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Contest & Sweepstakes Forum Guide - Please Read

85,483 32,246 May 19, 2007 at 03:39 PM
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Last Edited by serra | Staff February 5, 2016 at 11:21 AM
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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 May 2006
Keeper of the Trophy
> bubble2 116,549 Posts
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implode
07-20-2014 at 01:34 PM.
07-20-2014 at 01:34 PM.
Quote from stevemz :
Did they disable right clicking in the forum?

edit: While I wasn't able to right click to open in new tab, CTRL click did work.
I'm using FF (30.0), and seem to right click perfectly fine...though I did experience a forum glitch earlier with missing pages at the end of the month for the last two weeks of sweeps. So who knows, maybe the server is have some issues this afternoon.
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Joined Sep 2012
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> bubble2 558 Posts
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stevemz
07-20-2014 at 02:55 PM.
07-20-2014 at 02:55 PM.
Quote from implode :
I'm using FF (30.0), and seem to right click perfectly fine...though I did experience a forum glitch earlier with missing pages at the end of the month for the last two weeks of sweeps. So who knows, maybe the server is have some issues this afternoon.
That could be, I just tried again and it's working, although CTRL click seems to be faster.
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Joined Dec 2003
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coolbleu
12-02-2014 at 07:42 AM.
12-02-2014 at 07:42 AM.
Did the current Slickdeals Holiday giveaway change from hourly to daily?
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Joined May 2006
Keeper of the Trophy
> bubble2 116,549 Posts
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implode
12-02-2014 at 10:13 AM.
12-02-2014 at 10:13 AM.
Quote from coolbleu :
Did the current Slickdeals Holiday giveaway change from hourly to daily?
Yes (see the rules).
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Joined Dec 2003
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coolbleu
12-02-2014 at 10:59 AM.
12-02-2014 at 10:59 AM.
Thanks implode..my bad.
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Joined Apr 2008
Im not cheap, Im frugal!
> bubble2 228 Posts
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WVfrugalCHICK
12-13-2014 at 04:30 PM.
12-13-2014 at 04:30 PM.
I have a question about posting a new thread. When I posted a new sweepstakes, I used category & tags: Other - sweepstakes - Deal Type > Giveaway. But when I click Submit... its listed under Hot Deals. What am I doing wrong? Thank you
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Joined Jun 2007
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dgleeson
12-13-2014 at 09:22 PM.
12-13-2014 at 09:22 PM.
Quote from WVfrugalCHICK :
I have a question about posting a new thread. When I posted a new sweepstakes, I used category & tags: Other - sweepstakes - Deal Type > Giveaway. But when I click Submit... its listed under Hot Deals. What am I doing wrong? Thank you
Just posted it to that thread, but here it is again:

The main reason is because its posted to the wrong forum. You need to go here to post to Contests & Sweepstakes

https://slickdeals.net/forums/newthread.php?do=newthread&f=25

Or use the "New Thread" button (next to Filtering Options at the top left of the thread listing), NOT the Blue/White "Post a Deal" in the upper right.
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Joined May 2006
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implode
09-01-2015 at 10:02 AM.
09-01-2015 at 10:02 AM.
Anyone having issues with Steamy Kitchen (well despite not winning), keep getting page freezes and scripting errors. Have to stop the script, after waiting 2 mins and it freezing horribly.
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Joined Feb 2007
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jjaazz
11-04-2015 at 05:04 PM.
11-04-2015 at 05:04 PM.
In first post, it says:

A personal blog-run contest is not "personal contest" and should not be promoted

Should that be

A personal blog-run contest is a "personal contest" and should not be promoted

?
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Joined May 2006
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12-20-2015 at 10:00 PM.
12-20-2015 at 10:00 PM.
Thought I'd won something until I did 30 mins research...
FULFILLMENT CENTER WALTON, KY, US

Apparently that is warehouse for MLB, and not a box of prizes.
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travel promotions & deals
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Original Poster
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serra | Staff
02-05-2016 at 11:27 AM.
02-05-2016 at 11:27 AM.
please note that the rules for contest & sweepstakes forum have been updated today.

thread titles should include the following information:
  • sponsor name - newly added
  • sweeps name
  • end date
  • special requirements/restrictions
  • age criteria
  • limited states eligibility
  • social media such as facebook, twitter, instagram - newly added
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User1144648
02-05-2016 at 11:55 AM.
02-05-2016 at 11:55 AM.
Quote from serra :
please note that the rules for contest & sweepstakes forum have been updated today.

thread titles should include the following information:
  • sponsor name - newly added
  • sweeps name
  • end date
  • special requirements/restrictions
  • age criteria
  • limited states eligibility
  • social media such as facebook, twitter, instagram - newly added
Thank you!
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Joined Dec 2009
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sweepstaker
02-05-2016 at 02:02 PM.
02-05-2016 at 02:02 PM.
Quote from serra :
please note that the rules for contest & sweepstakes forum have been updated today.

thread titles should include the following information:
  • sponsor name - newly added
  • sweeps name
  • end date
  • special requirements/restrictions
  • age criteria
  • limited states eligibility
  • social media such as facebook, twitter, instagram - newly added
Thanks from me too!
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Joined Dec 2004
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Schooby | Staff
02-06-2016 at 06:07 AM.
02-06-2016 at 06:07 AM.
Quote from MLx3 :
Thank you!
Quote from sweepstaker :
Thanks from me too!
Hi,

We do like to help improve all forums for the members so we're always happy to listen to suggestions.

I would like to point out a couple of things about the guidelines/rules.

The new ones are only for threads moving forward (unless the OPs of the current ones want to update to make it easier for all). So please do not MA old threads for the new info.

Secondly, as we are a community and all here to help each other, I will ask that even moving forward if you see a thread missing the info..please quote them and let them know of the new guidelines and ask them to update their own title. Mods are quite busy and it helps to have members help each other.
Plus, by pointing it out and asking the OP to add the info helps people remember to do so as opposed to thinking mods will come in and fix them all.

Thanks!
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Joined Dec 2009
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sweepstaker
02-06-2016 at 07:58 AM.
02-06-2016 at 07:58 AM.
Quote from Schooby :
"...pointing it out and asking the OP to add the info helps people remember to do so as opposed to thinking mods will come in and fix them all."
Does this mean that minimalist thread titles (by OPs who know the rules but refuse to abide by any them) will remain screwed up forever now?

(Please excuse the first version of this post. The two threads that I thought were unchanged by the mod had been fixed.)
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Last edited by sweepstaker February 6, 2016 at 08:28 AM.
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