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Sears Discounts, Deals and Coupon Codes

Contests & Sweepstakes Tips, Advice, and Questions

58,150 56,135 June 2, 2008 at 07:50 PM in Other (6) Get Sears coupons Coupons
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Last Edited by BostonGirl March 8, 2015 at 07:18 AM
+89 Deal Score
2,106,271 Views
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.
Good Deal?

Community Wiki

Last Edited by JD123 November 1, 2014 at 11:13 AM
Before we had this thread, limpstar posted this site for info on sweeps & taxes in the I Won Thread:
All About Sweepstakes Taxes
http://contests.about.com/od/taxe...gtaxes.htm

Also consider talking to your tax preparer and/or researching further into your tax responsibility.


I have found this page helpful in understanding some of sweep's law - a sweeps law co.'s site:
The Lustigman Firm; Attorneys at Law
http://www.sweepstakeslaw.com/
The Lustigman Firm provides experienced legal counsel that helps protect the business interests
of its advertising and promotional clients around the United States and Canada

What does " age of majority in your state or province " mean?

(sometimes abbreviated as AoM+ )

it's the legal age of that state or province...

The Age of majority is the threshold of adulthood as it is conceptualized in law. It is the chronological moment when children legally assume majority control over their persons and their actions and decisions, thereby terminating the legal control and legal responsibilities of their parents over and for them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_majority

there's a list by country and by US State there....

For most purposes, the age of majority in the U.S. is 18,
except for 2 states with the age of 19 (Nebraska,Alabama)
and one state with the age of 21 (Mississippi)
and two (American Samoa and Puerto Rico) that retain 14 as the age of majority.
Occasionally PA is listed under the 19+ or 21+

~javaFlower

Regarding missing prizes
If you were expecting a prize you've never received you can complain 1st to the sweepstakes administrator, then to the sweepstakes sponsor and finally to USPS Postal Inspectors

https://postalinspectors.uspis.go...laint.aspx

-Kotik


ePrize Contacts
[email protected] - Bob Marsh, Senior Vice President, Midwest Region, Phone: 248.543.7522
[email protected] - Darlene Morris, Business Manager, Phone: 248.543.7403
[email protected] - Alesya Opelt, Vice President, Marketing, Phone: 248.543.7440


Occasionally a....less than ethical sweep will get posted.
You might end up finding unauthorized charges on your phone bill. Unauthorized charges on the phone bill are what's called "Cramming". Once you contact the company that's charging you, and you have requested your phone company remove the charge, if you so choose, you can file a complaint with the FCC.

FCC Online complaint form: esupport.fcc.gov/complaints.htm

You can also file your complaint with the FCC's Consumer Center by e-mailing [email protected] or calling 1-888-CALL-FCC (1-888-225-5322) voice or 1-888-TELL-FCC (1-888-835-5322) TTY

You can fax your complaint to 1-866-418-0232

Or by snail mail:
Federal Communications Commission
Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau
Consumer Inquiries and Complaints Division
445 12th Street, SW
Washington, D.C. 20554.

I also recommend a 3rd party block on your line to prohibit this from happening. 3rd party blocks don't affect your phone in any way, except by not allowing some company outside of your local phone company from adding charges to your bill.


Slickdealers on Twitter
(I don't really know where is best to start this list, but I decided to just start it here. If anyone thinks we should move it somewhere else, please do so.)

SD name Twitter name
kdka421 k8fenner
Starbelly Lunachique
dodgers77449 michael0902
sanaperv @slicksweepberry
blueeyeleo  
Slickdealers on Facebook
(Hopefully, it is allowed to post this here. If anyone thinks this link should be deleted, please do so.)
You can find the facebook slickdeals sweepers in this group: http://www.facebook.com/groups/310504039006252/

Track incoming packages
UPS
http://www.ups.com/mychoice/
FedEx https://www.fedex.com/login/web/j...n.jsp?TYPE
USPS https://www.usps.com/manage/manage-your-mail.htm




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Joined Mar 2009
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sandyalip
04-15-2013 at 09:16 AM.
04-15-2013 at 09:16 AM.
Quote from implode :
I've gone 2 years without winning--always entered religiously and at the same time every day. I have horrible horrible luck with coke. I thought maybe it was because I banked a ton of points, but never spent them on entering. I used to pick up bottle caps at local stadium and max out entries all year long. Pretty sure that was not intentions of the reward program.

At any rate, the Coke contests are run by eprize, so bigger question to ask yourself is do they have a blacklists. I'm pretty sure they do. I don't think they would blacklist people from the the contests specifically, unless it was all of their contests. I think they would directly ban your acct from coke rewards (you wouldn't be able to log in) if they had an issue with you cheating. The MCR thread discusses such situations. So I guess the answer is eprize decided if you are global abuser, or a local abuser within the MCR system.

Since your account isn't locked chances are its just bad luck.
Thanks a lot. This makes me feel better. I have won e-prize sweeps.
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jamminsport16
04-16-2013 at 08:57 AM.
04-16-2013 at 08:57 AM.
This is a novice question.. I've been reading in the forum that people are getting "emails" from UPS stating that a package will be delivered soon. Their reaction is that they had no clue about a package being delivered until they received an email. How can I get an email if UPS is delivering to my location? I just created a UPS Profile on ups.com, is this what I need to do? Also, does Fedex do the same?

Thanks guys!
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Joined Feb 2009
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rachaelm | Staff
04-16-2013 at 08:59 AM.
04-16-2013 at 08:59 AM.
Quote from jamminsport16 :
This is a novice question.. I've been reading in the forum that people are getting "emails" from UPS stating that a package will be delivered soon. Their reaction is that they had no clue about a package being delivered until they received an email. How can I get an email if UPS is delivering to my location? I just created a UPS Profile on ups.com, is this what I need to do? Also, does Fedex do the same?

Thanks guys!
Yes, sign up with myups.com to get ship notifications for UPS.

FedEx does not offer the same type of program. If anyone else knows of some different information for fedex, clue me in too!
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Amantria
04-16-2013 at 09:00 AM.
04-16-2013 at 09:00 AM.
Quote from jamminsport16 :
This is a novice question.. I've been reading in the forum that people are getting "emails" from UPS stating that a package will be delivered soon. Their reaction is that they had no clue about a package being delivered until they received an email. How can I get an email if UPS is delivering to my location? I just created a UPS Profile on ups.com, is this what I need to do? Also, does Fedex do the same?

Thanks guys!
https://wwwapps.ups.com/mcdp?loc=en_US

UPS My Choice enhances your home delivery experience
Get unparalleled insight into the delivery of your packages and control where and when they arrive. With two membership levels to choose from--UPS My Choice or UPS My Choice Premium--you can decide how much control you need.


Always know the status of deliveries to your home
With UPS My Choice Delivery Alerts, you'll get the most up-to-date information about deliveries to your home --you won't even need any tracking numbers.

For email alerts, the free membership works just fine Smilie
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Joined Aug 2008
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jamminsport16
04-16-2013 at 09:54 AM.
04-16-2013 at 09:54 AM.
Thanks so much you guys Smilie
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KMA
04-16-2013 at 10:10 AM.
04-16-2013 at 10:10 AM.
If any part of your address is modified by the sender, then you won't get a UPS email alert. An alternative would be to set up multiple accounts using a different variation for each (they allow you only one address per account); I haven't done this, but you'd probably have to use different email addresses for it. For example, my street address contains two lines with the first one ending in "Road" and the second one ending in an apt number (even though I live in a house!); if the two lines are combined into one line, then I don't get an alert. Instead, I get a surprise delivery. Stick Out Tongue
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Joined Nov 2009
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Mellah
04-16-2013 at 11:34 AM.
04-16-2013 at 11:34 AM.
Got an email from UPS delivery alert saying i'll be getting a package tomorrow from HELGESON ENTERPRISES its 4 pounds. Have to sign for it. Anyone have a clue what it could be? Big Grin
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Joined Mar 2013
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credmond
04-16-2013 at 12:20 PM.
04-16-2013 at 12:20 PM.
Quote from Mellah :
Got an email from UPS delivery alert saying i'll be getting a package tomorrow from HELGESON ENTERPRISES its 4 pounds. Have to sign for it. Anyone have a clue what it could be? Big Grin
nursing bopping pillow
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Mellah
04-16-2013 at 01:51 PM.
04-16-2013 at 01:51 PM.
Quote from credmond :
nursing bopping pillow

I just won that a few days ago and i read it would take 6-8 weeks so I didn't even think that would be it. Thank you!!
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Joined Jun 2008
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SavinMaven
04-18-2013 at 03:58 AM.
04-18-2013 at 03:58 AM.
Edited: Mystery pkg is an order I just placed. Smilie
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Last edited by SavinMaven April 18, 2013 at 05:35 AM.
Joined Mar 2008
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ITAF3Can
04-18-2013 at 08:54 AM.
04-18-2013 at 08:54 AM.
Quote from SavinMaven :
Edited: Mystery pkg is an order I just placed. Smilie
Hate when that happens. And it happens to me a lot since I always forget when I order things.
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Last edited by ITAF3Can April 18, 2013 at 01:10 PM.
Joined Aug 2010
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klassykk
04-18-2013 at 12:59 PM.
04-18-2013 at 12:59 PM.
Quote from Mellah :
Got an email from UPS delivery alert saying i'll be getting a package tomorrow from HELGESON ENTERPRISES its 4 pounds. Have to sign for it. Anyone have a clue what it could be? Big Grin
I received a UPS that I was getting a package from them also but mine is for 2 pounds.
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Joined Sep 2012
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robonero954
04-18-2013 at 01:21 PM.
04-18-2013 at 01:21 PM.
Quote from sandyalip :
Does anyone know if Coke Rewards has a black list? I used to win so many of their prizes, but for the last couple if years i have won zilch. I wrote to them 2x and haven't gotten a response.
I myself wonder WHO is winning mycokerewards?Roll Eyes (Sarcastic). Because it surely isn't me. I won once on their instant. But their instant game is so frustrating to enter and time consuming that I rarely enter those.
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L7: Teacher
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Amantria
04-18-2013 at 01:34 PM.
04-18-2013 at 01:34 PM.
Quote from robonero954 :
I myself wonder WHO is winning mycokerewards?Roll Eyes (Sarcastic). Because it surely isn't me. I won once on their instant. But their instant game is so frustrating to enter and time consuming that I rarely enter those.

I can assure you its not me! shake head I've never won anything with coke.
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Joined Feb 2009
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rachaelm | Staff
04-18-2013 at 01:48 PM.
04-18-2013 at 01:48 PM.
Quote from robonero954 :
I myself wonder WHO is winning mycokerewards?Roll Eyes (Sarcastic). Because it surely isn't me. I won once on their instant. But their instant game is so frustrating to enter and time consuming that I rarely enter those.
Quote from Amantria :
I can assure you its not me! shake head I've never won anything with coke.
I've got a drawer full of caps & codes to enter. Can't seem to find the 'want to' to put them in. I entered faithfully for about a year and a half with no wins. Too much effort for no wins. I guess there are too many entries for their contests.
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