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forum thread Posted by FreebiesRGreat • Jun 3, 2008
forum thread Posted by FreebiesRGreat • Jun 3, 2008

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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9,736 Comments

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Sep 20, 2011
65,413 Posts
Joined Sep 2007
Sep 20, 2011
Ryard
Sep 20, 2011
65,413 Posts
Quote from implode :
Though you can't un-like them...think you can remove the post, then ignore all posts by them without any issue--still keeps like status. I don't think the person can tell you are ignoring them.
Quote from Jang :
I do the same thing; Ignore all the stuff in my newsfeed and hide my likes.
You can "un-like" by doing the following:
Edit Profile -> Activities & Interests -> Other Pages You Like.
That will bring up a list of all the pages you have liked and you can remove them from there.
Sep 20, 2011
117,718 Posts
Joined May 2006
Sep 20, 2011
implode
Sep 20, 2011
117,718 Posts
Quote from Ryard :
You can "un-like" by doing the following:
Edit Profile -> Activities & Interests -> Other Pages You Like.
That will bring up a list of all the pages you have liked and you can remove them from there.
I think you misunderstood the question....the reason you don't want to unlike a page, is it will disqualify you. You want to remove the spammy posts from your wall (potentially as a courtesy to others), without DQing yourself. Hence my method. Its very easy to unlike someone just click remove post, then unlike them if you want to do so.
Sep 20, 2011
65,413 Posts
Joined Sep 2007
Sep 20, 2011
Ryard
Sep 20, 2011
65,413 Posts
Quote from implode :
I think you misunderstood the question....the reason you don't want to unlike a page, is it will disqualify you. You want to remove the spammy posts from your wall (potentially as a courtesy to others), without DQing yourself. Hence my method. Its very easy to unlike someone just click remove post, then unlike them if you want to do so.
Ah, yeah. Reading comprehension fail. Need more coffee.
Sep 20, 2011
1,844 Posts
Joined Jun 2009
Sep 20, 2011
Jang
Sep 20, 2011
1,844 Posts
Quote from Ryard :
Ah, yeah. Reading comprehension fail. Need more coffee.
Haha, we've all had "lack of coffee reading fails". Thanks for trying to be helpful.
Sep 21, 2011
8,861 Posts
Joined Aug 2010
Sep 21, 2011
crazeecee
Sep 21, 2011
8,861 Posts
Quote from javaFlower :
I used to use 1Password - but have changed to using Firefox and Fireform on my Mac.
It's not perfect, but it works for me most of the time.
thanks again javaFlower... fireform has been working fine, and i like the fact that i can assign values to various fields manually... however, for some reason, i cannot make it work for wildfireapp forms requiring address, state and/or country... just wanted to confirm if that is the case with u too; or if there is something that m missing... thanks again!
Sep 21, 2011
25,256 Posts
Joined Dec 2005
Sep 21, 2011
javaFlower
Sep 21, 2011
25,256 Posts
Quote from crazee85 :
thanks again javaFlower... fireform has been working fine, and i like the fact that i can assign values to various fields manually... however, for some reason, i cannot make it work for wildfireapp forms requiring address, state and/or country... just wanted to confirm if that is the case with u too; or if there is something that m missing... thanks again!
I haven't specifically noticed that the wildfireapp ones cause problems
- but there are often forms that need a little tweeking.
Sep 21, 2011
26,018 Posts
Joined Dec 2010
Sep 21, 2011
User1144648
Sep 21, 2011
26,018 Posts
Quote from jbaby13 :
I have a quick question about roboform. I downloaded it yesterday and thought it would be godsend to filling out all those forms, but then I read the official rules to several of my dailies that require you to fill out the form each time, and all of them said no auto fill allowed.

If I can't use it on the dailies, and it takes just as much time to read the rules as it does to enter the info on the one a days, what do you use Roboform for?

Thanks so much, I just read through this thread and it was very informative.

Jen
Quote from workerbugger :
I use roboform all the time.
Does anyone know if this is true? How would they know if I use roboform?
Also is there another form filler that can be used?
TY.
I also use Roboform to enter dailies. In general, official rules use wording like "Entries generated by a script, macro, or other automated means will be disqualified." A form-filler is not considered "automated means" (as far as I know) - they are referring to services you can pay for that will automatically enter sweeps for you. That's my opinion anyway. Once had a friend ask a sponsor about using a form-filler, and she was told that a form-filler was not considered "automated means", and was therefore not against the rules.

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Sep 21, 2011
1,136 Posts
Joined Feb 2008
Sep 21, 2011
PezzyPeep
Sep 21, 2011
1,136 Posts
Quote from MLx3 :
I also use Roboform to enter dailies. In general, official rules use wording like "Entries generated by a script, macro, or other automated means will be disqualified." A form-filler is not considered "automated means" (as far as I know) - they are referring to services you can pay for that will automatically enter sweeps for you. That's my opinion anyway. Once had a friend ask a sponsor about using a form-filler, and she was told that a form-filler was not considered "automated means", and was therefore not against the rules.

Great thanks for the info!
Sep 22, 2011
3,486 Posts
Joined Dec 2006
Sep 22, 2011
jbaby13
Sep 22, 2011
3,486 Posts
Ok, today I got an automated phone call saying I won a $40 visa gift card from a online survey I entered (it didn't say which), and to call 1-888-440-6393 to get my prize. Would a true contest have me call them? Sounds a little fishy to me, but I am new at this.
Sep 22, 2011
1,844 Posts
Joined Jun 2009
Sep 22, 2011
Jang
Sep 22, 2011
1,844 Posts
Quote from jbaby13 :
Ok, today I got an automated phone call saying I won a $40 visa gift card from a online survey I entered (it didn't say which), and to call 1-888-440-6393 to get my prize. Would a true contest have me call them? Sounds a little fishy to me, but I am new at this.
I googled the number and I see a lot of complaints about this. They all mention the same $40 visa gift card. I'm not an expert but from my experience they normally don't ask you to call them (unless you have questions) and especially not for something like a $40 gift card.
Last edited by Jang September 22, 2011 at 09:55 AM.
Sep 22, 2011
3,486 Posts
Joined Dec 2006
Sep 22, 2011
jbaby13
Sep 22, 2011
3,486 Posts
Quote from Jang :
I googled the number and I see a lot of complaints about this. They all mention the same $40 visa gift card. I'm not an expert but from my experience they normally don't ask you to call them (unless you have questions) and especially not for something like a $40 gift card.
Duh, I didn't even think to google the number. Thanks Jang! I thought it seemed fishy. I wish I could find out how they got my number.
Sep 22, 2011
117,718 Posts
Joined May 2006
Sep 22, 2011
implode
Sep 22, 2011
117,718 Posts
Quote from jbaby13 :
Duh, I didn't even think to google the number. Thanks Jang! I thought it seemed fishy. I wish I could find out how they got my number.
Might be through a contest you entered in the first place...scam contests have always existed.
Sep 23, 2011
4,921 Posts
Joined May 2006
Sep 23, 2011
blueeyeleo
Sep 23, 2011
4,921 Posts
yeah I liked to never got a scam contest I entered on facebook to stop annoying me one time they wanted my info to pay for shipping some jewelry ...NEVER give any financial info to accept a prize
they kept emailing me and even had the balls to call me until I was going to ask the state attorney generals office to verify their company info
Sep 24, 2011
1,394 Posts
Joined Sep 2010
Sep 24, 2011
mj025
Sep 24, 2011
1,394 Posts
Deleted...

-MJ

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Sep 26, 2011
1,719 Posts
Joined Jan 2008
Sep 26, 2011
rian
Sep 26, 2011
1,719 Posts
I received an email stating I'd won a contest posted here on the forum (my first win!). The admins for the contest asked me for my shipping details and later said they'd keep me updated on the shipping status, but I haven't heard from them in 2 weeks.

For those of you who have won prizes, do you normally wait for them to ship the prize to you within the usual 8-12 weeks without sending them a message or do you inquire as to when the prize will be shipped out? {thanks in advance!}

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