Contests & Sweepstakes Tips, Advice, and Questions

Quote from DCFreebies : Is there anyone I can PM here with knowledge of sweepstakes rules? I won a fairly large prize, but am having some publicity release problems. They won't give me the prize without me signing over my life to them.

I would be happy to discuss this matter with you, I'm pretty good with rules. Ultimately what you agree to will boil down to comfort level. They can put any number of stipulations on claiming a prize they want to sadly.

I've had prizes where I had to take a picture with the prize and post on facebook before. Also had some times where they wanted to post my name and city online. Ultimately it was worth it. Though other situations may vary, especially if it is a tiny prize. Or a prize so large people will hassle you over it (such as a large cash prize, I wouldn't want that type of publicity).

Quote from implode : I would be happy to discuss this matter with you, I'm pretty good with rules. Ultimately what you agree to will boil down to comfort level. They can put any number of stipulations on claiming a prize they want to sadly. I've had prizes where I had to take a picture with the prize and post on facebook before. Also had some times where they wanted to post my name and city online. Ultimately it was worth it. Though other situations may vary, especially if it is a tiny prize. Or a prize so large people will hassle you over it (such as a large cash prize, I wouldn't want that type of publicity).

Thank you! YHPM.

Thanks

Quote from blahblah88 : Hi everyone, I'm new to sweepstakes so I'm still a bit unsure of what it all entails. I'm interested in entering sweeps for some of the bigger cash prizes, however I don't want to get hit with hefty taxes at the end. For those who have won prizes totaling thousands of dollars a year, how much do you normally have to fork over in taxes? Is it all worth it?

It all depends on what you make in income. All winnings are seen as income in taxes, so if you win a $900 prize, that it the same as getting a $900 check for work, but you don't get taxes taken out of that until the end of the year. So if you make $40,000 a year, with the $900 prize, you have now made $40,900 for the year, so your refund will be a little less and you might even have to pay some. If it is a cash prize, it's always worth it, because you'll be making money on it no matter what. You would just have to set aside some money for taxes at the end of the year. Any other sort of prize, it'll be something that you have to decide whether or not you would be willing to pay, approximately, a third of the cost of the prize in taxes. Hope that helps.

Quote from blahblah88 : Hi everyone, I'm new to sweepstakes so I'm still a bit unsure of what it all entails. I'm interested in entering sweeps for some of the bigger cash prizes, however I don't want to get hit with hefty taxes at the end. For those who have won prizes totaling thousands of dollars a year, how much do you normally have to fork over in taxes? Is it all worth it?

I would say you're getting way ahead of yourself worrying about taxes right now. There are plenty of people who have been at this for years and probably never made enough in a year to worry about the tax liability. Even the MOST successful sweepers may average 20-25K per year over the long run, and that is with a couple of good years well above average and most quite a bit below that. And you are likely not going to come anywhere near that amount unless you plan on doing it as a full-time job, meaning 6-8 hours and 500-800 sweeps per day. I would say just jump in and start entering a few. It will take you some time to build up a backlog before you start seeing any prizes, unless you are one of the very fortunate few who hit it big immediately. And for the small stuff, like DVDs, tshirts, etc. I don't think most people even bother reporting those. My rule of thumb is valued around $50 or more before I really start worrying about reporting it.

In the end, I would definitely say it's worth it, but if you're really worried about taxes and don't have a means to pay them, avoid prizes like trips where there isn't really any way to recoup the money, and may in fact end up costing you more money. Cash or gift cards are always good, and most merchandise can be sold for slightly less than ARV if you don't want it, although entering for stuff you either can't use or don't want for yourself/family/friends is generally frowned upon around here since that's reducing the odds for others who actually want it. I recommend just jumping in and worry about the taxes later IF you win. Welcome to the madness

Quote from chuckecheez : I would say you're getting way ahead of yourself worrying about taxes right now. There are plenty of people who have been at this for years and probably never made enough in a year to worry about the tax liability. Even the MOST successful sweepers may average 20-25K per year over the long run, and that is with a couple of good years well above average and most quite a bit below that. And you are likely not going to come anywhere near that amount unless you plan on doing it as a full-time job, meaning 6-8 hours and 500-800 sweeps per day. I would say just jump in and start entering a few. It will take you some time to build up a backlog before you start seeing any prizes, unless you are one of the very fortunate few who hit it big immediately. And for the small stuff, like DVDs, tshirts, etc. I don't think most people even bother reporting those. My rule of thumb is valued around $50 or more before I really start worrying about reporting it. In the end, I would definitely say it's worth it, but if you're really worried about taxes and don't have a means to pay them, avoid prizes like trips where there isn't really any way to recoup the money, and may in fact end up costing you more money. Cash or gift cards are always good, and most merchandise can be sold for slightly less than ARV if you don't want it, although entering for stuff you either can't use or don't want for yourself/family/friends is generally frowned upon around here since that's reducing the odds for others who actually want it. I recommend just jumping in and worry about the taxes later IF you win. Welcome to the madness

I have been entering 6+ years and speaking frankly about my taxes--I have never won 20-25k in a year. I am probably one of the most heavy at entering with 600+ a day.

Quote from implode : I have been entering 6+ years and speaking frankly about my taxes--I have never won 20-25k in a year. I am probably one of the most heavy at entering with 600+ a day.

Well, right - that was sort of my point. The $25k figure I got from a little reading online and found that there were 1/2 dozen or so people who had been sweeping from 15-20 years and that was the average; they all entered daily around as much as you Implode and had several large wins, including trips, cars, etc. so those prizes really boosted the average. I'm thinking that figure is at the upper end of what you might ever expect to average, and around 95% of us are going to be well below that. Ball park, I would estimate the the normal sweeper to bring in anywhere from $3k to $10k per year, assuming a consistent daily entry process. So I think that taxes really should not be a huge concern, even for the most successful winners.

Do y'all expect tracking #'s on bigger wins?

Contacted the company again because they never got in touch with me like they said they were supposed to, and they said they had a shipping issue and would send out another and I should receive it 'hopefully' within the next week. My husband is like 'they had a shipping issue and didn't let you know? wth?'.

Would you ask for a tracking number or just keep an eye on the mailbox next week and if it doesn't come again, fire another email off? Thx!

Quote from Soinlove01 : Do y'all expect tracking #'s on bigger wins? Contacted the company again because they never got in touch with me like they said they were supposed to, and they said they had a shipping issue and would send out another and I should receive it 'hopefully' within the next week. My husband is like 'they had a shipping issue and didn't let you know? wth?'. Would you ask for a tracking number or just keep an eye on the mailbox next week and if it doesn't come again, fire another email off? Thx!

I have had plenty of big wins not give tracking numbers I just keep an eye on the mailbox.

Anyone else encounter problem with newest FF and newest version of robo? Secondary browsers open without robo and no way to add it. I'm kind of screwed now on entering

Quote from Sweepaholic : I have had plenty of big wins not give tracking numbers I just keep an eye on the mailbox.

Thanks for the answer!

I have accumulated a bunch of Hollywood movie money codes over this year through sweeps. For the most part I have been pretty good about deleted the emails after I used the tickets. I'm wondering if there's a easy way of checking if a code has been used. I hate to go the movies with tickets I already used because I got mixed up. Thanks!

Quote from implode : Anyone else encounter problem with newest FF and newest version of robo? Secondary browsers open without robo and no way to add it. I'm kind of screwed now on entering

Stuff like this is why if I find a FF version and Robo version that works perfectly for me, I won't update unless I really have to. They'll probably have a new update soon that will work out all of the kinks, like always.

Quote from empyrean : Stuff like this is why if I find a FF version and Robo version that works perfectly for me, I won't update unless I really have to. They'll probably have a new update soon that will work out all of the kinks, like always.

I will be blunt, but was only able to enter 1/4th my normal load today before work...having to right mouse click on things adds a good 10 seconds per. Doesn't sound like a lot but it its a major pain for me.