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COMPING TIPS & ADVICE
We have put together some tips and advice for you from what we have picked up over the years and if you follow this guide then it should make it quicker and easier for you to enter free competitions and also increase your chances of winning. This is mainly aimed at beginners but even experienced compers or people who have been entering competitions for a while may pick up something to help them and enhance their comping experience.
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Be persistent and don’t give up
If you get a win straight away then that’s great news but if you don’t just stick at it and keep going. With average luck you should be winning several prizes a year but there’s nothing saying that they will be spread out evenly, they may come all at once and then nothing for a while again. It is also random and pure luck so some people will have higher than average luck and some people will have below average luck but this will constantly be changing.
Create social media accounts
Create social media accounts if you haven’t already joined them. The majority of FREE competitions are hosted on social media and the main ones you will want to join are Facebook, Instagram, Twitter/X and TikTok. Make sure your profiles are public as the competition host will need to be able to see your comments and actions such as sharing and tagging etc for your entries to be valid. It is a good idea to get permission from a few friends to be able to tag them in posts so that they don’t get annoyed as there will be quite a few posts that require you to tag people to enter. Another good option is to mutually tag other compers - you can meet other compers in places such as our forum or community Facebook group. If you are creating social media accounts for the sole purpose of entering competitions then I would suggest using your real name and including some real photos of you as you are sometimes required to provide ID in order to claim a prize and you also want your profile to look as natural and genuine as possible as some companies don’t like compers entering if that is their sole reason for visiting.
Download Facebook Messenger
If you are entering competitions on a mobile device then download the Facebook Messenger app as this will be how most companies will let you know if you have won a Facebook competition.
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Don’t be too quick at performing actions on social media
This is something I have personally learnt! A lot of social media platforms have restrictions on how many actions (liking/following/sharing/tagging etc) you can carry out within a set period of time which is unknown and always changing. If you exceed these limits or they have other reasons to believe that you are abusing the platform then you could face temporary restrictions to your account or a permanent ban, both of which would seriously affect your ability to enter competitions on that platform. My advice is to take your time and if there are a lot to enter on a particular platform then enter a few and then come back later to enter some more.
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Enter on all social media platforms for extra entries
Quite often a company will post competitions on all social media platforms and let you enter on all of them for extra entries and an increased chance of winning (read terms and conditions). If I have found the competition on multiple social media platforms and entering on more than one is allowed then I will post all links on the website.
Tag more than one person for extra entries
Quite often with social media competitions you will get an entry for every person you tag so it’s worth tagging more than one person if you want to increase your chances. For example, if you tag three people in three separate comments then you may get three entries. If you need extra people to tag then check out this feature in our forum.
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Make sure you are entering on the original social media post
If you are entering a social media competition that requires tags/likes/comments etc then make sure you are entering on the original post from the author and competition host. If you enter on a shared post and not the original post then your entry will be invalid.
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Turn on notifications
Make sure that you have notifications turned on across your social media accounts so you can easily be informed if you have a new message etc informing you of a win.
Check ‘message request’ folders
Check ‘message request’ folders on all social media platforms regularly as quite often winning messages end up in these folders instead of your regular inbox and you could miss them if you are not careful. Think of this as a bit like an email junk/spam folder.
Look out for bonus entries
Quite often you will be able to pick up bonus entries by carrying out additional tasks as stated in the competition post such as sharing the competition on social media etc.
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Read the terms and conditions
This is always advisable as there may be a reason why you are not eligible to enter or not able to accept the prize due to location/date restrictions etc.
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Look out for daily entries
Some competitions allow you to return daily to collect extra entries. These are usually magazine “click to win” competitions or competitions hosted on Rafflecopter and Gleam.
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Install antivirus software
It is essential to have up to date antivirus software installed on your device as you will be visiting a lot of different pages and clicking a lot of links in order to enter the competitions.
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Use autofill
It is a good idea to set up autofill on your website browser with your personal details as there will be a lot of form filling in and this will make it much easier and faster. You should be able to find the option to do this within the settings tab on your browser. Alternatively, you could have a Word document open with your personal details on and just copy and paste them as required.
Set up an email signature
For email entries it is a good idea to set up an email signature with your personal details on so they automatically appear on your emails or you can easily insert them into the email. This will speed up email entries. Again, you can also use the copy and pasting method.
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Check you junk/spam email folder regularly
Many companies will let you know that you have won a competition via email and quite often these emails will end up in your junk/spam folders. You also quite often have a time limit in order to respond and claim your prize so I would personally check these folders daily to avoid missing out on a win.
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Watch for tick boxes
I don’t personally enter or post any competitions that require you to sign up to a mailing list in order to enter bus occasionally you will need to untick a subscribe box etc before entering so just double check before you submit forms. Sometimes they try to trick you by saying click the box to opt out so just take your time, read and be careful to avoid too much unnecessary spam.
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Take breaks and set time limits
Comping is a very time-consuming hobby and could quickly take over your life if you don’t have boundaries in place! It is also incredibly addictive and once you start you won’t want to stop! It is a good idea to set aside a certain amount of time that you can spare each day and stick to it. During your comping sessions it is also advisable to take regular breaks as you will be looking at a device for the majority of the time.
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Avoid paying for entries
It’s best to avoid premium rate phone competitions, postal competitions requiring the purchase of stamps, competitions with entry fees etc although this is personal preference. There are enough genuinely FREE competitions available to enter.
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Search for your name
Google your name and search your name on social media regularly to see if your name appears in any winner posts/announcements as very occasionally you don’t get informed directly about your win. You can then make contact with the company and claim your prize. I recently managed to claim a £50 cash win by using this method that I doubt I would have received otherwise.
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Avoid scams
There are lots of scammers out there that generally want to make you believe you have won a competition so that they can scam you. As a general rule you shouldn’t need to click a link in order to claim a prize and you shouldn’t need to pay to claim a prize unless it was a collection only prize where you have agreed postage instead with the prize provider at your cost. We have put together some tips for avoiding scams which you can here. We have also put together some examples of scams which you can view here to make them easier to spot.
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If in doubt then don’t enter
Where possible I do research and only post competitions that I believe are genuine however if you don’t feel comfortable entering for any reason then walk away and move on to the next competition.
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Don’t disqualify yourself by entering more than once
I post all competitions just before their closing date as I find it’s much easier to remember what you have entered that way rather than try to remember what I may have entered a month or more ago. Some competitions also only allow one entry per household so look out for this in the terms and conditions if there is likely to be more than one of you in the household entering.
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Double check answers
Take your time, read the question more than once and double check the answer before you submit it. I have learnt from experience that silly mistakes can happen if you rush or are reading the question wrong so always run through it all more than once as you don't want your entry to be invalid! If we have provided the answer then we would have already double checked that we believe it is correct but just take care when copying and pasting or selecting the correct answer!
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Enter FREE raffles
I personally love entering FREE raffles for a few reasons - you have a much better chance of winning (entries are usually limited) and the draws are usually carried out live on social media so you can verify that they are fair and genuine. We have a whole page dedicated to FREE raffles and there are new ones added every day - find them here.
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Keep a record of your wins
What you have won, the date and any contact details you have for the company. Occasionally you may need to chase prizes if they haven’t turned up within the timescale stated in the terms and conditions and this will make that process easier.
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Sign up and check our social media accounts regularly
To get the most out of your comping experience with us it is advisable to sign up to our email database and check our social media accounts daily as we often post competitions in these places that are exclusive and not advertised on our website. We will also remind you each day as soon as that days competitions are ready to enter.
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