Winning contests for fun and profit

[photoguy]

My wife occasionally enters various contests/sweepstakes/etc. I don't have the patience for this and due to my cynical nature I generally assume they're all scams (like McDonalds Monopoly).

However, DW just found out today that she won $1750 (in gift cards) for CostPlus world market. This was through some kind of blog competition (not directly from CostPlus). She has won various prizes in the past like $1000 + full set of corning ware from brides magazine.

I'm guessing she manages to win because she's smart about entering ones where the competition is probably lower, and that require minimal effort.

Now she is excited about using the prize to get furniture (I probably won't suggest that she resell the gift cards on eBay although that is what I would do). But we don't really have a permanent living situation so any dreams of furniture will have to wait.

[daylatedollarshort]

Cool news on the contest. I have a friend who does contests as a hobby. She has won trips and all sorts of stuff. If you find it fun, it is a hobby that can make money or merchandise equivalents. My friend never had a high income career but was able to retire early in part because she has contests, bargains and freebies down to a science.

I have always wondered if between contests, free merchandise for product reviews, surveys, the reddit beer money thread, credit card games and other ventures along the same lines one could possibly make a living just just doing odd and ends kinds of things like that.

I won a $10 gift card this morning with tips from a forum on a daily online contest. I usually make around $50 a month just from that one contest alone and it only takes a minute or two to enter each day.

[photoguy]

Just as a follow-up, we actually did receive the gift cards (I didn't believe it until we checked the serial numbers online).

We went to cost plus to see what type of furniture they had and she didn't like any of it (cheaply made and pseudo rustic style) and decided on her own to sell the gift cards. She used cardcash and got somewhere around 72 or 73% of face value.

We put the money into EFV.

[daylatedollarshort]

Thanks for the update. I am glad that worked out and you were able to get to cash from the cards.

[Sunset]

I once watched a tv program about a contest winner that had won lots of contests.
She explained a bunch of the stuff she did.
I followed her advice the next couple of years and won a few contests.
Bike, sports equipment, $1,200 video camera, and some other things.

But then life got busy and I stopped doing it.

[daylatedollarshort]

I won $5 today. I found on online contest with some programming logic flaws I have learned to use to my advantage. It is not a huge amount but I usually make $20 - $50 a month for clicking some fields at just the right second.