Started comping in February and not won a thing!

Dobbiedoo · 29 July 2016 at 9:11AM

Admittedly I don't enter as many comps as some of you seem to. I only enter competitions for things I actually want, therefore a years supply of tena lady or a bottle of alcohol free wine would not tempt me! I mostly enter competitions for holidays, cash, days out etc. I have kids at school so avoid the holiday comps that are term time only or don't include kids. However, I'm guessing I average around a dozen comps a day. Never a day goes by when I don't enter something.

I see people DO win these comps so won't give up but would be grateful for any tips 😊

(secretly hoping that posting this will kick start a winning streak!!!!😃)

izbiz88 · 29 July 2016 at 9:16AM

I've found it's all about volume DobbieDoo - luck does of course play a part too, and some people can enter a few comps and win something really big whereas some people can enter loads and win nothing - but the law of averages says that the more you enter, the higher your chance of winning something. If I'm being brutally honest a dozen comps a day is not a lot - not when you look at how many people will be going in for the same kind of comps you are (e.g. the higher end ones). You're quite right not to give up because you definitely won't win anything if you do

Don't beat yourself up about it, enter for what you want and then forget about it. Then if you do win something it will be a lovely surprise

DynasticDux · 29 July 2016 at 9:19AM

Dobbiedoo wrote: »

would be grateful for any tips 😊

Top tip - Enter............. forget

Comping is just a hobby
If you win, it's a bonus

CK1223 · 29 July 2016 at 9:31AM

Keep plugging away, your time will come.
I can do 400+ comps a day across multiple sites and not win anything for 5 months, then get fed up and only do 100 a day and win 3 things in a month!
The whole thing is pot luck, but you do have to be in it to even have a chance of winning it :beer:

DynasticDux · 29 July 2016 at 2:24PM

The easiest way I can explain how often you will win is this

Click on this site ... https://www.random.org

You will see a box on the right hand side titled "True Random Number Generator" where there are numbers 1 - 100
Pick a number between 1 - 100 in your head then click "Generate"

I bet your number you was thinking off was not generated

Now imagine when you enter a competition - your entry is basically a number .... it is then added to the rest of the entries (some have thousands of entries)
So when the winner is being drawn - your number (lets say 472) has to be drawn from the total number of entries (lets say 27851 people entered) so that's a range of....
1 - 27,851

It doesn't matter if you only enter 1 competition - or you enter 1 million competitions, your odds are still the same for each competition (1: total number of entries)

carlyh69 · 29 July 2016 at 2:41PM

Unfortunately a dozen a day isnt a lot! And it sounds like the ones you are entering will be the ones with the most entries! Just keep going and you will win something eventually

Cheese_Thief · 29 July 2016 at 4:02PM

Try entering some of the competitions in your local paper or the ones specific to your local area. These tend of have a much lower number of entries so you've got more chance of winning.

Also like others have said, while 12 sounds like a lot to a non-comper, its not that much. In a typical evening I enter around 50-100, and thats in the space of 1-2 hours after a day at work while catching up on telly. Just keep it up though and eventually i'm sure you'll get lucky.

Dobbiedoo · 29 July 2016 at 4:14PM

Thanks - will keep plugging away and hopefully will get lucky &#55357;&#56842;

I have won things in the past. In the 90s I won some expensive garden furniture in a home magazine by writing a slogan. I much prefer those type of competitions as skill involved so chances of winning higher as fewer people will bother. I also won theatre tickets on a local website - I was the only entry &#55357;&#56836;. Oh and I won a jar of sweets in the raffle at the school fair the other week!

Bobble5366 · 29 July 2016 at 4:28PM

don't give up, your win will come x

deb2112 · 29 July 2016 at 8:47PM

Unfortunately, the comps that you are entering are the ones that everyone would love to win, and so they have higher entrant numbers. Of course a win like this may come your way but you are more likely to be successful if you also start entering comps with smaller prizes. You mentioned starting comping in February. So did I- and to date have had more than a dozen wins. Nothing has been higher than around £40 in value but I've had a couple of days out, books, toys, DVDs, food hampers, plants and plant food, perfume etc. All of which have been lovely treats and very gratefully received. Okay, I'd love a holiday or a big TV too but if I'd only entered the high value comps I'd have probably given up by now- as it is I'm having a great time with my new hobby!

Misslayed · 29 July 2016 at 10:41PM

Maybe you could try for a few lower entry prizes which would be of value to you and your family? For example 'equine' comps if you ride, fishing comps if someone in the family is keen, cycling or running gear if that's your thing. And low value ones on Twitter or FB are easy to enter and may give you a surprise win. I hope you win something soon! (FYI every time I have a few weeks without a win, I think I will 'stop wasting so much time'. Then I win something yummy and off I go again!)