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forum threadFreebiesRGreat posted Jun 03, 2008 02:50 AM
forum threadFreebiesRGreat posted Jun 03, 2008 02:50 AM

Contests & Sweepstakes Tips, Advice, and Questions

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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 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.

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Pro
QA
Aug 19, 2011 04:15 PM
3,568 Posts
Joined Feb 2009
rachaelm
Pro
QA
Aug 19, 2011 04:15 PM
3,568 Posts
Quote from Jang :
Quick question: How do you all feel about no limits on entries?
Quote from Tippster :
I don't even bother.
Iagree I always figure someone will figure out a bot for entries & enter several million times on those....
Aug 19, 2011 05:14 PM
1,430 Posts
Joined Sep 2010
mj025Aug 19, 2011 05:14 PM
1,430 Posts
Quote from Jang :
Thanks. I'm a bit curious about the 400 dailies you enter. I can only find a max of about 200. Do you do a lot of referral and twitter contests? I refuse to use twitter, even though I miss contests.
Quote from Jang :
Quick question: How do you all feel about no limits on entries?
I enter about 300 daily, but could easily double or triple that if I entered every giveaway posted. I'm a guy, and don't enter for women's clothing or jewelry or makeup, and there are a lot of those.

No limits, I avoid almost all of those. Maybe one or two I enter, and then I just put it in my dailies for a single entry each day. It only takes one, but yeah, chances are some bot-head will snag it. If it only takes a few seconds and I think it is legit and something I really want I go that route. But I won't go crazy with them, just isn't worth it.

I do twitter, I've had a couple wins there. Twitter parties in particular (though annoying in functionality) tend to have great odds. I've gone to a bunch where the odds were one in a couple dozen, versus your typical giveaway being thousands. Let me think, I've won a AMD 1090T CPU, a LG vacuum, a few gift cards and Amazon credit and a water bobble off of twitter, amongst other prizes.

-MJ
Aug 19, 2011 05:33 PM
1,844 Posts
Joined Jun 2009
JangAug 19, 2011 05:33 PM
1,844 Posts
You're convincing me to use twitter and that's just not right.Frown
Aug 19, 2011 05:39 PM
3 Posts
Joined Aug 2011
florescentiaAug 19, 2011 05:39 PM
3 Posts
Hello, newbie here. wave (Clearly) I just got introduced to this amazing world of sweepstaking and I'm excited! I hadn't had trouble finding sweeps to enter but the one thing I can't seem to find is these Instant Wins everyone keeps talking about? I maybe, crossed over 2 of them in the past week or so and I'm really not seeing where you all are finding them. Some help would be much appreciated! Thanks look around
Aug 19, 2011 05:45 PM
1,844 Posts
Joined Jun 2009
JangAug 19, 2011 05:45 PM
1,844 Posts
Quote from florescentia :
Hello, newbie here. wave (Clearly) I just got introduced to this amazing world of sweepstaking and I'm excited! I hadn't had trouble finding sweeps to enter but the one thing I can't seem to find is these Instant Wins everyone keeps talking about? I maybe, crossed over 2 of them in the past week or so and I'm really not seeing where you all are finding them. Some help would be much appreciated! Thanks look around

You can sort the contests by type.

Go down to the bottom of the the forum and you'll see a list of the different types of contests. A lot of other types of contests also have instant win games attached to them.

Here you go:

http://slickdeals.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=25&intagid%5B%5D=33049&order=desc&sort=threadstarted
Last edited by Jang August 19, 2011 at 11:09 AM.
Aug 19, 2011 05:53 PM
3 Posts
Joined Aug 2011
florescentiaAug 19, 2011 05:53 PM
3 Posts
Quote from Jang :
You can sort the contests by type.

Go down to the bottom of the the forum and you'll see a list of the different types of contests.

Here you go:

http://slickdeals.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=25&intagid%5B%5D=33049&order=desc&sort=threadstarted
thanks Smilie
Aug 20, 2011 12:20 AM
720 Posts
Joined Sep 2008
tunetokyoAug 20, 2011 12:20 AM
720 Posts
I somehow missed that TLC show "High Stakes Sweepers", and can't figure out when its on again so I can Tivo it..looks like it was on at 2AM today but that doesn't help me, any got a clue?

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Aug 20, 2011 12:31 AM
3 Posts
Joined Aug 2011
florescentiaAug 20, 2011 12:31 AM
3 Posts
Quote from tunetokyo :
I somehow missed that TLC show "High Stakes Sweepers", and can't figure out when its on again so I can Tivo it..looks like it was on at 2AM today but that doesn't help me, any got a clue?
I checked through my guide all the way to next friday and they're not airing it again. Maybe the following week.
Aug 20, 2011 02:24 AM
4,935 Posts
Joined May 2006
blueeyeleoAug 20, 2011 02:24 AM
4,935 Posts
Quote from Jang :
Thanks. I'm a bit curious about the 400 dailies you enter. I can only find a max of about 200. Do you do a lot of referral and twitter contests? I refuse to use twitter, even though I miss contests.



At least the dove one is really easy to enter. Takes me all of two seconds.
I use multiple sites and I wasnt counting any twitter contests I do do those once in awhile when I want to throw in something different to do.I do pay for one pay site that I use only because it makes things simple and some hard to find contests show up there but this site is the best for instant wins they always post here first.
Aug 20, 2011 02:34 AM
1,844 Posts
Joined Jun 2009
JangAug 20, 2011 02:34 AM
1,844 Posts
Quote from blueeyeleo :
I use multiple sites and I wasnt counting any twitter contests I do do those once in awhile when I want to throw in something different to do.I do pay for one pay site that I use only because it makes things simple and some hard to find contests show up there but this site is the best for instant wins they always post here first.
Thanks!
Aug 20, 2011 06:02 PM
1,430 Posts
Joined Sep 2010
mj025Aug 20, 2011 06:02 PM
1,430 Posts
Quote from blueeyeleo :
I use multiple sites and I wasnt counting any twitter contests I do do those once in awhile when I want to throw in something different to do.I do pay for one pay site that I use only because it makes things simple and some hard to find contests show up there but this site is the best for instant wins they always post here first.
Do you really find that many legit ones not covered on SD? Ma foi! Many days I'm swamped as it is...

-MJ
Aug 21, 2011 06:47 PM
1,844 Posts
Joined Jun 2009
JangAug 21, 2011 06:47 PM
1,844 Posts
I have a question just out of curiosity.

For those of you who enter several hundred a day, how often have you won a grand prize?
Aug 21, 2011 07:28 PM
118,456 Posts
Joined May 2006
implodeAug 21, 2011 07:28 PM
118,456 Posts
Quote from Jang :
I have a question just out of curiosity.

For those of you who enter several hundred a day, how often have you won a grand prize?
Hard to say...some grand prizes are smaller prizes like coupons. Some other contests don't even have a grand prize (matter of semantics argument) because they call it something else--first prize, or prizes have no designation.

Think a more meaningful question(s)
How often do you receive a prize over $100? $1,000? $10,000? etc etc

Over 5 years time...over $100 probably 3 dozen times, over $1,000 guessing maybe 10, $10,000 or over 2 times. These are my best guess estimates. Please note, the estimate includes my $10,000+ win in all three categories.
Aug 21, 2011 08:19 PM
1,430 Posts
Joined Sep 2010
mj025Aug 21, 2011 08:19 PM
1,430 Posts
I have a question for people that use form fillers (where allowable) such as RoboForm and LastPass, etc... Looking over the FAQs and videos on those fillers, it seems like they aren't one click fillers, but you have to drop down a field and pick a pre-defined option off the list for the site you are on, that you recorded earlier. Is that true? Could someone describe their steps to enter with one for me? I've been wondering for awhile now.

Thanks!

-MJ

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Aug 21, 2011 08:35 PM
118,456 Posts
Joined May 2006
implodeAug 21, 2011 08:35 PM
118,456 Posts
Quote from mj025 :
I have a question for people that use form fillers (where allowable) such as RoboForm and LastPass, etc... Looking over the FAQs and videos on those fillers, it seems like they aren't one click fillers, but you have to drop down a field and pick a pre-defined option off the list for the site you are on, that you recorded earlier. Is that true? Could someone describe their steps to enter with one for me? I've been wondering for awhile now.

Thanks!

-MJ
For roboform...you have to save the data to create a passcard for the page...on return you
1) Mouseover your name
2) Select Fill or Fill and submit or Edit the passcard.

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