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Contests & Sweepstakes Tips, Advice, and Questions
June 2, 2008 at
07:50 PM
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Last Edited by BostonGirl March 8, 2015 at 07:18 AM
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://agilewebsolutio
FireFox Form Filler browser extensions: https://addons.mozilla.
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.
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://agilewebsolutio
FireFox Form Filler browser extensions: https://addons.mozilla.
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.
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.sweepstakes
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.or
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://postalinspector
-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.)
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.co
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
This post can be edited by most users to provide up-to-date information about developments of this thread based on user responses, and user findings. Feel free to add, change or remove information shown here as it becomes available. This includes new coupons, rebates, ideas, thread summary, and similar items.
Once a Thread Wiki is added to a thread, "Create Wiki" button will disappear. If you would like to learn more about Thread Wiki feature, click here.
This post can be edited by most users to provide up-to-date information about developments of this thread based on user responses, and user findings. Feel free to add, change or remove information shown here as it becomes available. This includes new coupons, rebates, ideas, thread summary, and similar items.
Once a Thread Wiki is added to a thread, "Create Wiki" button will disappear. If you would like to learn more about Thread Wiki feature, click here.
All About Sweepstakes Taxes
http://contests.about.
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.sweepstakes
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.or
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://postalinspector
-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 |
(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.co
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
This post can be edited by most users to provide up-to-date information about developments of this thread based on user responses, and user findings. Feel free to add, change or remove information shown here as it becomes available. This includes new coupons, rebates, ideas, thread summary, and similar items.
Once a Thread Wiki is added to a thread, "Create Wiki" button will disappear. If you would like to learn more about Thread Wiki feature, click here.
This post can be edited by most users to provide up-to-date information about developments of this thread based on user responses, and user findings. Feel free to add, change or remove information shown here as it becomes available. This includes new coupons, rebates, ideas, thread summary, and similar items.
Once a Thread Wiki is added to a thread, "Create Wiki" button will disappear. If you would like to learn more about Thread Wiki feature, click here.
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I'll give you an example. Last year there was a sweepstakes where you had to listen to three or four podcasts. Each podcast was one hour long. During a random time of each podcast the sponsor would release a pin code number. You had to email them all four pin codes. I did this and won their prize. I'm pretty sure just a handful of people entered this. The thread was even thumbed down.
If you want some good odds try local sweeps such as radio. You'll eventually win because there is a lesser audience that will enter. Most radio sweeps also only let you win once every 90 days so the odds are even greater because the sweepaholics can't always enter. You can also enter sweeps that are less common like twitter or pinterest. The thing is though that usually there is only one prize. Even if it's just twenty five people entering the odds still aren't good. Try to find sweeps that have a lot of prizes. Like today 3/13 is the camel hump day instant sweeps. People will forget to enter and they have a lot of prizes.
Even if you accidentally enter a sweepstakes more than once, I think the only way you'd really get blackballed by a promo company like ePrize is by entering the same contest many different times using different identities.
If you want to get a good look at what the actual odds are for sweepstakes in general, try entering some of the blog rafflecopter giveaways and take note of how many entries they have. You can usually get a good average for how many people have entered by dividing the number of entries by the number of possible entries per person; even for some of the more lesser known blog sweepstakes the odds are really not that great. Another good place that gives hard numbers is the Sears Shop Your Way rewards sweepstakes; they tell you exactly how many people have entered even after the contest is over (note: they probably have fewer entries by far than your average sweepstakes).
There are no secret tricks that people use, some people are just luckier than others. The only real tips I've found useful are the following:
1) The more sweepstakes you enter, the better chance you have at winning something. If you enter a daily sweepstakes every day, you have a slightly better chance at winning than someone who just enters the same sweepstakes once, but really only slightly.
2) The only tricks to IWGs are to enter at the top of the minute (may have some effect, but there is no way to know if your clock is exactly in sync with the IWG server, even if you're set using the naval atomic clock or how quickly your request hits their server) and to play during the wee hours of the morning. The only advantage you have during the middle of the night is that there are fewer people playing, but this too is only a very slight advantage and unless you're already up at that hour it's hardly worth doing.
3) The best way to win something is to focus on sweepstakes that offer a large number of prizes, have fewer entries because they are not well known, or that require more steps than just entering in your details. Contests that require photos, essays, or videos often have dramatically fewer entries than other contests. Most Pinterest contests have fewer entries than other contests. Lesser known blogs often have fewer entries, especially if the prize value is not that great.
There's no magical formula, no secret recipe to win; you just have to enter consistently and hope you eventually get lucky.
I think basically you have to go to any fb page you "like", copy the URL, go back to the app and paste the link in their search box, authorize the app, and refresh FB.
I think basically you have to go to any fb page you "like", copy the URL, go back to the app and paste the link in their search box, authorize the app, and refresh FB.
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I haven't been able to get on through by license. I don't use a cell. I guess I just have to wait it out. Maybe it's a good thing ..at least now I have a life.
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