Contests & Sweepstakes Tips, Advice, and Questions

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but has anyone ever had luck sending in mail in entries? I sent some in for the Game of Thrones contest going on, and was just curious if anyone has ever won using this method

Quote from SpiderDan : Sorry if this is a dumb question, but has anyone ever had luck sending in mail in entries? I sent some in for the Game of Thrones contest going on, and was just curious if anyone has ever won using this method

Guessing most sweeps that have both entry methods, your mail in ones end up getting typed and thrown into the same database. So you have even odds with either entry method. Just the mailing is gonna end up costing you a ton in postage.

This brings me to an opinion--mail sweeps are more like the lottery. You pay to play and lose a ton of money over the long term entering by that method.

I've done some mail ins, and honestly its a lot more effort. I really don't see a huge benefit over online entry. I won a pink breast cancer bag one time. The real reason I entered was for each entry, they would make a donation. I guess in retrospect a pink st louis cardinals reusable grocery bag is kinda sweet.

Hiya,

Just a general question about how the forum operates....what exactly constitutes "bad content" in the thumbs voting scheme?

More specifically, I have posted 4 or 5 sweeps here and they have been well-received for the most part, but I also noticed a few thumbs down for bad content. When a I see a thumbs down, I go back and check the site rules to make sure I didn't miss anything that would indicate a scam or something. I do this at first, but don't discount that I could miss something. Anyway, I don't see any red flags when I go back. Take the case of the Star Trek autograph cast photo sweep I posted yesterday. I saw two "bad content" votes and I can't see the problem with it. The FB site is the official Star Trek site with 1.9 million fans....so it's not a scam site. The entry is pretty painless with a single shot instead of daily hoops to jump through. What's bad about that?

Still trying to get my bearings here at SD.....

Quote from maxximilian : Hiya, Just a general question about how the forum operates....what exactly constitutes "bad content" in the thumbs voting scheme? More specifically, I have posted 4 or 5 sweeps here and they have been well-received for the most part, but I also noticed a few thumbs down for bad content. When a I see a thumbs down, I go back and check the site rules to make sure I didn't miss anything that would indicate a scam or something. I do this at first, but don't discount that I could miss something. Anyway, I don't see any red flags when I go back. Take the case of the Star Trek autograph cast photo sweep I posted yesterday. I saw two "bad content" votes and I can't see the problem with it. The FB site is the official Star Trek site with 1.9 million fans....so it's not a scam site. The entry is pretty painless with a single shot instead of daily hoops to jump through. What's bad about that? Still trying to get my bearings here at SD.....

People can give a thumbs down for any reason they want, no rules governing the voting system here. I often thumbs down things I think are a scam.

No clue what your situation was about...sometimes people here are just rather rude.

Edit: hmmm perhaps, its about unrealistic retail value on the item in question.

Quote from implode : People can give a thumbs down for any reason they want, no rules governing the voting system here. I often thumbs down things I think are a scam. No clue what your situation was about...sometimes people here are just rather rude. Edit: hmmm perhaps, its about unrealistic retail value on the item in question.

Now that you mention it. I thought the value to be set rather high myself....but I don't know collectables. Didn't think it rose to "bad content" level of over-pricing though.

Now that I am curious about this system, I went checked other poster's sweeps and noticed the same thing. Good solid sweeps, no scam, good prizes, easy entry, etc....and always someone turning up their nose at it. Weird....

Quote from maxximilian : Now that you mention it. I thought the value to be set rather high myself....but I don't know collectables. Didn't think it rose to "bad content" level of over-pricing though. Now that I am curious about this system, I went checked other poster's sweeps and noticed the same thing. Good solid sweeps, no scam, good prizes, easy entry, etc....and always someone turning up their nose at it. Weird....

Perhaps they should leave the thumbs up/down system for deals...if a contest is worth dissing, you should give a reason for dislike in the thread itself.

Think something is a scam, say so...think something isn't intended for sweepers as its private contest say so.

I don't completely rely on the thumb system....but I do take it into consideration when deciding if a sweep is legit or not. I will just have to remember that thumbs down can be arbitrary sometimes. I agree....if you have information that a sweep is bad, thumbing it doesn't help much. Post and explain what is wrong with it and help out the other members.

Quote from maxximilian : Now that I am curious about this system, I went checked other poster's sweeps and noticed the same thing. Good solid sweeps, no scam, good prizes, easy entry, etc....and always someone turning up their nose at it. Weird....

Lots of great people on SD, but along with them comes the a-holes....fact of life I guess.

There is at least one (and probably more) "ninja thumbs-downer" who routinely blows through the C&S forum, giving a TD to every single thread - all legit sweeps that people have taken time finding & put effort into sharing with the SD community. Used to bug me when I first started posting sweeps, but don't let it get to me anymore.

Just ignore the jerks who seem to get a cheap thrill giving a thread a TD & use your own judgement as to whether you'll enter a sweeps or not. If you're unsure, won't hurt anything to post your questions/doubts here & get some advice from more experienced sweepers.

Have fun & good luck sweeping!

Thanks for the replies. Just wanted to make sure I wasn't posting bad sweeps. I have many more up thumbs than down ones, so I won't worry about my screening procedure too much. I do try to check them out thoroughly first.

As for chronic down-thumbing.....that's a good way to get yourself banned. Each of those clicks are recorded and easily searchable in the database with a simple query.

Anyone use UPS my choice alerts:
http://www.ups.com/mychoice/

Really really cool service, they send you alerts letting you know when something ships to you. But better then that, sweepers often don't know about packages because senders don't tell them. This lets you know when lazy judging agencies don't tell you you are a winner.

Thought I would mention this here, as its a FREE service many of us could us.

Quote from maxximilian : Thanks for the replies. Just wanted to make sure I wasn't posting bad sweeps. I have many more up thumbs than down ones, so I won't worry about my screening procedure too much. I do try to check them out thoroughly first. As for chronic down-thumbing.....that's a good way to get yourself banned. Each of those clicks are recorded and easily searchable in the database with a simple query.

Doubt anyone gets banned for that, its within the rules of the site to be a critic.

Quote from implode : Anyone use UPS my choice alerts: http://www.ups.com/mychoice/ Really really cool service, they send you alerts letting you know when something ships to you. But better then that, sweepers often don't know about packages because senders don't tell them. This lets you know when lazy judging agencies don't tell you you are a winner. Thought I would mention this here, as its a FREE service many of us could us.

Interesting service. I was a little freaked out by the security questions they asked to verify my identity though. The month my sister was born (asked using her full, married name), city of the address I shared with my father, etc. Where did they get this info with just my name and birth date?

Quote from mike34 : Interesting service. I was a little freaked out by the security questions they asked to verify my identity though. The month my sister was born (asked using her full, married name), city of the address I shared with my father, etc. Where did they get this info with just my name and birth date?

Do a PIPL search on yourself. You will be amazed at what you see. I am very fortunate as I have a very common name (I married a guy with a common name). It is harder to find me, yet it is all there, age, previous addresses, kids names, etc.

PAZSAZ - Has anyone ever won any of their sweeps? Looks like they have them on a regular basis but cannot find anyone on SD claiming they have won. Wondering if it is another "Don't Waste Your Time".

Quote from dustdiva : PAZSAZ - Has anyone ever won any of their sweeps? Looks like they have them on a regular basis but cannot find anyone on SD claiming they have won. Wondering if it is another "Don't Waste Your Time".

Nope. But long entry period for a single prize, doesn't breed a ton of winners either.