I Started Entering All Top Competitions on OzB One Month Ago. This Is What I Have Learned

SnowDragon on 03/12/2019 - 08:58
Last edited 03/12/2019 - 09:16

I created a new gmail address and started entering all the deals found on the competitions page on the 1st of November.

Basically every competition requires an email signup. I'm probably subscribed to newsletters in the vicinity of around 30-40 because that's how many emails I get every day.

Since the 1st of November I have 746 emails in my trash folder and 250 in my spam folder.
In this time I have probably entered 60-80 competitions. Generally it's between 3 and 10 a day. Some days have more comps than others.

On Black Friday I received two text messages from companies advertising their sales (Ebay and Surfstich). Promptly opted out of that. But god knows how many businesses actually have my number now and how many I have opted into SMS communication because I ticked a box.

Anyway what I have learned:

  • Competitions won: 0
  • Gleam is a horrible way to run giveaways. I have never actually received any information from Gleam as to who won the competition. (Are the winners anonymous?). Some people have theirs setup to give you +1 for following their insta, but others have +999. The number is really obsolete as it doesn't increase or decrease your chances.
  • From the over 1000 emails, only maybe 5 have actually announced winners. Even then it was "Sally. K - QLD"
  • Dozens of businesses now have my basic info. Name, email, phone #,DoB , some have gender and home address

Overall my only regret is that I didn't buy a $2 sim for competition use. I just hope I don't start getting junk mail delivered to my house.

Created a poll to see if any body else has been in the same situation

Poll Options expired

  • 8
    I enter competitions daily and have won nothing
  • 4
    I enter competitions daily and have won 1-3
  • 4
    I enter competitions daily and have won > 3
  • 126
    I enter occasionally and have won nothing
  • 33
    I enter occasionally and have won 1-3
  • 14
    I enter occasionally and have won > 3
  • 17
    I do not enter competitions and still win more than you!
General Discussion

Comments

  • iforgotmysocks on 03/12/2019 - 09:10
    +15

    Thank you for your service

    • SnowDragon on 03/12/2019 - 09:11
      +11

      Someone has to sacrifice their data so others don't have to.

      You're very much welcome.

  • Muzeeb on 03/12/2019 - 09:12
    +11

    Not all heros wear crocs.

  • Shadowsfury on 03/12/2019 - 09:19
    +1

    Yeah I sometimes go through phases of entering competitions (perhaps every couple of months I'll enter all those that interest me).

    Not won anything from ozb but when I was in uni many years ago won a couple of smaller ones.

    However, gotta be in it to win it! So maybe I should try harder.

    • SnowDragon on 03/12/2019 - 09:22

      That's exactly why I started. I spend maybe 5-10 minutes a day doing it. Chrome auto-fills the info in most cases so it may take 10 seconds to enter.

  • naomieve on 03/12/2019 - 09:22

    Same. I get sucked into doing it now and then, and nothing ever comes of it, and I laugh at my subconscious assuming that since I filled in some forms, I should win by now!! (I've also discovered I can get addicted quite easily)

  • Skramit on 03/12/2019 - 09:34
    +5

    Agreed the gleam ones are the absolute worst.

    I also feel like they are so fricken lazy with competitions. "Follow these 6 accounts on twitter/instagram to enter". Like come on can't you come up with something better for your marketing exercise?

    • SnowDragon on 03/12/2019 - 09:39

      Yeah I usually only follow the links to their pages and subscribe to newsletters.
      I refuse to follow twitter, FB or Instagram. I follow on Twitch and LinkedIn though because I don't use them enough to care.

      I just hate it because I get emails about new competitions from them, but never any news about who has won. Unless the person running the competition reaches out individually to the winner. I don't know.

  • Frashal on 03/12/2019 - 09:39
    +4

    I've often thought about how legit some competitions are. There is nothing regulating them, and if they aren't from a company with a reputation to uphold, what is stopping them running fake competitions as a data mining activity? I'd be shocked if the likes of Pat Callinan were fake, but the random website ones, not so sure.

    • JimmyF on 03/12/2019 - 09:49
      +3

      Yep, most are 'ran' just to harvest your details and get you to sign up to the mailing list/facebook page etc for future 'sales' chances and direct marketing.

      Its amazing cheap, run a competition, give away (questionable) a $1000 phone and you might get 5k+ people signing up. So its amazing great return on investment. Get 10k peoples details for $1k. Its a steal and even more so if you never give away the product ;)

      • Bargain80 on 03/12/2019 - 10:52

        and they don't even have to give away the $1000 phone.

        • Clear on 03/12/2019 - 10:58

          Like Android Authority!

        • JimmyF on 03/12/2019 - 12:38

          and they don't even have to give away the $1000 phone.

          As I said above

          Its a steal and even more so if you never give away the product ;)

  • JimmyF on 03/12/2019 - 09:43
    +4

    I just hope I don't start getting junk mail delivered to my house.

    Couple of tricks here,

    You can use a slight typo in the address, ie swapped some middle letters around, so the mail still makes it to you, but you'll know how they got your address.

    If you're in a house (ie not a unit), you can tack a 'unit' number to your address like 1/123 street st or 123a street st, if you're address is 123 street st.

    But thanks for taking one for the team!

  • DemocracyManifest on 03/12/2019 - 09:43

    I won one Comp here, the business I guess wanted good PR

  • onetwothreefour on 03/12/2019 - 09:58

    I won an Airism t-shirt from Uniqlo from a comp posted here once, other than that I don't think I've won anything else but I don't enter often.

  • spackbace on 03/12/2019 - 10:13
    +6

    That's why I don't enter anything I know is too popular. International comps, Facebook comps with over 500 entries, just not worth it.

    Best chances are purchase comps, because it adds another layer of effort. Currently the Golden circle one is good. Spend about $5 for an entry, can win a $50 sunnylife voucher. Good odds, good returns. I've won twice

    • SnowDragon on 03/12/2019 - 10:22

      That's a good point. But do you purchase the golden circle's because you regularly do or because you have a chance to win? If it's former then that's a win win. But if you start purchasing things just for the competition that's when you get into trouble.

      I have the mentality that you have to be in it to win it. As mentioned above, all I need to do is click and have my details pre-filled so basically I sell my soul and 10 seconds for a small chance at winning a trip to Fiji. All I lose is my anonymity and having a clogged mailbox.

      But I reckon I'll only continue until the end of the year and if I still haven't won anything I'll give up. I was annoyed I didn't even win anything simple like Village Movie passes given they giveaway quite a few of them. I've entered at least 6 of those. I can understand not winning a $10,000 trip to Europe. But a $15 movie ticket? C'mon.

      • spackbace on 03/12/2019 - 10:38

        I'll buy for the sake of entering, but it's also something I'd use anyway

        Generally, when you're ahead on comps, spending an extra $5-10 to enter one doesn't feel like a big deal.

        And living in WA I get the advantage I can enter late at night when everyone over east is well asleep

      • anastasiastarz on 11/12/2019 - 06:09

        Confession - I bought a drink for the competition (photo entry) then returned it. Well sorta, I exchanged it for the flavour I actually wanted. Didn't get the prize I won, but I did win something else.

        Lotto I think is the hardcore comp site with all the listings.
        Each layer eg. purchase filters/decreases entries and really helps you narrow them down. The local ones are really good eg. discover your own backyard

  • chcse on 03/12/2019 - 10:33
    +2

    I won four times in all the competitions I had entered (movie ticket, game, advance screening, and junk that the company couldn't sell). If the competition uses Gleam, I don't bother as it is extremely unlikely I will win anything. I've stopped after a period of entering into everything, not worth my time and they ask for too many details.

  • DarthAntz on 03/12/2019 - 10:38
    +1

    I entered daily for almost all of last year. i won a black ops 4 key through one of those expensive computer builders in the UK. I agree, gleam is the worst.

  • yoonibear on 03/12/2019 - 10:42
    +3

    Not from those online comps but from a bag of chips. Won 2 grand final tickets w/ $700 spending money, an afl football and a team scarf

    • anastasiastarz on 11/12/2019 - 06:09

      Random chance like a Golden Ticket? We all have that dream.

  • c64 on 03/12/2019 - 11:09
    +1

    i also suggest a disposable sim, eg an aldi $5 sim lasts a year. becomes someone else's problem in a year :)

    i'm very reluctant to give put in personal detail such as dob to some random untrusted form

  • Grimario on 03/12/2019 - 11:27
    +2

    I enter in big bursts, win nothing, then fade off for a few months before going "yeah, my turn". This is almost entirely on the back of my brother winning everything under the sun. He's won all kinds of stuff… RAM, video card, monitor… and I am sure a bunch of other things.

    But me? Nada. I've won stuff elsewhere… radio comps when I was younger, the occasional raffle at a fundraiser but never anything from here on OzB.

    Edit: Actually, now I think about it, I won a copy of Football Manager 2016 or 2017 that I might have seen on here, maybe even at my brothers referral. I forgot I had entered, the game went on sale so I bought it then, a week later, I got an email asking for my address and confirming I had won it.

  • 87percent on 03/12/2019 - 11:47

    i don't get why competitions require you to enter so much personal information.. DOB, mobile, full name, address. Way too much for my liking (and I'm not a tin foil hat wearing privacy warrior)

    • Clear on 03/12/2019 - 15:26
      +3

      So they can sell it!

  • brad1-8tsi on 03/12/2019 - 12:17
    +2

    Nothing from here.

    I won tickets to Shania Twain with a catered & boozed up corporate box (Shania Twains box isn't catered) with my credit union (Qudos).

    Also won an entry into the Shell V-Power 100 octane fuel launch. An economy challenge that was so badly promoted that everyone that entered correctly got an entry (6 people).

    i also won a meat raffle when i was at the peak of my vegetarian phase.

  • cpool on 03/12/2019 - 12:37
    +2

    There are a lot of competitions where there are no prizes are awarded. These competitions are often found on blogs and small websites. Sometimes you can find the prizes on eBay and are able to link it back to the website. This happens quite a lot.

    For some sites who run competitions, you've only got a chance to win if you are a new subscriber. After that, you're blacklisted.

    Random draw, likes and shares and all competitions like that are harder to win. You are better off entering 25 words of less. Fewer entries for those ones.

    A lot of sites run the competitions to get subscribers or page views so they can say to their advertisers, we get X hits. They probably have no intention of ever sending a prize.

    • SnowDragon on 03/12/2019 - 12:44

      This is basically what it feels like entering all of the comps. Seems like most are just getting my info and not giving anything out.

      Looking at the winners page, it seems like when people do win things, it's a minor prize or a share in a prize etc. Nothing big like a trip somewhere, a car or anything huge. Perhaps, as you said, businesses blacklist people who have already been subscribed or are entering a competition again.

      • cpool on 03/12/2019 - 13:00

        I know somebody who tested the 'new subscribers only win' theory with a particular dubious site. I don't remember the site but the prizes were minor (<$5-10 value). They entered dozens of times under their own name and only won the first time they entered. Over a few months, they then entered using about 15 made-up names, and each name won on their first attempt. Of course, they couldn't claim the prizes as they didn't have that many addresses. But they knew exactly what was going on.

        I think they thought that if people won on their first time, they would have a good experience on the site and would keep interacting with it.

      • spackbace on 03/12/2019 - 13:17

        Nothing big like a trip somewhere, a car or anything huge.

        Try again… many Ozbargainers have won trips, with the odd car win as well

        And if you want an even bigger data pool, look at Lottos. Lots of stay-at-home mums there who enter anything and everything, with some very big prizes going off

        https://www.ozbargain.com.au/comment/3928189/redir

        So I got a phone call at 4.30am yesterday morning (I'm in WA) from Smooth FM, to say I've won a holiday to Dubai staying at Atlantis in the Underwater Suite, valued at $42,000!!!!

        https://www.ozbargain.com.au/comment/3928196/redir

        awesome for you, i just got back from a compe trip i won to Rio.

        https://www.ozbargain.com.au/comment/5028007/redir

        Wanted to share a big win with the OZB competitions community. I won a $43000 VW Golf alltrack today

        • SnowDragon on 03/12/2019 - 13:36

          eh I was having a scroll through the page and didn't see anything special.

          Good to know some people are winning the big things. I suppose given how many people enter the competitions and how many of them are not OzBargainers, it makes sense that we don't see too many winners here.

  • Meeb on 03/12/2019 - 22:20

    Not sure about competitions from smaller companies but I kept entering the Woolies $5000 qantas voucher competition they had a while back and actually won! Not all competitions are just for data mining purposes I suppose.

  • vince088 on 03/12/2019 - 23:37
    +3

    0 competitions won also
    50 spam emails daily :(

    • SnowDragon on 04/12/2019 - 07:27

      Hope you have a separate email for them.
      I started to unsub from the businesses I hadn't won from but then they had more competitions so I'd end up re-subbing anyway. I just do a mass delete every day.

      • vince088 on 04/12/2019 - 21:19

        unfortunately not, and i did unsub from the legit companies, but now i get mass spams from virus looking links

        yeh luckily they just go to spam folder and i empty it everyday

  • Emphasise on 04/12/2019 - 07:52
    +1

    I usually only do the PC/tech stuff giveaways when they come up (Roughly every few days). Most of them involve gleam but they're all pretty similar with what to do (Follow their socials, sign up to newsletters, retweet etc) which is easy to revert if emails get out of control. I have won a few things, one of the best ones being a watercooled PC from Mwave.

  • nutbeat on 04/12/2019 - 08:19

    In 2003 I entered a competition in Nuts magazine in the UK for a pair of gold plated technics 1200s and a mixer (value at the time approx 5000 pounds), completely forgot I'd entered it and when the girl rang me to tell me I'd won I was sure it was a prank call, but sure enough they turned up.

  • ghoulie1 on 04/12/2019 - 09:11
    +1

    Can gleam contests be banned from this site?

    • SnowDragon on 04/12/2019 - 10:42

      You can filter them out. But even though I don't have it checked, they still appear. I'm guessing because the poster of the comp doesn't mark it correctly.

      Currently setup this filter I have Favorited.

    • Phalaxis on 05/12/2019 - 09:21

      Why does it need to be banned?

      • anastasiastarz on 11/12/2019 - 06:13

        Go enter a competition on gleam and you'll find out very quickly.
        Follow on every platform, sign up for our newsletter in your dreams, spam everyone you know. It's like a cult.

  • zetapulse on 04/12/2019 - 09:23

    I do not enter competitions and won a spam-free inbox.

  • Lanushi on 04/12/2019 - 09:25

    Used to win a lot when I was in my teens-early 20s. I'd win movie tickets mostly from unidays/studentedge sites. Movie tickets were my most common win, along with tickets to a couple of film premieres and even met Miss Australia one year. My best win was either a Hisense 7" tablet or Logitech surround sound system. Although both ended up being faulty and needed returns…

    Haven't been as active as I was back then, but I agree - Gleam is a crap system. You don't hear anything from them.

    • anastasiastarz on 11/12/2019 - 06:14

      Which sites did you use for these movie tix everyone speaks of?

  • OzHunterNSW on 04/12/2019 - 09:41

    I did it "ONCE" and what I learnt is that I inadvertently issued all my details that now I am forever inundated with marketing.

    They are a scam…. they are the fish and chip south seas cruise… your name and phone number is sold and you then are targeted by all the marketers.

    Ozbargain should stop this practice. There should be rules set in place to stop this.

  • WT on 04/12/2019 - 10:38

    I went through and entered a few on here, but I used my partners name, I got a lot of spam calls and messages asking for my partner, so I know exactly where it came from.

    Dont bother 99% are scams

    Its somewhat amusing, they hear a guys voice and nervously ask is this (female name) and it takes them a second to figure out what they just asked

  • ChocolateTown on 04/12/2019 - 11:18

    Pfft the only things I’ve won over the years are a radio invite to a bbq with bonus stuff from Amanda and Jonesy, and a Sprocket from a Today show channel 9 which I never received. Sent them an email a while later to ask but no reply

  • kewlaz on 04/12/2019 - 13:03

    I have a separate phone(ALDI sim) and email address just for comps, i try and check it once a week.

    I entered a shopping express comp early on, I forgot I had entered, i got an email from them saying i had won <product>. I cant remember exactly what it is. 2 years on I still havent removed it from its box. I think its was an external WiFi hard drive, I checked the prices at the time it was RRP $250 to $300.

    I nearly missed it as i thought their email was spam but i decided to reply(email address seemed legit). I gave them my Name and work address, it arrived a week or so later.

  • Striggen on 04/12/2019 - 13:55

    I've entered a few comps over the course of this year, probably somewhere in the vicinity of 80?

    I've won twice. First was a bigger one, I won a guided hiking tour through Tassie which is pretty sweet. The other was just the other day, I won one of the PC Case Gear comps through gleam which surprised me, I wasn't far off ignoring all gleam comps moving forward.

    That said, I'm absolutely drowning in spam. Emails, phone calls, you block some but new ones come through anyway. Still really unsure if it's worth it for free shit.

    • SnowDragon on 04/12/2019 - 14:20

      I'm guessing the business contacted you directly instead of Gleam?

      Wish Gleam had a page where you could view all your entries and their statuses.

      • Striggen on 05/12/2019 - 08:39

        Yeah, came directly from the contest organiser.

        I'm still on the fence about Gleam.

  • nootboii on 04/12/2019 - 14:40
    +1

    Have entered about 40 competitions in total and have won an Iphone X and a DJI OSMO pocket. Spam email folder is overflowing tho

  • Gerry H on 04/12/2019 - 17:54

    lol i entered 1 jb hi fi iphone competition last year. guess the amount of spam and unsolicited calls i got… never again.

  • Grimario on 04/12/2019 - 21:31
    +2

    So… I just won.

    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/499952

    1st place!

    • SnowDragon on 05/12/2019 - 08:11

      Congrats! Looks like a decent prize as well.

  • Bytelover on 05/12/2019 - 16:34

    I enter most comps, got a 2nd sim, fake dob, misspelled address, new email acc etc. Going for about 2 months?

    Probably get 20 mails a day, I quickly check them as most will have in the subject if it's a winner announcement. If it is, and it's not me, I unsubscribe straight away.

    Only won a harry potter invisibility cloak that I sold for $70 and some free drinks through the current BWS comp. Also won a brewery tour through BWS actually. And an xbox pass while I don't have one.

    A lot of comps go for like a month or more though, so I guess 30% of the ones I've entered might not be drawn yet? Will continue for a bit longer to decide if it's worth it.

  • huntress_love on 07/12/2019 - 01:40

    Interesting! That's way I get so many spam calls. Like 4 or 5 a day, but I'm mostly on slient due to baby, so don't actually get many.
    But I find if you don't talk when you pick up they just hang up, otherwise when they mentioned, energy or company I've no idea, I just hang up on them, which I rather enjoy!

  • Tames71 on 08/12/2019 - 06:25

    I did that once and got so much spam emails and phishing scams. Not fun.

  • anastasiastarz on 11/12/2019 - 06:38
    +1

    Surely you'll get an email soon that you've won something?

    Gleam was created by the devil. Worst thing ever.

    I enter many daily (friend is a pro, she tags me 20+ a day) especially as it's peak season and so many places are doing 12 days of giveaways. Normally I win every fortnight or so. Instagram based, though I'm unfollowing 20 a day. I'm not a competition only account, though my friends hide it well by buying followers (tbh unless I was a hardcore comper I wouldn't invest in that) to balance out the businesses they follow, they also post non-comp stuff to blend in.

    Mostly I win tix and stuff/food sent out. Won two hotel stays from photo comps within past few years (one was attend x event and take a photo, mostly adults attended and didn't care/have insta to enter). I'm after tix and those $50 restaurant gift vouchers pretty much. I sell/giveaway some of the stuff I don't use/like.

    This month-ish I've won:

    • cute water bottle
    • xmas cards
    • skincare $50 vou
    • coconut bowls

    My tip would be to enter competitions that take effort, have a running notepad with answers. 25WOL is good.

    My biggest recent win (photo comp, spent a lot of stress on that) was 5kg coffee and $250 credit for the product coffee shop. Xmas presents for him sorted. The coffee comp for example had 6 layers/requirements 1. attend a certain event 2. buy the coffee 3. notice the sign about the competition 4. have instagram 5. think about a unique shot that hasn't been done 6. bring coffee cup with you to that location 7. shoot, upload and tag. Taking care that you got the hashtag right - some places have strange tags. There were like 10-12 winners, who all got the 5kg + store credit. But one also won a coffee machine.

    TLDR; I enter many on instagram daily, 25WOL and tag a friend/share (I have friends who comp hard). Not a competition account. Wins small things, like tickets and products about fortnightly.

    • SnowDragon on 11/12/2019 - 06:51

      I don't want to enter Insta ones because I find it annoying seeing my friends sharing things on FB and I don't wanna be that guy. If I were to do it, I'd create another account but I dunno if it would be worth it. AS you said, people buy followers to make it look legit.

      That photoshoot you did must have taken some time and creativity. Hope you didn't spend too much time on it.

      And thanks for the tips.

  • thydzik on 16/12/2019 - 12:40

    My issue is how do you filter the winning emails (the genuine ones) from all the spam emails.

    I've got a separate email I use for comps, but I still have to troll through the emails.

    Even filters for my name and (congratulations, winner) returns a lot of false positives.

    I've won a few things, one email that I did miss they were nice enough to call my mobile.

    • c64 on 16/12/2019 - 19:18
      +1

      the presence of a "list-unsubscribe" header probably means it is a bulk email that you can send to the junk bin

      • thydzik on 16/12/2019 - 22:30

        That's a really good idea. Can Gmail do that natively?

  • SomeGuyOnOzB on 13/05/2020 - 08:51

    I've won a few 2nd tier prizes.

    Canon prize draw (for people who'd purchased from them) $300 gift card.

    Then there was the ANZ "have your say". Monthly prize draw. Won $500 worth of gift cards. (Still using that up)

    A promotion at Westfield Doncaster, where I received $250 in gift cards.

    A Tim Tam 3 Wishes, 2nd chance prize draw. $100 gift card.

    Some other smaller prizes.

    • SnowDragon on 13/05/2020 - 09:05

      How many have you entered overall do you think?

  • Mintee on 16/06/2020 - 09:03

    Ive entered 300 competitions to date for May 2017, not a single win…. :( One day…

    • SnowDragon on 16/06/2020 - 09:42

      OzB says: 615 entries, 0 wins

      But I only starting clicking "Entered" about halfway through my journey. I gave up during Rona, so haven't entered anything since March.

      • Mintee on 16/06/2020 - 11:35

        Heres me thinking that some of my '25 words or less' competitions are really good… I wish they would let you know the quotes of the 25 words or less :P

      • anastasiastarz on 17/06/2020 - 23:25
        +1

        This house arrest era has kinda been a peek of wins for me, little things but enough to start my own in-house bar, also homewares. I enter via insta though, and have a team, maybe 40 comps a day, 200 a week? I've been winning almost weekly.

        Tip - 25WOL is good, but my fav are the ones that require cheap purchases eg. so good: buy milk, take photo and submit, these are the higher quality ones. But ideally small entry pool compared to say the helga's one. With most tag a friend it's a numbers game. If they have 5k of less followers, engage more to increase your chances.

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