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Newbie tips and questions.

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Good morning 
I am new to this competition stuff.
Please could I have any advice and tips for new starters?
I have set up a new email address just for competition entry and read the sticky posts. 
Also I have a few questions
Do you enter your home address into comps?
Do you use your mobile number?
Are there any risks and pitfalls to look out for?
Should I set up a new FB/ IG and TW?
Any comps not worth it? Like the random number generated ones.
Any other advice please.
Any other newbies have questions please add and hopefully get some useful tips how to comp like the rest of these pros.

Thank you for your time.

Comments

  • hwg3141
    hwg3141 Posts: 630 Forumite
    Fifth Anniversary 100 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Hi! Welcome to the forum!
    I only use my home address and mobile number for the competitions I trust (like ones run by Bauer for phone number (like the Radio comps), and Take a Break (and similar) magazines for home address). I would recommend setting up a new Twitter account, and maybe Instagram, but you can get banned from Facebook for having more than one account. The overwhelming majority of competitions posted here are safe to enter, but if you don't like the look of a website or social media page, don't feel you have to enter it. Also, only enter competitions you would want to win the prize for. There's no point in winning a ticket to a football match if you don't like football!

    Some other tips:
    Don't just enter the competitions on the main board, check out the Regular Competitions one as well (here: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/categories/regular-competitions)
    The ones I enter from there are Take a Break and Puzzler, because the prizes are good, and I can't be bothered with all the daily entry ones.

    If you get a suspicious email, feel free to post it on this board. There are many friendly people here to help you out :)

    Enjoy comping!
  • Ms_Dee
    Ms_Dee Posts: 8,042 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Jwells15 said:
    Good morning 
    I am new to this competition stuff.
    Please could I have any advice and tips for new starters?
    I have set up a new email address just for competition entry and read the sticky posts. 
    Also I have a few questions
    Do you enter your home address into comps?
    Yes, as sometimes they just post the prize out directly to you, without any notification.
    I've only ever had a couple of bits of junk mail/catalogs come through my door.
    Do you use your mobile number?
    Quite a few competitions don't actually require your mobile number, it's optional. So I only ever add it if it is required.
    Are there any risks and pitfalls to look out for?
    Always check after the submit button to see if there is any tick boxes, sometimes they are hidden there.
    Check all tick boxes carefully to avoid loads of spam or newsletters, although sometimes it's required but you can unsubscribe later.
    Should I set up a new FB/ IG and TW?
    It's against Facebook terms and conditions to have more than one Facebook account. To avoid irritating my Facebook friends, I added 5 compers to my account who I can tag in competitions and I also do not ever many that involving sharing to my Facebook wall.
    I use my normal Instagram account and my Twitter is only used for competitions, I have very rarely won anything through Instagram or Twitter though.
    Any comps not worth it? Like the random number generated ones.
    I enter all types of competitions, I very rarely enter Rafflecopter ones though, as I'm too lazy sometimes!
    Any other advice please.
    Any other newbies have questions please add and hopefully get some useful tips how to comp like the rest of these pros.

    Most of my wins are from Gleam or Facebook.

    Thank you for your time.
    Hope that answers some of your questions.
    Thank you to everyone who posts competitions and good luck to everyone who enters.
  • janE1956
    janE1956 Posts: 2,260 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    edited 4 July 2020 at 4:48PM
    I am different to @hwg3141 I and I know a lot on here do the mag dailys 
    have had some good wins from these
    you obviously have to do them daily to increase your chances but don't take much more than an hour
    you can pick the ones that interest you and skip the ones that don't
    https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5850358/mag-daily-competitions

    good luck
  • As far as setting up a new instagram, be warned that new accounts get comment banned A LOT. It's better to have an aged account. 
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