Moneywise recommendations

Dalkirst

I have been on p[rizefinder before also but if you use Loquax please be careful.I joined that site 2 or 3 years ago now and did them for a while but got bored never winning and having to find out the answers to everything.It's only since i started coming on to the MSE comping forum that i went back and started posting some of their comps.I didn't realise they were affilated ? so when i clicked on the link they knew i was posting one or two here and someone from there(called Loquax on here) PM'd me and told me to stop.I didn't realise it was a problem so did of course stop.
Nothing stopping you of course from using them to find comps and then going to the site on your own;)

snitterling

I produce a small press comping magazine. It doesn't cover Internet comps so the info in it isn't duplicated on sites like Prizefinder and Loquax (I use both of those myself for Internet comp info). Unlike the "Big name" comping mags you don't have to subscribe by direct debit and you don't get bombarded with junk mail when you subscribe. I don't suppose I am allowed to advertise it here but if you PM me I will tell you more about it and how to get a FREE sample copy.

Just in case you are wondering whether you've ever heard of the mag, my real name is Jane Willis. And I won about £15,000 worth of prizes last year, which is about average for me, so I know that what I'm doing woirks.

Jane

Prudent

I remember you Jane from many years ago when I started comping. You posted on uk rec competitions, had a great sense of humour and were always encouraging people.
I would be interested in a sample copy and will pm you.

Prudent

Dalkirst wrote:

I have been on p[rizefinder before also but if you use Loquax please be careful.I joined that site 2 or 3 years ago now and did them for a while but got bored never winning and having to find out the answers to everything.It's only since i started coming on to the MSE comping forum that i went back and started posting some of their comps.I didn't realise they were affilated ? so when i clicked on the link they knew i was posting one or two here and someone from there(called Loquax on here) PM'd me and told me to stop.I didn't realise it was a problem so did of course stop.
Nothing stopping you of course from using them to find comps and then going to the site on your own;)

I have had no problems with loquax and posting things on here. I do contribute on their forums too under a different user name to here. I think loquax have given a lot of people a good introduction to comping. I love mse because it really changed my quality of life as a single parent, so tend to post much more here as I have a lot of loyalty to the site.

hrafndot

I have pm'd you as well, I support all that Prudent says. The last year of comping has changed my life!!! I never used to travel and this year I have been to California and Spain and had all sorts of interesting experiences. I feel privileged to have been given these opportunities and hope the boards stay as friendly and supportive as they have proven to be during 2006.

Strepsy

I'll have to check out PrizeFinder. The only site I use for competitions is this one. If I'm searching for comps I will enter things like 'winners will be notified' into Google and see if it brings anything up.

Thanks for bringing this up OP.

robert_harper_2000

wow always such a good response on mse. I've PM you as well, was MY post lol just joking.

It seems that people have more luck with paper competitions than the internet ones, I would ask on mse but I wanted help with just being able to post off answers to addresses without having to buy the competitions. Well quite like take a break but don't always have the time to fill in the answers. So free answers would be nice

Thanks everyone

AnnieH

There is a website with answers to the latest Chat, That's Life and Take a Break comps. I only enter sometimes, as you have to pay for the text. hjb123 gives answers to Real people mag (which I have won £20 from thanks again Helen:)) and others on MSE too.

http://www.marinac.f2s.com/comping/marin.html

snitterling

Strepsy wrote:

I'll have to check out PrizeFinder. The only site I use for competitions is this one. If I'm searching for comps I will enter things like 'winners will be notified' into Google and see if it brings anything up.

Thanks for bringing this up OP.

One that seems to pick up a lot of comps on Google for me is "Your chance to win". I often put the month and year in the search line too, which helps to filter out expired comps.

Jane

smid29

As editor of one of the magazines mentioned in the Moneywise article, I certainly had to pick myself up off the floor when I saw the feature... it's not often I make it to the heady heights of a national magazine :shocked: .

I can only endorse everything that's been said here. There ARE prizes to be won, and plenty of them, and while the lady in the Moneywise article is at the 'top end' of devotion to the hobby (although she's by no means unique!), it's quite easy to tick along at your own pace and wait for the prizes to start trickling in.

Personally, I tend to avoid internet comps as too many people do them. My own magazine concentrates on postal, phone and text comps - especially comps that turn up in supermarkets on packs or leaflets. These are the kinds of comp that many 'casual' compers tend to miss and so - using one of the main comping adages that "the harder it is to enter, the easier it is to win" - these are the best ones, in my opinion, to target.

There are "comping magazines" and "comping magazines", frankly. Jane and I enjoy a friendly rivalry in our race to find new comps first, we probably tour shops and supermarkets almost every day on the lookout for anything new, and there's a mutual respect because we both enjoy the hobby ourselves. At the other end of the scale, there are some (but not all) mass market titles where the editors simply sit in an office all day recycling information and have no real interest in the hobby or their customers. So you do have to be careful. (I should declare an interest here and state that my publisher is involved in a couple of the bigger mass market titles, in fact I've also recently started to co-edit one of them, but my own little title remains ad-free, colour-free, and completely ringfenced from the world of mailshots and direct debits!)

If anyone would like a free sample copy of my own monthly effort, then please just send me a quick PM with your name and address details and I'll arrange it. In the meantime, I'm off to frame that Moneywise page .

Steve