With a Little Bit of Luck... (Camping)

Member Name: BizzyB

Product:	Camping
Date:	22/09/01 (432 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: The anticipation of a possible win, Hunting for competitions

Disadvantages: Can be expensive so set yourself a budget

Bless me ol'Mum, there's nothing that amuses her more than asking people how much her shiny Land Rover Freelander cost her and the look on their face when she replies "19p".

By filing in her name and address on a Highland Spring Mineral Water label and enveloping it up with a second class stamp, six months later she got the phonecall "You've won our competition". And what a competition to win. This wasn't just any old car - this was her dream car. The vehicle she'd buy if, sorry when, she won the lottery.

This was one of those competitions that changed lives. Carrying a serious upper spine injury after being attacked at work Mum is in constant pain and was limited to where she could travel and drive in the old car because of discomfort. Now she has a vehicle that is a dream to drive and has meant she can become more involved in her first love - cat welfare for the Cats Protection. Need to take 7 cats to the vets, deliver three traps, 8 bags of litter - no problem (as long as I'm there to do the lifting!). Talk about a dream come true.

But I'm not writing this opinion to list what I have and haven't won because comping is more than. I can't write an opinion that will guarantee you taking possession of a shiny new car in the next few moths, not that simple I'm afraid. I can't even promise you'll win a pair of socks. But what I hope I can do is help you take up this fascinating hobby which maybe just make Lady Luck pay you a visit.

So comping's all about getting stuff for free then?

No, no, no. Those who go into comping thinking it's an easy route to a freebie are the ones who give up a few weeks in. Winning a prize is wonderful and believe me you get just as much buzz whether you win a book or a holiday - really. And that's because comping is about hope, that optimistic streak we should all encourage in ourselves.

&qu
ot;I never win anything me" - I hear that all the time. And why do people win nothing - because they enter nothing!! Or they only enter the odd competition with a huge number of entries for something as grand as a house or car.

"I won't win anything" - I'm in danger of sounding like an Oprah show specialist, but lets ban the negative. It's an old but a goody saying "You've got to be in it to win it". Who knows what fate has for you. Mum entered that Highland Spring competition ONCE and was picked from over half a million entries. You never know?.you just never know when it's your turn. Look at how easily we grasp the negative in life, before we do anything we talk ourselves into failing. Let's stop the rot. I can honestly say there isn't a competition I enter that I don't think, yes, I might win this.

Oh you're sounding all new age now, Bizzy...

You know what, I do get a philosophical about comping. I'm a great believer in comping karma - the what goes around comes around theory. If you go into comping with greed and jealousy the wins elude you. I've always found when I've helped other compers something always comes round in the next few weeks and I can't help but think that's the comping karma in action. It's all back to that positive thinking.

Other compers, you mean you talk to the enemy?

Now here is the strange thing about comping - there is a comping community out there! And we are not rivals. On the contrary we help each other out, finding competitions, writing tie-breaks and buoying each other with success stories.

Many areas have comping clubs which meet up at intervals to swap stories, entry forms, news etc. A list of British comping clubs can be found at
http://www.winspiration.co.uk/clubs.htm There's a great joy when a fellow comper wins or a friend wins a competition you told them about
.

On the net there is the compers newsgroup at uk.rec.competitions Here people list competitions, help each other find answers etc. On the whole it is a very friendly newsgroup. Now and then a few people have the odd spat, well it's just like real life! People have different ideas about comping ethics.

What are comping ethics?

Certain competitions are aimed at certain groups for instance a competition to win children's toys or a vegetarian hamper. Should you only enter for things you really want for your self?

My take on it is this. I always stay within the rules - no lying about age, number of entries etc - you'll only get disqualified (or upset the comping karma!). But I do enter for a wide range of prizes, even ones I don't want for myself. There is a number of reasons for this including many of the prizes have other uses.

For instance many of my wins become presents and often presents I couldn't afford to buy friends and family otherwise. This helps a limited budget go further. Otherwise I can sell a number of unwanted prizes, something else that helps my budget go further which I find especially important and helpful when I do so much voluntary work which I adore. Thirdly, I can win prizes that I can donate to charities for them to either use themselves or use for fundraising thereby making a donation I couldn't otherwise do.

For many people comping gives them the opportunity to bring items into the household they couldn't ordinarily bring in.

I never enter competitions which are not transferable or are very specially aimed at other groups. For instance I wouldn't enter to win a disabled adapted car or a family holiday. Let common sense prevail is my tip.

So where can I find competitions?

You will be surprised at the amount of competitions about and how you will develop a second sense to sniff them out. I can spot the word win a
t a hundred passes you know!


On-line competitions.
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Most of the competitions I enter are on the internet. I am now prepared to make myself sound very sad indeed, but do you think I mind?!!

I have a little routine for entering competitions. Thank goodness for free internet access is all I can say. I have free access on evenings and weekends and this is when I do my online comping. Well let's be honest here. On an evening after a hard day, more often than not I would slump in front of the television and doze into a semi-coma. Well no more. With the soaps on in the corner I follow my routine of trawling the internet for the latest competitions and can easily enter 20-40 each evening, popping in and out of Dooyoo and OpCom as I go!.

My first visit is to www.tombola.com This site provides free scratchcard, match and win type games each day. Free to register and play I have won a small amount here before and know people who've won as much as £5000 and they have an excellent record for sending out wins very quickly indeed.

Then I have a quick visit to www.bananalotto.co.uk another free to play, lottery style daily game. I also have a list of websites who do daily competitions and enter them as well.

Then to the Star Site for all online compers www.loquax.co.uk rightly called the UK's leading competition portal. This site is crammed full of the latest news and links to UK competitions on the internet. I find the most useful resource their daily update section. Here they list which sites have new competitions up, details of the prize and closing date and a link straight there. Sometimes they help you out with any answers needed to - could they be any more helpful?! Competitions are also listed in prize categories and by closing date. As well as links to competitions they run their own prize draws, have a myriad of online tools to help you keep track of comp
etitions, a chat room and message boards so you can talk to other compers.

A similar portal site is www.competitions-online.co.uk which is very laid out and clear to use. Competitions are listed in latest entries as well as under prize types e.g. cars, holidays, children's etc. There are no community features.

What form do online competitions take?

They can take many different forms. Some are as simple as fill in your name and e-mail, or other details. Some may ask questions of varying difficulty. Some may ask for tie-breakers or captions to photographs. Look around and see what takes your fancy.


Postcard competitions:
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These competitions are often found in magazines and newspapers. Often you'll send your name and address and possibly an answer and hope to get 'picked out of the hat'.

Postcard draws can be anything from a bottle of shampoo to a luxury cruise.

Now unlike the free internet access here is where cost rears it's ugly head but I have some money saving tips for you:

Don't buy all the magazines that have a competition in them. Do you have any friends that read them? Can you copy the detail down in the library? Do friends on the internet have the details?

Don't buy postcards. Take a walk to your local friendly cinema and look out for the racks of free advertising postcards. And free postcards don't just turn up in cinemas - look out in student unions, trade shows, shops, especially Marks & Spencer's' cafes, fashion shops and by beauty counters in department stores.

Lets go all Blue Peter and make postcards! Old birthday cards, Christmas cards, cereal boxes can all be cut up into make do postcards.

Send entries well before the closing date with a second class stamp. Some people recommend sending near to the closing date on the theory your card will be nearer the top of t
he pile. I don't think this really works and some naughty competition promoters end competitions early - tut tut.

Can you send entries all in one envelope (aioe)? You know when you see lots of postcard competitions to the same place, well put all the postcards in one envelope and mark it 'Entries Enclosed'. Not all magazines will accept AIOE so check out the wonderful list of those who will at http://homepage.ntlworld.com/wibble/wibbleworld/ai oe.htm


Entry Forms:
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Entry forms are found hiding in shops, cinemas, banks and entertainment areas. These entry forms may just need filing in with your name and address, possibly an answer but often they are tie-breaker competitions. This is when the leg work of comping comes in - you have to get out there and hunt which is actually half the fun!

What's a tie-breaker?

For example - Complete the following sentence in less than 12 words
I like reading dooyoo because...

Tie-breakers have a distinct knack to them. When you hear of people who can win competitions, especially for cars and holidays, etc year in and year out, they are often experts at tie-breakers.

The competition organizer will often say they are looking for something original and apt. More often than not what you are aiming for is an advertising type slogan.

Now admittedly some tie-breakers are older and have been round the block as much as Peter Stringfellow and compers refer to these as 'chestnuts' and they get some compers really hot under the collar!

One of the most famous chestnuts is a variation on the following:
<product> perfect it
connoisseurs select it. Groan...

The key to tie-breakers is practice and you slowly learn what the competition organizers are looking for. It is true to say different companies lean towards different styles of tie-breakers and so it is wise to do research. How do y
ou research tie-breakers? Well my tip is to go to http://www.winspiration.co.uk/index.htm where winning tie-breakers are listed along with helping rhymes and ideas for writing slogans.

So tie-break writing is a skill?

Yes, I would say it is. And it is very important to recognise this because here we come across the issue of paying to enter competitions and competitions rules.

There are rules as to how competition organizers can run competitions and one of the most important areas is entrance fees and proof of purchase. If an element of skill is required to enter the competition, e.g. write a tiebreaker, the promoter can ask you to provide a qualifier - this is usually a till receipt to show you have bought the product etc.

However, for competitions such as instant wins if you read the small print you will see a 'no purchase necessary' (npn) route. This is because the law states that for basic prize draws the promoter cannot ask you to buy the product/show proof of purchase. NPN routes are usually sent to the address provided on a postcard or a piece of plain paper. These competitions are often seen on products in supermarket so here's another tip - make sure you have a pen and paper with you when shopping to take the details unless you really want to buy the product!


Phone competitions:
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Now here's form of competition I usually avoid due to the expense. Always double check the cost of the call, sometimes they can be as high as £1 a min - ouch! However some sneak by that are a one off price of 25p - less than a first class stamp. However it is easy to rack the phone bill up so my rule is this. I only ever enter a phone competition if it is something I really want. Secondly, before phoning I double check in the small print if there's an alternative route - a postcard at 19p is much cheaper and I find postage is easier to keep track of.



Anything else to look out for?

Unfortunately yes. Wherever there's people with hope there's the exploiters. I have lost count of the amount of people who have received the highly dubious holiday win letter where you have to pay a small 'handling' fee...mmm yes. Think hard - if you haven't entered it in the first place, you haven't won it now! A prize should not come asking for money. However snazzy the headed paper if the words 'pay £x for your prize to be released' feel a filing in the bin coming on.

I equally stay clear of the free scratchcards that fall out of magazines. It's amazing how everyone scratches three gold bars/stars/ticks isn't it. And all you have to do is ring the phone number (calls cost £1 a min, can last up to 7 mins). Stay clear.

What about junkmail?

Well by doing both online and offline competitions you are putting your name and address out there and this is a worry for many people. Look out for the 'tick this box for no further information' on competitions, and don't worry by saying no you are not lessening you chances of winning!

Personally, I have found my postal junk mail hasn't really increased sufficiently. My inbox junk mail has but admittedly I have entered a number of competitions whereby subscribing to the newsletter you are entered into a draw. I don't find these too tiresome as I am regularly on the computer and they just get deleted off straight away and the inbox stays nice and tidy.

So when do I win?

I can't promise you win with the next x weeks. To begin with you must consider the closing dates for your first entries will be some time off so you will be looking to the end of a month usually for your first chances to start.

On saying that competition organizers are a law unto themselves. I've recently got a prize from a competition that ended in January yet my mother got a
prize on a Wednesday having entered on the Monday!!

Many prizes arrive out of the blue and hopefully you'll soon be on first names terms with the postie and your heart will skip a beat if a courier van pulls up. Some promoters may inform you that you have won a prize and it is on its way in x days. They may inform you by e-mail, post or phonecall at anytime of the day! And this is the great thing about comping - that permanent anticipation that today may be the day!

I recommend you keep a notebook of what you have won, what's arrived and what you're expecting to arrive. Sometimes promoters forget about you or items get mislaid and don't be afraid to chase them up, politely, after a reasonable time - I'd suggest after 28 days for a polite remember me note. Keeping a notebook is a wonderful way to keep a record of your wins and before you know it the list grows and that in turn makes you hungry for more!

Of course, there are competitions you never know you've won. I found I was listed as having won a prize on the internet after doing an 'ego search'. This isn't a great option if you have a popular name like Anne Smith or John Brown, or share a name with a celebratory but otherwise you may just find your on a winners list and its worth making inquiries if the prize hasn't surfaced.

So what have you won, Bizzy?

Last year I won a 156 prizes, most of these were small items such as bits of make up, books and cds but it all mounts up. My best win ever was a holiday last year to Andalucia which was sensational and after five years without a holiday very welcome indeed! And all I did to win that - typed in my name and e-mail address. I've also won a lawnmower - three days after electrocuting myself with the old one - see what I mean about karma?!!

Admittedly I have a list of dream wins. I would love to win a digital camera and an Irish holiday for my grandparents
so I shall soldier on.

How can I increase my chances of winning?

There is no fail safe method. The greatest aide is persistence - just keep going and don't lose faith!

Don't dismiss local competitions, especially those in small local papers etc, as these often have low entry numbers which will boost your chances. Competitions which require skill and research also lowers numbers. Check out the daily competition at the bookstore website www.ottakars.co.uk which usually has five daily questions which can be quite tough. Also look out for specialist competitions - are there competitions in your industry magazine/newsletter?

I hope that answers some of your queries about comping as a hobby. I find it great fun and find getting up on a morning much easier with that glimmer of hope that the postie has brought me a winning letter! Even a win of a lipstick or a cd is enough to put me in a good mood, which is a blessing for those around me as I never used to be a morning person!

If you decide to try your luck I hope you have success and please let me know how you get on!

Good luck everyone :o)

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