Is Comping on the decline?

bubblebobble23

I've noticed lately, and I can't be the only one, that comps are few and far between.
Competitions are getting less and less, I'm sure this time last year we had probably a third more than we currently do. Daily easter egg hunts, the soup and mug type instant wins where are they all going! ? :eek:
Even on social media if you compare a freebie friday from a year ago there were almost endless comps, now not so much.
Goodread has lost more than half of the books on offer! Used to get 8/10 pages a week, now lucky with 3!
I'm hoping comps will start to creap back soon!

Zanzib

Goodreads comps have declined because the publisher/writer now have to pay to run them.

cagsd

I agree, there seems to be far fewer competitions around.
I have just recently had to take 2+ weeks off from comping as have been too busy in real life. Yesterday I had a few hours free and managed to work my way through 18 days worth of comps and get myself up to date by last night! A few years ago it would have taken me a week to catch up!
However this decline in available comps seems to be tied in with a huge increase in the number of people entering, meaning that it's so much harder to win anything these days! Half as many comps but probably 5 times as many entrants!

Marg2k8

In the past on the mag dailies, I would have bookmarked around a dozen on each of the main sites to enter. Now I only bookmark around 5 or 6 on each.

Also with the Click to wins, there used to often be around 18 pages on some sites, now there is around half that.

BlueBella

There are still enough competitions to keep me busy now, but the number of compettions has definately dropped over the past few years. I remember a few years back when there used to be loads of pancake hampers up for grabs close to Shrove Tuesday, dozens of chocolate hampers up for grabs close to Valentines Day, many more Easter egg hunts etc. I have also noticed many companies who used to run a weekly Facebook competition, now either run them once a fornight or once a month.

Like Marg above, I also used to bookmark dozens of Mag dailies but now I do around half a dozen for some mags and maybe 1, 2 or 3 for the remaining mags - so it used to take me 30-45 mins to get through the mag dailies and now I can be done in 15 mins!

With more people comping and less comps to enter, my wins have gone down quite a bit.....

....but I still I enjoy my hobby so will continue to enter

Monkey_Chinchilla

I think not only have the number of comps gone down but also the quality. Now you have to tweet daily, tag 25 friends in and watch a video just to get entry into a comp for a chocolate bar.

I red cross probably about 90% of comps on here now for one reason or another.

When I first started entering comps seven years ago, I was winning two or three holidays a year, in the last couple of years, I have barely won anything worth mentioning.

Holiday prizes used to include flights and accommodation as a minimum but often spends and other perks thrown in but now they give away a couple of nights in somewhere far-flung like Bali or Singapore and expect you to pay for your own flights.

bubblebobble23

I did not know that about Goodreads! What a shame. I love to read, and seemed like a great way for lessa known authors to get their stuff out!

I agree with click to wins and mag dailies. Used to take me ages to get through my bookmarks, now I have longer for breakfast!

Do we think it's just going to keep getting worse? Even the advents were rubbish last year.

Zanzib

bubblebobble23 wrote: »

I did not know that about Goodreads! What a shame. I love to read, and seemed like a great way for lessa known authors to get their stuff out!

That was why so many independent authors did them, and reviews are helpful.

Blueyez

bubblebobble23 wrote: »

I've noticed lately, and I can't be the only one, that comps are few and far between.
Competitions are getting less and less, I'm sure this time last year we had probably a third more than we currently do. Daily easter egg hunts, the soup and mug type instant wins where are they all going! ? :eek:
Even on social media if you compare a freebie friday from a year ago there were almost endless comps, now not so much.
Goodread has lost more than half of the books on offer! Used to get 8/10 pages a week, now lucky with 3!
I'm hoping comps will start to creap back soon!

This years Win It Wednesday's are practically non
existent compared to pervious too. And I found last years advents a bit thin on the ground.

Emmaaar22

Monkey_Chinchilla wrote: »

I think not only have the number of comps gone down but also the quality. Now you have to tweet daily, tag 25 friends in and watch a video just to get entry into a comp for a chocolate bar.

I red cross probably about 90% of comps on here now for one reason or another.

When I first started entering comps seven years ago, I was winning two or three holidays a year, in the last couple of years, I have barely won anything worth mentioning.

Holiday prizes used to include flights and accommodation as a minimum but often spends and other perks thrown in but now they give away a couple of nights in somewhere far-flung like Bali or Singapore and expect you to pay for your own flights.

Just came across one like this on Gleam, visit 34345 websites, comment 3435 times, follow him and her and that and this, subscribe here and their and everywhere. Just to win some milkshake

Enigmatic_Me

Totally agree. I have been comping since 2004 and been very selective but very fortunate to have won some amazing prizes. I miss some of the sites that used to offer fabulous prizes. Now the majority of my entries are to Radio comps like Capital, Heart etc.

For the first time since 2004 I have now gone months of not winning anything at all. We are now in April and not one prize this year.