Tips to Winning Contests & Sweepstakes

[thecountess]

Got this link in an email today

http://www.contestqueen.com/pdfs/WAC.pdf

apologies if repost

[Ontariochicky]

Thank you for all of the good tips.

[Mummy2Sydney]

I appreciate the advice

[lostjuan]

Here's my tip for Canada Safeway online tickets.
Find all the tickets you can. You'll need at least 200-400 per day. I usually get them from my local safeway stores "Dry" Garbage cans that are situated at the exits and I usually average 300-400/day. I found that the odds of winning are best when the computer is reset to a new day in my time zone. For example when the clock is 12am in BC it is 3am in Ontario. There will not be many people playing at this time obviously and so the more entries you have the better chance you have to win at this time as the computer randomly "thinks" that many people are playing at once and when there are 44 prizes awarded randomly per day the odds of you winning within the first 2 hours are excellent. I have won a lot of prizes in the last 2 years from these contests. You can check out what I have won in the "what have you won lately" in the contests section.

They eliminated the online instant prizes this contest. Too bad. You get 1-5 entries for playing the online game and the online prizes don't look so hot. Lots of Hoovers and watches. Luggage and cookware isn't bad thought. Would really like to win the Nissan.

[Psychojo213]

I my bookmark toolbar...it makes contesting so much easier.

[truckerofbc]

They eliminated the online instant prizes this contest. Too bad. You get 1-5 entries for playing the online game and the online prizes don't look so hot. Lots of Hoovers and watches. Luggage and cookware isn't bad thought. Would really like to win the Nissan.

Actually the online is active. I have won and 2 others whom I have given tickets too have also won. You can ceck out the thread Canada Safeway under contests. Unless what your referring to is being able to see if you won or not immediately and it being changed to a draw type system then yes you are correct, but technically, the more you enter the more you win still.

[Monkeybone]

Can someone help me understand when it would be ok and when it would not be ok to use the same computer with another person for contests?

If more than one person enters using the same computer is that going to disqualify in most cases?

[DrRickkus]

Hi all - these are all great tips and advice. Thanks!

btw I was a programmer in an earlier life, using visual basic for example.

I can't for the life of me think of 'how' one would devise an automated way (i.e., with excellent accuracy) to detect that one is using an automated (form filling) software - it would be a tricky feat of programming I think. I'm not saying you can't do it - just that it wouldn't be trivial in terms of cost.

[tvwatcher]

the only thing I can think of is the timing - for instance, if you submit the entry 2 seconds after landing on the contest page, then obviously your name, address etc. wasn't manually typed in - so what I do is use roboform to autofill, and wait a bit before submitting

[DrRickkus]

Yeah but a timer that 'excludes' your customers from filling out a form, based on being 'too fast', requires some absolute threshold for that document. Now try explaining that absolute threshold to a Marketing manager that wants entrants to the contest so he can show his sponsor that the contest idea is valid.

Besides, it's like I said, accuracy is the issue. You can exclude fast entries, but you miss ones where people use an automated tool and then wait a few seconds. You also might falsely exclude fast typists like me. So again, devising something accurate is just not trivial. And imagine the added cost - just for a contest? I dunno.

TV watcher I think the waiting a few seconds is probably superstition. I think the requirement regarding auto filling is all about companies that you pay to enter contests for you - these use automation, very often, to enter at websites.

But if people are happy filling out forms manually I say more power to them.

Automation can't handle the deciphering of images yet. I think these companies use these images to ensure these automated companies aren't at play.

[tvwatcher]

a lot of good points! I feel better now about using Roboform!

[DrRickkus]

Yeah, I wouldn't worry too much about it. I just can't for all my imagination think of a routine that would catch a script or a macro. If anyone can think of one please chime in.

Here's a sample taken from a set of contest rules that is really explicit and clear:

"Entries generated by script, macro, robotic, programmed, or any other automated means are prohibited and will be disqualified."

It's simple, clear and unequivocal.

The issue of whether you want to take what I've said and take a chance on it being true is entirely up to you. Maybe there's a piece of software out there that is really good at detecting scripts and macros. I just can't think of what it would do.

[DrRickkus]

TV watcher here's some food for thought - this technique for this contest - where they have checkmarks after each field is filled in on the form - taking what you said about timing, and applying it to the checkmarks happening in sequence, rapidly like with a macro - you 'could' make a form that samples the time it takes for the checkmarks to happen.

http://thelastairbender.tribute.ca/T...Bender-050310/

[Bastet13]

Is there a contest entrants beware thread or something? I guess I'm worried about scams. Without even ever entering any contests, it seems like it is common to get emails and phone calls saying "YOU WON!!!" and I knew it was a scam because I hadn't entered to win anything. I don't win things. I've never won anything more than $10. I've entered a few contests lately and then recently I got a phone call saying that I won a trip, but I think it was just another scam because it was an automated phone call which didn't indicate the name of company or the name of the contest, so I just hung up. It did say what the trip was, which didn't mean much to me since I don't remember what trips were involved in the contests I entered. (I'd be happy to go anywhere) So I'm kind of going on assumptions, but I'm wondering from people who've actually won: would it be an actual person phoning (not automated), would they state the name of the company holding the contest, would they be stating the name of the contest I entered, would they leave a message on my answering machine if I didn't answer my phone? What are the things I can expect to hear from them that would tell me that it is legitimate, and what are the things I should watch out for that would indicate it's a scam??

[Boggles]

Thanks so much for these tips, especially the advice about using automatic form-fillers. At one time, I used Robo Form, but I haven't done so in a long time.

I don't enter that many contests, but I have won a few things on the occasions that I entered a few. L'Oreal Canada sent me a box of hair dye once, and I won a basket full of items for a baby at a local pharmacy a few years ago.

Since I'm more of a grandmother's age than a newborn's mother's age, I thought that my win was funny...until a younger friend of ours needed a gift to take to a baby shower. We let him take the baby items for a small fee...

The tip about signing up for newsletters from local radio/Tv stations is an excellent one. I've been quite lucky with one of our area talk radio stations. I've won hard-cover books, Alouettes football tickets, and I even won a free lunch from a restaurant in Montreal called The Bar B Barn. I had to take the BMW down to collect the meal - Bus, Metro, Walk.

I was given a certificate for fifty bucks, and I chose the food I wanted, and the staff packaged everything up for me to take away. Not only that, the food I ordered cost under fifty bucks, and the friendly server gave me the change from the fifty dollar certificate in cash!

I had a large paper bag on my lap while riding the metro on my way home, and it was almost noon. Some of the other passengers smelled the aroma of the ribs and the chicken, and looked as if they were going to start salivating.

Mr. Boggles had a very nice lunch to take with him to work that afternoon.