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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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Jul 27, 2012 04:07 AM
1,145 Posts
Joined Aug 2008
splatteredJul 27, 2012 04:07 AM
1,145 Posts
What's the best/easiest way to find local contests? I'm in San Diego... there's gotta be some sorta list or something somewhere? Stick Out Tongue
Jul 27, 2012 04:36 AM
200 Posts
Joined Dec 2011
wc0904Jul 27, 2012 04:36 AM
200 Posts
Quote from splattered :
What's the best/easiest way to find local contests? I'm in San Diego... there's gotta be some sorta list or something somewhere? Stick Out Tongue
Local blogs might have a list, but I doubt it. I find the easiest way to be to google or set a google alert for "limited entry" "open to residents of" etc and then your state/city/etc
Jul 27, 2012 01:49 PM
118,455 Posts
Joined May 2006
implodeJul 27, 2012 01:49 PM
118,455 Posts
Quote from splattered :
What's the best/easiest way to find local contests? I'm in San Diego... there's gotta be some sorta list or something somewhere? Stick Out Tongue
Visit media related sites for your city--Newspapers, Radio, TV, local magazines. Also locally in my city, grocery stores often have localized drawings for prizes (though no online entries, so plan on entering by hand).
Jul 28, 2012 04:35 AM
1,983 Posts
Joined Sep 2010
slickness123Jul 28, 2012 04:35 AM
1,983 Posts
Do you use an email address just for contests? I'm afraid if I use my main address I'll get a ton of spam from contests selling my email to third parties.
Jul 28, 2012 05:35 AM
173 Posts
Joined Apr 2007
WuvsnoopyJul 28, 2012 05:35 AM
173 Posts
Hi-

I'm a newbie to sweeps etc. and have only been playing for about 4 months. I was reading something on the Winners thread about someone having missed out on their winnings by not checking FB. I assumed that places would email the winner but now I'm not sure.

How do I know if I need to check a winners' list?

Thanks for any help. Smilie
Jul 28, 2012 07:24 AM
100 Posts
Joined Jun 2012
broseyJul 28, 2012 07:24 AM
100 Posts
Quote from Wuvsnoopy :
Hi-

I'm a newbie to sweeps etc. and have only been playing for about 4 months. I was reading something on the Winners thread about someone having missed out on their winnings by not checking FB. I assumed that places would email the winner but now I'm not sure.

How do I know if I need to check a winners' list?

Thanks for any help. Smilie
Quote from mynameskatie :
In this particular contest everyone who entered got that stupid email. But as far as the search it is clarified a few pages back. Basically if your name was John Smith you would enter "john smith" winner into Google. I have a few variations of my name saved in Google Alerts (which you can use if you have Gmail, it basically just searches for you each day and then alerts to your email). So you could also do "john smith" facebook winner, "john smith" congratulations, etc etc
I found the above tip very helpful to monitor FB contests. It's actually how I found out I missed some wins but there are some drawbacks. Some FB contests will direct you to a external link to see winner names, as in the one I just won, they won't get picked up by some alerts. If you have a rather common name the 'first name last initial' announcements can lead to some confusion and clog your alert results. Lastly, sometimes it just fails to send you daily emails, even when you do a manual search and you clearly have new results.
Jul 28, 2012 08:44 AM
26,018 Posts
Joined Dec 2010
User1144648Jul 28, 2012 08:44 AM
26,018 Posts
Quote from slickness123 :
Do you use an email address just for contests? I'm afraid if I use my main address I'll get a ton of spam from contests selling my email to third parties.
Yes, I do, and imagine the majority of sweepers use a separate email just for sweeps.

You will get a bunch of spam/junk mail. But be careful & don't just delete everything in your spam/junk folder, as the majority of your winning notifications will end up there, since there's no way to know all the email addresses they will be sent from, so you can't add them to your contacts.

You can search your email, using words like "congratulations", "winner", etc. Personally, I monitor my email throughout the day, and use the preview feature on my email program to check at least the first couple of lines of each email before deleting them.

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Jul 28, 2012 08:39 PM
2,368 Posts
Joined Jan 2012
onceisnotenoughJul 28, 2012 08:39 PM
2,368 Posts
Quote from slickness123 :
Do you use an email address just for contests? I'm afraid if I use my main address I'll get a ton of spam from contests selling my email to third parties.
Yes - it makes no sense NOT to, since it's so easy to set up additional addresses. Make sure you check your inbox on a daily basis! Smilie
Jul 30, 2012 05:36 AM
4,218 Posts
Joined Aug 2009
figarotiggerJul 30, 2012 05:36 AM
4,218 Posts
Just received a UPS My Choice alert for a 5.70lbs package out of Farmingdale NY from Fulfillment Plus.
I've looked over my IWG wins, and don't see anything that would weigh this much. It states it was shipped 07/26, but arrived in my city on Saturday with delivery by Tues.. I am entering a few sweepstakes now..............

Any ideas?

Good Luck to all!
Jul 30, 2012 11:40 AM
1,141 Posts
Joined May 2012
DMFoxJul 30, 2012 11:40 AM
1,141 Posts
Quote from figarotigger :
Just received a UPS My Choice alert for a 5.70lbs package out of Farmingdale NY from Fulfillment Plus.
I've looked over my IWG wins, and don't see anything that would weigh this much. It states it was shipped 07/26, but arrived in my city on Saturday with delivery by Tues.. I am entering a few sweepstakes now..............

Any ideas?

Good Luck to all!
I got the same UPS alert. I'm thinking it's the Dirty Dancing IWG.
Jul 30, 2012 02:17 PM
4,218 Posts
Joined Aug 2009
figarotiggerJul 30, 2012 02:17 PM
4,218 Posts
Quote from DMFox :
I got the same UPS alert. I'm thinking it's the Dirty Dancing IWG.
I won 2 ea of the Dirty Dancing DVD's, but I don't think that they would weigh 5.70 lbs. UPS hasn't updated the package location, so it may actually not come until tomorrow.
Jul 30, 2012 03:36 PM
14,856 Posts
Joined Jan 2012
princess101Jul 30, 2012 03:36 PM
14,856 Posts
I received the same ups alert. I didn't win a Dirty Dancing DVD. So its not that
Jul 30, 2012 06:31 PM
67 Posts
Joined Apr 2012
Aurora2011Jul 30, 2012 06:31 PM
67 Posts
I got the ups alert too. Maybe it's a food prize, like the week of Barilla pasta meals? You guys win that one too?
Jul 30, 2012 06:45 PM
1,141 Posts
Joined May 2012
DMFoxJul 30, 2012 06:45 PM
1,141 Posts
Quote from Aurora2011 :
I got the ups alert too. Maybe it's a food prize, like the week of Barilla pasta meals? You guys win that one too?

That might be what it is. I did win that one also. Thanks

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Jul 30, 2012 09:18 PM
14,856 Posts
Joined Jan 2012
princess101Jul 30, 2012 09:18 PM
14,856 Posts
Quote from Aurora2011 :
I got the ups alert too. Maybe it's a food prize, like the week of Barilla pasta meals? You guys win that one too?
I did win Barilla meals for 7 days

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