Contests & Sweepstakes Tips, Advice, and Questions

Quote from MLx3 : Could be all of the above. Technically, according to Facebook Promotion Guidelines, pages are supposed to use a 3rd party app to collect entries, and notify winners outside Facebook (ie: email, mail, phone). However, many pages still do the small comment-to-win type giveaways, and will either send you a message through Facebook, or you have to bookmark the page so you can go back and check the winner.

Agree, good anwer.

Anyone know if Comedy Central still does the Thanxgiveaway? I googled around and couldn't find anything. TIA

Hi everyone,

I have a couple questions...

Can I delete all the facebook apps after entering sweeps, or are they sometimes necessary for the contests?

Also, I see some facebook posts naming winners and for them to contact the contest holder. Is that common, without emailing the person as well? I haven't been checking my wall for any of these updates.

Thanks!

Okay so i won a $25.00 itunes gift card and on the prize form they sent it asked for a SSN. I sent the form back filling out everything but that and they contacted me saying it was needed because the gift card is considered taxable income and they assured me that they won't share the number and can take it over the phone if i don't want to email it. Is this normal to give SSN for such a small prize?
The prize is from University of Wisconsin. Its an online school.

Quote from MOSCHUNO : Okay so i won a $25.00 itunes gift card and on the prize form they sent it asked for a SSN. I sent the form back filling out everything but that and they contacted me saying it was needed because the gift card is considered taxable income and they assured me that they won't share the number and can take it over the phone if i don't want to email it. Is this normal to give SSN for such a small prize? The prize is from University of Wisconsin. Its an online school.

I would say them wanting soc sec # is fairly uncommon for such a small item. Happens to all of us from time to time. I refused winning a blu ray set for that same reason from mens health about a year ago. Just a very good idea to limit instances of that data in the wild.

Quote from MOSCHUNO : Okay so i won a $25.00 itunes gift card and on the prize form they sent it asked for a SSN. I sent the form back filling out everything but that and they contacted me saying it was needed because the gift card is considered taxable income and they assured me that they won't share the number and can take it over the phone if i don't want to email it. Is this normal to give SSN for such a small prize? The prize is from University of Wisconsin. Its an online school.

My gut is, like the local radio stations around here who are part of the nationwide Clear Channel, the sponsor is truly following the letter of the law and reporting all wins to the IRS and thus the need for your social security number. If the sponsor is truly the University of WIsconsin, I would hope your information would be safe with them.

Quote from MOSCHUNO : Okay so i won a $25.00 itunes gift card and on the prize form they sent it asked for a SSN. I sent the form back filling out everything but that and they contacted me saying it was needed because the gift card is considered taxable income and they assured me that they won't share the number and can take it over the phone if i don't want to email it. Is this normal to give SSN for such a small prize? The prize is from University of Wisconsin. Its an online school.

I've never been asked for SSN on such a small prize and frankly, I would just refuse it if it were me.

How do you guys find out how much to price wins to sell? I have a sealed 16gb iPhone 5 that will arrive on Monday. I will only sell local but I am not sure how to find a price? Hoping it sells well because I need the money for Christmas, anyone know what they are going for?

Quote from Soinlove01 : How do you guys find out how much to price wins to sell? I have a sealed 16gb iPhone 5 that will arrive on Monday. I will only sell local but I am not sure how to find a price? Hoping it sells well because I need the money for Christmas, anyone know what they are going for?

I would think 50% might be tricky...many places phones are free with contract. Might check completed ebay auctions.

50% of retail you mean? What is the retail value? I also don't know how to check finished ebay auctions... I was under the impression that once an auction ended it drops off the list so I can't find one that's done. Thank you for your help btw

Quote from implode : I would think 50% might be tricky...many places phones are free with contract. Might check completed ebay auctions.

Sorry Implode but I respectfully disagree here. An iPhone 5 out of contract fetches upwards of $800 because you aren't tied to a carrier and can do whatever you want with the phone (international use mostly). If you go to a store and buy one without a contract the minimum they will charge is $600 and that's if you can even find one right now.

Quote from Soinlove01 : I also don't know how to check finished ebay auctions... I was under the impression that once an auction ended it drops off the list so I can't find one that's done. Thank you for your help btw

When you're doing a search, go to the "Buying Formats" part of the left sidebar and click 'choose more.' Once you get the pop up, click on 'Completed Listings' and then 'Go.'
Here's a pic just in case the explanation is confusing.

Quote from Soinlove01 : How do you guys find out how much to price wins to sell? I have a sealed 16gb iPhone 5 that will arrive on Monday. I will only sell local but I am not sure how to find a price? Hoping it sells well because I need the money for Christmas, anyone know what they are going for?

Easiest way to get a "real world" value is to just search for other listings on places like craigslist. See what others are offering them at, maybe even bookmark those listings and see how quick they are deleted (likely sold). If you want to sell faster beat the general average price. Having it factory sealed will help too.

Just be ready for all the low ball offers you get if you do list it. But eventually someone that is serious and knows the value will pick it up...usually after at least a little negotiations lol.

Back when Sprint had annual upgrades, where you only had to pay $200 for the brand new phones, with new two year contract extensions, I used to actually make a profit from it. I could almost always sell my year old phone for more than the $200 for the new phone. Having a more recently released iphone should be even easier to sell around this time. Phones without contracts are great for gifts.

Thank you for all the advice everyone. I checked completed ebay ads and looks like it goes from $500-$700. Does putting a firm price work or should I increase the value and expect the buyer to haggle the price to what I want?