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forum threadFreebiesRGreat posted Jun 03, 2008 02:50 AM
forum threadFreebiesRGreat posted Jun 03, 2008 02:50 AM

Contests & Sweepstakes Tips, Advice, and Questions

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The intent of this thread is for users, both new and not-so-new, to ask questions, and help with tips/advice. This is not by any means the "gospel". Please feel free to add your words of wisdom, and if you have questions, just ask! If you have a tip that will make sweeping easier for folks, please feel free to share. This is a community effort. We all will benefit in some way.


The Basic Advice/Tips for the new-to-sweeping folks.
Enter for the items you want/need. If you have no interest in trips, avoid the sweeps where the only prize is a trip. If you know you can't afford the tax on a new vehicle, avoid entering for those.

Set up folders in your bookmark/favorites. Create a separate one for each month, and file any sweeps you are interested in into the folder corresponding with when it ends. Then, if you have a day where you're pressed for time, enter at least the ones ending that day.

Play the instant win games.

Follow the rules! If a sweep is restricted to only females, a certain age group, certain states, etc, make sure you fit the criteria! If you don't, move on to another sweep that you do qualify for. Do not create a bunch of email addresses so you can enter something more than once, or so you can play an Instant win game more. The Sponsors can tell, and will DQ you. You're better off playing by the rules than cheating and getting disqualified and having NO entries.

Don't immediately dismiss essay required sweeps (or recipes, photos, etc)....well, unless you know you don't want to write something. A lot of people pass on them, so you might have a better shot at winning something.

Don't expect this to be lucrative enough to become a job. Yes, a lot of us win, and often, but not nearly enough to quit a job!

Expect things to go slow at first. It takes a while for the wins to roll in. But once they do...look out!

Expect to occasionally hit a dry spell. It happens to ALL of us.

DEFINITELY USE YOUR REAL INFO! If you use a fake phone number, and a sponsor is calling to notify people of wins, you'll never know what you missed out on. I, and many others, have been doing this for a long time, and we have no problems with sales calls. Also, use your real name. If your name is Robert or Catherine, using Bob or Cathy is ok, as they are known acceptable shorter versions of that name. if your name is Matilda, and you go by Fluffy, don't use Fluffy. Looking at your ID to get an affy notarized, they may reject it because the names don't match. The sponsor may also say "Fluffy won, not Matilda". So stick with using your real name, or something close to it.

Most of all, HAVE FUN! And don't be afraid to ask questions. We were all new to this at one time. Any one of us would be happy to answer questions.


For easy form filling, check out Roboform [roboform.com]. Google Tool bar and the autofill feature on IE also work well.

For Mac users, the best form filler is 1Password: http://agilewebsolutions.com/products/1Password (thanks javaFlower!)

FireFox Form Filler browser extensions: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/...ll&cat=all

To set up the autofill feature in IE: Click on Tools, then internet options, then choose 'content'. When that pops up, click on "Autocomplete", and make sure to check the boxes for forms and passwords on forms. This is not a good idea if you are on a shared/public computer!

February 17, 2009, 3:10 am: System Notice: This thread has been automatically renewed after reaching a post limit. Most of its content has been moved to this thread for reference purposes.

July 12, 2010, 3:23 pm: System Notice: This thread has been automatically renewed after reaching a post limit. Most of its content has been moved to this thread for reference purposes.
Community Notes
About the Poster
Deal Details
Community Notes
About the Poster
The intent of this thread is for users, both new and not-so-new, to ask questions, and help with tips/advice. This is not by any means the "gospel". Please feel free to add your words of wisdom, and if you have questions, just ask! If you have a tip that will make sweeping easier for folks, please feel free to share. This is a community effort. We all will benefit in some way.


The Basic Advice/Tips for the new-to-sweeping folks.
Enter for the items you want/need. If you have no interest in trips, avoid the sweeps where the only prize is a trip. If you know you can't afford the tax on a new vehicle, avoid entering for those.

Set up folders in your bookmark/favorites. Create a separate one for each month, and file any sweeps you are interested in into the folder corresponding with when it ends. Then, if you have a day where you're pressed for time, enter at least the ones ending that day.

Play the instant win games.

Follow the rules! If a sweep is restricted to only females, a certain age group, certain states, etc, make sure you fit the criteria! If you don't, move on to another sweep that you do qualify for. Do not create a bunch of email addresses so you can enter something more than once, or so you can play an Instant win game more. The Sponsors can tell, and will DQ you. You're better off playing by the rules than cheating and getting disqualified and having NO entries.

Don't immediately dismiss essay required sweeps (or recipes, photos, etc)....well, unless you know you don't want to write something. A lot of people pass on them, so you might have a better shot at winning something.

Don't expect this to be lucrative enough to become a job. Yes, a lot of us win, and often, but not nearly enough to quit a job!

Expect things to go slow at first. It takes a while for the wins to roll in. But once they do...look out!

Expect to occasionally hit a dry spell. It happens to ALL of us.

DEFINITELY USE YOUR REAL INFO! If you use a fake phone number, and a sponsor is calling to notify people of wins, you'll never know what you missed out on. I, and many others, have been doing this for a long time, and we have no problems with sales calls. Also, use your real name. If your name is Robert or Catherine, using Bob or Cathy is ok, as they are known acceptable shorter versions of that name. if your name is Matilda, and you go by Fluffy, don't use Fluffy. Looking at your ID to get an affy notarized, they may reject it because the names don't match. The sponsor may also say "Fluffy won, not Matilda". So stick with using your real name, or something close to it.

Most of all, HAVE FUN! And don't be afraid to ask questions. We were all new to this at one time. Any one of us would be happy to answer questions.


For easy form filling, check out Roboform [roboform.com]. Google Tool bar and the autofill feature on IE also work well.

For Mac users, the best form filler is 1Password: http://agilewebsolutions.com/products/1Password (thanks javaFlower!)

FireFox Form Filler browser extensions: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/...ll&cat=all

To set up the autofill feature in IE: Click on Tools, then internet options, then choose 'content'. When that pops up, click on "Autocomplete", and make sure to check the boxes for forms and passwords on forms. This is not a good idea if you are on a shared/public computer!

February 17, 2009, 3:10 am: System Notice: This thread has been automatically renewed after reaching a post limit. Most of its content has been moved to this thread for reference purposes.

July 12, 2010, 3:23 pm: System Notice: This thread has been automatically renewed after reaching a post limit. Most of its content has been moved to this thread for reference purposes.

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Aug 30, 2012 10:39 PM
260 Posts
Joined Oct 2011
northeastgalAug 30, 2012 10:39 PM
260 Posts
When you win to you usually find out by e-mail or phone call? I was a little nervous about putting my phone number down as I don't want a lot of telemarketers calling.
Aug 30, 2012 10:49 PM
5,152 Posts
Joined Oct 2008
SweepaholicAug 30, 2012 10:49 PM
5,152 Posts
Quote from northeastgal :
When you win to you usually find out by e-mail or phone call? I was a little nervous about putting my phone number down as I don't want a lot of telemarketers calling.
The majority of my wins have been email or just suprised with a package at my door, my trip wins have been all surprise letters in the mail, I have only gotten one phone call about a win in my years of sweeping and it was for an ipad.
Aug 31, 2012 01:24 PM
717 Posts
Joined Jan 2007
gocartromanceAug 31, 2012 01:24 PM
717 Posts
Quote from northeastgal :
When you win to you usually find out by e-mail or phone call? I was a little nervous about putting my phone number down as I don't want a lot of telemarketers calling.
For my biggest wins I've had two trips that called, two trips and a cash prize that were emailed, and one cash prize that was mailed. Smaller things have always been a combination of mail or email for me. If you are entering for big prizes then you absolutely need to put your correct phone number down and you need to answer the phone as many will also not leave messages if you don't pick up. One of those trips that I got a phone call for? They told me they had called three other people before they got to me and they all lost out because they couldn't get through to them.

For what it's worth, I have not received any telemarketing calls as a result of entering contests and I've been entering for about three years now. Spam emails, though, yes so definitely use a separate email for entering.
Aug 31, 2012 09:12 PM
318 Posts
Joined Dec 2011
bittripfanAug 31, 2012 09:12 PM
318 Posts
had a situation come up today. here's my post from the pepsi thread

"Affy for the pizza GC just showed up. Wrong name it it though :-/ I tried calling the # and there closed. I also sent a email. pretty upsetting because i wrote them to make sure they had the right name. They assured me they did . I feel its there fault for not putting a place on the form for the name. some people had their prize show up with no name. Hopefully everything works out. I already lost a ultrabook this month due to a glitch. it would be very hard to keep sweeping if lose this win. "

I pretty worried at this point. Anyone have experience with wrong names on affys?
Aug 31, 2012 10:31 PM
1,133 Posts
Joined Nov 2007
chuckecheezAug 31, 2012 10:31 PM
1,133 Posts
Wow, last day of the month is brutal for entering if you haven't kept up. Am I the only one that goes through a marathon entering session at end of month? Granted, I've only been at it for a few weeks so haven't really had time to work ahead, but between Facebook and single entries something like 500 ending today. Been at it for over 5 hours trying to hit as many as possible; don't think I'm gonna get to all. Whew! Gotta do better for September.
Aug 31, 2012 10:51 PM
118,455 Posts
Joined May 2006
implodeAug 31, 2012 10:51 PM
118,455 Posts
Quote from bittripfan :
had a situation come up today. here's my post from the pepsi thread

"Affy for the pizza GC just showed up. Wrong name it it though :-/ I tried calling the # and there closed. I also sent a email. pretty upsetting because i wrote them to make sure they had the right name. They assured me they did . I feel its there fault for not putting a place on the form for the name. some people had their prize show up with no name. Hopefully everything works out. I already lost a ultrabook this month due to a glitch. it would be very hard to keep sweeping if lose this win. "

I pretty worried at this point. Anyone have experience with wrong names on affys?
Can't let it bother you...I had eprize welch on an email saying I won $10,000 w. an attached affy. Have to assume things will be better in the future and you will win bigger things.
Aug 31, 2012 10:58 PM
318 Posts
Joined Dec 2011
bittripfanAug 31, 2012 10:58 PM
318 Posts
Quote from implode :
Can't let it bother you...I had eprize welch on an email saying I won $10,000 w. an attached affy. Have to assume things will be better in the future and you will win bigger things.
Sorry for your lost. That would be very hard to recover from. it wouldn't be that big a deal if it wasn't $730 worth of GC. Hopefully after the long weekend I will get a email letting me know its fine and just to fill out the affy. (just the letter with it has the wrong name) If I lose this to that's over $1,500 prizes lost this month :-( I think I'm going the wrong direction. At least the Ipad is still on its way Big Grin

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Sep 02, 2012 05:46 PM
8,186 Posts
Joined Nov 2010
SweepToWinSep 02, 2012 05:46 PM
8,186 Posts
Do most people check the box to receive updates, emails, etc. from the contest company? I was just wondering if it truly makes a difference or I am just filling up my email with junk for no reason.
Sep 02, 2012 06:52 PM
1,844 Posts
Joined Jun 2009
JangSep 02, 2012 06:52 PM
1,844 Posts
Quote from sjmcneil :
Do most people check the box to receive updates, emails, etc. from the contest company? I was just wondering if it truly makes a difference or I am just filling up my email with junk for no reason.

If I can uncheck something, I do. Usually, they tell you if you have to but if it doesn't, then I just take the risk of not being eligible. I'd rather not have the spam.

I guess a company could be sneaky and make it a requirement to check a box but not tell you that you have to, but I doubt it.
Sep 04, 2012 03:27 AM
118,455 Posts
Joined May 2006
implodeSep 04, 2012 03:27 AM
118,455 Posts
Quote :
Only one entry per person will be eligible. Entries will be eligible to be considered for all prizes for which the Prize Entry Period is still open and the applicable Prize Drawing Date has not passed. All individual Prize Entry Periods commence at 12:00 AM CDT on the posted beginning date and close at 11:59 PM CDT on the posted ending date.
I was curious to your interpretation of how these rules are worded...

A) Limit one entry, and it carries over to all entry periods.
or
B) One entry per period, and you have to enter each period to qualify for that drawing.

I think the answer is A), however it seems worded a bit confusingly--hate to mess things up and not get max entries.
Sep 04, 2012 03:33 AM
5,152 Posts
Joined Oct 2008
SweepaholicSep 04, 2012 03:33 AM
5,152 Posts
Quote from implode :
I was curious to your interpretation of how these rules are worded...

A) Limit one entry, and it carries over to all entry periods.
or
B) One entry per period, and you have to enter each period to qualify for that drawing.

I think the answer is A), however it seems worded a bit confusingly--hate to mess things up and not get max entries.
My guess is A).
Sep 04, 2012 05:42 AM
1,133 Posts
Joined Nov 2007
chuckecheezSep 04, 2012 05:42 AM
1,133 Posts
Quote from implode :
I was curious to your interpretation of how these rules are worded...

A) Limit one entry, and it carries over to all entry periods.
or
B) One entry per period, and you have to enter each period to qualify for that drawing.

I think the answer is A), however it seems worded a bit confusingly--hate to mess things up and not get max entries.
Based on that wording, I would also say A. I recently entered one just like this and made the assumption it was a single entry one time for ALL the periods.
Sep 04, 2012 11:58 PM
318 Posts
Joined Dec 2011
bittripfanSep 04, 2012 11:58 PM
318 Posts
I just wanted to let you guys know that everything worked out with my affy Big Grin I just need to make a note about it somewhere on there
Sep 05, 2012 02:34 AM
2,355 Posts
Joined Oct 2006
kerriSep 05, 2012 02:34 AM
2,355 Posts
Got a winning email from this one today! Http://slickdeals.net/f/4008856-Embassy-Suites-Hotels-366-Days-of-More-Sweepstakes-2-28-13-Facebook . Thank you MLx3 for posting! Won two certificates for a one night stay at Embassy Suites.

Also won the $80 visa card from this one back in August. http://slickdeals.net/f/4840042-Hershey-s-Summer-2012-Gas-Instant-Win-Game-18-8-27-12 . Thanks for posting sweepstaker

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Sep 05, 2012 03:26 AM
26,018 Posts
Joined Dec 2010
User1144648Sep 05, 2012 03:26 AM
26,018 Posts
Quote from kerri :
Got a winning email from this one today! Http://slickdeals.net/f/4008856-Embassy-Suites-Hotels-366-Days-of-More-Sweepstakes-2-28-13-Facebook . Thank you MLx3 for posting! Won two certificates for a one night stay at Embassy Suites.

Also won the $80 visa card from this one back in August. http://slickdeals.net/f/4840042-Hershey-s-Summer-2012-Gas-Instant-Win-Game-18-8-27-12 . Thanks for posting sweepstaker
Congratulations on both your wins! A free night's hotel stay, and some spending money.....can't beat that!

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