Comping: A Beginner's Guide

Most competitions these days are super easy to enter - you just like and share on Facebook, retweet on Twitter, or enter your contact details on the provider's website. I usually comp in the evenings when we're watching TV, and enter around 150 competitions a day. The return on that tends to be a few wins a week, chiefly small things like books, DVDs, toiletries and food items.

Over the years I've won some really great things though, including £500 worth of Ikea vouchers, £300 worth of driving lesson vouchers (sold those on eBay!), and various tech items like televisions and smart phones. I post monthly updates of my competition wins on the blog:

How Can I Start Comping?

First off, you need to create your comping identity. In other words, set up a comping specific email address (gmail is probably best), possibly new social media accounts, and decide whether or not you are happy to give your phone number out. You will get spam, no matter how careful you are, but the aforementioned steps will help to keep it manageable.

Once that's done you need to find the competitions. My favourite source at the moment is competitiondatabase.co.uk - it lists about 100 to 200 new competitions every day, and easily enables you to keep track of which competitions you've entered. I also love theprizefinder.com, which uses a similar format.

There are (sadly) only so many hours in the day, so you need to focus your comping accordingly. Make a wishlist of things you would like to win and actively seek those competitions out, or search those comping websites by category or prize value. I like to make sure I've entered all the high value competitions, then use any extra time I have to enter giveaways for lower value things which will make good gifts, like chocolates, flowers, toys and toiletries.


Where Can I Find More Competitions?

There are so many sources out there, but here are some of my favourites - not least because they have given me good returns for my time investment!

☆ Blogs: Bloggers are one of the biggest sources of competitions out there - they want the traffic and the engagement, you want the prizes. It's a win-win situation. Most bloggers use third party widgets like Rafflecopter or Gleam to run their comps and pick the winners, so make sure you follow the instructions or they will automatically disqualify you. For more on blog competitions, and up to date listings, check out the awesome superlucky.me.

☆ Goodreads: 'The world's largest site for readers and book recommendations' also facilitates the winning of hundreds of books each month. Check out the giveaways and, if you're looking for goodreads buddies, my profile.

☆ Instagram: Use hashtags like #ukgiveaway to find competitions on Instagram. IG comps tend to be low entry, meaning your chances of winning are good. To enter you usually need to follow a profile, like a picture, and tag a friend. (If you need a comping friend, I go by the name of plastigffantastig.) The other mainstay of instragram competitions is 'regramming' a photo.

☆ MoneySavingExpert: Otherwise known as MSE, the competitions time forum has thousands upon thousands of competitions of all descriptions. There are the dailies and other regular competitions, post, phone and text comps, and the general board. It's where I first began comping, back in about 2006, and is still - in my opinion - the most comprehensive source of competitions. The problem is that they're not organised. and the forum format makes it harder to keep track of what you've already entered. 

You can make your comping life easier by setting up an email signature with your contact details, and either sorting out your browser settings or installing an add-on to allow autofilling of online forms. Make a note of any wins you're informed of - and if your prize hasn't arrived within 3-4 weeks, get in touch with them.

Beyond that my advice is just to stick with it. Don't get disheartened if you don't win anything in the first couple of weeks; as the old saying goes: