Anyone won from a postal entry with TV competitions?

saucebox

Wel.. i read these 'assurances' that postal entries are not discriminated against but I remain extremely sceptical. God knows how much it's cost me in stamps over the years and not one win via this route, ever... EVER! 

mjm3346

saucebox said:

Wel.. i read these 'assurances' that postal entries are not discriminated against but I remain extremely sceptical. God knows how much it's cost me in stamps over the years and not one win via this route, ever... EVER! 

More fool you for wasting money on such a poor bet - when they get over 1,000,000 entries a week how much chance do you think 1 entry has and therefore how many 1,000's of years it would be likely to be for 1 entry to be a winner?

pate-ci0

mjm3346 said:

saucebox said:

Wel.. i read these 'assurances' that postal entries are not discriminated against but I remain extremely sceptical. God knows how much it's cost me in stamps over the years and not one win via this route, ever... EVER! 

More fool you for wasting money on such a poor bet - when they get over 1,000,000 entries a week how much chance do you think 1 entry has and therefore how many 1,000's of years it would be likely to be for 1 entry to be a winner?

And yet people do win. Every individual has their own priorities and reasons about what they enter of course, but regardless of the odds I personally find it worth the price of a second class stamp to satisfy the adage we all believe in "You've got to be in it to win it..."

mjm3346

pate-ci0 said:

mjm3346 said:

And yet people do win. Every individual has their own priorities and reasons about what they enter of course, but regardless of the odds I personally find it worth the price of a second class stamp to satisfy the adage we all believe in "You've got to be in it to win it..."

If you are satisfied that's fine -  if a total of 2 entries were allowed and there were two competitions with the same prize but a 100% better chance with one of them there are people who follow "In it to win it" and would enter both competitions rather than put both entries to the one where the chances of winning are best - that's up to them but clearly the poster is not happy  "God knows how much it's cost me in stamps".- and doesn't seem to appreciate how slim their chances of winning are (postal or paid I cannot remember any recent winners of the main ITV competitions on here). I won with ITV and C4 with free entry and would enter for most of them but when it costs money I would only enter if the odds vs prize were good value and they simply are not (but generally staking the value of a stamp occasionally is not really a considered purchase as such)

To put it another way taking the paid entries at an average of  £1.75 each that gives a prize fund before expenses/profit of over £1,300,000 a week - if they only paid out 50% (same as the very poor value lotto) that would be £650,000 a week -  they are nowhere near that

pate-ci0

The odds have never bothered me when entering a competitions, it is for the fun of it and the rare chance that I might just win something eventually. I also go by the adage of "There are lies, damned lies and statistics" - if people put more entries into comps which they think they have a greater chance of winning, in preference to comps they consider to have higher odds and thus don't enter, logically entries increase and the chance of winning the former goes down and there is a higher probability of winning the latter for those who do enter. But as I say, I con't care about that, I just get an entry in and forget about it. Regarding the total cost over the years in stamps, for no return, all I can respond with is the gambling slogan "When the fun stops, stop!"

Just as a PS, at the end of the day a promotion is not for our benefit, but for the company whose ultimate aim is to increase profits. It is no concern of mine how much of the money they might get from entries is reflected in the prize, I'm just grateful for the fact they are giving away something for free or at most a nominal cost (such as a stamp).

mjm3346

pate-ci0 said:

The odds have never bothered me when entering a competitions, it is for the fun of it and the rare chance that I might just win something eventually. I also go by the adage of "There are lies, damned lies and statistics" - if people put more entries into comps which they think they have a greater chance of winning, in preference to comps they consider to have higher odds and thus don't enter, logically entries increase and the chance of winning the former goes down and there is a higher probability of winning the latter for those who do enter. But as I say, I con't care about that, I just get an entry in and forget about it. Regarding the total cost over the years in stamps, for no return, all I can respond with is the gambling slogan "When the fun stops, stop!"

Just as a PS, at the end of the day a promotion is not for our benefit, but for the company whose ultimate aim is to increase profits. It is no concern of mine how much of the money they might get from entries is reflected in the prize, I'm just grateful for the fact they are giving away something for free or at most a nominal cost (such as a stamp).

As I said and what I would assume apply to many who do postal "generally staking the value of a stamp occasionally is not really a considered purchase as such" but clearly it is an issue for the poster who stated "God knows how much it's cost me in stamps over the years and not one win via this route," giving them some idea of how long the odds really are might help lower their expectations which are obviously far too high. (as to the odds example there were no other factors in play just a 100% better chance of winning one of the competition compared to the other - doesn't apply when it is free entry)

Just to clarify this bit "More fool you for wasting money on such a poor bet"  was aimed at someone expecting to win and concerned at what they had spent rather than anyone quite happy to have ago with the hope, but without the expectation, of a win.