Comping for a living?

[Deleted User]

I know comping is a hobby, but I was just wondering do you win more in prizes than you would working, I have heard of people who are professional compers? Are any of you out there just doing competitions, due to unemployment or because you can't work? Is it really worth putting in hours a day? How much time do you dedicate a week to comping?

WeAreGhosts

do you win more in prizes than you would working? er .. no! anyone who says they do must have a hubby/wife who is bringing in a wage.

i can't live on 2 books, a box of biscuits and a pair of gardening gloves! [last month's winnings]

jaibaby

fairyface wrote: »

I have heard of people who are professional compers?

From a magazine or news article I suppose? :eek:

I'd say 99.9999% of us here class comping as a hobby, we don't try and earn a wage from it, especially as there is NO GUARANTEE that you will win anything, ever!

Yeah, in my first two years I won in excess of £12,000 - still no where near a decent wage for the hours I put in, last year I ended up with about £3,000 ish. Some people go years without a win, some win a few every day. It's the luck of the draw!

do you win more in prizes than you would working

Of course we do! I've never heard of anyone winning prizes just for working :rotfl:


ETA: I apologise if the "tone" of my post seems rude - just fed up of people coming to the forums expecting to win something worth ££££s and within the first week of them starting grrrrrr - it is hard work sometimes. Sometimes you may feel if it's all for nothing. Then you get that little WEM or prize through the post and it all seems worthwhile again.

[Deleted User]

I am not looking to make a living out of it, so there's no need for sarcasm, I am just wondering if any one did.

saterkey

Big NOOOOO, average 800 a year on small stuff, may a few vouchers and that's after 500-1000 comps a month entering, average couple of hours a day and that's if your lucky. treat it as a hobby, anything you win is a bonus. Enter 100s of comps for something you need and you might get it, I entered 400+ for a wii and ended up buying one.

Short-n-Sweet

WeAreGhosts wrote: »

i can't live on 2 books, a box of biscuits and a pair of gardening gloves! [last month's winnings]

:T That's exactly how it is. Your winnings will not pay the bills and if you mean by selling wins to "live on" remember the RRP or WORTH is never what you would actually get for it upon selling!..

You could win a prize "worth" £200 but to most people its not worth more than £20 :rotfl: I am self employed and work from home Comping is a little extra boost - Winning treats, Holidays or the odd Cash prize to put away but don't think I could pay the bills with a box of Kettle Chips

duchy

It was a bit of a daft question - you know personally how much you are winning at the moment and how variable it can be - so it's a pretty simple calculation to work out if such an unpredictable income (and you'd need to add in selling costs too and deduct time taken away from entering to do the selling) would suit your particular need for income.

It's no different to professional gambling - effort/skill and luck - and even if you put in lots of effort with the first you can hit a long dry spell on the last.

hoogervaaner

No, they don't. Newspapers like to make it look as if some people do but the prizes tend to be the icing on the cake, a cake that is bought and paid for by wages.

Short-n-Sweet

I suppose some people do make a "living" from Comping - But not Comping as we know it. They have Blogs related to Comping and are paid for for advertising stuff or reviewing stuff.. So they have kind of taken a Hobby and turned it into a living somehow..

or They Joined sites that they then get paid to look after, promote or add competitions too.. I noticed a few of these in the paper recently but the headline and descriptions "Woman leaves work to Comp".. makes it sound like someone has gone home one day to live at the computer and win everything that's entered. The rare few Compers that make a living from it are not making that living by actually winning the Competitions but by being more hands on and into affiliates etc... Does that make sense?

I think that is where people get confused!

Vixxx666

WeAreGhosts wrote: »

do you win more in prizes than you would working? er .. no! anyone who says they do must have a hubby/wife who is bringing in a wage.

i can't live on 2 books, a box of biscuits and a pair of gardening gloves! [last month's winnings]

It's a shame. The energy bill came in the post this week. Wonder if they'll accept a colouring book? :rotfl:

[Deleted User]

I have been reading alot of newspapers online and read stories like that, what I have been reading online has made it look like it is possible , but I am not saying it is what I was hoping to do, I wish I hadn't asked the question, no need for all the sarcasm and cocky comments.:(