Postal, Text and Phone Competitions - Please Read

Miss_Cinnabon

Hi and welcome everyone to our new sub board, in this thread there will be information on entering postals, text and phone comps, who posts what and some hints and tips.

If you need cover for your magazines then please post in HERE

For any advice and help on postals, text and phone comps then please post in the compers chat corner HERE

Best of luck everyone :T

Miss_Cinnabon

[MSE INSERT, 16/02/22: Please note that some of these contacts are now out of date.]

Skippycat - People Newspaper (With Take it Easy Mag), Notw, Love It Wordsearch

Poohbear1 - Somerfield, Mizz, Top of the Pops

Salsa16 - Daily Record, Sunday Scottish mail (With Seven Days and Right at Home Mags)

Princessmoneysaver - Dr Who, Cute, Pink, Easy Peazy, Shout (mix of email & text), Cake Decorating

Rexy - Sunday Mirror (Sudoku), Tv Choice (kids comp)

Wingobins - Sparkle World, Girl Talk

CraSiEla - What's On TV, Gadget Show, People's Friend, That's Life

Wookeyhole1 - Soaplife, Inside Soap

Pretenna - Bliss Mag

Ness13 - Tv Easy, Real People, Weight Watchers, Sunday Post, Prima, Daily Express (Friday), Sunday Express, Mail on Sunday

Auntie H - Good Housekeeping

HeartOfGold - Uncut

Painkiller - Extreme Fishing, Classic Car Rescue, Deal or No Deal, Channel 5 Drama, The Hotel Inspector, Channel 5 Movies

Oddies - Nottingham Post and Chad Newspaper, 50 Plus, Grazia

RedCardinal - Take a Break Sudoku Collection, Saturday Daily Mail/Mail on Sunday Sudoku

6969annw - Take a Break Mini Wordsearch Collection, Mini Wordsearch Lite

bumblebug - Take a Break Mini Puzzle Mix Collection

pa2539 - Sun paper (buzz magazine)

jambodaveprince - Daily Mirror, Hello! Mag

zaphgb - Daily mail arrow word, Take a Break Mini Codebreakers Collection, Take a Break Mini Crosswords Collection

nanto3girls - Yours, Best

Deanne2012 - Peppa Pig

jaibaby - Woman's Own

sidshane - Daily Star

spiddy - Take a Break Fate & Fortune

mynellie - Essentials, Your Dog, My Weekly, Look, Now, Chat Specials

stephme191 - Busy Time

chrissie57 - The Weekly News

prozacspice - Your Home

perc - Tv Times

GeeBee38 - Sunday Mirror (mags)

Comping Cat - ITV (This Morning, Loose Women)

Miss_Cinnabon

When inputing a comp, please put end date, name of prize and where you got the comp details from ie:

E: 01/01 win cash - (input if its Phone, Text or Postal)

(helps with searching, thanks)

As there were some confusion over what can be added and what cant, here is what can be put in:

All Postal Comps
Text Comps (Up to price £2.10)
Phone Comps (Costing no more than £2.10)
Details Of Entry Form Comps
Details Of Surveys In Mags/Newspapers
Coupon Collect Comps In Mags/Newspapers
NPN Entry Details (No Purchase Necessary)

Daily texts go in here but please also add the link to the dailies.

Email comps from magazines etc go onto the main board

Miss_Cinnabon

Data Solutions Centre - Prima, Zest, Reveal, Cosmopolitan, Good Housekeeping (going to data solutions centre address) and any others going to the data solutions address

Kennedy Publishing Mags - Get Busy, Bumper Specials, Angelina Ballerina, Cute, Pink and Busy Time

Animals & you
Bliss
Bon marche
Doctor who adventures
Dogs monthly
Dogs today
Do Crafts Creativity
Ellegirl
Full House ( For those addressed to The Tower etc)
Girl
Girl Talk
Go Girl
Good Homes
Hair
Health & fitness
Hello
House beautiful
Ideal home
Love it
Marie Claire
Marks & Spencer
More
Period House
Pick me up (aoop)
Prima
Real People (not the entry form)
Reveal
Rosemary Conley Diet & Fitness (thanks lislou for finding this out)
Sainsbury's mag ( as long as its going to the same address) thanks lislou for finding that out
Simply Cards & Papercrafting
Slimming World
Sparkle World
Tesco Magazine
Weightwatchers
Woman & Home
Your Dog

If you hear of any more that can go aioe, then let me know

Miss_Cinnabon

What tips are there for when I enter a postcard entry comp?

Money saving ideas follow:

1. Make sure you read carefully what details they want from you. If it says name, address & phone number then do make sure that is what you put - then before you send it double check everything you have written to make sure it is correctly spelt & everything they asked for.
2. Printed address labels can really save you time & a sore hand when entering lots of postcard comps in one sitting.
3. Ensure anything you do hand write is clear & easy to read, as messy or rushed handwriting may mean they can't work out your details & move on to another winner.
4. Send the postcard with a 2nd class stamp as they seem to arrive around the same time as a 1st class stamp does too. Only worth splashing out on a 1st class stamp if the comp end date is close.
5. Stamps can be bought in bulk from Sainsbury's, Superdrug or other places which have special promotions for stamps at certain times which means you save money.
6. To avoid your postcard coming back to you, write the comp address on the right of the card as usual but when you write your details on the left, turn the card around so you are writing sideways, this avoids the automated machinery returning your entry to you by mistake. You can also write your phone number under your post code as that works too.
7. Places like cinemas, health clubs, libraries, leisure centres, some TK Maxx stores (by the till), O’Briens, various coffee shops, galleries, hotels & some pubs may have a stand with free post cards (mainly advertising things), so no need to buy post cards.
8. Make your own from old birthday/Christmas cards/cereal boxes.
9. Buy a cheap pack of coloured card & cut each page into 4 postcards. You end up with colourful postcards & you could further brighten them up using highlighter pens, stickers or even glue some pictures from magazines that are themed for the comp you are entering!
10. Cut up your old cereal boxes, birthday / Christmas cards & use them for postcards. One MSE Comper prints a label (generally using a fancy font) & sticks that on the front, then puts their details on the back. This MSE Comper has won with them so they do work, they're free & they save space in the recycling bin.
11. Use royal mail surveys as a way of earning free stamps, they are currently not recruiting but always worth checking back for when they do.
12. Add the end date where you would put the stamp on your postcards, this way you can sort out what needs sent first if you are short on stamps or deciding what needs to be sent via first or second class stamps.

Miss_Cinnabon

List of places that you can pick up free postcards normally:

Vue Cinemas
Odeon Cinemas
TK Maxx
Showcase Cinemas
Coffee Bars
Cineworld Cinemas
Slug and Lettuce Pubs
Starbucks
Libraries

Also keep a look out when out shopping as shops sometimes have free postcards when they are advertising a product.

List of places to buy postcards:

The Postcard Store
Ebay

You can also make up your own postcards by using up your old xmas cards, greetings cards, printing your own out etc

Also a great way for your cards to stand out is to personalise them, either by using stickers or by decorating them in your own unique way:D

Miss_Cinnabon

Can i buy stamps from ebay?

Yes, you can buy either a book of stamps or buy in bulk, search either 1st class stamps or 2nd class stamps and you should get some good results from that, if in doubt then send me a quick pm and i can help you with the search.

Can i not just put my entry into an envelope as opposed to putting my details on a postcard?

Answer is no, you run the risk of your entry being disqualified as some companies will not open envolopes, the only time to send in an envolope is when a comp states ppe (plain paper entry) or aioe (all in one envelope).

What does aioe mean?

AIOE means simply all in one envelope, where if there is lots of comps going to the same address but needs to be on seperate postcards etc then you can put them in an envelope which means you save on stamps, please check the aioe list on the first post to see what companys accept aioe

I'm new to text comps, what do i do?

To enter text comps, read what comp is asking for ie just your details or answer, name and address.

A text will normally start with a heading, this will identify what competition you are entering, either an answer to the question and ask for your details, for example HAIRA then answer, name, house no and postcode or your name and full address details.

What do i text when it says send answer?

If a comp says send your answer, sometimes it will state what they are looking for ie the daily mirror comps just ask for the letter ie if the answer is Face, then all they want is the letter B.

Others like the sunday post just ask for the answer, what they are looking for is the full answer ie Face, majority of comps it is best to put that full answer in, if in doubt, either send me a quick pm or pop a question onto this thread and we will be glad to help out.

How much will i be charged, can i use my free minutes?

Unfortunately no, you cant use your free minutes unless it is snr (standard network rate only) comp, the charges are are either 25p, 50p, £1 or £1.50 + snr.

How successful are the postal/text comps?

As these type of comps require a bit of effort/cost then there are less people entering them so more chance of winning them! there have been amazing wins from the postal thread - holidays, vouchers, cash and many more

Miss_Cinnabon

Full list of mags which are entry form only, if you know of any more then please let me know so i can add it to the list

National Geographic Kids
Slimming World (some comps are entry form only)
Scottish Memories
Kraze Comic
Toxic