Sweepstakes Do's N Don'ts
Over the years of entering a lot of sweepstakes, I've come up with some do's and don'ts when entering sweepstakes.
Do's
When entering Sweepstakes from Magazine Sites be sure to click on the link / area that says " Do Not Want to Subscribe". Many magazines these days have the subscribe link automatically checked now on their site, make sure you uncheck it and don't subscribe by accident.
Do check out: Swagbucks , one of my favorite sites. You get Swagbucks when you do every day regular searches. Search and Win. The prizes are great. They have a bunch of different gift cards to choose from as well as other stuff. Signing up is easy.
Have a separate email account for entering sweepstakes. A lot of times to enter the sweepstakes, the company requires you to be on their email list. Those emails can ad up quickly, depending on how many sweepstakes you enter.
When you enter a Sweepstakes check to see if there are any other sweepstakes on that same site you can enter. Lots of times the sponsor is hosting more than one sweepstakes.
Check all emails before deleting even spam. Some companies will send you an email, that looks like a regular product email, saying you won a sweepstakes and you need to confirm you got the email within 48 hours.
Go to your favorite magazine sites and see what types of sweepstakes they have. Most magazine websites have at least one sweepstakes posted. Some have daily sweepstakes.
Check the privacy policy. When in doubt check the the privacy policy on the sweepstakes site you are entering the sweepstakes on. Some companies do sell their sweepstakes lists. Which could lead to excess spam email, soliciting phone calls, even your name showing and address showing up on a different site on the Internet.
If you win a big sweepstakes with the ARV: (approximate retail value) over $300 put some extra money aside in a separate account for taxes you will have to pay. Even though winning is great, the taxes could be a financial burden depending on the amount of the prize won.
Don'ts
Use a PO Box. I'm finding more and more companies are now using UPS and UPS does not deliver to a PO Box. So putting a PO Box on a Sweepstakes Entry could make it void.
Enter a sweepstakes if you don't want the item. Or at least know someone who you could give it to as a gift. Reason being is there is a chance that you will end up paying taxes on it, especially if the item is over $300.
Enter sweepstakes if you are planning on moving. UPS does not have forwarding form you can fill out (as of yet) . Some companies do not let you know prior to winning a box. Companies have also been known to mail out prizes 3-6 months after the winner has been drawn. So if you plan on moving within 3-6 of a sweepstakes end date, consider holding off on entering the sweepstakes till you have your new address.
Don't give out to much personal information. A sweepstakes entry should be simple. Asking for the basics, Name, Address and sometimes date of birth. If any more personal information is asked for be a bit leery. When in doubt, skip entering the sweepstakes. If the company is a smaller not nationally recognised you might want to skip forms that require an exact date of birth. The only time I've encountered a date of birth being verified is on a tax form at the end of the year when a sweepstakes when the ARV over $300 is won.
