Slickdeals is community-supported.  We may get paid by brands for deals, including promoted items.
forum threadFreebiesRGreat posted Jun 03, 2008 02:50 AM
forum threadFreebiesRGreat posted Jun 03, 2008 02:50 AM

Contests & Sweepstakes Tips, Advice, and Questions

Sears
2,361,510 Views
See Deal
Good Deal
Save
Share
Deal Details
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.

Community Voting

Deal Score
+99
Good Deal
See Deal

Leave a Comment

Unregistered (You)

9,849 Comments

Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.

Aug 05, 2011 02:13 AM
1,844 Posts
Joined Jun 2009
JangAug 05, 2011 02:13 AM
1,844 Posts
Quote from energyzer :
I'm probably the wierdest one of all if that is what it takes! I call them ILG "Instant Lose"
Sometimes I feel like I'm just going through the motions. I'll play, see the "Sorry, you aren't an instant winner this time" message and be on to the next contest without thinking twice.

Good luck! I'm sure you'll get some wins now. Smilie
Aug 05, 2011 04:57 AM
1,844 Posts
Joined Jun 2009
JangAug 05, 2011 04:57 AM
1,844 Posts
Has anyone here won a womansday giveaway?
Pro
QA
Aug 05, 2011 12:36 PM
3,568 Posts
Joined Feb 2009
rachaelm
Pro
QA
Aug 05, 2011 12:36 PM
3,568 Posts
Quote from Jang :
Has anyone here won a womansday giveaway?
I was just wondering the same thing yesterday (as I entered another one). There are so many entries in those, the odds are not good for us...
Aug 05, 2011 05:23 PM
4,323 Posts
Joined Oct 2010
swede12Aug 05, 2011 05:23 PM
4,323 Posts
Quote from Jang :
Has anyone here won a womansday giveaway?
I have been entering WomansDay for years with no wins. I finally won from BHG, after years, nice skin care line.
Aug 05, 2011 05:32 PM
1,844 Posts
Joined Jun 2009
JangAug 05, 2011 05:32 PM
1,844 Posts
Thanks for the quick replies.

@rachelm I was wondering for a different reason. They are by far the easiest daily to enter (for me) and the number of winners per contest is high while they have at least 20-30 contests going on at the same time. I was beginning to wonder if there was something I wasn't understanding. I wonder how many entries they DO get, since I don't think most people have the memory or patience to enter that many contests every day.

@swede12 Sorry for your bad luck on those contests as well but congrats on your BHG win! I've always been slightly wary of that network of website/magazine contests even though I always enter them.
Aug 06, 2011 04:39 AM
371 Posts
Joined Aug 2005
SavvyShopperManAug 06, 2011 04:39 AM
371 Posts
Can I please get a list of the Contest & Sweepstakes mods? I went through the list and people were either FP mods or had random titles. I emailed a mod about a sweepstakes that I wanted to do, but never heard back. TIA
Aug 06, 2011 04:47 AM
118,456 Posts
Joined May 2006
implodeAug 06, 2011 04:47 AM
118,456 Posts
Quote from SavvyShopperMan :
Can I please get a list of the Contest & Sweepstakes mods? I went through the list and people were either FP mods or had random titles. I emailed a mod about a sweepstakes that I wanted to do, but never heard back. TIA
Keep in mind self referrals are explicitly against the rules of SD.

(http://slickdeals.net/forums/misc.php?do=showrules)
Last edited by implode August 5, 2011 at 09:50 PM.

Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.

Aug 06, 2011 02:40 PM
4,088 Posts
Joined Mar 2007
GuillotineAug 06, 2011 02:40 PM
4,088 Posts
Quote from SavvyShopperMan :
Can I please get a list of the Contest & Sweepstakes mods? I went through the list and people were either FP mods or had random titles. I emailed a mod about a sweepstakes that I wanted to do, but never heard back. TIA

List of mods is on the bottom right of the main sweeps page:

Moderators
rayzac, kel_be, serra, slickdeals, lowpro, brisar, redsolar, bryantq, finzz2dlft, DJ3xclusive, iconian, Schooby, thelnel52, yuugotserved, burninator, KUJayhawk08
Aug 06, 2011 07:01 PM
371 Posts
Joined Aug 2005
SavvyShopperManAug 06, 2011 07:01 PM
371 Posts
Quote from Guillotine :
List of mods is on the bottom right of the main sweeps page:

Moderators
rayzac, kel_be, serra, slickdeals, lowpro, brisar, redsolar, bryantq, finzz2dlft, DJ3xclusive, iconian, Schooby, thelnel52, yuugotserved, burninator, KUJayhawk08
I tried clicking on all of their usernames. Some are mods for the front page. Other people just have random titles. I couldn't find one that had Contests & Sweepstakes mod in their description or sidebar.
Aug 07, 2011 01:22 AM
1,369 Posts
Joined Sep 2009
pennyroseAug 07, 2011 01:22 AM
1,369 Posts
I hope someone can help me. I was notified I won a sweepstakes on 8-3. I had 5 days to reply to the email and I replied the same day. I haven't heard a word since and I'm starting to panic - kinda. I sent another email yesterday and I just got it returned to me saying "delivery to the recipient has been delayed" and it will be tried 2 more days, and I don't need to resend it.

Does it seem normal that I haven't heard anything? I'm praying the weekend won't count as part of the 5 days to respond. I can't find anyway else to contact them except by email.

Hope some of the winners on here can offer some advice. Thanks so much.
Aug 07, 2011 01:50 AM
1,844 Posts
Joined Jun 2009
JangAug 07, 2011 01:50 AM
1,844 Posts
Quote from pennyrose :
I hope someone can help me. I was notified I won a sweepstakes on 8-3. I had 5 days to reply to the email and I replied the same day. I haven't heard a word since and I'm starting to panic - kinda. I sent another email yesterday and I just got it returned to me saying "delivery to the recipient has been delayed" and it will be tried 2 more days, and I don't need to resend it.

Does it seem normal that I haven't heard anything? I'm praying the weekend won't count as part of the 5 days to respond. I can't find anyway else to contact them except by email.

Hope some of the winners on here can offer some advice. Thanks so much.
That's kind of odd there isn't a phone number to contact them. I usually call if I don't get a confirmation email back within a day or two. What contest was it?

I hope everything works out for you.
Aug 07, 2011 01:58 AM
1,369 Posts
Joined Sep 2009
pennyroseAug 07, 2011 01:58 AM
1,369 Posts
Thanks for the response, Jang.

It's from the Degree - Get into the Move contest. It's a facebook contest and I feel like I've looked everywhere for a number.
Aug 07, 2011 02:26 AM
1,844 Posts
Joined Jun 2009
JangAug 07, 2011 02:26 AM
1,844 Posts
Quote from pennyrose :
Thanks for the response, Jang.

It's from the Degree - Get into the Move contest. It's a facebook contest and I feel like I've looked everywhere for a number.
No problem.

I just read the rules and it looks like eprize is the administrator. I'm not sure if this is the right way to go about it but you can possibly contact them.

http://eprize.com/contact-us/
Aug 07, 2011 02:55 AM
1,369 Posts
Joined Sep 2009
pennyroseAug 07, 2011 02:55 AM
1,369 Posts
Thanks again and repped for the idea, Jang.

I went there and they suggested looking in their FAQ's. There was a place to send in your question, but it said it could take up to 3 business days to respond - ugghh. I don't know if I should just comment about the problem on their facebook page or try emailing yet again? I really want this prize - first "good" one I've won in forever.

Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.

Aug 07, 2011 04:39 AM
1,844 Posts
Joined Jun 2009
JangAug 07, 2011 04:39 AM
1,844 Posts
Quote from pennyrose :
Thanks again and repped for the idea, Jang.

I went there and they suggested looking in their FAQ's. There was a place to send in your question, but it said it could take up to 3 business days to respond - ugghh. I don't know if I should just comment about the problem on their facebook page or try emailing yet again? I really want this prize - first "good" one I've won in forever.
I really don't know. Frown

When you said you sent an email, was the response from them or just a type of "failure to deliver" automated message?

Thanks for the rep and I really hope you get your prize.

Leave a Comment

Unregistered (You)

Related Searches

Popular Deals

Trending Deals