the page under maintenance right now? Yesterday I assumed it was an April Fools joke.
That's the craptastic new format. https://slickdeals.net/f/6734348-new-thread-listing-design-feedback?v=1&t=6734348
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Joined Jan 2014
L1: Learner
> bubble2 10 Posts
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steelcitylady
04-02-2014 at 06:39 PM.
04-02-2014 at 06:39 PM.
oh no! It's quite difficult for my eyes. I'm going to give it an honest go because I adore Slick Deals so much, but I may have to move to another site if I don't adjust. *sadness*
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Joined Dec 2010
Super Not-a-rator
> bubble2 26,018 Posts
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User1144648
04-02-2014 at 07:45 PM.
04-02-2014 at 07:45 PM.
Quote from steelcitylady :
oh no! It's quite difficult for my eyes. I'm going to give it an honest go because I adore Slick Deals so much, but I may have to move to another site if I don't adjust. *sadness*
Yeah, if you read through the feedback thread, that's the general concensus: hurts people's eyes, too busy, removed useful functions and added annoying ads, columns, etc.
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Joined Mar 2013
I smell donuts!
> bubble2 427 Posts
970 Reputation
BigLib
04-03-2014 at 09:37 AM.
04-03-2014 at 09:37 AM.
Craptastic about sums it up. The more I try to get used to this new format, the more I hate it.

At least Microsoft knows to keep older themes. My laptop runs Windows 7, but my desktop theme looks like my Windows 95/98/2000 desktops, because they allow you to roll back to the "Classic" theme, if you choose. I've not had an operating system since Win98 that I've not rolled back to the "Classic" theme.

It would be nice to have that option here, too. I'm not saying to scrap the new theme, but just give those who would like to roll back to the old look the opportunity to do so.
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