How I Win Competitions Prizes

I am a ‘Comper’, an affectionate term for someone who spends a lot of their time entering competitions. It can have nerdy connotations but I am happy to be numbered within their ranks.

Growing up I watched a lot of television programs showing middle-aged people sitting at their kitchen tables clipping competition entry forms from magazines and newspapers. These stories would often be accompanied by attractive photographs depicting the lucky entrant with all of their winnings.

I have to admit, at the time, I thought these people were a little boring and nerdy too and I doubted their ability to win anything. I believed the sheer amount of time and effort required to win even the smallest prize, not to mention the cost of postage for all the entries, would outweigh any of the unlikely benefits.

A few years ago whilst I was browsing online for a new book I noticed a competition for one of the retailer's latest releases. I thought I would give it a go and so I entered. Now I wish I could say I won the book, but alas I didn’t. This wasn’t a deal-breaker though as I hadn’t expected to win. I was happy enough because I was able to enter quickly online and the entry was free. This experience did spark a kernel of interest in me to try to enter more competitions in the future.

I settled on entering free-to-enter competitions only. My reasoning being threefold.

1) I still didn’t believe I would ever win anything.

2) I figured that the cost of entering multiple competitions over weeks or months would soon stack up and I had never won anything in my life before, and

3) I had noticed free entry competitions with prizes worth thousands of pounds in cash, motorcycles, even cars, so the prizes could be very good even without paying to enter.

I began entering every competition I could find to win books, CDs, and DVDs and after several weeks, to my surprise, I started to receive a small trickle of winnings. Books mainly, with the odd CD or DVD thrown in. At this point, I was still entering fairly few competitions and the favourable ratio of winnings to entries was a surprise. This energised and encouraged me to dedicate some of the time I would normally spend on social media to enter online competitions instead.

In the beginning, I entered every competition I could get my hands on and this inevitably led me to win prizes I didn’t want. For example, I won a 2-foot tall inflatable teddy bear that is still in its box. Many books I won’t read and TV box-sets in foreign languages I cannot speak.

When such prizes arrived in the mail my initial happiness was often swiftly followed by bewilderment. Finally, these prizes were donated to charity. I still have to admit, a little sheepishly to be sure, I still sometimes fall into this same trap, but thankfully much less often than I used to.

The best part of being a ‘Comper’ is that it is fun and quickly becomes a great hobby. The competitions are free to enter and the prizes can be worth thousands of pounds.

To date I have won: a motorcycle; an all-expenses-paid holiday for two to Ibiza; £1200.00 cash; a tumble dryer; UHD 4K TV; kitchen appliances; a petrol lawnmower and many others both large and small.

Tips.

If you are thinking of following in my footsteps and trying some competitions for yourself here are a few tips to help you to succeed.

1) Only enter competitions you want to win. So many of us are happy to win competitions only to be underwhelmed by the prize that arrives in the post.

2) Try not to enter too many paid entry competitions. Your odds of winning aren’t much better and the cost can soon stack up.

3) Try to mix it up. For every large prize you win, you can win 10’s of smaller prizes. Books, DVDs, etc. are easier to win than holidays and motorcycles. Still enter the competitions for the larger prizes but enter the smaller prizes too, because when your smaller prizes come in the mail, the fact you won something will keep you enthused in the process.

4) Keep Trying. This is perhaps the most important advice I can impart. You can go months without winning anything, but then win three prizes in three weeks. Keep entering competitions in the lean times to reap the rewards later on.

Competition Websites.

When you are browsing the web if you come across any competitions, enter them. Put the website in your browser's favourites and check back regularly as a lot of these websites run regular promotions. Do web searches for competitions and check the results. If the prizes are to your liking enter the competition and again put the website in your favourites to check on later.

There are websites that ‘Compers’ contribute to. They list all the competitions they have found that day, and some even provide answers to questions that may be asked of you for entry. On these sites, you may find 15 to 20 competitions daily which you can enter fairly quickly and painlessly.

I live in the UK and amongst the competition websites I use regularly are:

1) hotukdeals — A ‘Compers’ website, where you will find loads of new competitions posted daily.

2) winsomething.co.uk

3) Whatsontv.co.uk

4) comps.digitalspy.com

5) competitions-time.co.uk — Another ‘Compers’ website that posts daily.

These are some examples but there are undoubtedly many more websites that offer competitions that are free to enter. Do a quick web-search and pages of competition websites will appear.

Final Thoughts

This is a great hobby and one which has kept me entertained and engaged for the past few years. It has been especially good during our periods of lockdown to keep my mind active. The entering is fun and the winning is thrilling. The thousands of pounds in prizes I have won so far have been a revelation to me and have fully converted me to the ways of the ‘Comper’. Why not give it a go. What have you got to lose?

I originally published this article on Medium in February 2021 https://medium.com/illumination/how-to-win-1000s-in-competitions-prizes-bee26f1ba50d