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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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Aug 22, 2012 05:58 PM
5,152 Posts
Joined Oct 2008
SweepaholicAug 22, 2012 05:58 PM
5,152 Posts
Quote from rachaelm :
Embarrassment And now I really feel guilty for posting such a nasty. I wasn't trying to call anyone out. I like to search by end date every day for contests, to make sure I haven't missed any, and a lot of new contests don't have an end date in the title or it's not in the standard "M/D/YR" format.

I guess if this is what I'm bitching about, my life must not be too bad. Cool
I understand what your saying, my pet peeve is people bumping dead threads to post a win when thats what we have the "what I won" thread for!
Aug 22, 2012 07:01 PM
26,018 Posts
Joined Dec 2010
User1144648Aug 22, 2012 07:01 PM
26,018 Posts
Quote from rachaelm :
I feel kind of petty complaining, because I love all of the contests being posted.

BUT why are there so many new contests being posted that aren't in the right format??? I mean, the FAQ is pretty clear about how you should post a contest. IDK, I guess I'm just being biotchy.

That is all. Move along. Nothing more to see here....
Quote from rachaelm :
Embarrassment And now I really feel guilty for posting such a nasty. I wasn't trying to call anyone out. I like to search by end date every day for contests, to make sure I haven't missed any, and a lot of new contests don't have an end date in the title or it's not in the standard "M/D/YR" format.

I guess if this is what I'm bitching about, my life must not be too bad. Cool
Personally, I don't think you're being petty or biotchy. Posting sweeps, using the standardized format laid out in the FAQ, is helpful for many reasons.

Sponsor name, Sweepstakes name, and End Date (including month, day, YEAR) in the title is essential when searching the forum for duplicates when posting a new sweep.

I love that there are a lot more SDers sharing their finds with the community. Now, if we all just work together & follow the posting guidelines, everything would run smoother & leave more time for WINNING! Biggrin2
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QA
Aug 22, 2012 07:05 PM
3,567 Posts
Joined Feb 2009
rachaelm
Pro
QA
Aug 22, 2012 07:05 PM
3,567 Posts
Quote from Sweepaholic :
I understand what your saying, my pet peeve is people bumping dead threads to post a win when thats what we have the "what I won" thread for!
Quote from MLx3 :
Personally, I don't think you're being petty or biotchy. Posting sweeps, using the standardized format laid out in the FAQ, is helpful for many reasons.

Sponsor name, Sweepstakes name, and End Date (including month, day, YEAR) in the title is essential when searching the forum for duplicates when posting a new sweep.

I love that there are a lot more SDers sharing their finds with the community. Now, if we all just work together & follow the posting guidelines, everything would run smoother & leave more time for WINNING! Biggrin2
Well, y'all made me feel better. Maybe this little conversation will help some others understand why there is a standard format for these type of posts....
Aug 22, 2012 07:08 PM
118,455 Posts
Joined May 2006
implodeAug 22, 2012 07:08 PM
118,455 Posts
Quote from Sweepaholic :
I understand what your saying, my pet peeve is people bumping dead threads to post a win when thats what we have the "what I won" thread for!
That and bumping threads that would expire in a few days or a weeks time...really messes me up to have so many dead threads floating around in the monthly view. From a standpoint of someone who tries to enter them all each and every day. I don't have enough ignores to deal with that. So all the dead threads really really slow me down. I wish people would keep track of their daily entries in a different manner, as you can (SHOULD!!!) enter those multiple times.
Aug 22, 2012 08:07 PM
3,884 Posts
Joined Dec 2009
sweepstakerAug 22, 2012 08:07 PM
3,884 Posts
Quote from rachaelm :
I feel kind of petty complaining, because I love all of the contests being posted.

BUT why are there so many new contests being posted that aren't in the right format??? I mean, the FAQ is pretty clear about how you should post a contest. IDK, I guess I'm just being biotchy.

That is all. Move along. Nothing more to see here....
Petty schmetty! Not posting according to guidelines is a pet peeve of mine. I try to cut newer OPs some slack, but the more experienced OPs who still insist on "free-styling" really get my tail feathers in a bunch. The guidelines are there for a reason - to make the forum functional! Thanks for commenting on this subject.
Aug 22, 2012 08:35 PM
547 Posts
Joined Sep 2008
CoachSauersAug 22, 2012 08:35 PM
547 Posts
Yes, this has seemingly become an issue recently. I won't name any names, but I will say I do appreciate the way MLx3, sweepstaker, YARDEE, FreebiesRGreat, dstncarson and the like post them. Makes this hobby much more convenient.
Aug 23, 2012 12:52 AM
1,369 Posts
Joined Sep 2009
pennyroseAug 23, 2012 12:52 AM
1,369 Posts
Quote from rachaelm :
Embarrassment And now I really feel guilty for posting such a nasty. I wasn't trying to call anyone out. I like to search by end date every day for contests, to make sure I haven't missed any, and a lot of new contests don't have an end date in the title or it's not in the standard "M/D/YR" format.

I guess if this is what I'm bitching about, my life must not be too bad. Cool
FWIW - I didn't think your post sounded nasty - I've read nastynod

I do have a question, though. Could you tell me how you find the contests that end on a certain date? I used to put the end date in the search box, but that hasn't worked in a long time.

Appreciate any help I can get. Thanks.

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Aug 23, 2012 03:53 AM
3,592 Posts
Joined Sep 2007
shopgurl101Aug 23, 2012 03:53 AM
3,592 Posts
has anyone ever won from http://leitesculinaria.com/
Aug 23, 2012 04:01 AM
118,455 Posts
Joined May 2006
implodeAug 23, 2012 04:01 AM
118,455 Posts
Quote from shopgurl101 :
has anyone ever won from http://leitesculinaria.com/
Won a cookbook way back in 2010...nothing since, and entered constantly. NOT sure if that means more publicized now or I got extremely lucky. Would think I would have heard of at least a winner from this site in that time. Odd to me.
Aug 23, 2012 06:03 AM
1,133 Posts
Joined Nov 2007
chuckecheezAug 23, 2012 06:03 AM
1,133 Posts
Quote from implode :
Won a cookbook way back in 2010...nothing since, and entered constantly. NOT sure if that means more publicized now or I got extremely lucky. Would think I would have heard of at least a winner from this site in that time. Odd to me.
I think that's a very highly publicized site and it seems to get LOTS of traffic. I also suspect that their sweeps may get botted a lot because the entry process is so simple (enter name and email) and I'm not sure how good of a job they do trying to catch the spammers or if they even care. My take is that because I can enter so quick, may as well throw a few into the ones where I like the prizes. It literally take 5-6 seconds to click the link, autofill the form and submit.
Aug 23, 2012 01:25 PM
248 Posts
Joined Apr 2008
theviper21Aug 23, 2012 01:25 PM
248 Posts
How do you guys keep track of things inside SD? My standard process is to just sort by Thread Started and go through the new ones that come up each day. If I find a multiple-entry I like, I just a link to the actual contest in my bookmarks (folders for monthly, weekly, and daily). If you're caught up, it doesn't take much time at all to just check once a day; there's usually only a page or two worth of new contests.

Why would you try and use the tags in SD when it's so much easier to just keep things in bookmarks?
Aug 23, 2012 01:40 PM
1,133 Posts
Joined Nov 2007
chuckecheezAug 23, 2012 01:40 PM
1,133 Posts
I think that trying to track specific threads or even using bookmarks is sort of cumbersome. I just use a spreadsheet and put a direct hyperlink to the sweeps, along with end date and any comments, such as special codes, etc. I even wrote some macros for my dailies so that I know last date/time entered and total entry count. Takes a couple of minutes to add a new one, but after that it goes quick each day.
Aug 23, 2012 01:43 PM
8,863 Posts
Joined Aug 2010
crazeeceeAug 23, 2012 01:43 PM
8,863 Posts
Quote from carriec1132 :
i just got an alert from ups that im getting a 1.2lb pkg delivered from q pharma tomorrow. any ideas what or who this is? i havent ordered anything recently and definitely not from a pharmaceutical co.
even i got the ups alert from q pharma today for a 1.3lb package... what was it for you???
Aug 23, 2012 02:20 PM
248 Posts
Joined Apr 2008
theviper21Aug 23, 2012 02:20 PM
248 Posts
Quote from chuckecheez :
I think that trying to track specific threads or even using bookmarks is sort of cumbersome. I just use a spreadsheet and put a direct hyperlink to the sweeps, along with end date and any comments, such as special codes, etc. I even wrote some macros for my dailies so that I know last date/time entered and total entry count. Takes a couple of minutes to add a new one, but after that it goes quick each day.
I suppose that keeps better track of things, but it is really easy with bookmarks. Especially when it comes to doing dailies/IWGs, etc.

For any multi-entry sweeps, I just bookmark them in their own folder (takes about 5 seconds). At the start of every day/week/month, I just go to that bookmarks folder in Firefox and click Open all in Tabs. From there I just tab through each one and enter them quickly. If a sweeps is expired it'll usually say so, so I just remove it from the bookmarks so there's no real need I think to keep track of expiration dates. Any special codes for IWGs are usually saved in the form once I run it once, so I don't have to keep track of those. This way it really only takes me no more than half an hour a day to go through my 40-50 IWGs and 40-50 daily entries.

With as many as I enter a day, it seems like it would be a little too tedious to have to click on each hyperlink from Excel when I could just have each category in a bookmark group and open them all at once. Keeping track of when you enter/how many entries you have could be nice for statistics I guess, but it doesn't necessarily give you an advantage per se.

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Aug 23, 2012 04:12 PM
1,133 Posts
Joined Nov 2007
chuckecheezAug 23, 2012 04:12 PM
1,133 Posts
Quote from theviper21 :
I suppose that keeps better track of things, but it is really easy with bookmarks. Especially when it comes to doing dailies/IWGs, etc.

For any multi-entry sweeps, I just bookmark them in their own folder (takes about 5 seconds). At the start of every day/week/month, I just go to that bookmarks folder in Firefox and click Open all in Tabs. From there I just tab through each one and enter them quickly. If a sweeps is expired it'll usually say so, so I just remove it from the bookmarks so there's no real need I think to keep track of expiration dates. Any special codes for IWGs are usually saved in the form once I run it once, so I don't have to keep track of those. This way it really only takes me no more than half an hour a day to go through my 40-50 IWGs and 40-50 daily entries.

With as many as I enter a day, it seems like it would be a little too tedious to have to click on each hyperlink from Excel when I could just have each category in a bookmark group and open them all at once. Keeping track of when you enter/how many entries you have could be nice for statistics I guess, but it doesn't necessarily give you an advantage per se.
Well, there isn't any one right system. If bookmarks work for you, then by all means use that method; it's really about whatever someone finds most convenient and comfortable. I don't find that opening a bunch of tabs at once really saves much time, and on the off chance that a site is down and you can't enter right at that moment, it becomes difficult to remember to check it later. I highlight the spreadsheet with yellow so I know which ones are done for the day.

Also, while keeping track of total entries really is more for stats than anything (I'm just anal that way), the last time entered comes in really handy for 24-hour sweeps. I've found that a lot of the ones listed here as daily entry are actually once per 24 hours so you have to keep track of last entry to avoid possible disqualification. Not all of them will tell you that you already submitted within 24 hours but the rules may disqualify duplicates. I'm sure there are dozens of methods that different people use to organize but was simply providing my own feedback to anyone wanting advice.

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