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Well done smalot11! Great commitment too :)

Thanks mate. Your 8 holidays spurs me on :) @surferboy83

@Smalot11 Congrats on the wins. Only 680 to go. I'm surprised you haven't of done a bunch more FB comps leading up to Fathers Day. :)

@Smalot11 Woot! Just found out I had a small win buried in my junk folder for the last week for $35. I think just won another $25. Could be USA dollars will find out. :)

I only realised when I thought I saw on name posted on a site and went scrounging in my mountain for emails.

Argh like I always say the luck isn't in winning it's finding those damn elusive emails!

@Lemond congrats on your wins you will have to tell me your tips for international comps :) I notice OzBargain posts a lot of international comps

Funny you mentions Facebook and Father's Day
Day 19 - 380 entered (1.9.17)
Won
Comp 274 - TerryWhite Chemmart - Fathers day giveaway - Facebook comp $157 vitamin pack. I must give them credit too as they express posted it to me within 24hours of notifying me of the win. Always very nice to get very fast postage
Comp 308 - Nick Jr - Fathers day giveaway - Facebook comp - retro socks

Hope you have a winning weekend :)

@Smalot11 Yeah OzBargain posts a few of international comps. :) There are a few regular members that post the international ones. Basically can't be stuffed posting them all until get around to auto generate OzBargain submissions.

There are better sources for them. I haven't been keeping up with them lately after a while you can end up with 20-30 sites to check each day. I need a secretary.

@Smalot11 Congrats. Wow professional service with TerryWhite Chemmart. It's great when you don't have to hassle claiming your prize. Sometimes the following up can be "testing".

Should be a lot of winners in the next few days. :)

@Smalot11 Hmm for tips it depends on the comp. Sometimes just doing random searches for what you want to win may come up with great off off the radar comps. Generally will find more high end value international giveaways as that where's most promoters/manufacturers reside. It may take bit of time checking the T&C's incase of things like if delivery is included etc etc.

Most of the internationals circulating are be referral based as gleam run etc. A lot more don't circulate as much if not referral.
Never know your luck and so far found no issues with prizes arriving. Actually quicker deliver and less hassles then a lot of Australian ones.

For tips for international well if referral base really helps if got a few hundred contacts etc to really lower the odds. I have noticed some international compers seem to manage without too much trouble. So realistically can be hard to compete against those. The pros and cons having lots of contacts. As heaps of comps out there they can't get catch them all :)

You can post referrals to various groups to help. If doing that there are numerous groups. I think I've got a good dozen or two at least spread globally. Would say average success doing that. Probably the maximum referalls every got be around 20-30. That can also take time.

When I do share publically I'll also "value" add. I.e. include basic info to help as sometimes post in international groups. Not something have to do, I find it might help attract interest for appreciation for spending the time finding out the T&C's etc. Also saves time whoever uses the referral.

Ok honestly I find quite annoying when checking out say a international group and can't spot the international comps shared easily. Hmm for the aussie groups well I'd say most just reguritate from the same Aussie comp sites going around. "Generally" most should be ok to enter without checking. Pet hate when find out they didn't check and has restrictions or has already expired.

There's a world comps over time you'll find some good sites worth bookmarking. Also the more the enter the more notifications you get for new comps down the track. After a while the comps come to you. In the end will come down to time for finding/managing them.

Sometimes the local comps around the corner might more effective. Or finding your niche and spending more time on that. If got a good creative flare you got a lot to pick and choose from. After a while you're probably start thinking doing a WOL for a small prize isn't worth the effort.

Good Luck.

@Smalot11 For those wins both came from the same site. I seem to doing well on the site exclusive comps. I prefer them lately as finding out the results I don't need trawl through my emails.

I do have a referral for that site http://freebies.com/signup?refer=196236

I don't think will get the guaranteed $25 for a few months until save enough points to genuinelly challenge.
They also have member only comps which appear to be PayPal not the prize displayed. I could be wrong maybe was just for my prize. At least it was better then the candles prize which was the actual comp won. I haven't done a candle comp in ages and thought they looked nice enough. lol

For the guaranteed prizes I had bit of strategy for last month. My advice if ever thinking of doing it possible wait a month or two for things to settle down. Wait for most to chew through points available. I.e. don't get too carried away using available points to quickly.

Overall it's probably not the most effective use of time. They also have a section for general aussie comps. Probably ones already circulating about.

@Lemond Interesting reading. Do agree quite often the local comps are the best. A local shopping center at the moment is giving away push bikes. It's an instore comp requiring a purchase. I went a made the purchase and then had to enqire of staff where the entry box was. It turned out it was knock over behind one of the checkouts. Think that comp will have very low entrants.

This 1000 comp challenge definitely has me fine tuning my competition process.

Will look into freebies next week, thanks for posting the link.

I do appreciate you sharing your knowledge and taking the time to reply.

Deeper down the comping rabbit hole I go :)

@Smalot11 Thanks for using the referral. I'm assuming you used it. :)

Thanks It might help me get at least get in the top 400 for that general draw. Hmm if I want to push top 50 etc I should flog the referral. Strategy wise either I need to flog the referral this month like get around 30ish at least (unlikely without lots of effort) or x fingers a hell of a lot for the points hunt during the month. I was thinking about it towards the end of last month however from the points hunt late in the month I thought I had enough of a buffer to withstand any late challenges.

The points hunt is where I usually get a good percentage of the points. Overall I don't think I've got enough spare points up my sleeves to serious mount a genuine challenge for a while for top 10 or top 50. Maybe top 50 with bit of luck.

From last month which was the first month for the guaranteed prizes for top 50. The top 10 was approximately around 60,000 and top 50 I'm guessing was around the 40,000 points. I expect that will drop off a bit over the coming months as the influx of new members use up points chasing the top 50 etc. So you got decisions how to wisely use up points for the exclusive draws in the meanwhile. Initially you make take slowly and accumulate them for draws when ready. Then later on try for the top 50 etc.

I got in really quickly when I got the hint they were removing some points for sharing etc last month. Overall it was either last month or wait a few months. I just made sure I kept in contact with the top 10 then made my move when the points hunt came about. Then pray I had enough of a buffer to pysc out any challenges. :)

Argh the new guaranteed prizes is biased against the loyal long term members who would of used up a lot of points already. I had kept plenty of spare points as previously wasn't any incentive to waste them beyound making the top 400. You could try this month however keep in mind less points used can try again for other months for the top 50 etc. I.e. short term cash grab v's a longer strategy.

The exclusive member draws are decent odds and appears the winnings are in PayPal $$$. :)

@Smalot11 I might as well push the referral. I need some points for the exclusive draws anyway. God even with getting a heap the last few months and being selective with what draws I enter I've still managed to chew threw them.

Any questions regarding member draws or points hunt feel free to ask. Hint there are approximately 6500 webpages to browse where they are located when it's running. Usually they do it a few times a month for a few days.

Nope, not me yet. Haven't had a chance to get over their yet. Just managing to get my 20 comps in a day at the moment and that's all.

Good idea sharing your referral link. You deserve any bonus points you get :)

Like the fact they pay in PayPal as you can spend that in a lot of places.

@Smalot11 Wow the only place I shared it was in this post until noticed the referral points. I did a separately post later. Someone else must be reading them. :)

Got my two PayPal wins yesterday for total of $60 AUD. I hope all countries get the same amount. Be tempting to change allegencies and apply for dual citizenship. Thou the downside won't be able to see the general aussie comps listed. Initally I had an issue set to "Other" and took a bit of sorting out to fix it. If you accumulate enough points to max out a draw there some really decent odds down to 1/8 thou I'm not sure what the PayPal prize would be for it. Well if it's cash you can't complain :)

Went of slight comping binge yesterday. I've had to temporary resort to bookmarking them and putting the end dates on the labels.
20 comps per day should be fairly easy to accomplish for whats just circulates on FB alone. A lot to pick and choose from.

Hint just check out the fb winners forum and bound to be a "few" members worth checking out. Once checked a few you probably see the same comps. Some compers have interesting niches for prizes I've come across. Also doing the random check of particants entered for a FB competition may also find nice comps. If lucky i.e. they aren't attached to the large groups might find decent odds. :)

Probably one area that gets slightly overlooked would be instagram comps as a lot seem to focus on FB comps. Then you I've got twitter, youtube etc. The challenge then is remembering to check back.

@Lemond Yes I tend to use FB comps to make up my 20 over the weekends. It would be nice if FB had a reliable way of searching for posts with keyword in them but alas I personally follow a lot of pages that do regular giveaways to keep me going. Still havent joined instagram but should do so as a lot of comps seem to be instagram only or if they are run on IG and FB the winner most times seem to come from IG.

@Smalot11 Yes that is a good idea to search FB for comps. Was trying that today trying to get ahead of the pack for a certain type of comp if get my hint. :)

@Lemond I just used your referral link, now getting some samples :)

@indriasun Thanks. Yeah so you did. It's probably saved me from dropping out of the Top 400.draw for this month :)

X fingers for that leader board draw.

Let me know how it goes with the free samples I haven't checked them out. Anything really interesting? There's a lot to explore on the site and triva and riddles are fun.

How the points work, points accumulated during the month (based on USA time) are display for the montly leaderboard comp. For the new month that is reset to 0. Points accumulated from previous months are retained which can use for the member exclusive draws. See account details. So no need to worry about urgently using any accumulated for exclusive draws.

For the next few months I'm in saving mode to accumulate enough points maybe to try again for the top 1-50. Just getting the daily points for being logged in etc. It's a lot easier for new members to attempt to push for the top guaranteed prizes as old members would of used up potiental points completing the polls, riddles etc. It's still bit of work to tick off the points if trying. It's highly likely was my only of chance for that 1-10 guaranteed prize as been a member for a couple of years.

Strategically I would wait a bit for a lot of recent members to chew through points avaiable before making a genuine push for the guaranted prizes. The points hunt helps as when they do run them occassionally. That requires a lot of browsing to find them thou.

It really depends how urgently want to accumulate points also for the exclusive draws etc. I still wouldn't get carried away trying to get to the top 10 etc unless feel can genuinely do it. Kind of pschological game i.e. patience then make a move or go hell for leather then find out struggle for points other months. Eg trying for top just top 50 barely and retaining as many points as possible for other months and try again or risk pushing for the top 10 wasting points, if fail and also makes getting top 50 again harder. Regardless you can still the points accumulated for the member draws and if make it win-win like I did.

Don't worry too much about missing some exclusive comp draws they have them often. As soon as one finishes another is put up. Bit early to think I'm sure mathematically for the member draws you better off maximising the entries allowed then spreading a few entries between them.

Initially I slowly saved up for months just occassionaly entering draws for prizes was interested in. Thou it appears the prizes you get an option for a Paypal amount so you don't need to worry winning crap. .

@Smalot11 congrats for your new sofa chair

@Lemond Oh no I've been found on Facebook. :) hahaha. Thank you for your congratulations, picked it up today and very happy. Also got the good news I won an iPhone7 today.
Now to win that elusive car. Hope you have a nice weekend.

@Smalot11 Wow you are on a nice roll. Congrats The armchair looks great.

Today I noticed a Brissy Car wholesaler giving away a car this month. If haven't come across it will dig it up. It's a local visit for entry so odds might be decent for a car.

lmao. A long long time ago. :Oonce you win a few times hard not to be noticed. Damn putting your name in the blog I was going to have a "guess'.

I can give a classic example from couple of days ago when you don't want be noticed . A comp had relative low entries and suspected once I shared it to public might attract some interest. "vibe over the previous week with some other comps was getting noticed.

So as a precaution shared it like late as possible before closing and a within an hourr the flood of compers began around 1 am and by morning 400+ more comments. The funny thing it had already closed and as suspected was local pickup. It even surprised me how it was pounced on. Sometimes you see fake comps/scam spread just as easy with compers failing to use commone sense or check the terms and conditions.

That's the one big con even if indirectly connected to the large comping "gangs". I don't get why some mass tag apart from the reason it "may" provide bonus entries. It kinda shoots their own chances in the foot.

Occassional will come across low entry ones usually would share them with close contacts. There is one competition blogger that goes into the pros and cons of sharing requirements. Usually it's too much effort to bother with.

On that note just remembered got some last minute comps to do.

Good Luck. :)

@Lemond Yes very grateful for some very nice prizes this week. On a side note i ticked over to 1000 comps entered yesterday, took 54 days. 20 comps won thus far, just under 300 still to be drawn. A coupe of cars in there so never know might get lucky.

Haven't seen the Brisbane car comp, may be worth the drive from Sunny Coast if you come across it again.

Facebook it's an interesting place :)

Now what to do with myself, double up and keep going to 2000 haha :)

Good luck mate, thanks for the support with the 1000 comps, do appreciate it

@Smalot11 Congrats to making to 1000 comps. It's great when you win things urgently require or are considering buying. Wow winning around 1/50 that's pushing your luck must be entering quite a few lower odds comps in general.

Found it again https://www.facebook.com/MBwholesalecars/
Edit new post from them a few hours ago. Taken me a few hours to close down some windows on the pc and just noticed a new post. :( https://www.facebook.com/MBwholesalecars/photos/a.1800659936614828.1073741829.1702882073059282/1987364921277661/

I'm not sure how good the prize is, The only other comp off hand is for a large bike trailer up your way comes to mnd that was circulating a few weeks ago. Educated guess would be pickup.

Yeah it's definately local pickup I swear a lot of the compers have no commonsense either that or just "entering" to pass the comp on to others.. Note have to wait till they get 3,000 likes it might be a while. Those can get challenging for checking back.
https://www.facebook.com/yandinatrailerfabrication/posts/482447155457420

How do you manage to keep up with checking back on results?

My main issue is due to my frustrating slow pc for checking back. If entering 1000 FB comps and takes a min or two each time (if lucky) there's a day gone just doing that. Why I send all FB notifications to email in the hope will catch draw announcements. If the winners are posted in the groups can search quickly for the usual terms. So should catch it the result a few times and if tagged a few more times. Odds are might catch one of those email notifications.

I won an Ipad Pro with keyboard last year which helps at times just find it a touch annoying for entering comps and bookmarking. I've got heap of comps to get around to this weekend which just quickly saved the posts using FB. One thing I don't utilize enough is FB built in features checking your own timeline for post/comments etc.

Yeah FB is an interesting place... After a couple of years comping can see how the giveaways propergate between the compers.
Just noticed a small cash pirze from a small business with currently very few followers. That came my attention doing a random peak at a profile from another comp. Sometimes find interesting comps or promoters that way. If haven't already noticed the comping "gangs" stand out when a few of them mass tag. Also sometimes check if any "mutual; contacts have entered. That can decide if need to consider should bother with keeping it low key. *Pro for being indirectly connected.

Hmmmmm well as that comp is showing numerous compers already entered it won't be long before that spreads. The comp was going for a few weeks under the radar. Can pinpoint today when it came to attention of the compers. That promnoter just increased its folllowers by double just while typing the post. Things to wary of when finding decent odds comps. One of the major factors for reducing the effort required to win might down to finding decent odds then praying it doesn't go too mainstream or having a forte for creative comps.

lmao. Oh once you start there's no going back. It's still early enough before XMAS to run. You'll notice all those promoters you've been building up on FB will be start increasing their posts around early Dec with giveaways. I saw one for giveaways each week for a 12 weeks to XMAS. Gee is XMAS that soon.

Best of luck hope you win a new car. :)

@Lemond Thanks for the links. I have seen the Yandina Trailer one. I don't bother entering comps where they stipulate reaching a certain number of likes before they draw.

Thanks for the car one too, If I happen to be in Brisbane on a Saturday in the next few weeks I'll definitely call past :)

As for checking back it's a bit hit and miss, no exact science figured out yet. Especially when you enter a large volume of comps.

As for winning, I am happy to say add one more to the tally, 21 now. I don't particularly worry about odds but I do really make sure I read the T&C's it's amazing how many people don't follow them especially 25WOL. Quite often promotesr don't say 25WOL anywhere apart from the T&C's. I also try my best to think of who may be judging and what type of comments they might be looking for. As you may have noticed yourself, if a promoter chooses a type of answer over and over (FB is good for that because you normally can see the winning answer) again I style my answer to fit with what they normal choose.

No exact science that's for sure. So grateful for anything that I do win especially like you say if needed and saves you buying it. Every little bit definitely helps.

Actually looking forward to the XMAS comp, only really started late Dec last year so had misses most of them buy that time. Yes wasn't it only the year 2000 like last year, 2018 soon!

Have you entered The Block car comp, codeword today is BACKYARD if you haven't

@Smalot11 Contrats again. Might have start doing those in advance to keep up. :)

Total agree a lot don't read the terms and conditions why I keep seeing that Trailer being shared around. Other times T&C's have to hunt down or aks the promoter to clarifiy. Even on occassions promoters have "failed" to read their own T&C's

My motto if you're going to play the game know the rules. :)

For judging creative entries occassional check what previous reponses and styles a promoter tends to look for. Appliances Online come to mind. It appears there's a couple of styles they favour. You often see a run of creative comps with a requiring similar responses from a variety of promoters. Most likely due to new movie release or reoccuring event etc.

One thing when get back to this database to able to keep a track my entries and winning ones for future reference for inspiration. For specific prizes it takes some leg work to trawl around each time for getting the feel of what type of response they might be looking for. Bookmarking gets a mess over a couple of years.

What is your breakdown of creative entries and random draws of comps won? Also are they more locally based?
Winning around 1/50 comps is exceptional. For random draws be hard pressed to find less then 100 entries. Even for creative comps can attract lots of attention thou there are plenty of those that go under the radar. If a good percentage are local your main competition might sitting right beside you. :)

XMAS comps gee almost time to start preparing for them soon. Lesson from last year is start compiling a list of those interested in. By around day 3 found it easier and quicker to set up a page of clickable links to do each day. Need to on the ball so can get entries into the first few days before the masses join in.

No I don't watch the Block thanks. Reminds me to do this weeks Living Room was it TACO or TACOS?

Code is TACO, hope you win some money :)

Of the 21 won so far

10 lucky draw
8 creative entry on Facebook
3 creative web entry.

I think I going to start tomorrow going from 1001-2000 see how things pan out in the next 50 odd days.

Hopefully can win a guessing game in the next 7 weeks :)

@Smalot11 Possible I've just won a PC. Just noticed an email from a comp in my junk folder. Damn winning emails always going to my junk folder.

I'm a bit cautious as they are asking for shipping costs via Paypal of $60 which wasn't mentioned. Actually very few details in the T&C's etc. Need to confirm what exactly are the specifications etc and work out what precautions to take. I'll do a post bit later if anyone has had any experience.

Had to dig around bookmarks from last month to double check if not just another spam congrats email. Thou I've never seen a spam one for a PC. Well found the comp in my bookmarks was hidden under my 2017 Sept Youtube folder thou was a gleam entry method.

Hmm spider sense says I need to think about this competition carefully and take any neccessary safeguards. Argh I desparetly need a new PC thou don't want that to blindside me. Was reading an article recently regarding trust. Speed is the enemy of trust.

Bit too early for congratuations. When sorted out and actually receive it I'll believe it.

Ok 10 lucky draws sounds around right for 1000 comps. It all depends on how many other entries on average. If some local pickup comps unlikely see 1000's of entries up your way. Usually I see at least 300+.entries and not suprised when see 1000's at times.

Will have to check if this weeks guessing game has been announced yet. You need a bit of luck for the guessing game and get in early as possible to maximise your chances as appears around 200-300 at least members enter.

I checked early this morning and was still showing last weeks winner. That's usually updated at 3am AEDT. There also been a slight delay for last months leaderboard will be sorted out this week.

Sounds promising. Hopefully and brand new PC and not a scam.

Hope it is real, let us know how you get on :)

@Smalot11 Well nothing rings of confidence from the email, youtube channel, twitter and facebook found searching for their email and google etc. So I'm highly unlikely to risk paying the delivery cost. For starters the delivery cost given probably won't cover shipping if its USA to Australia. Aussuming USA as that what's info is provided in their youtube details.

I might play along a bit to see what can uncover. Also email gleam etc to see what they think. If indeed a scam gleam should be notified for starters.

The reads:
Congratz! you are the winner drawed from my "PC Giveaway If you cant pay 60$ for shipping via paypal i have to redraw and select another winner sorry! Contact me back when you can! SO we can sort things out and send you your new Product!

No mention who they are etc.

Does seem suspicious unfortunately :( let me know how it works out.

@Smalot11 Yeah rings of danger Will Robinson!

From googling the winning email all I found was warning signs. A post offering to sell their YouTube channel at a "discounted" price etc. Couple of FB pages related to broken comp links on Youtube they previously hosted by the looks of it. Nothing they give any idea who they are etc or more importantly and confidence it's nothing other then a SCAM.

Got a follow up email from them them to provide shipping details and they will cover any additional shipping costs. After paying the $60 to paypal. The first thing came to mind $60 couldn't cover the weight of a PC being shipped from the USA. I've consider that a few times for legitament comps. Also they asked wouldn't I like to know the PC details. Argh you think they would of sent that in the winning email. Of course would of like to know.

So I've sent Gleam an email regarding it. Wow got an almost instanteous response:

We do ever recommend paying for shipping, it's most likely a scam based on the data you've provided.
I would ask for receipts first, we'll look at the account on our end and take the appropriate action.

I think they meant we don't ever recommend etc.

Also done the same for YouTube.

Lesson is don't tease me with winning a PC LMAO.