Not so long ago, finding competitions to enter was as simple as visiting your local supermarket, or opening up a copy of That’s Life or Take 5 magazines.
Free online competitions have made the process both simple and difficult at the same time. In any given period there are around 2,000 free online competitions in Australia. And, these are just the ones we know about.
It would appear that using the search term ‘Competitions’ in a search engine would be the easy answer. However, with over 280 million returns, this isn’t for the faint hearted. In fairness, the most popular competitions websites will appear at the top of the searches, but there are some that should be avoided at all costs.
Fortunately there are a number of comprehensive online competitions websites that can take the pain out of the search.
Competition listing websites are a good way of finding a variety of campaigns. These sites tend to be selective in the total number of listings on offer, and are targeted at the casual enthusiast. These sites will generally be free to use, and the content is provided by the publisher.
Avoid such sites that only list advertised competitions. Not only is the content quite limited, but the listings tend to be the ‘same old faces’, and the variety is quite small.
Look for online competitions listing sites that appear frequently in the media, and this means in a positive sense. A good competitions listing site should give balanced information about what to (and not) do.
Competition Forum sites tend to list the largest number of campaigns. Some cost money to use, whilst others are free. Extreme competition enthusiasts tend to prefer forum sites as they list practically every competition in the market, regardless of how small.
The downside with forum sites is that the content fill is up to the members. Many forum sites fail to get off the ground, purely as one or two members do all the work. Competition pay-to-use sites also use this method, meaning that not only do members need to pay to access the information, they need to provide it as well.
Automatic entry services are a new phenomenon that have yet to (and arguably won’t) take off in Australia. The concept is that members pay a monthly fee to have a service enter competitions on their behalf. This can only work for campaigns in which the draw is ‘game of chance’. Skill competitions such as 25 words-or-less cannot be entered by a 3rd party.
Automated entry services have proved unpopular, from the perspective of both consumers and promoters. Most competition entrants enjoy the process of entering, and are also skeptical that they are fully advised of winning entries.Promoters have been equally damning, as the automated process means that they will never have the ability to send information to the entrants.
Finding free online competitions does take a bit of effort, but with some trial and error use, can provide all the information in a one stop shop.
In a nutshell there are good chances of winning a free home items such as beddings, household items and so on. But as a participant you have to be willing to make the plunge and score it.