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Contests & Sweepstakes Tips, Advice, and Questions

58,150 56,135 June 2, 2008 at 07:50 PM in Other (6) Get Sears coupons Coupons
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Last Edited by BostonGirl March 8, 2015 at 07:18 AM
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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 Wiki

Last Edited by JD123 November 1, 2014 at 11:13 AM
Before we had this thread, limpstar posted this site for info on sweeps & taxes in the I Won Thread:
All About Sweepstakes Taxes
http://contests.about.com/od/taxe...gtaxes.htm

Also consider talking to your tax preparer and/or researching further into your tax responsibility.


I have found this page helpful in understanding some of sweep's law - a sweeps law co.'s site:
The Lustigman Firm; Attorneys at Law
http://www.sweepstakeslaw.com/
The Lustigman Firm provides experienced legal counsel that helps protect the business interests
of its advertising and promotional clients around the United States and Canada

What does " age of majority in your state or province " mean?

(sometimes abbreviated as AoM+ )

it's the legal age of that state or province...

The Age of majority is the threshold of adulthood as it is conceptualized in law. It is the chronological moment when children legally assume majority control over their persons and their actions and decisions, thereby terminating the legal control and legal responsibilities of their parents over and for them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_majority

there's a list by country and by US State there....

For most purposes, the age of majority in the U.S. is 18,
except for 2 states with the age of 19 (Nebraska,Alabama)
and one state with the age of 21 (Mississippi)
and two (American Samoa and Puerto Rico) that retain 14 as the age of majority.
Occasionally PA is listed under the 19+ or 21+

~javaFlower

Regarding missing prizes
If you were expecting a prize you've never received you can complain 1st to the sweepstakes administrator, then to the sweepstakes sponsor and finally to USPS Postal Inspectors

https://postalinspectors.uspis.go...laint.aspx

-Kotik


ePrize Contacts
[email protected] - Bob Marsh, Senior Vice President, Midwest Region, Phone: 248.543.7522
[email protected] - Darlene Morris, Business Manager, Phone: 248.543.7403
[email protected] - Alesya Opelt, Vice President, Marketing, Phone: 248.543.7440


Occasionally a....less than ethical sweep will get posted.
You might end up finding unauthorized charges on your phone bill. Unauthorized charges on the phone bill are what's called "Cramming". Once you contact the company that's charging you, and you have requested your phone company remove the charge, if you so choose, you can file a complaint with the FCC.

FCC Online complaint form: esupport.fcc.gov/complaints.htm

You can also file your complaint with the FCC's Consumer Center by e-mailing [email protected] or calling 1-888-CALL-FCC (1-888-225-5322) voice or 1-888-TELL-FCC (1-888-835-5322) TTY

You can fax your complaint to 1-866-418-0232

Or by snail mail:
Federal Communications Commission
Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau
Consumer Inquiries and Complaints Division
445 12th Street, SW
Washington, D.C. 20554.

I also recommend a 3rd party block on your line to prohibit this from happening. 3rd party blocks don't affect your phone in any way, except by not allowing some company outside of your local phone company from adding charges to your bill.


Slickdealers on Twitter
(I don't really know where is best to start this list, but I decided to just start it here. If anyone thinks we should move it somewhere else, please do so.)

SD name Twitter name
kdka421 k8fenner
Starbelly Lunachique
dodgers77449 michael0902
sanaperv @slicksweepberry
blueeyeleo  
Slickdealers on Facebook
(Hopefully, it is allowed to post this here. If anyone thinks this link should be deleted, please do so.)
You can find the facebook slickdeals sweepers in this group: http://www.facebook.com/groups/310504039006252/

Track incoming packages
UPS
http://www.ups.com/mychoice/
FedEx https://www.fedex.com/login/web/j...n.jsp?TYPE
USPS https://www.usps.com/manage/manage-your-mail.htm




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Joined Sep 2006
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KMA
02-18-2013 at 10:24 AM.
02-18-2013 at 10:24 AM.
Quote from Amantria :
I haven't been able to get that bowling one to work for a couple days now. Chrome also.
You can enter from their website. They posted on Facebook about issues and provided the link. You can either check there or go to that sweeps post here on SD where I posted the link in the comments.
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grinny2222
02-18-2013 at 10:27 PM.
02-18-2013 at 10:27 PM.
My mom won $5,000 in giftcards from iw game but she used a ficticous first name and birthday. Eprize is asking for her name, ssn, e-mail and physical address and date of birth in a Declaration of Compliance, Liability & Publicity Release. No notary. Everything matches but her first name and birthday because she was scared of internet fraud and never expected to win such a huge prize. I told her she probably just blew $5000 down the drain. Does anyone know how they (eprize) will treat this? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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conehead433
02-19-2013 at 04:46 AM.
02-19-2013 at 04:46 AM.
Quote from grinny2222 :
My mom won $5,000 in giftcards from iw game but she used a ficticous first name and birthday. Eprize is asking for her name, ssn, e-mail and physical address and date of birth in a Declaration of Compliance, Liability & Publicity Release. No notary. Everything matches but her first name and birthday because she was scared of internet fraud and never expected to win such a huge prize. I told her she probably just blew $5000 down the drain. Does anyone know how they (eprize) will treat this? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
This is how you disqualify yourself from a win. She may as well give up entering sweeps if she ever expects to win any significant prizes. The fact that they are not asking for a notarized affy isn't going to help. She'll be DQ'd when they run her SSN.
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Joined Oct 2008
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Sweepaholic
02-19-2013 at 05:57 AM.
02-19-2013 at 05:57 AM.
Quote from grinny2222 :
My mom won $5,000 in giftcards from iw game but she used a ficticous first name and birthday. Eprize is asking for her name, ssn, e-mail and physical address and date of birth in a Declaration of Compliance, Liability & Publicity Release. No notary. Everything matches but her first name and birthday because she was scared of internet fraud and never expected to win such a huge prize. I told her she probably just blew $5000 down the drain. Does anyone know how they (eprize) will treat this? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
I agree with conehead, for $5000 they are gonna verify her details and would most likely disqualify her.
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Joined May 2006
Keeper of the Trophy
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implode
02-19-2013 at 07:23 AM.
02-19-2013 at 07:23 AM.
Quote from grinny2222 :
My mom won $5,000 in giftcards from iw game but she used a ficticous first name and birthday. Eprize is asking for her name, ssn, e-mail and physical address and date of birth in a Declaration of Compliance, Liability & Publicity Release. No notary. Everything matches but her first name and birthday because she was scared of internet fraud and never expected to win such a huge prize. I told her she probably just blew $5000 down the drain. Does anyone know how they (eprize) will treat this? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Oh the irony committing internet fraud because you are scared of it. laugh out loud I'm sorry, but this seems like a lesson she will have to learn the hard way on. I'm guessing that is grounds for the loss of her win. Even worse, it may mean no one ends up being able to claim the prize--some sweeps don't re-award prizes. She may even have caused herself to be blacklisted from the worlds biggest prize fulfillment group.

My advice would be move on from this having learned a big lesson in life. Honesty is the best policy. Always enter for things you are qualified to do so on and always use accurate information. Anything else is committing fraud.
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Joined Sep 2006
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KMA
02-19-2013 at 10:28 AM.
02-19-2013 at 10:28 AM.
Quote from grinny2222 :
My mom won $5,000 in giftcards from iw game but she used a ficticous first name and birthday. Eprize is asking for her name, ssn, e-mail and physical address and date of birth in a Declaration of Compliance, Liability & Publicity Release. No notary. Everything matches but her first name and birthday because she was scared of internet fraud and never expected to win such a huge prize. I told her she probably just blew $5000 down the drain. Does anyone know how they (eprize) will treat this? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
I would email them about it and state exactly what she did and why. If she's older that might gain sympathy/understanding about her fears, so she should include her age. But, before doing this, see what others say about my suggestion since I've no experience dealing with Eprize.
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Joined Oct 2008
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Sweepaholic
02-19-2013 at 10:40 AM.
02-19-2013 at 10:40 AM.
Quote from KMA :
I would email them about it and state exactly what she did and why. If she's older that might gain sympathy/understanding about her fears, so she should include her age. But, before doing this, see what others say about my suggestion since I've no experience dealing with Eprize.
Im pretty sure thats not going to matter to Eprize, the sweeps have rules that are to be followed and using incorrect name/personal information is one of them. Not only would she likely be disqualified as Implode said she risks being blacklisted. This isnt a tshirt or somthing its $5000!
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Joined Jan 2008
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angelsolo3
02-19-2013 at 02:23 PM.
02-19-2013 at 02:23 PM.
Does anyone believe in good karma for posting contests? I have not won anything yet this year. I did pretty well last year and the year before. I have really increased posting sweeps (mostly for things that I really want!). Many of these are somewhat obscure that maybe people would not find without my posting it. Sometimes I want to keep them to myself but I never do because I hope the contest karma will pay off. Is it common to see smaller sweeps and not post them if you want to win them badly yourself? I'm not planning on doing that because I still hope it will pay off...

Happy sweeping!
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Joined Jun 2009
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Jang
02-19-2013 at 03:07 PM.
02-19-2013 at 03:07 PM.
Quote from angelsolo3 :
Does anyone believe in good karma for posting contests? I have not won anything yet this year. I did pretty well last year and the year before. I have really increased posting sweeps (mostly for things that I really want!). Many of these are somewhat obscure that maybe people would not find without my posting it. Sometimes I want to keep them to myself but I never do because I hope the contest karma will pay off. Is it common to see smaller sweeps and not post them if you want to win them badly yourself? I'm not planning on doing that because I still hope it will pay off...

Happy sweeping!

It'll pay off. Thanks for contributing and happy sweeping!
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bittripfan
02-19-2013 at 04:01 PM.
02-19-2013 at 04:01 PM.
Quote from angelsolo3 :
Does anyone believe in good karma for posting contests? I have not won anything yet this year. I did pretty well last year and the year before. I have really increased posting sweeps (mostly for things that I really want!). Many of these are somewhat obscure that maybe people would not find without my posting it. Sometimes I want to keep them to myself but I never do because I hope the contest karma will pay off. Is it common to see smaller sweeps and not post them if you want to win them badly yourself? I'm not planning on doing that because I still hope it will pay off...

Happy sweeping!
While I'm sure everyone appreciates when you post sweeps. There is no such thing as karma. If your losing time on entering time because your posting then maybe you should focus on entering before you post sweeps.
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BrewCityJamez
02-19-2013 at 10:48 PM.
02-19-2013 at 10:48 PM.
Does anyone else want to kick themselves in the head when they disqualify themselves from entering a one timer twice on accident? As hard as I try I simply can't keep track of every single swep I enter and the longer running ones always seem to get me. I click on it and sit there asking myself "Did I already enter this?" Then reluctantly enter to find out I already have.
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Last edited by BrewCityJamez February 19, 2013 at 10:51 PM.
Joined May 2006
Keeper of the Trophy
> bubble2 116,544 Posts
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implode
02-20-2013 at 07:42 AM.
02-20-2013 at 07:42 AM.
Quote from BrewCityJamez :
Does anyone else want to kick themselves in the head when they disqualify themselves from entering a one timer twice on accident? As hard as I try I simply can't keep track of every single swep I enter and the longer running ones always seem to get me. I click on it and sit there asking myself "Did I already enter this?" Then reluctantly enter to find out I already have.
Nope on single entries, I usually mark the thread with a 'Thanks'. So site keeps track for me. On rare occurrences multiple versions may derail me. If I think something looks familiar I click the category icon for the website to see if other versions may exist as a fail safe. Works incredibly well.
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Joined Jun 2009
It's fun to do bad things
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Jang
02-20-2013 at 08:48 AM.
02-20-2013 at 08:48 AM.
Quote from BrewCityJamez :
Does anyone else want to kick themselves in the head when they disqualify themselves from entering a one timer twice on accident? As hard as I try I simply can't keep track of every single swep I enter and the longer running ones always seem to get me. I click on it and sit there asking myself "Did I already enter this?" Then reluctantly enter to find out I already have.

If it feels even a little like I've entered already, I check my history or just skip it. I'm sure I've disqualified myself several times though. The "once every 24 hours" ones can get me though because I don't enter at the same time every day.
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Joined Oct 2011
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Nodnetni
02-20-2013 at 08:55 AM.
02-20-2013 at 08:55 AM.
Quote from BrewCityJamez :
Does anyone else want to kick themselves in the head when they disqualify themselves from entering a one timer twice on accident? As hard as I try I simply can't keep track of every single swep I enter and the longer running ones always seem to get me. I click on it and sit there asking myself "Did I already enter this?" Then reluctantly enter to find out I already have.
I assume most don't actually disqualify you, unless you are varying your information. I know quite often if I accidentally enter a one timer twice it will simply state "You have already entered". I always assumed that it wasn't disqualifying me, just stating that I had already entered.

Maybe I am wrong, but I figured the only 1 entry did some kind of verification to make sure you weren't entering under multiple email addresses, if an entrant came up as to similar in information, then they were disqualified.

Maybe I assume to much....
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Joined Nov 2008
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elangomatt
02-20-2013 at 09:30 AM.
02-20-2013 at 09:30 AM.
Quote from Nodnetni :
I assume most don't actually disqualify you, unless you are varying your information. I know quite often if I accidentally enter a one timer twice it will simply state "You have already entered". I always assumed that it wasn't disqualifying me, just stating that I had already entered.

Maybe I am wrong, but I figured the only 1 entry did some kind of verification to make sure you weren't entering under multiple email addresses, if an entrant came up as to similar in information, then they were disqualified.

Maybe I assume to much....
I've always assumed the same thing Nodnetni. If I get the "you've already entered" message, then I assume I haven't been DQed since it checked to see if I've already entered. It's the ones that don't do any validation that I think are more likely to be DQed on since at the end they might look for more entries from the potential winner to see if they should be DQed.
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