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Do You Enter Sweepstakes?

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When I am in a store, if I see a box with entry forms next to it – you can bet that I’ll take a few minutes to fill out a form, fold it a certain way that I think will increase the chances that it will be picked and drop it in the box. I haven’t won anything yet from local sweepstakes.

But I have received things won in sweepstakes. My mom won a men’s 10 speed bike and a big Easter bunny. She gave both of them to me and I was tickled pink. I didn’t care that it was a men’s bike and I didn’t care that the Easter bunny was almost as tall as me and a little scary looking. It was free!

I have thought about trying our luck with sweepstakes that I find online. Then I start to wonder if the time spent filling out forms is worth it. Online sweepstakes probably have many more entrants than local sweepstakes. You can’t win if you don’t participate – so I thought I would ask if anyone reading participates in sweepstakes. If so, have you won anything?


16 Comments

  • Reply linda |

    It wasn’t really a sweepstake, but a drawing.
    At the Ft. Worth Stock Show/Rodeo last month (Feb.)my husband entered to win a new truck at a dealership booth. He won a 2009 GMC Sierra pick-up complete with 3 yr. OnStar and xm satellite radio.

  • Reply Tyler |

    I too have had alot of CC debt in the past. December 2007 I was 10K in debt with no job and my assets totaled maybe 7-8K, Total. Well the CC company raised my interest rate and for that Christmas I got some stock worth 2K. I thought I dont even really own this stock due to my debt. So coupled with the realization the stock didn’t even have real value to me and the raised interest rates(for NO reason) I got angry. I amde a decision that day to change my life. Now 15 months later I have NO debt of any kind, 15K+ in savings, 3.5K+ in checking and about 5K in stocks. OHH yea and I have been at a great job for almost a year now (april 28th is my anniversary, YEAH!). So you can turn things around people, just make a choice and stick with it, it feels good. Start with a little and let it snowball, for me it became like a game and I wanted to win, BAD! Anyway, I am writing because at the town house I live in, they had a comment card passed out to all the tenants. They wanted us to tell them what is wrong with the place (that was easy) and we would be entered into a drawing for $550. We did it, dropped it off and forgot about it. About 6 weeks later we got a note saying we WON!!!! So that was the first time I had ever won anything and cash nonetheless! You never know, its always worth it!
    Thanks!
    Tyler

  • Reply Margaret |

    Another thing about entering online is I feel you have to give way too much information about yourself. I found when I did enter one that it was connected to so many others and the resulting spam wasn’t worth it.
    But I;m with you on the in store ones.

    Margaret

  • Reply Diane |

    I recently won a case of beer per month for a year from Breckenridge Brewery in Denver which made my husband very, very happy! I used to work in the film and TV industry on major films as a cameraperson. I worked on this movie back in 1995-6 named Lolita with Jeremy Irons, Melanie Griffith, and Frank Langella in it. When doing movie production, a tradition on set that dates back to old Hollywood, is to have what is called “Dollar Day”. On Fridays, the PAs would collect a dollar bill, or $5 bill or $10 bill from all the crew members. There a usually 400-500 crew members so you can do the math! $1 day really adds up, now $10s, you can imagine. I won three Dollar Days, and that included a $10 Day! After the film wrapped, the money I won went to pay for a “new” used car that I bought and saved for! Thank you Lolita!

    It is not quite a sweepstakes but I have never won anything since except for the beer! My husband won $1 Day on Rush Hour 3 and Jackie Chan did the nice and considerate thing of kicking in an extra $1000. Rarely are actors ever this generous, if anything they are the chapest you know whats going, they make the AIG execs look generous!

  • Reply Mr Plasectomy |

    I did the sweepstakes thing a few years back like crazy. Any contest I could find I would sign up for and what did I receive? Not a darn thing. I literally think I entered anything I could find, local, internet, etc to the tune of about 15 a day for two months straight.

    However in high school so many years ago I won an IBM coffee mug for entering a contest to win a new IBM Thinkpad laptop.

  • Reply Ben |

    Don’t waste your time. You won’t make enough for the effort, if anything. Plus the amount of information you have to give out might even make you a target for scams.

  • Reply Aspiration's Purse |

    I barely ever win anything. Most of the time you will just pay by getting a ton of junk mail.

  • Reply Aspiration's Purse |

    I have one something once… and it was because there were only 2000 people entered

  • Reply C.C. |

    Back in my high school years, I entered contests at websites I visited on a monthly basis and I won 2 contests. One was the grand prize with like $100 worth of make-up.

    Since then I rarely enter contests. I’m too lazy to sit and type out all the same information over and over again. But when I see something I am slightly interested in and I have nothing else to do, I enter it. I’ve won a nail polish and some random samples and freebies.

  • Reply Kim |

    I used to have a site booked marked that I regularly entered. After only 2 months I won a ton of bras and panties!! I was excited. I haven’t bought bras since. That computer died….wish I could find the site again.

    Also, I use something called Robo form…you pre-enter all your info…then just hit the fill button…this way there’s very few boxes that I need to manually enter.

  • Reply L |

    I agree with the person who said you may start to receive tons of spam if you enter contests online. I would also generally be leery of giving too much personal information out online. In addition, many in-store (and online) contests now have fine print on the card that says by entering you are allowing them to call you even if you are on the national do-not-call list. This means you will get more telemarketing calls. It might be worth it if you really want the prize, just something to be aware of. (If you are not on the list already and want to reduce the number of telemarketing calls you get, go to www.donotcall.gov. Not .com, but .gov.)

  • Reply sandra jensen |

    I used to enter sweeps by mail – and won several items. Now I enter by internet – no stamps, just your time. If you are sitting and playing games on the computer anyway this is a great hobby. I try to enter for items I really want, or will resale easily. I have won DVD and sold on Amazon. The money goes toward my debt. Do some research before starting. You should have a sweeps only email account as you can get a lot of spam – but I think this is a good way to bring in a little extra money. 🙂

  • Reply fern |

    i pick and choose those contests that i think i have a better chance of winning.

    when i was living in vermont, i entered and won an essay contest sponsored by a local jewelry store and won a (very tiny) diamond ring for my mother on mother’s day.

    i once won a 1-year gym membership simply by calling in at the right time to a radio station.

    And most recently, i won ski ticket lift passes at a nearby ski place, but since i don’t ski, i promptly sold them to a co-worker.

  • Reply Kevin |

    In 2001 I was 100 winners in the Pepsi-Yahoo Superbowl commercial sweepstakes. Basically, you just voted on Yahoo which Pepsi Superbowl commercial you liked best from years before.

    100 winners, including me, won $2,001.

  • Reply Pat |

    I find the winning runs in cycles. I enter online for a few hours a day. I am retired and started because I didn’t want to let my mind go to waste. I win quite a lot of second and third level prizes, and my grandchildren love all the silly things I win. The lower level prizes just show up at your house, no call or notice. The good prizes you have to work for, getting forms signed, filling in W2’s and then waiting. In the last six months I’ve won a $1000, a necklace worth over $600 and two gift cards for $50 each. It’s enough to keep me going.

  • Reply Tricia J. |

    I started entering sweepstakes less than ione year ago as a hobby and I am sure glad that I did. I haven’t gotten rich and I don’t expect too,however, I have started to receive many nice items that I others wouldn’t have had.

    When I first started, it was posters, adult books and children books, hair care products,etc. As I became more educated about what I was entering, I have won envelopes, coupons for free food items, gift certificates for restaurants and grocery stores from $25 to $250, hotel stays, free long distance, shirts, and tickets to the MN Timberwolves,twice to the Harlem Globetrotters and the Imax Theatre. I’m hoping that they will continue to grow in value.

So, what do you think ?